The Ultimate Cheat Sheet: Maximizing Membership

Struggling to grow your member base? If so – you are in the right place! Many associations are encountering a lull in member growth, however, there are ways to continue to grow your member base!

“As a business model and a core value, membership is perhaps the defining quality of nonprofit trade associations and professional societies. And it’s more than just a bundle of benefits. To join an association is to become a member of a community, a place to belong, where like-minded people share knowledge and work together toward goals they couldn’t achieve alone.” -ASAE

Joining an association can be a powerful and influential aspect of an individual’s life and career path. In order to attract members and grow your member base there are few things you can do. Based on research done by ASAE Foundation, there are 7 Drivers of Membership that have been extensively researched. From attraction to retention – changes in the association industry have evolved the membership model, breaking free of “one size fits all” and focusing on personalization, recruitment, retention, attraction, and engagement.

The 7 Drivers of Membership are as follows:

1. The balance of association benefits extended to the individual and to the field is a critically important one.
2. Getting members involved matters—a great deal.
3. Values drive volunteer choices.
4. Degree of involvement influences perspective.
5. Awareness of career-development needs is a greater influencer of perceived association value than is generational brand.
6. Meeting members where they are trumps market segmentation by traditional demographics.
7. Curation: A contemporary opportunity for providing value.

How does your organization drive membership? For more information on the seven key themes in membership check out ASAE Foundation’s 7 Drivers of Membership