10/11/2022

To Better Offset Inflation, One Association Overhauled Its Membership Model

Fact: More revenue is needed to deal with inflation

Raising membership dues is a sensitive subject for associations. However, as costs increase, leadership often turns to raising dues as a means of generating additional revenue to help offset inflation. A typical process for raising dues might proceed as follows: The chief financial officer will recommend raising dues, and the membership team will make the case that, while the increased revenue would be nice, there are members who will view the increase as a hardship and drop membership.

For the International Association of Movers (IAM), by 2020, it had been several years since a dues increase. Membership growth had been flat, and the impact of COVID-19 hit hard, especially when IAM had to cancel its 2020 in-person annual meeting. It was not only time for a dues increase but also time for a complete overhaul of the membership categories and pricing model.

Navigating the relationship between current membership models and pricing structures can be challenging because associations rely on dues to support many activities. In other words, any significant reduction in dues revenue can be catastrophic.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.