Dues Dilemmas: Navigating Member Reactions to Financial Changes
Welcome to “Behind the Curtain: Association Chat’s Anonymous Confessions” – a series where we delve into the real, anonymized stories and challenges from within our community. These posts offer a revealing look into the hurdles faced by association professionals, illuminating the often hidden aspects of their work.
In this edition, we think about the tough task of managing member reactions to necessary dues increases and structural changes. Discover how balancing financial responsibilities with member expectations plays out in an institutional setting.
Some Responses from the Community
“Well, it certainly sounds like you did some major due diligence with this. Any chance you can grandfather in existing members into the new pricing? Maybe just offering that option to individual companies who have an issue with it? If not, it sounds like the organization is doing what it needs to position itself for future growth and those members may simply not be a part of that future.
The board will have to be OK with that if they aren’t agreeable to concessions, and will need to consider ways to make up that revenue. My two (or 20) cents 
“
“Anonymous member food for thought: try to future proof against consolidation – i.e., if there’s a cap or some other way where the biggest companies scale past a point that there’s diminishing returns for you.
I know of associations that structured dues years and years ago and now a handful of companies are buying up all the regionals, so they’re going from 10 individual payers to 4, and those 4 are capped so it’s less money overall.”
“Not knowing how your dues are calculated, here is how we restructured our dues as we are an organization based association as well. Our dues are predicated on the census, every 10 years, with COLAs in between. For 2023, we grouped by state size [census count] to create XL, L, M, S tiers to make more simple, straight forward and balanced. About 85% saw an increase under this model and the balance were either flat or saw a decrease.
We had 100% renewal and added new members. We attribute this to being able to articulate what we are delivering for members in policy work, TA support, etc. Our team fielded questions and had the guidelines to make exceptions, where needed.
Communications is key including messaging from the board, where necessary. Our board is governance and fiscal accountability focused vs. operations focused. We present our operational plans for review; however final ops decisions lie with the leadership team and SMEs hired in these areas.
I’m glad to hear you are working with your board on right-sizing compensation. Our CHRO was key in getting that done. Happy to discuss if you want more details or insight in how we managed.”
Engaging Questions for Association Professionals
- How have you navigated member reactions to financial changes within your organization, and what strategies worked best for you?
- What are your tips for effectively communicating the need for dues increases to institutional members?
- Have you encountered similar challenges with budgeting uncertainties? How did you manage them?
- In your experience, what’s the key to maintaining member trust and satisfaction during financial restructuring?
- What innovative approaches have you used to secure sponsor renewals and support a modest dues increase?
Dive into the unfiltered realities encountered by your peers and join the conversation in our exclusive, members-only Facebook group, Association Chat. This is your space for advice, experience sharing, and open dialogue in a supportive community.
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