Across the board, associations are scrambling to retain and recruit members. But the way many are going about it isn’t working.
Associations were once conveners of professionals and sources of industry information unavailable anywhere else. But now, people can easily stay connected with colleagues and access information that was once a key part of the value proposition of associations.
At the same time, more companies are tightening budgets around professional development and association membership.
Many associations have seen membership decline or struggled to demonstrate the value of membership in recent years. In response, they’re doubling down on webinars, happy hours, and other events that may provide value but aren’t enough on their own to justify membership.
If associations really want to move the needle, they need to do more.
Here are six things I believe associations need to do to attract and retain members in the modern era:
Tailored Experiences: Start with onboarding. Ask every new member what they hope to get from their membership, what they’re interested in, where they are in their career, and how they’d like to get involved. Use that information to create a more tailored experience from day one. Give new members an onboarding toolkit that clearly explains their benefits, resources, communities, contacts, and ways to participate. Then continue reaching out throughout their membership with relevant resources, events, people, and volunteer opportunities. Don’t make members figure out how to get value from the association.
Industry Impact: Show members how the association—and its members—are making a difference. Broadly communicate advocacy wins, standards work, research, public education, and other efforts that advance the profession or industry, but don’t stop at reporting what happened. Explain why the work matters and who benefits from it. Highlight the members doing the work and tell the stories of the people and organizations affected by it. Help members see what they’re collectively making possible through their association.
Advancement Tracks: Stop overwhelming members with a stream of disconnected webinars, conferences, emails, and programs and expecting them to figure out what matters. Create clear tracks based on members’ career stages, interests, and goals. Someone who wants to move into management should be able to see the programs, resources, volunteer opportunities, mentors, and connections that can help them get there. Help members see a path from where they are to where they want to go.
Job Matchmaking: Go beyond the traditional job board. Curate opportunities within the industry and actively match members with positions that align with their skills, interests, and career goals. At the same time, help organizational members and industry employers connect with qualified candidates who already have ties to the profession. Done well, career services become a benefit for both individual members and the companies trying to hire them.
Advisory Services: Make the association a place members can turn when they need help. Sometimes what a member needs isn’t another resource or webinar. They need a person. Give members clear ways to connect with someone who can answer a question, talk through a professional challenge, point them toward resources, or simply help them figure out what to do next.
Facilitated Connections: Stop calling networking a member benefit and expecting people to do all the work themselves. Make thoughtful introductions between members based on their interests, goals, challenges, and expertise. A room full of people wearing name tags isn’t the same thing as helping someone build a meaningful professional network.
The common thread is that membership can’t simply provide access anymore.
It needs to provide connection, guidance, opportunity, and outcomes.
Associations already have the infrastructure, expertise, and communities to do this. The challenge is redesigning the membership experience around what professionals need now—not what membership looked like 20 years ago.