Using Research to Grow Membership

Understanding the needs and wants of membership is vital to an association's growth. Whether it's qualitative or quantitative, research provides an association with a "blueprint" of members' thoughts and opinions toward a specific set of ideas and concepts. Utilizing this blueprint, the association can tweak its products, benefits, and services to better meet the needs and wants of membership and, in turn, maximize growth and revenue.

To support this argument, we have included data below taken from the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. The following charts provide a summary of growth statistics for associations who introduced member research in 2012.

GROWTH STATISTICS FOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS WHO INTRODUCED MEMBER RESEARCH IN 2012
	Change in Membership	Change in Renewal Rate	Change in New Members
Increased	59%	45%	65%
Stayed the Same	16%	32%	20%
Decreased	26%	23%	16%

GROWTH STATISTICS FOR TRADE ASSOCIATIONS WHO INTRODUCED MEMBER RESEARCH IN 2012
	Change in Membership	Change in Renewal Rate	Change in New Members
Increased	53%	38%	72%
Stayed the Same	21%	28%	16%
Decreased	26%	34%	13%

The findings above demonstrate that conducting member research can increase the likelihood for an association to experience growth in overall membership, renewals, and new members. Although it is not directly related to growth, research will provide the association with a clearer picture of where it is doing well and where attention needs to be focused. With this knowledge, the association can take the necessary steps to improving membership and ultimately, increase the potential for membership growth and profitability.