Did you know that the number one reason for association members to skip out on membership renewal is a lack of engagement with their organization? According to Marketing General’s comprehensive Membership Marketing and Benchmarking Report, other major factors contributing to opting out include being unable to justify membership costs, failure to realize any significant ROI, and simply forgetting to renew altogether.

Now, what do these reasons all have in common? They boil down to value – or a lack thereof.

If your association isn’t consistently delivering value to its members, what’s to stop them from up and leaving when their membership is approaching expiration?

The key to retention is member engagement. But what does “engagement” really mean? Rather than defining this term by the sheer amount of activities in which a member participates, it’s more about cultivating relationships. As renowned association marketer and ASAE presenter Erik Schonher says, “engagement is the emotional fabric that drives an association’s success.”

For associations to thrive in today's fast-paced technology era (where access to information is just a few clicks away), there must be a shift in the way we approach membership acquisition and retention. This shift is outlined in Erik's Schonher's webinar, "Membership Engagement: Ideas That Work!" as a progression from members being dependent on associations; to members partnering with associations. The webinar statistics below dive in a little deeper into why and how associations can leverage their social/networking appeal and marketing tactics, including webinars, to influence participation and growth--guaranteeing membership renewal.