MGI just released the 2026 edition of the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. After 18 years, I still consider it the most
comprehensive and accurate overview of association membership statistics
available today.
Once again, the report finds a correlation between
associations that successfully recruit new members and those that see overall
growth in membership counts. The data continue to suggest that sustained
membership growth begins with the consistent addition of new members to the top
of the funnel. At the same time, the median renewal rate from the 2026 report
remained at 82 percent. For nearly a decade, this number has seen only minor
fluctuations. This stability suggests that unless an association is fixing a
major flaw in its value proposition or renewal system, it cannot renew its way
into growth.
The report also notes a softening in the share of
associations reporting membership increases, down from 45 percent to 38
percent. One possible driver of this change may again be the success or lack
thereof in adding new members. In the 2025 report, 50 percent of individual
membership associations reported an increase in new member acquisition. That
share fell to 38 percent in the 2026 report.
Eighteen years of benchmarking continue to reinforce an
important lesson: associations that consistently build awareness, invest in
recruitment, and bring in new members are most likely to achieve long-term
membership success.
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