---
title: "Data: Why Do Members Lapse?"
id: "10214"
type: "post"
slug: "data-why-do-members-lapse"
published_at: "2018-02-12T05:00:00+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-15T02:48:46+00:00"
url: "https://associationsnow.com/2018/02/12/data-why-do-members-lapse/"
markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2018/02/12/data-why-do-members-lapse.md"
excerpt: "There were several positive signs for membership growth last year, but that probably won’t stop you from harping on your lapsed member numbers. While Community Brands’ 2017 Member Loyalty Study (opens in a new tab) showed that 74 percent of..."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Membership"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "ASAEcenter"
  - "member retention"
  - "Member Services"
  - "Membership"
  - "Membership Recruitment & Retention"
  - "renewals"
taxonomy_content_format:
  - "Article"
taxonomy_role:
  - "Association CEO / Executive Director"
  - "Executive Team"
taxonomy_persona:
  - "Association Professionals"
---

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 » Data: Why Do Members Lapse?

There were several positive signs for membership growth last year, but that probably won’t stop you from harping on your lapsed member numbers.

While Community Brands’ 2017 [Member Loyalty Study (opens in a new tab)](https://www.communitybrands.com/memberloyaltystudy/)
 showed that 74 percent of members plan to renew their membership, 14 percent said they cancelled or allowed their membership to lapse in the last year. Here are the top six reasons why they said goodbye:

### Top Six Reasons Membership Was Not Renewed

It became too costly

34%

The organization was providing little value

26%

I changed industry/employment

19%

I forgot to renew

13%

Company would no longer pay the membership dues

9%

There was a decline in benefits or quality of benefits offered by the organization

9%

*Source:* *Community Brands’ 2017 Member Loyalty Study*

[This article was originally published in the *Associations Now*print edition, titled “Data: The Cost of Lapsed Members.”]

Tags: [#member retention](https://associationsnow.com/tag/member-retention/)
 [#Member Services](https://associationsnow.com/tag/member-services/)
 [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/)
 [#Membership Recruitment & Retention](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership-recruitment-retention/)
 [#renewals](https://associationsnow.com/tag/renewals/)

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