1. Membership at the Crossroads
5.23.11
Jay Younger, FASAE
Managing Partner & Chief Consultant
McKinley Advisors
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2. Membership
is dead!
Long live
membership!

3. Is the annualized trend in full, paid memberships
for your association over the past 5 years:
CESSE 2011 EIA 2010 EIA
44%
Higher 44%
44%
29%
Lower 38%
28%
27%
Flat 18%
23%
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4. Same trend with 5 year forward-looking estimate
Estimate CESSE 2011 EIA 2010 EIA
67%
Higher 44%
44%
44%
15%
Lower 29%
38%
28%
12%
Flat 27%
18%
23%
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5. What concerns you most about membership in
your association over the next 5 years?
Aging Membership/Attracting Youth 14
Providing/Communicating value 11
Membership Model 6
Competition 4
Lack of Employer/Govt funding 4
"Open" Journals / Info 4
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6. 65 or older 6%
55-64 39% Typical age
distribution of an
45-54 30%
association’s
35-44 18% membership
25-34 3%
TODAY
Under 25 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
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7. 65 or older 39%
55-64 30% Forecast age
distribution for
45-54 18%
the same
35-44 9% association in
2025
25-34 3%
Under 25 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
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8. IN FOCUS
The Membership
Value Proposition

9. How we look to some…
Pay us in advance so that you’ll have lots
more to read and the ability to pay us again
for access things that may or may not be
relevant for you…
…because it’s the “right thing to do” and
you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.
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10. Customer Value Proposition
Job to be done: solves an important problem
or fulfill and important need for the target
customer
Offering: satisfies the problem or fulfills the
need. This is defined not only by what is sold
but also by how it’s sold.
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11. Living with a mature model
We typically try build our member value
proposition around our existing processes
and resources…
…this has acute impact on the
membership value proposition.
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12. Think about:
 Conference committees
 Website navigation
 Presidential initiatives
 Chapter meetings
 e-newsletters

13. Some of our processes and
decisions that erode the MVP:
 Product development
 Pricing
 Brand strategy
 Incentive compensation
 Promotional mix
 Technology platforms
 Service levels
 R&D investment

14. Deconstructing the MVP
What within your membership offer:
• Is available EXCLUSIVELY to members?
• Addresses ONE job to be done, not ten?
• Is CHEAPER, FASTER or EASIER to obtain?
• Is relevant to nearly ALL of your target audience?
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15. The “half full” argument…
• There WILL be markets and potential members
to serve in the future.
• Certain membership drivers are ETERNAL.
• Membership growth is a LAG INDICATOR of a
viable customer value proposition.
• Our challenge is to create a BALANCED AND
COHERENT value proposition for membership.
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16. Behavioral Drivers
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17. Functional Emotional
Mission Profit
Risk Return
What’s What’s
Core New

18. Strategies to Enhance the MVP
• REWORK internal structures
• Seek BALANCE in the MVP
• EXPAND DEPTH within member organizations
• Focus on the USER EXPERIENCE
• Determine what can be made EXCLUSIVE
• Test low/no cost CONTENT alternatives
• TARGET communications (REALLY)
• Invest in MOBILE
• Increase FLEXIBILITY in membership policies
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19. Let’s talk…
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