How to Increase Association Membership: Proven Strategies for Growth

Association leaders are asking the same question: how do we increase membership in a world where institutional trust is down, and attention spans are so fractured? For many organizations, membership is not just a number it helps the association increase influence, delivering on its mission, and create a community who connect, inspire and learn together.

For the last 5 years this has become more challenging. Prospective members are busy, their budgets are tight, and retention is actually the most important tool for recruitment. The good news is that with the right mix of strategy, digital tools, and member engagement, associations can build sustainable membership growth year after year.

This guide covers proven, actionable strategies to increase your membership by simplifying your join process to digital marketing, member retention, and beyond.

Why Membership Growth Matters for Associations

Membership is what makes an association an association. More members means:

• Greater financial stability: Member dues are the original subscription revenue. Stable and recurring they provide insulation from economic downturns
• Expanded reach and influence: A larger member base strengthens advocacy, policy influence, and thought leadership.
• Stronger communities: Different members bring different experience and perspectives increasing strength of your community.

For example, the American Nurses Association doubled its advocacy reach by growing its member base among early-career nurses. By tailoring programs to their professional stage, they not only recruited more members but amplified their policy influence on Capitol Hill.

Strategies to Increase Association Membership

Below are effective ways that associations can grow their membership today. This comes with specific examples you can put right into action.

Simplify the Membership Sign-Up Process

• Do a deep dive into your join page: Put yourself in a prospective members shows and go through the sign-up process. If it takes more than 5 minutes or multiple clicks, simplify it.
• Use “one-click” payments: Services like Stripe or PayPal speed up checkout.
• Mobile-first design: Over 50% of prospects will view your site on a phone.

Action Step: Record a screen share of a colleague trying to join. Every point where they hesitate or ask a question = friction you should fix.

Bonus Tip: Use Hotjar to actually watch prospective members (anonymized) on your website to see if they have trouble signing up.

Offer Tiered and Flexible Membership Options

Not everyone has the same needs or budget.

• Student or early-career tiers: Offer lower pricing to get people in the door early.
• Organizational memberships: Let employers buy bulk packages for staff.
• Premium tiers: Include perks like VIP access to events or free CE credits.

For example the American Marketing Association created a student membership at $29/year. These early joiners often convert into full members later, fueling long-term growth.

Action Step: Survey prospects about what keeps them from joining (cost, time, relevance). Use that data to create 2–3 membership tiers.

Launch Referral and Ambassador Programs

People trust recommendations from peers more than ads.

• Referral rewards: Offer $50 off next year’s dues when a member recruits someone new.
• Ambassador programs: Train select members to promote your events and benefits on LinkedIn or at conferences.
• Social media shoutouts: Recognize members who refer others.

For example the American Institute of Architects runs a“ Member-Get-a-Member” program where current members earn Amazon gift cards for each new recruit.

Action Step: Launch a quarterly campaign: “Bring a colleague, get rewarded.” Track referrals in your AMS.

Use Events to Showcase Member Value

• Guests or plus 1: Allow members to bring one non-member to a virtual or in-person event. Think of it like a free trial.
• Prospect webinars: Host a free webinar on a hot topic (e.g., regulation updates) and invite attendees to join at the end.
• Follow-up offers: Send event attendees a limited-time discount code to join for the first year.

For example, a state medical association gave non-members free access to one CME webinar. 20% of attendees converted into paid members after seeing the quality first hand.

Action Step: For your next event, reserve 10% of seats for non-members. Afterward, send them a “Join Now & Save” email with a 7-day deadline as your call to action.

Personalize Outreach with Member Segmentation

• Make marketing lists by career stage: Cater your emails by stage as people expect different messaging whether they are a student or executive.
• Highlight relevant benefits: Talk about benefits of joining your association with real examples (get a raise, free cme).
• Use automation: Marketing automation software can help make this easy once you set it up correctly.

For example, the Association for Talent Development (ATD)boosted student memberships by 30% with targeted emails focused solely on mentorship and career resources.

Action Step: Create three prospect segments in your email list. Write one message for each that highlights the most relevant member benefits.

Leverage Content Marketing and Social Media

• Post member success stories: Interview members on podcasts or video podcasts and have them share the impact your association has had on them.
• Create evergreen content: Blogs like “Top 10 Career Trends in [Your Industry]” can rank in Google for years.
• Engage on LinkedIn: Share infographics, videos, podcasts, and blogs about the impact your association is having.

For example, the American Dental Association created a YouTube series with quick tips for young dentists. Every video ended with: “Get more support like this, join ADA.”

Action Step: Write one blog post each month targeting a keyword your prospects are searching for, like “career development in [industry].” End with a call-to-action to join.

Digital Marketing Tactics for Member Acquisition

• Paid LinkedIn campaigns: Target job titles or industries directly tied to your membership.
• SEO optimization: Use keywords like “association for [industry] professionals” across your site.
• Email nurture sequences: Build a 3-email series:
   
  1. Resource or event invite
   
  2. Member story/testimonial
   
  3. Invitation to join with discount or deadline

Action Step: Run a $500 LinkedIn ad campaign promoting a free industry resource. Capture emails, then follow up with a membership offer.

Member Retention as a Key to Growth

Retention is growth. The old saying is it costs $10 to acquire a customer and just $1 to keep them.

• Onboarding: This is one of their first experience with you. Send an on boarding kit or personally call them.
• Engagement: Offer members-only webinars, job boards, or directories.
• Renewal nudges: Send reminders at 90, 60, and 30 days before expiration.

For example, one engineering society increased renewals by18% after adding a “new member orientation webinar” within the first 30 days.

Action Step: Create a 3-touch onboarding plan: Welcome email+ call from a volunteer + invite to a “new member mixer.”

Measuring and Optimizing Membership Growth

Track and track and track:

• New member acquisition rate (monthly/quarterly/annually).
• Renewal rate (goal: 80%+).
• Engagement metrics: event attendance, CE completions, logins.

For example, an association used their association LMS to track CE participation and noticed members who completed 3+ courses per year renewed at 90%. They began promoting CE more heavily, boosting retention.

Action Step: Pull last year’s data and compare engagement of renewed vs. lapsed members. Double down on the benefits tied to renewals.

Common Mistakes Associations Make in Membership Growth

• Chasing new members only, instead of keeping existing ones happy.
• Overcomplicating membership forms with 15+ fields.
• Promoting features (“newsletter”) instead of benefits (“stay ahead of industry regulations”).
• Ignoring lapsed members instead of trying to win them back.

Final Thoughts: Building a Sustainable Membership Strategy

Boosting your membership isn’t something you do once a month. It is about doing dozens of little things right, over and over again. By doing the above steps you can make an immediate and long term impact on your membership growth.

Remember: people don’t just join for benefits they join to belong. When you deliver meaningful value and a strong sense of community, membership growth naturally follows.