Keep Your Membership Thriving: How to Combat Decline in Any Organization

Members are essential to your organization. No matter your mission, goals or classification, a strong membership is needed for success, growth and overall stability. But what do you do when your membership starts to decline? The death of an organization starts with the death of its membership, and we aren’t having a funeral any time soon.  

We want to see your organization thrive, so we’ll share how to identify a membership decline, common causes and strategies to correct it in this post. Once you’ve finished the article, check out some of our other resources to pivot the needle and actually grow your membership here:  

• 10 Member Drive Ideas  
• 24 Membership Benefit Ideas to Attract and Retain More Members  
• The Best Membership Marketing Strategies for Any Organization in 2024  
• 99 Ways to Get New Members for Your Organization 

Before We Begin: Data on Membership  

The 2024 Membership Marketing Benchmark report shared that 21% of associations saw a decrease in membership and 31% saw no change over the past year. Does your organization align with this data? Are you better off, worse or the same?  

Data table on membership changes from The 2024 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report  

Take a look at your membership data; where is your organization at from last year, the past 3, 5 or even more? Here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) we suggest you look at:  

• Membership renewal rate  
• Member acquisition rate  
• Member retention rate  
• Membership growth rate  
• Member attrition rate  
• Member engagement   

These will help identify if you could be experiencing a membership change out of the ordinary and help pinpoint issues.  

What Causes Membership Decline  

To effectively combat a decline in membership, you need to first understand what causes it. There’s a variety of reasons why you might see a drop in membership; some are related to finances and benefits, whereas others will be part of your communication and engagement.  

Economic Factors  

It’s no secret that the current state of the economy isn’t great. While inflation is slowly decreasing, many individuals are still recovering from the 9.1% we saw in June of 2022, with 2023 seeing an average of 4.1%. In the past 12 months alone we’ve seen an average of 2.6% increase in the cost of everything, with necessities like housing and transportation showing steep increases of 4.9% and 8.2% respectively.  

With higher costs like this, individuals tend to cut spending on things that aren’t a necessity, like membership to an organization. It’s important to consider what you charge for your membership compared to the economy and the benefits you provide.   

Essentially, do the costs outweigh the benefits? How do you bring enough value to ensure your membership is a must-have instead of a nice-to-have when times are tough.  

Low Member Engagement  

Why would you pay for something you don’t use? Members may leave an organization because they aren’t engaging and don’t utilize the benefits. You’ll be able to see this in your member engagement data.  

Poorly engaged members have low attendance rates to your events and meetings, never open or read your newsletters, don’t interact with your content (social media/website) and don’t take advantage of exclusive opportunities like professional development.  

Even if a member is super active in your organization, seeing their other members lack engagement and poor attendance will impact their opinion of your org. After all, if you joined an organization for the sense of community and the community started to fizzle out, would you want to stay?  

Members Don’t Feel Heard  

One of the worst things a member can experience is sharing feedback or suggesting ideas/changes for their organization and nothing happens. This leads members to feel like they don’t have a voice and that leadership doesn’t care about their opinions. As we’ve mentioned previously, most membership organizations require monthly or yearly dues, so why pay to be ignored?  

Members who don’t feel heard will likely lapse and leave your organization. You’ll see an even bigger decline in membership and decreased retention if you specifically ask for member feedback and don’t utilize it. 

Competitors are Doing it Better  

Chances are there’s at least one other organization similar to yours. Perhaps the competition is offering better membership benefits or has a lower cost. Suppose your members see another organization giving a better member experience. In that case, they’ll likely leave to get the best bang for their buck.  

Competitors aren’t just the organizations in your local community, though; keep in mind your industry’s virtual or remote organizations. Some individuals prefer to be a part of an organization in the digital landscape, as they can connect with more like-minded individuals worldwide.  

How to Combat a Decline in Membership  

If you’ve seen a decrease in member retention and a low rate of new members, it’s time to make some changes. Consider implementing the following changes to bring a new life to your organization and, hopefully, an influx of new members, too! 

Conduct a Member Survey 

You can make assumptions about why your membership is declining, but you won’t truly know unless you ask! Send out two different surveys to get the most accurate data from members. One survey for those who are leaving and one for your current members.  

For both surveys, focus on these core areas to cover your bases: 

• Member benefits 
• Activities/events 
• Professional development opportunities 
• Cost 
• Communication 
• Community 

Membership Exit Survey 

Regardless of whether your organization is experiencing a membership decline, a membership exit survey is always a good idea. This is essentially a “why are you leaving” questionnaire you’ll send to members who decide not to renew their membership or cancel early. 

Tips for success: These members are already leaving, so there’s a chance they don’t want to fill out a lengthy survey. For the highest response rate, stick to brief questions with easy responses like a slider bar (strongly disagree to strongly agree). Add an optional open response at the end for members to elaborate on their decision to leave. 

Member Feedback Survey 

A membership feedback survey should be implemented regularly to get a sense of the health of your organization. This will allow you to pinpoint why your members might be unhappy and pivot before they go. Using this feedback, you can also prioritize the features of your membership that members like. Perhaps you’re spending more on social events like happy hours, but your members value professional development. Cut back on the events and funnel that money into getting a speaker for an educational seminar. 

Tips for success: Send this survey out before renewals hit. Members will have time to think about the true value of the membership, and you have an opportunity to respond to any negative feedback. This gives you the chance to pull members back in and share how you will make changes for the following year. You may even offer a discounted membership for those planning to cancel. 

Read more: Why Your Organization Needs a Member Satisfaction Survey and 40+ Question Examples 

Show Appreciation 

Just as it’s important for your members to feel heard, you want to ensure members are appreciated. When members feel valued, they’re more likely to stick around. Fostering a sense of community and improving the member experience can be done from simply saying “thank you” to your members or holding a member appreciation day.  

Membership appreciation can also increase member engagement, a key part of combating membership decline. Engaged members tend to get involved beyond just a standard membership. They’re more likely to become volunteers, participate in leadership opportunities and even bring new members to your org! 

Examples:  

• In your member newsletter, have a member spotlight section. Here you can highlight a member and share about their contributions to your organization. 
• Send personalized “thank you for being a member” letters or emails highlighting their member experience. Put in fun data about how many years they’ve been a member, the number of volunteer events, the number of events they’ve attended, etc. 
• Host a member appreciation event. This is where you can celebrate your members with fun activities, entertainment, and yummy food, and you can give swag bags with merch from your org. 

Read more: How to Host a Member Appreciation Week (+ 10 More Ideas!) 

Introduce Membership Tiers 

If cost is a deterrent to your members, implementing membership tiers or levels is a great way to appeal to everyone. Think of it as a basic, plus and premium membership offering. The higher your membership level, the higher your dues, but you’ll get more benefits and access. This allows members to choose the membership that works for their budget and what they want to get from your organization. 

Example: Some members might only want to be a part of your organization for the community and social aspect. So, having a “social” membership tier with more affordable dues is a good option. This would allow these members to attend events and access your online community to interact with others. But they wouldn’t get all your educational resources like on-demand webinars or professional networking events. 

Read more: Membership Level Names: The Secret Sauce for Super-Creative Tier Names 

Offer New Ways to Get Involved 

If your member engagement is suffering, it might be due to limitations on participation opportunities. Flexibility is key, especially if you have a wide array of member demographic. Some people like being involved in person, whereas others prefer virtual opportunities. Members can be super involved in large social opportunities and others prefer more intimate gatherings.  

Here are a couple of examples of pivoting your strategy to boost engagement. 

Provide Virtual Options 

If your meetings are all in person and you see low attendance rates, this could be due to some members having transportation limitations. Start streaming via Zoom to let members participate no matter where they are. Having live polls and an open chat lets their voice be heard even if they’re on mute. 

Consider recording your meetings and posting them on-demand on your website, online community or virtual space. If the timing of your meetings conflicts with members’ schedules, this allows them to catch up later at a time that works for them.  

Offering these virtual opportunities can even extend to seminars you may host, training sessions or fun activities like trivia nights.  

Tips for success: It can be overwhelming to offer all your activities digitally, so start off with your major meetings. This will go a long way with your members, especially if these meetings require feedback like voting on the next social location, a change to your org’s leadership structure or implementing a new rule to your bylaws. 

Offer Small Groups  

Most organizations have large gatherings or events where all members are invited to attend. This can be overwhelming for some members, resulting in them never attending and losing interest in your organization. Try implementing smaller group functions where members can connect with others and feel like they’re genuinely a part of a community. 

For a small group gathering, have a sign-up or registration limited to just 10 or so members. This could be an activity at a local business like pottery-making and cooking classes or an in-depth educational session where attendees can ask questions and have hands-on instruction.  

Tips for success: To ensure you offer the activities members want to attend, send out a monthly poll for options. Members can vote on what they’d like to do and even give suggestions for things you might not have thought of. You never want to be stuck organizing an event with no interest, especially if you’ve partnered with a local business looking to grow its awareness and customer base. 

Introduce Mentoring Programs 

Many members have joined your organization to grow in your industry; perhaps they’re looking for guidance or advice on how to be successful. This is where you look to your established members to become mentors to your newbies. Send out an interest letter to your members on becoming a mentor and their specialties or interests. Members can also opt into this program to seek mentorship on a specific topic, whether it’s focused on professional growth or learning a new skill/hobby. Based on how mentors/mentees respond to the interest letter, you can pair the right members together and strengthen your member relationships and sense of community. 

Tips for success: Make this a part of your membership onboarding program to help ease new members into your organization. This 1 on 1 connection will allow them to have a go-to person for any questions they might have and a friendly face at your functions/meetings. 

Increase Marketing and Communication 

Sometimes members might have low attendance or engagement solely because they aren’t aware of what’s going on. Maybe you’re only putting your events calendar on your website or newsletter. How often are your members reading your whole newsletter or visiting your organization’s website? 

Be sure to share all your events, activities and opportunities for involvement across all channels. This means newsletters (virtual and physical), your website (especially the members-only section), social media accounts, text messages and email. Bonus: increased marketing will also boost your organization’s visibility, bringing new members! 

Tips for success: You don’t want to overwhelm members with organizational updates, so ask them for their communication preferences! This is more than just the communication channel; it’s also the frequency and subject matter. Say a member wants to receive texts and emails about volunteering opportunities only. Segment them into a list focused on all your volunteer updates; that way, they won’t be frustrated by notifications that do not apply to their preferences.  

Focus on Retention and Onboarding  

Getting new members is great but holding onto the ones you already have is vital. Not only is it more cost-effective, but it will bring a higher value to your organization’s membership. Members who have been around for years tend to encourage others to join and are great advocates for your mission.  

WildApricot Tip: Try starting a member referral program! Not only will this help retain your members by giving them a reward for referring, but the new members that will be brought in tend to be a great match for your organization. 

The onboarding process is frequently overlooked when talking about member retention. Think about it: would you want to stay in an organization that didn’t set you up for success when joining? Without proper onboarding, new members might not know everything offered in your org’s membership, so when renewal season comes around, they don’t see the value in continuing their membership. 

When revamping your onboarding process include the following: 

• Benefits of membership 
• Contact information of leadership/important team members 
• Discount codes or promotional offers 
• Event and activity calendar 
• Any exclusive content or resources  
• List of groups they can join 
• Training or professional development opportunities 
• How to access your member space (online community, Facebook page, Slack channel, etc.) 

 When it comes to your membership budget allocation, focus on spending more on retention efforts and your onboarding process; you’ll see a difference. 

Read more: How to Create the Ultimate New Member Welcome Packet 

Leverage Technology 

We know that budgets are tight, and many organizations have small teams that might not have the bandwidth to implement all the strategies we’ve mentioned. However, with the right technology, you can automate and simplify many of these processes, saving your team time and making their jobs easier. 

Consider membership management software (MMS), an all-in-one solution that organizations can use to send out member communications, manage events, process and track membership dues, integrate with social media channels and build/manage your website. Plus, MMS can track and analyze your members’ behavior and engagement, allowing you to proactively reach out before they lapse. 

If your organization could benefit from using this type of tech, try WildApricot for free with a 60-day trial! Our software is used by thousands of small to mid-sized membership organizations to make their lives easier and improve their member’s experience with features like: 

• Website builder: create and update your website with little-to-no tech experience. 
• Events: easily create and promote lessons, events, and rentals, with online registration, attendance tracking and payment processing. 
• Payments: automate membership renewals, registrations and payments. 
• Database: maintain detailed member and admin records in an easy-to-search and filter online database. 
• Emails: send professional newsletter and email communications to your members. 
• Member Login: allow members to log in to your website to access exclusive resources. 
• Mobile App: track event registrations, payments, and more on the go.