Membership growth and retention is softening in the face of economic and political challenges, according to a new survey.

Earlier this month, Marketing General Inc. released a mid-year update of its Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, which tracks association membership trends. According to the new report, 36 percent of associations said their membership size has decreased—10 percent more than said so in the January edition of the report.

Moreover, the percentage of associations saying that their membership renewal rates have increased also sank, from 25 percent in January to 14 percent in the new survey.

Marketing General Senior Vice President Tony Rossell said MGI was motivated to conduct a mid-year version of the survey—the first in the history of the report—in response to anecdotal stories from association leaders that renewals and membership growth have been lagging. 

“I got feedback from people saying, ‘Hey, since [January], we’ve seen some real challenges and some erosion,” Rossell said. “Then I chatted with some clients, and they said likewise, they’re seeing a little bit of softness.”

Rossell cautions that the mid-year survey has a smaller sample size and shorter response window. Also, summer months can be a traditionally slow period for renewals. But he said that the findings may well reflect a weakening in membership, especially in fields that rely on international travel to conferences, or federal employees who may have found their jobs or travel budgets cut this year due to belt-tightening at the federal level.

“One of the challenges for people who rely on conferences for new member generation, which is typically one of the top ways people get new members, is government cutbacks and international travel limiting people coming into the United States,” he said. “Some of the healthcare groups, I think, are saving some money or holding back with possible Medicaid reductions. So there’s a kind of cautiousness.”

Some of the open-ended responses to the survey reflect that concern. “As an international association with a heavy membership base in Canada, market fluctuation and trade/tariff volatility makes it challenging for our international members to budget and plan for association costs and engagement,” one survey participant wrote.

Wrote another: “We do believe the current political climate will affect our 2025-2026 membership/renewal year. It will also affect our annual meeting attendance and forecast a 10% loss due to loss or

lack of travel funding. We did lose a federal grant for waived annual meeting registration for individuals belonging to minority populations.”

Rossell said the findings should serve as a prompt to association leaders to do more research on their members’ needs, and how they may be affected by current economic and political trends. That gives associations the opportunity to better respond to member needs, and thus improve retention.

“I think there’s a real opportunity to respond with content to support members,” Rossell said. “As you understand what’s going on with your membership, start producing the content—whether it’s reports, articles, webinars, conference sessions—that respond to those questions. How do I deal with tariffs? How do I make sure my patients who are on Medicaid stay enrolled? If I’m an agricultural firm, what do I do if I’m losing my workers to deportation? What are some of the things I need to be aware of? How do I protect myself?”