My Go-To Association Growth Strategies

 

Year after year, association leaders face consistent pressure to expand membership, increase meeting attendance, and grow product sales. Without growth, their association may face stagnation and decline.

Having consulted with organizations on growth strategies, I have relied on the insights of several outstanding writers and thinkers to guide me. Here are some of the strategies I find most helpful in establishing and maintaining association resiliency.

Remove Growth Barriers with Systems Thinking

I have encountered associations over the years where warning signs are evident. Perhaps new member input is decreasing, or attendance at meetings is dropping. Peter Senge's insights on systems thinking address these issues. In his book The Fifth Discipline, he states that growth naturally occurs; however, when it slows down or stops, identifying and taking targeted actions to remove a specific barrier to growth offers a high-impact opportunity for change.

When it comes to an association, Senge recommends that an organization step back from addressing symptoms and instead focus on the bigger picture. For example, rather than reacting to a drop in new member numbers by pushing harder, Senge advises examining the entire system to identify one or two specific obstacles causing the decline. The systemic barrier to more new members might be an unclear value proposition, a lack of testing new messages, or an overreliance on email rather than other channels. A systems-thinking approach emphasizes identifying and addressing a specific obstacle to create meaningful change.

In my book, The Seven Deadly Sins of Membership Marketing, I identify the common systemic obstacles that prevent associations from increasing their membership. 

Foster Continuous Innovation

Unlike groups facing declines, many associations continue to grow steadily. Their challenge is not primarily to address obstacles but rather to foster a culture that encourages and sustains innovation. 

Matt Ridley provides practical advice on innovation in his book How Innovation Works and Why It Flourishes in Freedom. He shares guidance that I follow for the process of ongoing improvement. Here are three Ridley-inspired innovation principles that directly relate to associations.

1.      Innovation arises from trial and error. A strong foundation in marketing involves maintaining a continuous testing strategy. Some tests will succeed, while others may flop. Innovation requires accepting a certain level of failure. For example, Thomas Edison conducted 6,000 tests before discovering the right filament for the lightbulb. For membership, this might mean regularly adjusting and improving your renewal system or experimenting with a new marketing channel.

2.      Innovation often occurs by combining existing components. Mixing and matching can be one of the most effective ways to create new solutions. For example, associations might establish a tiered membership structure by adding existing products or services to create a new gold-level membership category that enhances member value and increases revenue for the organization.

3.      Innovation depends on teamwork. Collaborating and gathering input from others with specialized knowledge and skills fosters new ideas. Ask your customer service team what they are hearing from members. Get the latest tech solutions from your IT team. And go beyond your organization to connect with other membership professionals, consultants, and suppliers to gain fresh ideas and insights.

Follow a Proven Growth Playbook

Checklists help ensure you cover all growth opportunities. That's why I use the list provided by Michael Treacy in his book Double-Digit Growth. He outlines five specific disciplines that an organization can follow to establish and accelerate growth. These include:

1.      Preserve the growth you've already achieved. For an association, this involves retaining the members you have worked hard to attract through engagement and an effective renewal system. Associations generally excel at this. The median renewal rate reported in our 2025 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report stands at 84 percent.

2.      Capture business from your competitors. Associations now face increased competition from other associations, for-profit companies, the internet, and even AI. Treacy’s point is that it may be time to actively pursue sales from these rivals. Associations can differentiate themselves through effective marketing and by serving member needs as information curators and conveners of professionals and businesses.

3.      Show up where growth happens. In nearly every industry, some individuals and companies are pioneering new ideas and innovations. Associations that can identify and connect with these key players can benefit from their ideas and successes. Find and engage the innovators and leaders in your industry or field.

4.      Expand into nearby markets. Market expansion has long been a proven growth strategy. In my book, Membership Recruitment, I share examples of associations that use this approach to grow. A notable example is AARP, which shifted from being a teacher-focused organization to serving all retired adults and eventually opening to everyone 18 years of age or older.

5.      Invest in new lines of business. Product line extensions—adding exciting new resources and services—boost the usefulness and appeal of an association. An example of a highly successful one is the American Association of Airport Executives, as highlighted in my book, Membership Recruitment. It has grown to a $100 million budget largely through introducing new products.

These three thinkers—Senge, Ridley, and Treacy—continue to influence my approach to association growth. Their ideas serve as a reminder that lasting success isn’t achieved through quick fixes but through systems thinking, fostering a culture of experimentation, and maintaining a disciplined growth mindset. Whether your association faces challenges or is experiencing a wave of success, applying these principles can help ensure you stay relevant, resilient, and prepared for what’s ahead.

A Blue Ocean Strategy for Membership Marketing

Stepping back and looking at the big picture is what three day weekends help us to do. So I wanted to share a couple of concepts that I came across today in re-reading the book, Blue Ocean Strategy.

As marketers, we tend to continually refine and focus our segmentation. But what if we took the opposite approach and looked for larger commonalities in the marketplace?

That’s what Kim and Mauborgne recommend in their book. The authors write:

“Typically to grow their share of market, companies strive to retain and expand existing customers. This often leads to finer segmentation and greater tailoring of offerings to better meet customer preferences. . . As companies compete to embrace customer preferences through finer segmentation, they often risk creating too-small target markets. To maximize the size of their blue oceans, companies need to take a reverse course. Instead of concentrating on customers, they need to look to noncustomers. And instead of focusing on customer differences, they need to build on powerful commonalities in what buyers value. That allows companies to reach beyond existing demand to unlock new mass customers that did not exist before.”[1]

Here are a couple of other unconventional solutions from Blue Ocean Strategy.

The authors claim that extensive customer research may not be the best method of opening up new strategies and markets.

“Our research found that customers can scarcely imagine how to create uncontested market space. Their insight also tends toward the familiar ‘offer me more for less’. And what customers typically want ‘more’ of are those product and service features that the industry currently offers.”[2]

So what is one way a company can evaluate a new strategy? They recommend, “A good way to test the effectiveness and strength of a strategy is to look at whether it contains a strong and authentic tagline.”[3]

If you cannot put your promise into a clear and concise tagline then you should question whether or not it is a viable offering.

[1] W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, Harvard Business School Press, 2005, page 101 and 102.
[2] Ibid. page 27.
[3] Ibid. page 40.

Five Strategies for Picking the Best Marketing Lists

Smart direct marketers will agree that whom you target with your promotion is the single biggest factor in the success or failure of your efforts.

In direct marketing, the 'who' is defined by the mailing and email lists—and the selects within those lists—that you choose to reach.

Since the person who gets your promotion is so key to your results, it pays to follow time-tested strategies to find and use the best marketing lists to maximize your success. Here are five strategies you may want to consider the next time you are ready to order lists for a promotion.

Strategy #1—Test lists regularly in all your promotional activities and track the results.

It is remarkable how many marketers ignore this basic strategy. If list selection is the single biggest factor in the effectiveness of a promotion, it makes no sense to test offers, formats, copy, and graphics until you know that you are reaching the prospects who are the most likely to respond. Even if you are 'happy' with the response you are getting now, testing is essential because any list that you are promoting to will fatigue over time.

Even in marketing efforts sent to current customers, it makes good sense to include tests to identify key response characteristics for various segments of your file.

Strategy #2—Research lists effectively by using available published data, professionals in the field, and your professional network.

To begin your search for new marketing lists, there are some outstanding on-line databases that are excellent tools to help you identify specific files. The two most recognized on-line sources are Nextmark and SRDS DirectNet. SRDS also publishes a print directory called the Direct Marketing List Source that includes most commercially available lists.

You will also want to take a look at where organizations like yours advertise and exhibit. Chances are that the subscribers or members of these organizations will also be good prospects for you. Likewise, if an organization is renting your list, it is a good bet that their customer list will also have good prospects for you.

Help from list professionals is also very valuable. A good mailing list broker will help you find the lists that have worked successfully for other organizations with a similar product or offer. They also have subscriptions to the major list databases and experience in using them. List brokerage services are provided at no cost to the list user. They are compensated for their time by the list owner, so it is appropriate to have the broker who did the research for you place the order. Your list costs are the same whether you buy direct or through a broker.

When you select an outside list from a third party provider, your order of the list for direct mail usage will be provided to you in the format you prefer, labels, excel, tape, etc. The rental price allows you to use the list one time. If you order an email list, the manager or owner of the list will send out the email to the list on your behalf. You will supply the text or the HTML content for the email.

Strategy #3—Test marketing lists strategically by testing list categories.

Breakthrough growth for an organization comes from finding a new market segment or category of prospects. When you find this new group of prospects it is not unusual to see the number of responses double or triple compared to what you would ordinarily expect.

For association marketers, some major categories worth testing are:

• Membership lists of compatible organizations
• Subscribers to other industry periodicals
• Seminar or convention attendees
• Supplementary book and audio-visual buyers
• Compiled lists selected by job title

And of course, do not forget to test your own in house lists:

• Former customers/donors/members by year lapsed, and
• Referrals and inquiries by year received.

Although it is wise to try a variety of list categories, a good place to start is to select a category of lists where the behavior of those who make up that list matches the action you want your prospective customer to take. For instance, if you are trying to sell an information product, try information seekers who have joined an association or subscribed to a magazine. To do fundraising, market to donor files. To generate attendees for an event, try seminar lists.

Strategy #4—Test lists efficiently by trying only the best segments of a new list first.

Begin your list testing by using the best segment or select from a list first. If this select does not work, then you can assume that the remaining portions of the file are unlikely to generate an acceptable response.

But how do you know what the best segments of a list are?

Even if you know very little about a list, you can be fairly certain that you are receiving the best portion of the list by remembering three letters, 'RFM,' and incorporating them into your list selections.

• The 'R' stands for recency (i.e. Hotline Names). This select is usually the best bet to increase your response rate because recent purchases on a list indicate someone is in transition or in a buying mode.
• The 'F' stands for frequency (i.e. multiple transactions). Frequency of purchase can also be described as a multibuyer select.
• Finally, 'M' stands for monetary amount (i.e. larger order size). This select is important if you are trying to sell a higher priced item because it indicates purchasing authority.

It is not unusual for 'RFM' to increase response rates by up to a third. RFM—especially ordering recently added names to a list—can also be a technique to reinvigorate a regularly used list that is experiencing fatigue or a decline in response rates.

Strategy #5—Use direct response lists.

Direct response lists are made up of people who have responded to a promotion and bought a product or service, requested information, or made a donation. In an age when not everyone opens their mail or email, let alone demonstrates that they have the time, interest, and money to respond, these names are a valuable commodity. Direct response lists give you the opportunity to reach a prospect that has demonstrated the exact behavior that you want to have replicated for your product or service.

Because of the demonstrated buying behavior, names on a response list will cost $50 to $100 more per thousand to rent than a compiled file. But direct response lists will also usually respond well above a compiled or directory type file.

Direct response lists are also highly responsive because they include the email or mail address where the buyer prefers to make purchases. Someone who orders a product takes care to give their correct and their preferred address on an order form. In the same way, subscribers and members regularly update names and addresses when they move or change jobs because they have paid for a magazine or membership.

What's the bottom line on finding the best lists for your next promotion?

Since the lists that you select for a marketing effort will have a profound impact on the results you receive, testing and finding new lists is foundational to successful marketing. A new list will open up entirely new market categories for the product and service that you are marketing and will give you access to new customers who are eager to buy from you. Finding new lists takes time and effort, but can be very, very profitable.

The AARP Growth Strategy

Yesterday’s post, My Favorite Growth Strategy – Market Expansion, outlined the theory of growing membership through market expansion. I thought that it might be interesting to take a look at the classic example of using this strategy today – AARP

In 1947, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a retired high school principal, founded the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA). But after ten years of operation, in 1958, NRTA evolved into AARP when Andrus opened the organization to all senior Americans.

“Apart from a bumpy period in the late '70s, AARP's rolls have risen rapidly each year since its founding in 1958: 1958 50,000 1968 1.6 million 1978 11.8 million 1988 30 million“(Money Magazine).

Membership was boosted in 1984 when AARP further expanded its markets by lowering the age of membership eligibility from 55 to 50.

Today AARP reports 38 million members.

Clearly, the AARP growth included favorable demographics, market need for insurance and other products, and a good membership value proposition. However, if AARP did not look beyond its original narrow teacher market, some other organization would be serving seniors today instead.

That’s why market expansion is so important.

Thinking broadly about who might benefit from the products and services provided by an association can lead to substantial growth.

My Favorite Growth Strategy – Market Expansion

In my post on Growing Revenue through Membership Packaging,
Wednesday, October 5th, we looked at product line extenuation as a strategy for growth.

Today, I want to discuss one of my favorite growth strategies, Market Expansion.
I was reminded of this strategy in the last issue of Associations Now in the article Picking Markets That Matter by Noel Capon.

Capon warned that there are two mistakes organizations can make. One is overstretching to new markets and the other is remaining static and not moving fast enough.

He gave two corporate examples of organizations that successfully looked beyond their existing markets to grow. One is “GOJO’s launch of Purell as a first-in-its-category consumer product for keeping hands clean.” This launch moved it outside its traditional healthcare and food-service markets and “put it on unfamiliar ground.” But today, Purell is a very successful consume brand.

The second example is Progressive Insurance which launched a discount pricing strategy tied to an analysis of customer’s credit ratings. This allowed it to “acquire and retain a new population of medium- and low-risk customers.”

This market expansion strategy “drove Progressive’s growth from the 13th-largest to the third-largest player in the U.S. car insurance market.”

I have also seen the strategy of reaching out to new markets used with great success in the association marketplace. Sometimes, a market expansion strategy will require some modifications to member benefits and services.

Here are some examples of market expansion:

• Professional engineering associations reaching out to operators
• US associations expanding internationally with electronic membership
• High visibility cause driven-associations reaching out to consumers as donors
• College based associations reaching out to AP high school teachers

Here are some tips to help you get started with a market expansion strategy to adjacent or hot new markets.

• Use secondary research to begin scanning new markets to see if who would benefit from your association’s insights;
• Initiate primary research with executive interviews, focus groups, and surveys to identify unmet needs;
• Match your existing members and customers against commercial databases with data analytics to identify individuals from new markets who are already joining and using your services;
• Add live test quantities of commercially available mailing lists and databases in new markets to your ongoing marketing activities to measure potential response in these segments.

What new markets should you explore to expand the growth of your organization?