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It is possible for coaches to join the ICF as members and to receive certain benefits that are not made available for credentialed coaches. Because the annual fee for the membership is $245 USD, it can feel like an investment. And like for all other types of investments, it is important to understand what you really get from it.
In this article, we will discuss all the ways you can make the most of your ICF membership every year.
The most obvious way to benefit from your membership is to avail the discount on the fee for a new credential application. Regardless of the credential you go for and the credentialing path you take, as a member you will get a $150 USD discount. It effectively brings the cost of the membership to $95.
The ICF offer members discounts and special pricing on products and services offered by their partners. You can see the list of partners here.
The companies tend to offer trainings, personality assessments, or services to help coaches in their business (transcription, customer management platform, etc.).
One of the best benefits of the ICF membership is to get access to free trainings and webinars on the Learning Portal, which not only is great for your professional development, but will also enable you to accumulate Continuing Coach Education credits for free.
You can find the trainings on the Learning portal of the ICF, which you can access via your profile, or attend ICF events organised by local chapters (see below).
We strongly advise you to join your local chapter and get involved with ICF coaches around you. Even though it’s never been easy to connect with people around the world, nothing beats the network and relationships you can build with coaches in your city or country.
You can find all the ICF chapters on this map.
The ICF and its chapters organise regular events that members can attend for free or at a discounted rate.
There are 3 main annual events:
The ICF has a registry for ICF-credentialed coaches on their website, and one for ICF members that only they can use. You can easily find members in your city or country. The registry can be accessed via your profile (or here).
Peer coaching is one of the ways coaches can practice their skills and accumulate paid hours for their log. Once you’ve coached and been coached by the people you trained with, it can be difficult to find other opportunities. That’s where the Reciprocal peer coaching programme offered to members of the ICF comes in handy.
The great thing about the programme is that you can find coaches by level of credential and hours of coaching, so you can be matched with people who have the same experience as you and/or are aiming at the same credential.
It is $60 USD per round of peer coaching, and there are usually 6 coaching sessions per round. So it’s not free, but it’s still a great deal. You can register here.
As a member, you have access to the Research portal of the ICF, which contains research and academic papers on the science and effectiveness of coaching. This is an invaluable tool to access documents you will not readily find available online, or at a cost. The library has more than 3,000 articles, case studies and reports about coaching and related topics.
Here are some of the articles you can find:
Communities of Practice are virtual groups for sharing best practices, emerging trends, tools and tips among coaches to advance your professional development. The topics are the following:
You can join one or several communities if you wish. Each one offers a live session once a quarter which will enable you to get continuing coaching education credits. The events are free for members. Non-members will have to pay between $35 USD and $45 USD per event.
As a member of the ICF you can download your member badge, display it on your website, add it to your signature, and show it anywhere else where it matters. This shows your affiliation with the ICF and your commitment to professional coaching
You have access to the Member Toolkit from your account, which offers several resources that non members do not see. This includes:
Did you know that as a member of the ICF, you can create a website for free? There is no fee to design, host or maintain the website, which is hosted by the ICF.
To get started you can log into icf-coaching.org using the same ID and password you use for coachingfederation.org.
Read our other articles on the ICF membership:
> The Difference Between ICF Credential And ICF Membership
> Is The ICF Membership Worth it?
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