Early Results from the 2011 Membership Benchmarking Survey: Memberships are on the Rise!!

Results of the 2011 Membership Benchmarking Survey indicate that overall membership growth, the primary indicator of association health, is on the rise in comparison with results from the 2009 and 2010 Membership Benchmarking Surveys.

                                                 2011          2010        2009


Percentage Increased Overall        49%          36%         45%

Percentage Unchanged Overall     16%          14%         16%

Percentage Declined Overall          34%         48%          35%

Not Sure                                      2%            3%             5%



While there are many possible reasons, growth in new member recruitment appears to be the big driver in membership growth.  Of responding association executives, 57% report the acquisition of new members increased over the past year.  These results are significantly better compared to previous years (both 2009 & 2010).