What is the 2026 Membership Performance Benchmark Report?
The 2026 Membership Performance Benchmark Report is a yearly report published by ASI, the developers of iMIS. Now in its 11th year, the report covers key finding from a survey of professionals working at membership-based organisations. Most respondents are based in the US and over 400 people completed the survey this year.
Membership
- Besides member fees, the 3 top ways associations are increasing revenue are: sponsorship and advertising, events, and educational training
- 62% increased their number of members. The top 3 channels to achieve this were email, events and meetings, and member referrals
- 45% saw an increase in member retention and 24% had retention rates between 90 – 94%
- The top 3 reasons members didn’t renew were: budgetary constraints, lack of engagement from the organisation, and perceived value. However, 38% said member engagement had increased
- The main ways to win back lapsed members were: emails, member to member outreach, and outreach from the team
Zentso’s thoughts
It seems being able to report effectively on member engagement is going to become essential in 2026. To open additional revenue streams, you need to be able to accurately report on engagement.
Engagement scoring is a useful way of measuring levels of interaction between you and your members. Scores are set based on rules you define, for example, 10 points for an event attendance. You can then build reports based on levels of engagement to identify your most engaged members and create a campaign to reengage those with low scores.
Check out our post ‘what is engagement scoring?’ for more on this.
Current plans
- 39% are ‘somewhat confident’ about their organisation’s future growth and sustainability
- 71% of respondents will invest/are currently investing in a membership management system/CRM; followed by events/conference tech and Learning Management System/Certification software
- 73% are using cloud-based software, whilst only 5% are not there yet
- 39% of respondents said though they have data, it takes time and effort to pull reports and analyse
Zentso’s thoughts
Zentso firmly believes membership organisations should be able to make data-driven decisions. If you are looking for new platforms to run activities, like events and learning platforms, it’s important that they integrate with your CRM system. By integrating 3rd party systems, you can reduce the chance of data silos and provide a smoother member experience.
Check out our post ‘How to connect your CRM to 3rd Party Software‘ for more on this.
Goals and challenges
- The top 3 goals were increasing engagement, retention, and acquisition.
- The top 3 operational challenges were inadequate integrations, incorrect or incomplete data, and information silos.
Zentso’s Thoughts
Zentso believes that implementing modern CRM software is the way to achieve membership organisational goals and overcome the operational challenges outlined in the report.
Modern, cloud-based solutions provide membership-based organisations the ability to complete detailed reporting and have a comprehensive overview of their members. A CRM should support internal teams with managing membership renewals, running targeted campaigns, and supporting members with an experience that adds value.
Members should have the ability to manage their membership directly. Ideally, members will have one log in (Single sign-on) and from here they can manage their membership, sign up to events, and engage in online learning. Providing a seamless member experience can help support retention goals.
A modern, cloud‑based CRM gives membership organisations the tools they need to work smarter, deliver more value, and grow with confidence in 2026.
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Additional resources for you
If you liked this post, check out our other articles on similar topics.
The importance of measuring digital engagement in the member journey
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