ASI recently hosted a webinar ‘Inside the habits of high-performing membership organisations’, here we share the key learnings and what they mean for your membership organisation. The webinar was presented by Jeremy Jaile and Rasmus Johansen, Performance Improvement Leaders at ASI.
Firstly, some context of the reasoning behind the session was provided. High-level facts across 3 leading reports in the sector were presented, including findings from Digital Excellence 2026 Benchmark report, ASI’s 2026 Membership benchmarking report, and MGI Membership Marketing Benchmark report.
It was shared that only 43% of associations can easily access and understand their own data. Automating admin and providing member self-service options are still key challenges for membership organisations, despite significant investment in recent years. In addition, revenue programmes, like CPD course and events, are often being run in isolation and not part of a wider strategy.
So, based on these stats, what separates a high-performing membership organisation from the rest?
Being a high-performing organisations isn’t dependent on having biggest budget, the highest number of members or having lots of software at hand – they share 4 key habits.
4 habits of high-performing membership organisations
Habit 1: Trust your own data
High-performing organisations have one central place where they data lives, often referred to as a single source of truth. They can also trust their data, meaning it’s accurate, reliable, and updated regularly.
Essentially, when asked the question “how are we doing?”, your team members should be able to answer confidently; whether that’s about renewals, event registrations or course completions. This means your team can make confident data-driven decisions.
Reporting shouldn’t take days or mean connecting data from across systems. CEOs and Executives should be able to find answers to their questions within your AMS, not having to rely on the team to gather this information.
Check our our post what is a single source of truth?
Habit 2: Free staff from unnecessary admin
This habit focuses on staff not having to spend their time on admin tasks that can either be automated or completed by the member themselves. This isn’t about reducing head count, it’s about allowing staff to spend time on the tasks that do need a personalised experience. Time saved is reinvested into the member experience.
Automation should handle manual admin tasks, such as member joins and member renewals. It’s also important that knowledge of your AMS shouldn’t rely on one person. All of your team should be able to pull reports and complete necessary tasks on the AMS.
Habit 3: Member Self-Service
Member self-service means providing your members with the tools and knowledge they need to complete certain tasks independently. This can include: renewing, registering, updating details and tracking CPD. Members can complete forms online and this data is fed back to your AMS.
It’s important that self-service feels easy, not transactional. It can be a good idea to regularly go through the member journey and see what creates friction. Member self-service isn’t just about getting members to do everything themselves, but it helps to be more convenient around their daily working lives; they can resolve tasks themselves without having to call your team during their work day.
Habit 4: Build revenue that compounds
This habit isn’t about each area of the membership revenue machine working separately, but in a cohesive and strategic way. Membership fees acts as a key driver of revenue but events, courses and sponsorship should also work towards that revenue goal. These areas should work to support each other, for example, events can be a way to increase revenue from sponsorship and courses can help keep members engaged and encourage them to renew their membership.
Why these habit matter even more with the presence of AI
AI is being used more frequently by teams but it cannot help build trust with your data. Creating a single source of truth is essential to make sure your data is accurate and reliable, only then can AI then help you draw conclusions from it. AI will not be able to fix disconnected data living in different systems.
AI search engines also take into account all of your organisations’ activity – your website, member portal, and events. When a prospective member is looking for an association to join, it’s essential to provide a clear member value proposition, what value you can bring to a member and why they should join yours over others.
Key takeaways
The good news is that becoming a high-performing membership organisation doesn’t require a complete transformation overnight. Small, consistent improvements in data management, automation, member self-service, and revenue strategy can have a significant impact over time.
The organisations seeing the greatest success are those that continually evaluate their processes, remove friction, and invest in systems that support both their teams and their members.
From integrations to member engagement and reporting, Zentso helps associations unlock the full potential of their AMS.
Get in touch to explore what’s possible for your organisation.
Additional resources for you
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How membership organisations and associations can use AI and automation
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Practical ways to boost membership growth, retention, and engagement
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