Why People Join, Renew, and Leave: A Behavioral Approach to Membership Marketing

 

As I have worked with associations over the years, I have often been asked questions such as, "What email should we send?" What ad should we run? What incentive should we offer?

Marketing tactics remain critical to acquiring and retaining members. However, the world is changing. Growing membership requires a more focused strategy than ever before. Here is the challenge. According to the annual Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, the share of associations reporting membership gains has gradually declined over the past four years. In 2026, only 38 percent of associations reported an increase in membership, down from 49 percent. Acquiring, engaging, and retaining members is more challenging today than in the past.

To meet these challenges, I share many strategies to increase the effectiveness of membership marketing in my book, Membership Marketing from A to Z. A major theme that runs through the book is connecting what behavioral science has learned about decision-making with the marketing programs associations use to recruit and retain members.

Behavioral science asks a different question from the tactical questions that often dominate marketing discussions. Instead of beginning with what email to send or what offer to make, it asks: What is happening inside the prospect's mind? Once we begin to answer that question, our marketing choices become much clearer.

Understanding How People Make Decisions

The first step is to understand the mindset and needs of prospective and current members. Research is obviously an important component of this process. Qualitative and quantitative research can help associations identify the needs of prospective and current members. After all, some define marketing as finding a need and meeting it.

But we can take that knowledge a step further by considering the decision-making process people go through when they contemplate joining, engaging with, or renewing their membership.

Psychologists and behavioral scientists have studied decision-making extensively. In his widely used text, Persuasion: Theory and Research, Daniel J. O'Keefe discusses the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), which can offer a useful framework for understanding a prospect's or member’s decision-making process. The model outlines five stages that people move through when making and maintaining an important behavioral change.

The Five Stages of Behavioral Change

With TTM, the process begins with Precontemplation. When applied to membership, a prospective member may be unaware of the association and may not recognize a need for membership. There is little reason to expect action because the individual has not yet seriously considered the decision.

Once interest develops, the person enters the Contemplation stage. The prospect begins weighing the pros and cons. Is membership relevant? Does it provide sufficient value? Is it worth the cost and commitment?

If the benefits appear to outweigh the costs, the prospect moves toward Planning. An intention to join may now exist, but intention is not the same as action. Delay, distraction, and procrastination can still derail the decision.

The fourth stage is Action. At this point, the prospect may need an action-oriented interaction. This might include a clear call to action, an appropriate incentive, or simply a frictionless way to complete the transaction.

Importantly, the model does not end once the decision has been made. It includes Maintenance. People often seek reassurance after making an important decision. The new behavior needs reinforcement and support to continue.

This is where behavioral science begins to reshape how we approach membership marketing. Membership marketing is not simply a transaction. It is a relationship in which we help people progress through the stages of behavior change. If we understand where someone is in that process, we can tailor marketing strategies to them rather than relying on generic tactics.

Connecting Behavioral Science to the Membership Lifecycle

Understanding how people make decisions is interesting, but understanding alone does not increase membership. The practical question is: How should associations respond?

This is where I believe behavioral science and a relational marketing model converge. For associations, the Membership Lifecycle offers a systematic approach to guiding prospects and members through their relationship with an organization. It includes Awareness, Recruitment, Engagement, Renewal, and Winback.

Viewed through a behavioral science lens, the Membership Lifecycle is more than a marketing framework. Although the two models do not align perfectly, TTM helps us understand where an individual is psychologically, while the Membership Lifecycle organizes the association's marketing response. Together, they provide a framework to help prospects and members move toward the next decision.

Awareness: Creating Mutual Awareness

At the Awareness stage of the Lifecycle, prospects are primarily in Precontemplation or early Contemplation. They may not know the association exists, may not understand what it offers, or may not recognize that membership could benefit them. For example, the Association Member Experience Report by Higher Logic reports that the top reason prospects give for not joining an association is “I’m not aware of one that aligns with my industry/role/interests.”

One of the longstanding rules of thumb in marketing is the Rule of Seven. This rule holds that it takes multiple interactions before someone makes a buying decision. Whether the actual number is seven, more, or less is not the important point. The principle reminds us that decisions generally develop over time rather than happen instantly.

That is why the objective at this first stage is what I call mutual awareness. No one joins a membership organization unless they know it exists and believe it offers value. At the same time, an association will struggle to recruit prospective members if it cannot identify them and capture their contact information in its database.

Associations need to achieve both a share of mind and a share of the database. Prospects need to become aware of the association, while the association needs prospects to raise their hands by registering on a website, downloading a whitepaper, subscribing to a newsletter, attending a webinar, or otherwise identifying themselves and opting into further communication. When you know who they are and they know you, you have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship.

Content marketing, digital advertising, social media, and SEO can all support this process. But from a behavioral perspective, the purpose of these tools is not merely to generate clicks or impressions. Their role is to help move someone from Precontemplation and Contemplation to making a decision.

Recruitment: Turning Intention into Action

Once prospects understand the value an association can provide, they move into the Planning and Action stages of the decision process. Marketing needs to adjust.

Marketers sometimes call membership a “push” rather than a “pull” product. If you are a coffee drinker, you probably don't need an advertising campaign to convince you to seek out your morning cup. You already want it. Very few people, however, wake up thinking, “Today I need to find an association to join.” Membership generally needs to be actively marketed through recruitment.

Effective recruitment requires several key ingredients. First, a budget needs to be established, ideally not based on initial returns but on the lifetime value a new member will generate. Next, recruitment requires sufficient marketing frequency and reach. One-off recruitment will not work. Reaching as deeply as possible into the target market produces the highest volume of new members. Finally, offering an incentive to join gives an interested prospect a reason to act now. An incentive should not be viewed as a bribe. Its purpose is to motivate someone who already sees value in taking the action but has procrastinated.

At this stage in the decision process, even small barriers matter. A confusing application, a broken link, or a difficult payment process can interrupt Action and lead to abandonment.

Engagement: Affirming the Decision

Once someone joins, the behavioral objective shifts again to support and maintain the decision through Engagement.

Have you ever bought a new pair of running shoes, a car, or even an expensive smartphone, only to later wonder, “Did I make the right decision?” Psychologists call this discomfort cognitive dissonance. After making an important decision, people naturally seek reassurance that they chose wisely.

Joining an association is no different. A new member has committed money and, potentially, time. If the member does not quickly experience value or receive affirmation, questions about whether joining was worthwhile can begin to emerge. TTM identifies this as the Maintenance stage. The decision has been made, but the new behavior has not necessarily become established.

New members need an onboarding program that confirms, “I made a good decision.” These recent members are particularly vulnerable to attrition. Benchmarking data show that first-year members renew at a rate 10 points lower than tenured members. Additionally, ongoing engagement marketing supports the renewal of longer-term members, especially those who show no behavioral indicators of usage. Encouraging interaction, whether attending a program, visiting the website, completing a survey, making a purchase, or contacting the association, correlates positively with renewal. The behavioral objective of engagement is to help members maintain and reinforce the decision to belong.

Renewal: Reasserting Value and Status

At the Renewal stage, members are not all in the same psychological state. Some remain comfortably in Maintenance, while others have slipped back into Contemplation and are reassessing whether membership is worthwhile.

In addition to evaluating the association’s value, another complication is that members are sometimes simply confused about their membership status. In one association survey, only 85 percent of current members correctly identified themselves as members, yet 23 percent of former members and 15 percent of people who had never been members also believed they were current members. The Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report has also consistently identified “forgot to renew” as a key reason members give for lapsing.

These issues tell us something important about renewal marketing. The job is not simply to send a renewal notice. Associations need to reassert their value and membership status.

Given these challenges, a synchronized, multichannel, higher-frequency campaign can help members understand their status, remember the value they receive, and complete the renewal process. Associations can also reduce renewal friction by offering automatic renewal, installment plans, multiyear memberships, and other flexible payment options.

Winback: Restoring the Relationship

Finally, some members will lapse. From a behavioral perspective, many have reverted to Contemplation. They are again questioning the value or relevance of membership.

There will always be bumps in the road in any relationship, and membership relationships are no exception. But restoring an existing relationship often makes more sense than starting a new one. The Winback stage of the Lifecycle aims to understand what happened, address the problem where possible, and invite the former member back. As the old proverb advises, “Look where you tripped, not where you fell.”

Importantly, a lapsed member is not necessarily dissatisfied. Former members frequently cite reasons for leaving that have little to do with the association's quality: an employer stopped paying dues, they changed jobs, they lacked time, experienced a family emergency, encountered difficulty with the renewal process, or simply thought they had already renewed.

These circumstances can change. That is why successful membership organizations continue to communicate with former members rather than assume the relationship is permanently over.

Marketing to the Member's Mindset

When membership is static or declining, associations naturally seek an explanation. They may conclude they have a value problem or that their marketing simply is not working. Sometimes that is true. But another possibility deserves consideration. The marketing may be misaligned with where prospects and members are psychologically.

An association may ask prospects to join before they understand the value of membership. Conversely, after establishing value, it may fail to make a clear ask and provide a reason to act. Once people join, the organization may neglect the cognitive dissonance that follows a decision and fail to affirm that the new member made a good choice. At renewal, it may assume the member understands both the ongoing value and the current status of the relationship. And when a member lapses, it may give up on a relationship that could still be restored.

Combining the psychology of decision-making with the Membership Lifecycle offers a different approach to membership marketing. Instead of starting with a tactic, start with the individual. Ask, “Where is this prospect or member in the decision-making process?” Then determine which marketing tactic will help that person take the next step.

Viewed this way, the Membership Lifecycle is a marketing process that supports people's decision-making. Each stage aims to help people advance in their relationship with the association.

 

Your Next New Member May Be a Former Member

 

Asking former members to come back serves as one of the biggest missed opportunities in membership marketing.

Many associations devote significant resources to recruiting brand-new members while making only one or two attempts to reconnect with members who have already experienced the value of the organization. Yet former members are often among the most responsive audiences. As one membership consultant observed: "When a member leaves, it doesn't mean goodbye forever. Members who have walked away may be the easiest ones to get back."[1]

The following winback strategy is adapted from my new book, Membership Marketing from A to Z.

Why Winback Strategies Matter

A disciplined winback program restores lost members and revenue while providing insight into why members may not have renewed. A winback strategy targets former members who, for a variety of reasons, have ended their relationship with the association. In many ways, it is a form of re-recruitment. Unlike prospects who have never been members, former members already understand your organization and have experienced its value. This familiarity reduces the cost and effort required to bring them back into the fold. As a result, winback campaigns consistently deliver higher response rates and stronger ROI than traditional recruitment efforts. One study, the Customer Winback Benchmarking Study, found that, on average, 26 percent of past customers returned as a result of winback campaigns.[2]

Of course, some members who lapse will never return, regardless of the winback strategies applied. However, a large portion of members who leave do so for issues that can be addressed. When we examine open-ended survey responses from expired members, a more nuanced and complex picture emerges. Associations that hear directly from lapsed members often find that they left for reasons unrelated to the association's products and services. Here are some edited open-ended survey responses.

• My employer stopped paying for the membership.
• I am retired and didn’t see an affordable option.
• I am in between jobs.
• Lacked the time to participate.
• Had difficulty renewing on the website.
• Experienced a family emergency.
• We alternate membership among colleagues.
• I thought I did renew.

One research report from ASAE affirms this, noting that “Respondents who reported having dropped their membership. . . indicate their reason had more to do with career and other life changes than with the performance of the association.” [3]

These responses point to an important truth: many lapses are situational, not permanent, and they create avenues for re-engagement.

One association's winback effort highlights the opportunity to reconnect with former members. This large healthcare association discovered this by testing a telemarketing campaign targeting recently lapsed members. Some staff doubted they could reach these members, as they were busy professionals often screened by gatekeepers who could intercept calls. Others worried that members would resent hearing from the association after they left. Despite these concerns, the association decided to test the program. The results surprised the membership team. Of former members reached by phone, 42 percent agreed to renew their membership. The program achieved an ROI of $1 in costs to generate $6.70 in dues revenue. Along with the successful results, the association gathered feedback to update its records and better understand the reasons for lapsing, such as retirement and job changes. The campaign demonstrated that a winback effort can produce exceptional returns when executed with the right message and channel.

Not every winback effort will yield such impressive results, but the example shows that former members present a significant opportunity to grow membership economically.

Designing an Effective Winback Strategy

Despite these potential returns, many associations give up on former members. That is a mistake. People and their professional roles, financial situations, and organizational needs change. With a thoughtful, ongoing outreach strategy, many associations successfully reconnect with former members even years after they lapse.

Steps to establish a winback strategy include identifying the concerns and reasons members left the association and implementing a specific plan to bring them back. 

·       Seek First to Understand: Renew the relationship by asking former members why they left and whether there is a way for the association to help them return. Then respond to their specific concerns or challenges.

·       Multi-Channel Campaigns: Reach beyond their email inbox to re-engage former members through a combination of channels, including mail, digital, phone, and ringless voicemail.

·       Special Offers: Create an incentive to lower cost barriers with offers like discounted reinstatement dues or payment options to encourage them to give the association’s value another try.

·       Messaging: Focus on appreciation and the benefit of community. Remind them of the value they received and what’s new since they left. A message might read: “We miss you! A lot has changed, and we’d love for you to be part of us again.”

·       Timing and Frequency: Launch campaigns shortly after expiration or the grace period has ended. Consider reaching out at least every three months. Persistence pays off.

·       Use Data: Target your efforts by analyzing past member engagement. Members who attended events, downloaded resources, or served on committees may be more likely to return.

·       Test: Try different approaches by building a winback program that continually improves through testing and refinement.

Winback campaigns are often overlooked, yet they are among the most efficient ways to drive membership growth. Former members already understand your mission and value, making them far more receptive than cold prospects.

Effective winback strategies recognize that members do not always leave because they are dissatisfied. Life changes, budgets shift, and priorities evolve. By approaching former members with empathy, providing clear reminders of value, offering incentives, and maintaining persistent, multi-channel outreach, associations can reopen the door to membership.

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[1] Vaughan, “Baby, Come Back! How to Win Back Lapsed Members and Why You Should.”

[2] Pfister, Customer Winback Benchmarking Study.

[3] Dalton and Dignam, The Decision to Join.

The Marketplace Is the Best Teacher: Why Associations Need a Ready. Fire. Aim. Approach to Marketing

One of the most common reasons associations fail to grow is not a lack of ideas, creativity, or even resources. It is hesitation.

Over the years, I have watched promising membership initiatives lose momentum because organizations kept studying and refining their plans rather than launching them in the marketplace.

A theme I have emphasized in each of my books, including Membership Recruitment, The Seven Deadly Sins of Membership Marketing, and the just-published Membership Marketing from A to Z, is a bias toward action rather than continual analysis.

Over the years, I have sat through many meetings where the momentum behind a marketing initiative was quietly halted by comments such as “We need more research,” “Our AMS is not quite ready,” or “Let’s revisit once we have more feedback.” While thoughtful planning matters, organizations can easily fall into what I call the paralysis of analysis. This tendency to overthink marketing efforts can delay implementation or even lead to abandonment.

The irony is that marketing is one of the few disciplines in which the marketplace often provides the best answers.

Several years ago, I received an RFP from an association facing declining membership. Their objective was understandable: stop the decline and rebuild growth. However, the process they outlined was exhaustive. First, they wanted research to redefine their value proposition. Then, case studies of comparable organizations. Then, benchmarking. Then, an evaluation of staff and departmental structure. Finally, they wanted multiple strategic scenarios developed before any membership recruitment began. The proposed timeline ranged from six months to a year.

The challenge was that the perfect can be the enemy of the good. By the time planning was complete, the market would likely have shifted again. Associations, like any business, rarely have the luxury of waiting for certainty. Conditions change too quickly. Member expectations evolve. Competitors advance.

Instead of recommending a long planning cycle for this association, we proposed an alternative approach using a Ready, Fire, Aim model. The traditional phrase, of course, is “Ready, Aim, Fire.” In marketing and sales, however, I believe the order should be reversed.

Planning matters. Organizations need a clear value proposition, target audiences, goals, and a workable strategy. However, sooner rather than later, learning must give way to action. That is where the Ready, Fire, Aim philosophy proves powerful. The concept is straightforward.

·       Ready means getting started with a focused strategy. Drop the 30-page strategy document. Create a one- or two-page action plan.

·       Fire means launching the effort. Send the email. Test the offer. Make the calls. Reach out to prospects.

·       Aim means learning from the test results. Track responses. Identify what worked. Refine the strategy. Try again.

Instead of trying to answer every question in advance, organizations let the marketplace guide them. The marketplace, though sometimes brutally honest, can be an exceptionally effective teacher.

Several years ago, I spoke with an organization that held nearly 100,000 prospect email addresses collected through website registrations. Yet they hesitated to market to these prospects because they worried they did not yet have the perfect message or fully refined services. Research certainly has value, but there will always be another question to answer and another layer of uncertainty to explore.

My recommendation was that, rather than waiting for certainty, the association could segment the prospect list, create several message variations, and test them in the marketplace. In a short period of time, they would learn which messages resonated, which segments responded, and whether the opportunity warranted deeper investment. The resulting feedback would almost certainly provide more practical insight than months of internal discussion.

The same principle applies across the membership lifecycle. Associations can test digital advertising with new market segments, experiment with onboarding approaches, test different renewal messages, and pilot campaigns to recently lapsed members. Some efforts may underperform and be discontinued quickly, while others may reveal substantial untapped opportunities. Either outcome is valuable because it replaces speculation with evidence.

This tendency to delay action is not unique to associations. I have seen sales professionals spend weeks refining presentations, organizing CRM systems, tweaking messages, building prospect lists, or upgrading technology without ever making a sales call. Preparation feels productive because it is comfortable, while selling feels risky because it invites rejection. Yet results come only through engagement with the marketplace.

None of this is an argument against planning or research. Effective marketing absolutely requires both. But research can feel like peeling an onion, with another layer of uncertainty to explore. At some point, understanding must give way to execution. Indeed, one of the most valuable forms of market research is surprisingly simple. Will someone say yes? Will they join? Will they renew? Will they respond? Will they buy? Those answers come only through action.

The organizations that succeed are rarely the ones with the perfect plan. More often than not, they are the ones willing to move, learn, and adapt. In marketing, progress tends to favor those who embrace a simple philosophy: Ready. Fire. Aim. 

Membership Marketing from A to Z Is Now Available as a Kindle eBook

For those of you who prefer reading on a tablet or mobile device, I'm pleased to announce that Membership Marketing from A to Z: A Practical Handbook for Professional and Trade Associations is now available as a Kindle eBook.

To celebrate the launch, the Kindle edition is available at an introductory price of just $2.99 for a limited time. You can read it on any Kindle device or on your phone, tablet, or computer with the free Kindle app.

This book has been a long time in the making. It brings together nearly four decades of consulting experience, insights from hundreds of association clients, and findings from eighteen years of Membership Marketing Benchmarking Reports. My goal was to create a practical reference that association professionals can turn to whenever they need ideas to recruit, engage, and retain members.

Whether you're a CEO, membership executive, marketing professional, or new to association management, I hope you'll find practical strategies you can put to work immediately.

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me throughout the writing process and to those who have already purchased the print edition. I hope the eBook format makes it even easier for association professionals to benefit from the ideas in the book. Take a look at the eBook using this link. 

Just Released: The 2026 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report

 

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.

Download your copy here.

Insights from 18 Years of Membership Data

 

Facts matter. That’s why in all of my books, including the just-published Membership Marketing from A to Z, I have relied on thousands of survey responses over the past 18 years from MGI’s Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report.  

MGI just released the top-line findings for this year’s research, with the full report to follow in the coming weeks.  Before looking at the new data, let’s dive into the trends over the past nearly two decades. It is clear that in some years, growth seems widespread. In other years, membership declines dominate the conversation. And when we see a weaker year, it is easy to conclude that something is fundamentally broken.

But based on these many years of results, something interesting becomes clear. Membership growth tends to follow cycles and, over time, often returns to a historical norm.

This year’s newly released data from the 2026 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report shows that 39 percent of associations reported an increase in membership, 30 percent reported a decline, and 31 percent reported no change.

At first glance, those results may seem disappointing compared with recent years. In 2023, nearly half of associations (49 percent) reported growth. In 2024, 47 percent reported growth. And in 2025, 45 percent reported gains.

Has something suddenly gone wrong? Perhaps not. To understand the present, it helps to consider the broader historical context.

Over the past 18 years, associations have navigated numerous disruptions. The Great Recession significantly affected membership across many organizations. In 2010, nearly half of associations (48 percent) reported membership declines. More recently, COVID disrupted virtually every aspect of association operations, from conferences to professional engagement. By 2021, only 26 percent of associations reported membership growth, while 47 percent reported declines.

Yet in both cases, the story did not end there. Membership rebounded. After the pandemic, many associations experienced several strong years of recovery. Organizations restored member relationships, regained lost renewals, and benefited from heightened demand for professional information, advocacy, workforce support, and community.

Viewed through this lens, the 2026 results may indicate something other than a decline. They may reflect normalization.

In statistics, the concept of regression to the mean, the tendency for unusually high or low results to drift back toward the average over time, applies. Although association membership trends are more complex than a simple statistical model, the principle offers an interesting lens. Extraordinary periods, whether unusually positive or negative, rarely persist indefinitely. The data suggest that association membership may follow a similar pattern.

After disruptions, growth rebounds. After unusually strong periods, results often moderate. Over the long run, membership performance tends to settle into a relatively consistent range.

Across nearly two decades of benchmarking, roughly 40 to 50 percent of associations typically report growth, about 25 to 30 percent report declines, and another quarter to one-third remain flat. That consistency is remarkable given the economic cycles, inflation, demographic shifts, technological disruption, and changing workforce patterns associations have faced.

If that interpretation is correct, the lesson for association leaders is an important one: Do not overreact to a single year's data. During difficult periods, it is tempting to cut marketing budgets, reduce recruitment efforts, or assume that membership decline is inevitable. Conversely, during periods of strong growth, organizations may mistakenly assume that momentum will continue on its own. Both assumptions can be dangerous.

Growth still depends on fundamentals. Associations that continue to invest in recruitment, refine their value proposition, engage members, and adapt to evolving professional needs are far more likely to outperform over time. Economic conditions matter. Disruptions matter. But long-term discipline matters most.

Perhaps the key takeaway from 18 years of research is not that membership growth fluctuates, but that associations are remarkably resilient. Despite the challenges, a meaningful share of associations continue to grow year after year. The challenge for leaders is not to predict every disruption. It is to stay focused on the long-term drivers of relevance and value. Organizations that remain committed to growth are usually best positioned when the next cycle begins.

Additional membership guidance can be found in the books The Seven Deadly Sins of Membership Marketing, Membership Recruitment, and the just-released Membership Marketing from A to Z. All are available on Amazon.

The Intangible Ingredient of Membership Marketing

 

This article is an excerpt from my latest book, Membership Marketing from A to Z, now available on Amazon.

Growth is not the accidental result of a favorable economy or a single successful campaign. It begins with leadership conviction that membership growth is mission-critical and warrants sustained investment. When that belief is reinforced by disciplined funding and accountability, growth becomes predictable rather than accidental. That alignment of passion and discipline is the X-Factor in membership marketing.

While many chapters in my book, Membership Marketing from A to Z, focus on proven strategies and marketing best practices, the X-Factor chapter provides the intangible yet essential element that elevates a membership program from ordinary to extraordinary.

Why Your X-Factor Matters

In our Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, when asked about the biggest challenge to membership growth, one respondent said, “Leadership hasn’t prioritized everything necessary to create the structure that would allow for scalable growth.”

The X-Factor becomes visible when leadership shifts from aspiration to accountability. It means making membership growth non-negotiable. One of the clearest examples of the X-Factor's impact on membership comes from a client I have worked with for the past 14 years. In my first meeting with this group, the CEO arrived with his membership dashboard and explained that growing membership was his top priority. The organization had undergone a series of executive transitions over the past few years, and membership had stalled. But this CEO had set the goal of doubling membership. However, his goal went beyond aspiration. He also put his reputation on the line, secured board approval for the direction, funded the marketing budget, and made the staff changes needed to support the objective.

The outcome of this effort was not immediate. The association faced challenges along the way, including a weak economy and inflation, shifting board support, and a call to cut marketing to address a budget shortfall. However, since the goal was set, the association has achieved sustained annual growth of 3–4 percent. So far, membership has grown from 70,000 to 113,000, a roughly 62 percent increase, and growth continues.

Why does the X-Factor matter so much? For this organization, the X-Factor of passion and commitment to membership growth supported the association's financial health, members' careers and livelihoods, and the organization's mission to society. The X-Factor is not a one-time, instant solution but a sustained practice.

Building and Supporting Your Association’s X-Factor

An X-Factor starts with motivation. Why is the goal so critical? Simon Sinek, in his book Start with Why, writes, “Knowing your WHY is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success.”[1]

For an association, answering the why question may be easier than for many other types of organizations. Associations have a deeper purpose beyond a simple return on investment. They have a mission to make a difference in society. They also serve a profession or industry that relies on them for critical information, advocacy, and career development.

Beyond motivation, finding and supporting your X-Factor depends on action. It is not necessarily loud or flashy. The X-Factor is the alignment of multiple elements and reveals itself in four ways.

1. Strategic Clarity

Associations with an active X-Factor know exactly where they are headed. Growth goals are not vague aspirations; they are specific, measurable, and time-bound. Leadership aligns around those goals and directly ties them to the mission. When growth is clearly tied to purpose, it becomes easier to defend.

2. Financial Commitment

Goals without investment are merely dreams. Associations that activate the X-Factor treat marketing as an investment rather than a discretionary expense. They consistently fund recruitment, even amid fluctuating response rates, because they understand Lifetime Value and the compounding impact of ongoing dues. They accept short-term volatility to pursue long-term growth.

3. Operational Discipline

Growth requires measurement. Associations with the X-Factor track KPIs, monitor dashboards, and regularly review results. They test new approaches, refine offers, and optimize campaigns. What is measured improves; what is ignored stagnates.

4. Cultural Reinforcement

Finally, the X-Factor is cultural. Leaders tell the growth story, celebrate progress, empower their teams, and reinforce that membership growth supports careers, advances the mission, and strengthens the profession. Associations without the X-Factor often drift. Strategies shift with each board rotation. Marketing budgets are cut during shortfalls. Recruitment is paused when response dips. Risk is avoided. Over time, decline becomes normalized.

The X-Factor in membership marketing is not luck or a single breakthrough campaign. It is disciplined leadership. Associations that achieve membership success do so by making growth a priority, funding it adequately, measuring it rigorously, and reinforcing it culturally.

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[1] Sinek, Start with Why.

Announcing the Release of My New Book: Membership Marketing from A to Z

 

After many years of thinking, writing, researching, and refining ideas, I am pleased to announce the release of my new book:

Membership Marketing from A to Z: A Practical Handbook for Professional and Trade Associations

This project has been a long time in the making. The book's original concept dates back more than a decade. However, over the years, the ideas in the book have continually evolved and been enriched through my consulting experiences, insights from hundreds of association clients, and findings from the annual Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report.

This is my third book on association membership growth and marketing, and in many ways, it is a collection of lessons learned over nearly four decades of working with associations. My goal was simple: to provide a practical resource that association professionals can turn to when facing membership challenges and opportunities.

The book explores topics ranging from Benefits and Content Marketing to Digital Advertising, Research, Volunteers, Value Proposition, and the X-Factor of leadership commitment. Each chapter offers actionable ideas that association leaders can apply immediately.

I am grateful to the many clients, colleagues, researchers, and association professionals who have shaped my thinking over the years.

If you are responsible for membership growth, engagement, retention, or marketing strategy, I hope you will find the book useful.

The book is now available on Amazon using this link. I would appreciate it if you would take a look.

My Journey of Writing Books

 

Many, if not most, of us have a book in our heads that we would like to write, based on our professional or personal experiences. The challenge is not usually having something to say. It is knowing how to begin.

One of my friends, upon retiring from the government, wrote a book about his 30-year tenure. He filled the book, Good Enough for Government Work, with an inside look at the amusing and crazy anecdotes from his experience. Another friend is writing a book about his family history. In his book, he serves as the narrator and protagonist, sharing his journey of uncovering the trials in his family's history and how their perseverance has enabled him to overcome his own personal challenges.

The books I have written are different. Rather than personal stories, they focus on practical guidance for association professionals on effective membership marketing practices. My latest book, Membership Marketing from A to Z, is now available on Amazon.

The stages of the writing process I followed may be helpful to you as you pursue a writing goal.

Perhaps the most important aspect of writing for me is cultivating a learning mindset. Over the years, I have gained many insights from reading a shelf full of books by authors ranging from marketing experts like Philip Kotler to membership consultants like Sarah Sladek. The print versions of my books are filled with notes and underlines. When I read books electronically, I save my highlights for future use. As one author observed, “Reading a book is among the most high-leverage activities on earth—you can gain access to what smart people have already figured out.”

Many insights have come from attending professional events to learn from presenters. A wealth of insights has come from observing the marketing innovations and test results my clients and colleagues have implemented.

The next step in the process is to capture what I have learned. For me, the best way to track my insights is to write about them whenever I learn something new. Often, that takes the form of a blog post or a short article. For example, I have been writing and recording lessons on this blog since 2007, and much of that material has found its way into my books.

To support the findings in my books, I have relied on quantitative data. For me, this has been 17 years of association research documented in the annual Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. This data elevates my recommendations from opinion and stories to statistically valid correlations and outcomes, drawn from thousands of associations over the years. Whatever your topic, evidence strengthens your writing. For you, that may mean identifying research studies and surveys. For others, it may mean interviews, historical documents, family letters, or personal journals.

With all this content, the next step is to craft a compelling thesis and outline for the book. For one of my books, The Seven Deadly Sins of Membership Marketing, the title and framework came together while I was developing a presentation for an ASAE conference. The presentation was well-received, and I later expanded it into a book. For my book, Membership Marketing from A to Z, I had the inspiration and outlined it in a blog post in August 2012 (not a typo), and I finally started writing it this past year.

Of course, inspiration and outlines only get you so far. Eventually, the real work begins: writing, editing, and production. It takes time and focus. For my first book, Membership Recruitment, I took a sabbatical from work and spent each morning writing and rewriting. For that book, I had the advantage of my wife, a linguist, serving as my capable editor. For all my books, my professional proofreaders, designers, and production colleagues at MGI helped get them to market. I have found technology increasingly helpful. Grammarly catches typos and grammar issues. More recently, I have used ChatGPT to challenge my assumptions with prompts like, ‘What would a critical reviewer see as weaknesses in this chapter?”

Publishing your book involves an additional step. I have been very satisfied with printing and distributing my books through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Other authors I know have used subsidy publishers for a fee to help with their books. Of course, you can also submit your book to a traditional publisher to leverage their prestige, production, and distribution services.

Writing a book can feel overwhelming, but viewing it as a process helps. More often, it unfolds over years of learning, gathering ideas, and organizing what you have discovered into something worth sharing. If you have been thinking, “Someday, I should write that book,” my encouragement is simple: start. Capture your ideas, outline your thoughts, and begin developing blog posts, articles, and presentations. You may find that what feels ordinary to you could be exactly the wisdom someone else needs.

The Evolution from Transactional to Relationship Marketing

 

In a recent interview, I was asked what the biggest change I have seen in marketing over my 40-year career has been.

Most people expect the answer to be technology. There’s no question these changes have been dramatic. We’ve added email to direct mail and digital ads to print advertising, and now we are seeing the impact of AI. But those are really changes in tools, not necessarily in marketing philosophy.

The more meaningful shift has been in how we think about marketing. The biggest change has been moving from a transactional strategy to a relationship-driven one over time.

For my association friends who have worked in membership marketing for many years, this shift to a relationship model is not new. However, for the vast majority of companies and organizations, marketing for many years was largely about closing a sale. The objective was straightforward: get someone to buy a plane ticket, put items in a grocery cart, take out a loan, or hire you for a project. Once that transaction was complete, you were back on the treadmill, seeking the next customer.

Today, the goal is different. The focus is on turning that first transaction into an ongoing relationship that continues to create value over time. The relationship might take the form of a subscription, a membership, a service agreement, or a retainer. The terminology varies, but the underlying idea is the same. By moving away from constantly finding new customers and instead building a base of customers who choose to stay with you.

The reason this shift matters so much comes down to economics. In marketing, we often talk about lifetime value, which represents the total revenue a customer generates over time. When a customer stays with you for several years, it changes how you think about everything. You can invest more in acquiring that customer because the long-term return is significantly higher. You are encouraged to continue developing new products and services to enhance the relationship. It also creates a level of financial stability and predictability that simply is not possible when every interaction is treated as a one-time event.

For businesses trying to apply this idea, the starting point is not complicated, but it does require a shift in thinking. It begins with asking a simple question: What ongoing value can I provide that would encourage a customer to stay connected with me?

Different organizations now answer that question in different ways. An HVAC company offers a maintenance plan. A consultant works on a retainer. Airlines and hotels build loyalty programs. Warehouse clubs and online retailers create memberships. Credit unions build multifaceted financial engagements. In each case, the organization gives the customer a reason to continue the relationship.

When that value is structured properly, the customer benefits just as much. I have experienced this in several ways. I appreciate that with a loyalty program, I can walk past the counter and go straight to my rental car. As a consultant, I have seen how a retainer eliminates the need for repeated RFPs and allows work to begin more quickly and effectively. Like many people, I value the peace of mind that comes from knowing that, when I have a flat tire or a dead battery on a dark and stormy night, I can call AAA for help.

One of the clearest expressions of this shift is the membership model. Whether formal or informal, membership represents an ongoing connection between a customer and an organization. As Robbie Kellman Baxter writes in The Membership Economy, organizations that fail to think this way miss a significant opportunity for loyalty, referrals, and long-term growth. Look in your wallet for evidence of this relational shift. You will likely find cards for memberships, loyalty programs, and subscriptions you participate in.

Of course, building relationships intentionally requires more than a good idea. It requires a system. Over the years, I have found it helpful to think of the stages of building a relationship as a lifecycle. It begins with awareness, helping people gain a share of mind about who you are and the value you offer. But today, awareness goes both ways. It’s not just about them knowing you; it’s also about you knowing them by offering content, free samples, or a quote on your website to encourage an opt-in and continue the conversation. 

From there comes the initial purchase, which still relies on many of the same marketing practices, like testing offers, messages, channels, and timing. But the real shift occurs after that first transaction. That’s where engagement comes into play. This is where the relationship begins to take shape, as you deliver value like helpful information, discounts, and priority service that encourages the customer to stay involved.

Over time, this leads to renewal, in which those in a relationship with you decide to continue and make subsequent purchases. This is where the economics become especially compelling. Retaining an existing customer is far more efficient than acquiring a new one. Finally, as in any relationship, there may be a time when it ends or is paused. However, because you have the contact information and a wealth of purchasing history, you have the information needed for a meaningful outreach through a winback effort. Former members and subscribers often represent one of the most overlooked marketing opportunities for an organization.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from the past four decades, it’s this: marketing is no longer just about making a sale. It’s about building a relationship. The tools will continue to change. Technology will continue to evolve. But the organizations that succeed will be those that focus on creating ongoing value and maintaining meaningful connections with the people they serve.

A simple place to start is to look at your current customers and ask: How can I give them a reason to stay? That question, more than anything else, is where relationship marketing begins.

Additional membership guidance can be found in the books The Seven Deadly Sins of Membership Marketing and Membership Recruitment. Both are now available on Amazon.