--- title: "Looking Beyond the Membership Numbers" id: "21410" type: "post" slug: "looking-beyond-the-membership-numbers" published_at: "2014-01-29T12:58:49+00:00" modified_at: "2014-01-29T12:58:49+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/01/29/looking-beyond-the-membership-numbers/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/01/29/looking-beyond-the-membership-numbers.md" excerpt: "The rise of a third-party online community for doctors could be viewed as a cautionary tale for associations—or, instead, a reminder that a membership count isn't the only measure of success." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Membership" - "online communities" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Looking Beyond the Membership Numbers Last week here at *Associations Now*, we shared the story of Doxmity, an online community for healthcare professionals, which [now has more than 250,000 members](http://associationsnow.com/2014/01/new-social-network-for-doctors-already-outpaces-ama-membership/) . That’s more members than the American Medical Association, with about 225,000. It’s a headline if there ever was one, both for the association community and the venture capital audience, where [the story first popped up (opens in a new tab)](http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/09/doximitys-social-network-for-doctors-now-has-more-members-than-the-american-medical-association/) . Several association professionals shared their thoughts, in the [comments here at AN](http://associationsnow.com/2014/01/new-social-network-for-doctors-already-outpaces-ama-membership/#comment-1214864397) , on ASAE’s [Collaborate discussion forum (opens in a new tab)](http://collaborate.asaecenter.org/communities/viewcommunitydiscussions/viewthread/?GroupId=787&MID=45129) [login required], and at last week’s “[Association of the Future (opens in a new tab)](http://media01.commpartners.com/NAM/2014_Winter_Leadership/archive.html) ” event hosted by National Association of Manufacturers’ Council of Manufacturing Associations. The core point of debate seems to be “Should associations be afraid of being surpassed by competing online communities?” > If a separate organization builds a product or service that improves your industry, isn’t that still a step toward your mission? Let’s step back, though, to ask a different question: Do free online community members count the same as paid association members? The answer depends on what exactly an organization is doing with those members and what those members are doing. In other words, it depends on your mission. If connecting your members to each other for knowledge sharing and networking fulfills at least one part of your association’s mission, then you probably ought to be building or facilitating some sort of online community or be worried that someone else will. Surely, for a great number of associations this applies. But for some associations, online community is outside their core mission and may be best left to others to build. This seems to be the case for AMA. It has a rather tightly focused [strategy (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/strategic-focus.page?) , and I don’t see where building an online community directly fits in. In fact, [Doximity (opens in a new tab)](https://www.doximity.com/product) is not even the first large online community to arise in the healthcare industry. [Sermo (opens in a new tab)](http://www.sermo.com/) has been at it for a while, too, and counts more than 200,000 members. Both of these networks have become successful by mostly keeping a narrow focus on peer-to-peer connection; neither, however, has branched out into advocacy, research, or public-health initiatives. So, are they truly competition for AMA? Competition is a funny word for associations, anyway. It’s easy to misread competition if you’re focused on membership numbers alone. Think of it this way: If a separate organization builds a product or service that improves your industry, isn’t that still a step toward your mission? Does it matter if your association didn’t build it? In AMA’s case, if Doxmity and Sermo both prove to advance the quality of healthcare in the United States, shouldn’t AMA be happy about that? And rather than seeing Doximity and Sermo as competition, couldn’t they both be viewed as potential partners? (In that regard, AMA may be perhaps *lucky* that its profession is large enough to give rise to robust, well-funded, and well-organized community platforms. Associations in other industries may instead be faced with the choice of either trying to coordinate many smaller, dispersed, self-organizing groups or building community platforms themselves.) This is all to say that the number of members in any group—association or online community—is less important than what that number enables, because [mission comes first](http://associationsnow.com/2013/12/why-mission-comes-before-membership/) . That can be easy to forget when looking at an example like this. The growth of Doxmity shows what’s possible in the business of connecting people with each other around a shared interest or profession, but it’s not undeniable proof that every association should be building its own online community. Instead, I see it as a reminder that there are multiple paths for an association to pursue its mission. Sometimes that path will involve building out a new benefit to attract members. And sometimes it’s wiser to let someone else take the lead. Where does online community fit into your association’s mission? Have you built your own or worked with communities that have grown elsewhere? How does the AMA/Doximity example compare to the landscape in your industry? Please share in the comments. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Joe Rominiecki](https://associationsnow.com/author/joe-rominiecki/) Joe Rominiecki is a contributing editor to Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/joe-rominiecki/) Tags: [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#online communities](https://associationsnow.com/tag/online-communities/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [Video2026 Summit Awards DinnerOctober 2, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/02/2026-summit-awards-dinner/) - [VideoAmerican Geophysical Union: Standing Up for Science: AGU’s Year of Action for Scientists and SocietySeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/american-geophysical-union-standing-up-for-science-agus-year-of-action-for-scientists-and-society/) - [VideoAmerican College of Emergency Physicians: ACEP Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation ProgramSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/american-college-of-emergency-physicians-acep-geriatric-emergency-department-accreditation-program/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2014%2F01%2F29%2Flooking-beyond-the-membership-numbers%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !