Across the association sector, optimism is running high. Sixty-three percent of leaders expect non-dues revenue to increase, per GrowthZone’s Annual Association Survey Results. Yet many structures that once made associations resilient show real strain. Overreliance on sponsorships, flat retention, and fragile revenue models reveal a widening gap between confidence and capability.

Half of associations report no growth or decline in membership, and only 11 percent describe their value proposition as “very compelling,” according to data from the Marketing General Incorporated (MGI) 2025 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. The challenge isn’t lack of effort—the old model of belonging and renewal by habit no longer works the way it once did.

But this moment isn’t a crisis. It’s a crossroads. Our analysis of the latest industry benchmarking points to a critical turning point. The organizations that advance in the next few years will be those that rebuild around six key imperatives for sustainable growth.

1. Show Members the Results That Matter

For decades, members renewed out of habit. Professionals joined and stayed out of expectation, identity, and tradition. That habit is gone.

Today’s members, shaped by on-demand digital experiences, expect visible results. They want proof that membership moves them forward through career progress, credentials earned, or measurable professional growth. Yet half of associations still fail to tailor communications to early-career professionals, the most value-sensitive segment.

One national medical society we worked with redesigned onboarding as a 30-day sprint, ensuring new members achieved a credential milestone or meaningful connection within weeks. Retention climbed immediately.

Loyalty no longer comes from belonging. It comes from results. The question has changed from “Do members see value?” to “What outcomes do we promise, and how fast can we deliver them?”

2. Keep Members Engaged Between the Big Moments

In-person meetings are back, but their power to drive loyalty is fading. While 62 percent of associations reported stable or rising event attendance in 2023, that number fell to 53 percent by 2024.

Events remain essential, yet they are no longer enough. Members now expect a continuous experience through mentoring, online learning, and peer communities that extend well beyond the ballroom.

One association turned its annual meeting app into a year-round networking hub. The same technology connecting conference attendees now drives mentoring and collaboration across hundreds of smaller, ongoing discussions.

Events spark energy. Continuous engagement sustains loyalty. Within the next three years, the most loyal members will come from associations that enable multiple meaningful interactions per year outside of events.

3. Move AI From Pilot to Practice

In 2024, nearly two-thirds of associations reported no AI use at all. By 2025, 41 percent were exploring AI, and 19 percent planned implementation.

Interest is real, but execution lags behind ambition. Too many associations remain in pilot mode, waiting for the perfect moment to start. Meanwhile, the leaders who integrate AI today are already redefining the member experience.

Organizations use AI to summarize real-time member feedback, prioritize at-risk members for outreach, and personalize content delivery. The gains in satisfaction and retention are measurable and significant.

AI is moving from the margins of experimentation to the center of association operations. The leaders who move from pilots to production now will set the standard for member experience across the industry.

4. Build Revenue That Doesn’t Depend on Events

Naylor Association Solutions’ 2024 Association Benchmarking Report highlights that, for three years running, non-dues revenue has been the top financial challenge for associations. Most are optimistic, but few have built the infrastructure to deliver it.

Too many organizations still rely heavily on event-driven sponsorships, which vanish when attendance dips. The future lies in scalable, member-aligned models: credential programs, subscriptions, and year-round partner engagement that create predictable income.

One professional society now generates more than half its non-dues revenue from microlearning subscriptions launched during the pandemic. The program has become both a retention driver and a profit engine.

Sponsorships will always matter, but long-term growth depends on revenue that scales with what members value. When learning and credential programs grow, loyalty and stability grow with them.

5. Turn Data Into a Shared Asset

Associations are drowning in data but starving for insight. Only 29.7 percent integrate their engagement tools effectively, and 40 percent lack regular member feedback loops.

The problem isn’t the data itself. It’s fragmentation. When systems don’t talk, strategy drifts.

Forward-thinking organizations are breaking down silos and building data fluency across teams. They’re creating shared dashboards that reveal real-time trends, helping staff spot engagement declines early or adjust campaigns midstream.

When associations connect their data, they move from describing performance to improving it.

6. Make Renewal Effortless

Members now compare their association experience to consumer platforms like Netflix and Spotify. Renewal should be invisible, not inconvenient.

Manual invoices and outdated systems make associations feel out of step with modern expectations. Every renewal interaction communicates the organization’s values: simplicity, trust, and continuity.

Leading associations are moving to auto-renewal with transparent opt-outs, flexible digital payments, and smart recovery campaigns that re-engage members before lapse. One association reduced member drop-off by simplifying renewal emails and using the same welcoming, action-oriented tone it used for onboarding.

The easier it is to stay, the more likely it is that members will. By 2026, seamless renewal will be a basic expectation, not a differentiator.

A New Era of Relevance

The optimism across the field is real, but optimism alone won’t rebuild what’s broken. Associations that measure their progress, learn faster than their peers, and deliver tangible results will lead the next era. Relevance will belong to those who earn it every year, instead of assuming it will last.