--- title: "Where Association Membership Stands in 2015" id: "29490" type: "post" slug: "where-association-membership-stands-in-2015" published_at: "2015-07-30T17:30:30+00:00" modified_at: "2015-07-30T17:30:30+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/07/30/where-association-membership-stands-in-2015/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/07/30/where-association-membership-stands-in-2015.md" excerpt: "Fewer associations are reporting membership growth this year than in 2014, according to the 2015 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. Plus: What does task shifting at work cause?" taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "labor organization" - "Membership" - "Trends" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Where Association Membership Stands in 2015 A key report tracking membership trends is out, and the news, this time around, is a little mixed. The 2015 “Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report,” [released by Marketing General Inc. (MGI) (opens in a new tab)](http://www.marketinggeneral.com/knowledge-bank/reports/) , analyzed and compared membership trends from 914 organizations. A couple of key points of note from this year’s report: **Forty-six percent of respondents** said they’d had growth in their membership over the last year. That’s down from the 53 percent that experienced growth in 2014. **Of the associations seeing member growth,** 72 percent of the growth came from new members, and 37 percent came from member renewals. The study also includes data on recruitment, awareness, social media work, paid dues structures, and association management. The report is downloadable for free [over at the (opens in a new tab)](http://membershipmarketing.blogspot.com/2015/07/free-download-2015-membership-marketing.html) Membership Marketing Blog. ### Quote of the Day **Work interruptions can be serious.** Gloria Mark, a professor in the informatics department at the University of California at Irvine, studies the cost of task switching. Here’s what Mark had to say about the matter [in an interview with Fast Company‘s Kermit Pattison (opens in a new tab)](http://www.fastcompany.com/944128/worker-interrupted-cost-task-switching) : *“We found there is significantly more stress. We did a laboratory experiment where people did a typical office task. … We used a NASA workload scale, which measures various dimensions of stress, and we found that people scored significantly higher when interrupted. They had higher levels of stress, frustration, mental effort, feeling of time pressure and mental workload. So that’s the cost.”* Some people offset stress by working faster, or avoiding interruptions that require a lot of work and deviation from the current task—or they just work from where they can focus. ### Other Links of Note **Are you about to collaborate with someone?** John Antanaitis, Polycom’s vice president of solution marketing, wrote of several ways to make sure the partnership works. [Head over to CMSWire to find out what he said (opens in a new tab)](http://www.cmswire.com/social-business/start-your-collaboration-off-on-the-right-foot/) . **Education can help enhance your organization**—for your employees and your members. Tagoras’ Jeff Cobb [has a few starting points (opens in a new tab)](http://www.tagoras.com/2015/07/29/boost-your-education-business/) for boosting your continuing education and professional development offerings. **It’s hot. Hot, hot, hot.** And—if you’re in the right place—the air conditioning is keeping things cool. [Inc. writer Anna Hensel highlights (opens in a new tab)](http://www.inc.com/anna-hensel/how-temperature-affects-office-productivity.html) how frigid temperatures really help the office. [Patrick deHahn](https://associationsnow.com/author/patrick-dehahn/) Patrick deHahn is a contributor to Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/patrick-dehahn/) Tags: [#labor organization](https://associationsnow.com/tag/labor-organization/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#Trends](https://associationsnow.com/tag/trends/) **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/) - [VideoThe Graham Report: New CEO Trends in 2024January 31, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/01/31/the-graham-report-new-ceo-trends-in-2024/) - [VideoIntroducing the Graham Report Short Intro V2December 16, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/12/16/introducing-the-graham-report-short-intro-v2/) - [VideoIntroducing the Graham Report IntroDecember 16, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/12/16/introducing-the-graham-report-intro/) ## 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%2F2015%2F07%2F30%2Fwhere-association-membership-stands-in-2015%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !