A new survey of association leaders found that many groups are lax about pursuing renewal and engagement strategies for current and lapsed members.

The annual Association Report was released by AMS company Growthzone last month, and is based on responses of leaders at 518 U.S. and Canadian associations surveyed at the end of 2025. Overall, membership has stayed healthy across organizations, with approximately 90 percent or respondents saying that new memberships have increased or stayed the same. A similar percentage anticipate retention rates of 80 percent and above.

However, respondents also shared concerns around reaching prospective members, navigating the current political and economic environment, and lack of engagement.

According to Scott Robertson, Director of Chamber Accounts at Growthzone, that anxiety has led some associations to scrimp on certain retention initiatives such as automatic membership renewal. According to the report, only about half of associations use autorenewal. “A lot of [the hesitation] is centered around credit-card fees,” he said. “They’d rather wait on a paper check so they don’t have to pay the 3.5 percent fee.” 

That tactic, however, can put off whole classes of members. “There’s a younger generation of people that don’t even have paper checks, and you’re alienating them,” Robertson says. “They can’t even do business with you because all they have is credit cards.”

A similar dynamic is at play when it comes to reaching out to lapsed members: Nearly 80 percent of survey respondents don’t have a formal process for reengaging them, according to the survey. “The shocking thing is, when we asked members why they don’t renew, usually in the top five [reasons given] is ‘forgot to renew.’ The individual thought they paid the bill, or maybe the invoice went to the wrong person.”

Associations can be similarly lax around member engagement, according to the survey: 75 percent do not have a written plan for increasing engagement, and 58 percent do not have a community platform. And among those associations that do have a platform, most have attracted only less than 40 percent of members to it. 

Robertson said the problem is that too many organizations take a set-it-and-forget-it approach to their community platforms.

“It’s a time investment for the association, and the ones that believe in it, understand it, and put the time into it are doing well with it,” he said. “But too many associations think, ‘I’m just going to turn on a community area and my members are going to do everything.’ It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to be posting topics that are engaging. You’ve got to be the one that gets that ball rolling.”

Still, respondents said they’re still looking to expand ways to connect with members online: A majority said they’re somewhat or very likely to expand their use of an LMS in the next 18 months, with most associations seeing it as an opportunity for nondues revenue. 

That effort, according to the report, should be part of a larger ecosystem of engagement tools. “Associations are investing in expanded offerings to increase perceived value that include: more events, free or discounted trainings and licensing education, mobile app access, free event registration for new members, 6-month free membership promotions, emerging leader groups or communities, business resources, volunteer opportunities, and ambassador programs,” the report said. “The offerings are tailored to be more frequent, more accessible, and more relevant, especially for newer members and specific professional segments.”