When Sponsor and Member ROI Clash (589 words)
I recently had a discussion with an executive director of a construction industry association. The discussion revolved around giving members more value. Through my querying about this association’s member ROI activities, I discovered that this association was putting on seminars and charging non-members the same price as members. Hmmm…
Challenging Perceptions
Challenging this association leader, I pointed out that this practice is truly a membership disincentive rather than a vehicle for delivering member ROI. He countered with his belief that it was a good way to recruit members, suggesting that non-member attendees might join the association after attending an event or two. Asking about the associations recruitment numbers, it appeared to me that the premise was erroneous. After a long discussion, I held to my belief about this practice delivering effectively zero value to his members—then the admission was finally revealed.
The Truth Will Set You Free
This association leader finally admitted that a vendor pays for everything and gets maximum value when more people from the industry attend. The vendor is naturally looking for customers—fair enough. Are the seminars put on by this association really a member benefit? Absolutely not; the seminars are primarily a vendor benefit. While there is nothing wrong with extracting sponsorship dollars from vendors, please do not confuse sponsorship revenue with delivering member ROI. If the non-member pays the same price, there is no additional value in membership delivered during this scenario.
Pick a Lane
To deliver honest yearly sustainable real-dollar value for your members, you must deliver services that are (a) not available to non-members or (b) priced at such a differential that joining the association is a logical and good business decision. The challenge here is when the association executive tries to create a hybrid—you’ve really got to pick a lane. Delivering bottoms in seats for vendors is a far cry from developing member needed seminars with a proper pricing structure. Being redundant—I’ll repeat that I have no issue with generating additional vendor revenues—go for it. However, realize that these activities do not create perceived member ROI and are not motivators when you ask your members to renew their memberships.
The Advocacy Delusion
This one is the most difficult for association staff and volunteer leadership to stomach. Association sponsored legislative advocacy serves the industry, but does not necessarily deliver direct member ROI to association members. If non-members and members alike receive the same benefit, then there is no way that the advocacy can be called a member benefit. If certain information and/or access is only available to members, then that is a completely different situation—one that does deliver real-dollar member ROI.
Member ROI Positioned Activities
After a decade of conducting my Member Value Process for quite a number of associations and societies, and listening to countless members describe what creates value for their lives—I can state, with complete confidence: Within every service, activity, or product, associations and societies must build a price or access differential favoring the paid members verses the other industry non-members. This is not always easy to do. I site the above seminar example as proof—the association selected to accept the vendor revenue over delivering real-dollar value to the members. While there are always shades of gray in exploring this issue, my recommendation is that you error on the side of delivering member value. The other option only delivers continued membership hemorrhaging. With a little effort, all associations and societies can position all activities and offerings to deliver great member ROI.
The key to safeguarding your organization’s future…is to research, embrace, and maximize…your member ROI.
FAQs & Answers:
1. “Are you saying our events and programs aren’t valuable?”
Answer:
No. They may be very valuable. But activities are not the value proposition—the advantage is. If non-members can access them at the same price or level, they are industry benefits, not membership benefits. The value of membership is the preferential position members receive.
2. “Won’t increasing the differential hurt attendance or revenue?”
Answer:
Possibly in the short term. But in the long term it strengthens membership, improves retention, and increases lifetime member value. You’re trading transactional revenue for a stronger, stickier membership business model.
3. “What if sponsors want bigger audiences and pressure us to keep prices open?”
Answer:
Then be honest about the purpose of those events: they are sponsor programs, not member ROI programs. That’s fine—but don’t confuse sponsor value with member value. Your job is to run both lanes deliberately, not blend them.
4. “How big does the member vs. non-member price gap need to be?”
Answer:
Big enough that joining becomes the obvious decision. Legally, most association attorneys are comfortable with ~75–80% of the dues amount as the maximum safe differential. Strategically, it should feel meaningful, not symbolic.
5. “What if our dues are already very low?”
Answer:
Then you’ve limited your own pricing leverage. Low dues feel member-friendly, but they cripple your ability to create visible advantage. In many cases, modest dues increases actually strengthen the value proposition when paired with strong differentials.
6. “Are we allowed to restrict access to content, tools, or communities?”
Answer:
Yes—and you should. Member-only must actually mean member-only. Giving away your best assets in hopes that people will join later almost never works. Give away headlines, not the substance.
7. “Doesn’t advocacy justify membership by itself?”
Answer:
Rarely. Advocacy usually benefits the entire industry, including non-members. It may support retention emotionally, but it is not a strong recruitment or ROI driver unless members receive special access, influence, or early intelligence.
8. “How do we prove this value to members in real terms?”
Answer:
By measuring and communicating real-dollar ROI—exactly as outlined in The ROI of Membership. When members can see that they get $5, $10, or $20 back for every $1 invested, the renewal decision becomes automatic.
9. “Won’t members complain if we start enforcing differentials more strictly?”
Answer:
Some will—briefly. Then they’ll realize they’re getting a better deal than non-members, which is exactly what they should expect. Clear advantage builds pride, not resentment.
10. “What’s the biggest mistake associations make around value?”
Answer:
Confusing activity with value. Being busy is not the same as being valuable. If you don’t intentionally engineer, protect, and communicate the member advantage, you don’t have a membership strategy—you have a content calendar.