Community-Centric Association Membership Models

The Benefits List is Broken

Your membership model is probably a spreadsheet. It is a checklist of features and benefits, each with a perceived monetary value, tallied up into Gold, Silver and Bronze tiers. This is not a membership model. It is a menu at a transactional cafe.

This approach forces your members into a constant, draining calculation of return on investment. Every time the renewal email arrives, they pull out a mental calculator. 'Did I use the webinar library enough? Did I get a discount on the annual conference ticket? Is it worth it?'. This transactional mindset is a race to the bottom. It makes your organisation profoundly vulnerable. As soon as a competitor offers a slightly cheaper webinar series or a more convenient event, your 'Silver' member has no reason to stay. They were never a member; they were a customer buying a bundle of services.