I’d like to share with you this time key results of researches by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation, which examined the changing nature of association membership.
Over the last 10 years, ASAE and the ASAE Foundation conducted studies that explored why people choose to belong to associations, what associations do to continue to attract and retain members, and how these engagement strategies may change in the future. Findings from studies, such as “The Decision to Join,” “The Decision to Volunteer,” “Exploring the Future of Membership” and “10 Lessons for Cultivating Member Commitment,” indicate the following key drivers for membership success:
Meet members where they are—Many associations are trying to meet the demands of a changing work force with more customized membership options, offering individuals the ability to select what is most relevant to them at a particular point in their life or career. In “Innovations in Membership Engagement: A Benchmarking Study,” researchers found that some associations allow individual members to customize benefits to match needs and interests. One association changed its benefits structure to allow members to pay only for the benefits they wanted, which led to the doubling of both its membership and
number of chapters.
Involvement alters perspective—“The Decision to Volunteer” study confirmed that volunteers are among the most dedicated and engaged members of their associations. Volunteers are also more likely to promote membership to nonmembers. Associations can expand the value that volunteering provides to the individual and to the organization by creating opportunities for more, and particularly newer, members to get involved. Associations that find they often have the same people in the room can diversify their volunteer pools by recruiting members in different career and life phases to serve on boards and committees, while ad hoc volunteering options appeal to individual interests and serve as low-commitment opportunities for
first-time volunteers.
Curated content—Now that the Internet makes volumes of content available with just a click of a mouse, associations may no longer be the primary source of professional information for their members. One challenge in the Internet era when so much information are available, however, is that it can be difficult to identify the most reliable and relevant content.
In “Exploring the Future of Membership,” researchers found that through curation, associations offer their members value by “separating the wheat from the chaff,” pointing members to the resources they can use
to do their jobs.
Value remains key—While ways people engage with associations are shifting, the benefits associations provide still drive the membership choice. In “The Decision to Join,” association members and non-members assessed the importance of different individual and field-wide benefits of membership to their decision to join an association. Specific individual benefits—such as networking, access to current information on one’s field and professional development opportunities—were rated highest overall, but “good of the order” benefits—including promotion of the field, the creation and maintenance of standards and codes of ethics, and advocacy—were rated higher as a group than personal benefits. Delivering on both individual and whole-field benefits will encourage member retention and membership growth.
Members and potential members believe in the value of association work, but static models of membership and benefits may no longer appeal to their needs. By making adjustments to reflect their communities’ interests, associations will be able to position the benefits they offer to engage current and future members.
The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific and the CEO and founder of
the PCAAE. The PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 and the “Ang Susi” Awards 2017 on November 22 and 23 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details.