The 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report surveyed more than 691 association executives to better understand the strategies and tactics they use to recruit, engage, and retain members. The report is the most exhaustive and comprehensive study in the series. Again this year, a key feature of the report was to cross-tabulate specific marketing practices with reported membership outcomes to determine which practices support better results. The Benchmarking Report evaluates the relative success of a variety of marketing practices and presents dozens of key findings to give association executives insight and direction to develop more effective membership marketing programs.

1. 2012 Membership Marketing
Benchmarking Report
Presented by Tony Rossell

2. What are the Trends in
Association Membership?
2012 Membership Marketing
Benchmarking Report
• Fourth Year Produced by MGI
• Over 691 Participating Associations
• Up Front Disclaimer
 What not Why
 Correlation not Causation

3. Research Goals
1. Gain an understanding of the membership marketing
practices of associations
2. Determine the challenges in membership marketing faced
by individual membership and trade associations
3. Define what practices they believe are most effective
4. Understand through cross tabulation with new member,
renewal and growth numbers what practices correlate
with better outcomes

4. Research Methodology
1. Survey open from January 24, 2012 to March 3,
2012 – 6 Weeks Total
2. 5,862 requests to participate
3. 11.7% response rate with 691 participating
associations (one response per association)
4. Margin of error + / - 3.7% with a 95% confidence
level

5. Section 1: Association Statistics
“Is Association Membership Dead or Dying?”

6. CHANGE IN MEMBERSHIP OVER PAST ONE YEAR—COMPRESSED
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 689) (N = 642) (N = 405) (N = 331)
Percentage Increased Overall 52% 49% 36% 45%
Percentage Unchanged Overall 16% 16% 14% 16%
Percentage Declined Overall 29% 34% 48% 35%
Percentage Unsure 3% 2% 3% 5%
CHANGE IN NEW MEMBER ACQUISITION OVER PAST YEAR — COMPRESSED
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 687) (N = 638) (N = 405) (N = 325)
Percentage Increased Overall 60% 57% 42% 49%
Percentage Unchanged Overall 17% 21% 20% 22%
Percentage Declined Overall 14% 16% 26% 21%
Percentage Unsure 10% 8% 12% 10%
CHANGE IN RENEWAL RATE OVER PAST YEAR — COMPRESSED
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 683) (N = 638) (N = 403) (N = 326)
Percentage Increased Overall 36% 32% 21% 22%
Percentage Unchanged Overall 33% 37% 27% 39%
Percentage Declined Overall 22% 24% 44% 31%
Percentage Unsure 10% 7% 8% 9%

7. TOP CHALLENGES TO GROWING MEMBERSHIP
2012 2011
(N = 683) (N = 631)
Membership too diverse; difficulty meeting needs of different segments 26% N/A
Difficulty attracting and/or maintaining younger members 24% N/A
Insufficient staff 24% 16%
Perceptions of the association and/or its culture (i.e., old boy’s network, not
24% N/A
specialized enough, etc.)
Insufficient budget 21% 13%
Changing demographics of industry 18% N/A
Weak product or service offerings 18% 13%
Lack of strategy or plan 17% 11%
Competitive associations 16% N/A
Industry consolidation 14% N/A
Inadequate association management database 13% 8%
Inadequate research to understand market 10% 7%
Lack of marketing expertise 10% 7%
Market saturation 10% 9%
Difficulty in converting student memberships to regular memberships 9% N/A
Lack of integration between national and chapters 8% N/A
Misalignment of goals between board and executive staff 4% N/A
Economy 3% N/A
Poor customer service 1% N/A
Other 12% 16%

9. Section 2: Membership LifecycleTM
Strategies
“What’s working in membership marketing?”

10. Membership Awareness

11. How does your association create brand awareness of your organization?
METHODS FOR CREATING ASSOCIATION AWARENESS
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 683) (N = 638) (N = 405) (N = 599)
Email 94% 71% 67% 61%
Association website 92% 87% 88% 85%
Word-of-mouth recommendations 83% 90% 91% 77%
Promotion to/at your own conferences/ conventions 79% 65% 66% 65%
Advertising in your own publications 72% 48% 56% 51%
Association-sponsored social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) 71% 51% 56% 35%
Direct mail 69% 62% 66% 76%
Association-sponsored events 68% 57% 56% 37%
Cross-sell to non-members who buy your products or attend your conferences 61% 56% 59% 52%
Exhibiting at other conferences 61% 50% 51% 53%
Public relations 61% 40% 39% 29%
Local events/meetings 60% 53% N/A N/A
Search engines (organic) 48% 45% 47% 34%
Advertising in outside publications 47% 31% 31% 28%
Chapters 42% 38% 46% 39%
Job board 39% 24% 23% 23%
Personal sales calls 32% 25% 22% 24%
QR codes 30% N/A N/A N/A
Accreditation promotion 24% 18% 20% 14%
Telemarketing 22% 16% 18% 18%
Paid banners on other websites 21% 12% 13% 12%
Mobile apps 20% N/A N/A N/A
Search engines (paid or pay-per-click) 20% 14% 20% 8%
Radio or TV 15% 7% 5% 7%
Texting 6% N/A N/A N/A
Other 3% 4% 3% 3%
Do not know 1% 0% 0% 1%
Top three methods for creating brand awareness.
Blue: Upward trend

12. Which social media does your organization officially use?
SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS OFFICIALLY USED BY ASSOCIATIONS
2012 2011 2010
(N = 685) (N = 641) (N = 405)
Facebook 86% 91% 75%
Twitter 79% 71% 66%
LinkedIn (Public Access) 56% 53% 59%
YouTube 53% 45% 35%
Association Blog 30% 27% 30%
LinkedIn (Members Only) 30% 28% N/A
Association Listserv 22% 24% 31%
Private Association Social Network 19% 18% 17%
Flickr 15% 15% N/A
Google+ 11% N/A N/A
Wikis 8% 9% 13%
Ning/Groupsite 4% 4% 6%
Second Life 1% 2% 3%
MySpace 1% 1% 4%
None 3% 6% 8%
Other 4% 4% 6%

13. Time to Achieve 50 Million Users
1. Print Hundreds of Years
2. Radio 38 Years
3. TV 13 Years
4. Internet 4 Years
5. iPod 3 Years
6. Facebook 24 Months
7. Twitter 12 Months
8. Google+ 6 Months*
* Stephan Scherzer, CEO, VDZ - German Magazine Publishers

14. Membership Recruitment

15. EFFECTIVENESS OF MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT MARKETING CHANNELS
Most Effective Least Effective
Marketing Channel
(N=685) (N=630)
Word-of-mouth recommendations 54% 3%
Email 37% 11%
Association website 34% 7%
Direct mail 30% 24%
Cross-sell to non-members who buy your products or attend your conferences 20% 7%
Personal sales calls 17% 7%
Promotion to/at your own conferences/conventions 16% 9%
Association-sponsored events 16% 4%
Chapters 14% 8%
Exhibiting at other conferences 10% 28%
Local events/meetings 10% 5%
Promotional incentives 8% 16%
Association-sponsored social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) 5% 18%
Public relations 5% 11%
Telemarketing 4% 13%
Accreditation promotion 4% 4%
Advertising in your own publications 3% 17%
Advertising in outside publications 2% 25%
Search engines (organic) 2% 8%
Search engines (paid or pay-per-click) 1% 10%
Job board 1% 13%
Radio or TV 1% 11%
Paid banners on other websites -- 14%
Texting -- 5%
Other 3% 3%

16. TOP THREE MOST EFFECTIVE AND LEAST EFFECTIVE
MARKETING CHANNELS BY ASSOCIATION TYPE
Individual Membership Associations Percentage
Word-of-mouth recommendations 51%
Most Effective Email 39%
Direct mail 37%
Exhibiting at other conferences 31%
Least Effective Advertising in outside publications 23%
Direct mail 20%
Organizational/Trade Associations Percentage
Word-of-mouth recommendations 56%
Most Effective Personal sales calls 37%
Email 30%
Direct mail 34%
Least Effective Advertising in outside publications 28%
Exhibiting at other conferences 22%

17. REASONS MEMBERS JOIN ASSOCIATION
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 684) (N = 641) (N = 400) (N = 303)
Networking with others in the field 22% 25% 24% 22%
Access to specialized and/or current information 12% 14% 13% 23%
Advocacy 12% 10% 11% N/A
Continuing education 8% 7% 11% 5%
Learning best practices in their profession 7% 7% 9% 8%
Accreditation or certification 5% 4% 4% 2%
Discounts on products or meeting purchases 5% 5% 6% 9%
Association publications 4% 3% 6% 3%
Conferences/trade shows 4% 5% N/A N/A
Prestige of belonging to the association 4% 5% N/A N/A
Access to industry thought leaders 2% 1% N/A N/A
Advancing in their position 2% 2% 2% 4%
Members-only education 2% N/A N/A N/A
Access to career resources 1% 1% 3% 1%
Access to industry benchmark studies 1% 1% 1% N/A
Insurance (Affinity programs) 1% 1% N/A N/A
Not sure 1% 1% 2% N/A
Other 6% 8% 9% 10%

18. Membership Engagement

19. Which of the following communication methods do you use to help onboard
or engage new members in the association? (Check all that apply)
COMMUNICATION METHODS USED TO ONBOARD NEW MEMBERS
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 685) (N = 643) (N = 402) (N = 337)
Email welcome 72% 71% 72% 62%
Mailed welcome kit 64% 67% 68% 83%
Membership card or certificate 51% 51% 59% 58%
Volunteer or staff welcome phone call 29% 30% 32% 26%
In-person new-member reception or orientation 25% 23% 20% 19%
New-member introductory email series 25% 25% 27% 14%
Special discounts on purchases 24% 23% 23% 17%
Invite to chapter meeting 22% 18% 25% 23%
New-member newsletter (print or electronic) 16% 15% 20% 11%
New-member survey 16% 17% 18% 20%
New-member gift (e.g., gift card, calendar, notepad) 12% 11% -- --
Custom new-member renewal series 10% 10% 11% 7%
Telemarketing welcome phone call 10% 12% 10% 4%
New-member webinars 9% N/A N/A N/A
Early or “at-birth” renewal 4% 5% 4% 2%
No special communication 3% 2% 2% 2%
Other 3% 5% 5% 8%

20. What proportion of your members do you estimate engage with your
organization in the following areas EACH YEAR?
AREAS OF ENGAGEMENT
1%- 6%- 11%- 16%- 21%- 31%- 41%- Over
N 0% N/A
5% 10% 15% 20% 30% 40% 50% 50%
Attend your annual conference/trade show 644 1% 12% 13% 11% 12% 11% 11% 6% 10% 12%
Attend at least one of your professional development meetings 663 1% 12% 13% 10% 9% 10% 9% 6% 9% 23%
Acquire or maintain a certification with your organization 666 2% 9% 6% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 8% 57%
Attend at least one of your webinars 658 2% 15% 14% 9% 8% 6% 2% 4% 4% 36%
Purchase a non-dues product (other than previously checked) 655 2% 18% 11% 9% 8% 8% 3% 3% 6% 33%
Purchase a non-dues service (other than previously checked) 658 3% 17% 11% 9% 7% 6% 3% 4% 6% 36%
Purchase or maintain insurance through your organization 658 2% 14% 5% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1% 3% 64%
Purchase a book or directory 653 2% 19% 10% 6% 5% 5% 3% 2% 3% 46%
Participate in your public social network 666 3% 25% 21% 13% 10% 8% 5% 3% 3% 10%
Participate in your private social network 660 3% 20% 13% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 38%
Upgrade their membership 658 2% 16% 8% 6% 3% 1% 1% 2% 3% 58%
Volunteer within your organization 664 2% 32% 21% 14% 11% 7% 4% 2% 2% 7%
Donate to your association foundation or PAC 662 3% 23% 13% 6% 5% 2% 2% 1% 2% 42%
Participate in your young professional program 656 2% 16% 8% 4% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 67%
Participate in your mentoring program 661 4% 18% 5% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 66%

21. Membership Renewals

22. What is your overall membership renewal rate?
3%
Under 3% 2012 (N=685)
50% 3%
2% 2011 (N=643)
4% 2010 (N=403)
50% to 6%
59% 4% 2009 (N=337)
4%
7%
60% to 10%
69% 11%
7%
22%
70% to 23%
79% 21%
16%
38%
80% to 34%
89% 40%
37%
22%
90% or 23%
higher 18%
29%
3%
Not sure 2%
3%
4%

23. What is your retention rate for first year members?
Under 50% 10%
50% to 59% 13%
60% to 69% 12%
70% to 79% 19%
80% to 89% 17%
90% or higher 12%
Not sure 18%
(N=682)

24. Which of the following marketing channels do you use for membership renewals?
MARKETING CHANNELS USED FOR MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 685) (N = 644) (N = 405) (N = 333)
Email marketing 88% 88% 88% 83%
Direct mail 81% 82% 85% 91%
Staff phone calls 53% 52% 49% 56%
Peer member contacts 23% 20% 24% 31%
Telemarketing 21% 24% 23% 27%
Magazine cover wraps 17% 15% N/A N/A
Board phone calls 17% 18% 15% 28%
Social media contacts 15% 13% N/A N/A
Chapter phone calls 13% 14% 14% 15%
Fax 9% 10% 11% 17%
Employer contacts 6% 8% 7% 4%
PURL 3% N/A N/A N/A
Texting 2% N/A N/A N/A
Renewal app for mobile devices 1% N/A N/A N/A
Other 3% 3% 3% 4%

25. How many membership renewal CONTACTS (such as mailings, emails, phone calls) do
you have in your renewal series?
1%
None 2%
2%
1%
20%
1 to 3 23%
22%
21%
40%
4 to 6 44%
44%
46%
23%
7 to 9 18%
20%
19%
7%
10 to 12 7%
6%
7%
3%
13 to 15 1%
2%
2%
2%
16 to 18 1%
1%
1%
2012 (N=686)
More 2%
2% 2011 (N=642)
than 18 2%
1% 2010 (N=404)
3% 2009 (N=337)
Not sure 1%
2%
3%

26. RENEWAL RATES BY NUMBER OF RENEWAL CONTACTS
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS (N=356)
7 or more
1-6 renewal
Renewal Rate renewal
contacts
contacts
Less than 80% 49% 44%
80% or higher 51% 56%

27. When do you start the renewal effort?
Immediately after 9%
8%
welcoming 6%
10%
Prior to 6 months before 5%
6%
expiration 8%
8%
At 6 months prior to 7%
7%
expiration 5%
7%
3%
5 months prior to expiration 4%
3%
5%
9%
4 months prior to expiration 12%
14%
13%
38%
3 months prior to expiration 33%
35%
33%
16%
2 months prior to expiration 16%
15%
13%
8%
1 month prior to expiration 8%
7%
5% 2012 (N=685)
4% 2011 (N=641)
The month of expiration 3%
3%
4% 2010 (N=405)
2% 2009 (N=336)
Not sure 3%
3%
5%

28. RENEWAL RATES BY START OF RENEWAL EFFORT
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS (N=354)
Three months More than three
Renewal Rate or less prior to months prior to
expiration expiration
Less than 80% 51% 40%
80% or higher 49% 60%

29. When do you end renewal efforts (stop renewal contacts to the member)?
2%
At the month of expiration 2%
1%
2%
7%
1 month after expiration 8%
9%
9%
13%
2 months after expiration 13%
14%
13%
23%
24%
3 months after expiration 23%
21%
9%
4 months after expiration 7%
7%
13%
2%
5 months after expiration 3%
2%
Not asked in 2009
8% 2012 (N=688)
6 months after expiration 8%
8% 2011 (N=639)
Not asked in 2009
11% 2010 (N=404)
More than 6 months after 11% 2009 (N=336)
expiration 14%
Not asked in 2009
21%
We don't stop contact 22%
19%
21%
3%
Not sure 3%
3%
4%

30. RENEWAL RATES BY END OF RENEWAL EFFORT
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS (N=354)
More than three
1-3 months
Renewal Rate months after
after expiration
expiration
Less than 80% 51% 43%
80% or higher 49% 57%

31. Do you offer any of the following renewal options?
Installment renewal payments 46%
46%
(monthly, quarterly) 46%
32%
Multi-year renewals 32%
33%
26%
Renewal bill-me 28%
28%
24%
Automatic annual credit card renewal 24%
22%
22%
Lifetime membership 25%
Not asked in 2010
2012 (N=445)
22%
Early renewal discounts 21% 2011 (N=440)
19%
2010 (N=246)
Automatic Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 15%
15%
renewals 10%

32. REASONS FOR NOT RENEWING MEMBERSHIP
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 687) (N = 639) (N = 400) (N = 333)
Budget cuts/economic hardship of company 17% N/A N/A N/A
Lack of engagement with the organization 14% N/A N/A N/A
Employer won’t pay or stopped paying dues 12% 15% 25% 22%
Could not justify membership costs with any significant ROI 11% N/A N/A N/A
Lack of value 11% 24% 36% 20%
Left the field, industry, or profession 8% 12% N/A N/A
Too expensive 5% 14% 11% 22%
Forgot to renew 4% 7% 6% 11%
Lack of relevance 3% N/A N/A N/A
Company closed or merged 2% 7% N/A N/A
Disappointment with the benefits/services 2% N/A N/A N/A
Moved 2% N/A N/A N/A
Retirement 2% 2% 4% 4%
Can get materials from other members/other sources 1% N/A N/A N/A
Disagree with the advocacy position in the association 1% N/A N/A N/A
Lost job 1% 3% 4% 3%
Poor customer service 1% -- 1% --
Student memberships do not convert to full memberships 1% N/A N/A N/A
Switch to competitor 1% 1% 1% --
Not sure 2% 6% 2% 4%
Other 4% 9% 12% 14%

33. BASIC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES BY RENEWAL RATE
Less than 80% 80% or Higher
Under $50 9% 3%
$50 - $99 21% 7%
$100 - $149 15% 6%
$150 - $199 16% 10%
$200 - $299 11% 13%
$300 - $399 7% 10%
$400 - $499 2% 6%
$500 - $749 5% 7%
$750 - $999 2% 3%
$1,000 and over 3% 7%
Varies by company size 9% 29%

34. Membership Reinstatement

35. After a membership lapses or expires, how long do you continue to
contact the member to invite them to reinstate their membership?
10%
We don't contact lapsed 11%
members 10%
8%
22%
1 year after expiration 22%
24%
25%
13%
2 years after expiration 14%
15%
13%
10%
3 years after expiration 9%
6% 2012 (N=686)
6%
2011 (N=641)
5%
4 to 5 years after expiration 4%
6% 2010 (N=403)
5%
2009 (N=333)
1%
6 to 10 years after expiration 1%
1%
1%
We continue indefinitely to 31%
30%
contact lapsed members 24%
30%
5%
Not sure 5%
7%
7%
4%
Other 3%
7%
6%

36. RENEWAL RATES BY HOW LONG ASSOCIATION CONTINUES
TO CONTACT MEMBER FOR REINSTATEMENT
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS (N=305)
More than three
1-3 years after
Renewal Rate years after
expiration
expiration
Less than 80% 51% 42%
80% or higher 49% 58%

37. Section 3: About the Participating
Associations

38. MEAN AMOUNT SPENT ON MEMBERSHIP
MARKETING PROGRAMS BY NUMBER OF PAID MEMBERS
More than
Up to 1,000 1,001-5,000 5,001-20,000
20,000
Acquisition* $17,643 $34,632 $101,931 $503,470
Retention** $12,711 $19,247 $52,240 $298,896
*Acquisition includes money spent on awareness, branding, and recruitment.
**Retention includes money spent on engagement/on boarding, renewals, and reinstatement or win-back.

39. What association management software (AMS) do you use?

40. What types of analysis do you use to measure the effectiveness of your membership
marketing campaigns?
Response rate analysis 49%
Source code or Keycode capture and analysis 29%
A/B split marketing tests 20%
Lifetime value analysis 16%
Computer matchback to prospect database 15%
Recency/Frequency/Monetary Amount (RFM) analysis 7%
N=667
Regression analysis 6%
None 40%

41. Questions?