“It’s you or the drink package on the cruise.”
That’s what two people told a leader at a professional society in the last six months. The dues cost $200. So does the drink package. Then came the question underneath:
“200 bucks versus what? What are you going to give me? What am I going to get?”
At renewal, members look back at the year and do the math: what did I get, and was it worth what I paid? Industry research on why members don’t renew consistently puts two answers near the top: they didn’t see the value, and it was too expensive. We treat those as one answer: price is the value judgment, stated in dollars.
The 22-year-old just does the math earlier, out loud, and against something specific. They know exactly what the drink package buys. It isn’t the only thing $200 buys, either. A young, tech-savvy professional can piece together tools that replace much of what they perceive the association does. Why shouldn’t they?
The leader I spoke to worries that new graduates don’t understand what it means to be part of a profession: standards of practice, independent governance, advocacy. That concern is real. It’s also not the question the 22-year-old asked.
Her association has started with an answer. At its strategic retreat, it defined member value as helping people become what they want to become in their careers. The open question is what a 22-year-old can point to in year one that proves it.
If you want to test your own answer, read your membership page as that 22-year-old:
Strike every benefit they could get somewhere else for less. What’s left is usually two or three lines. Those lines are your value proposition.
Check whether those lines describe what a first-year member gets, or what a 20-year member gets. They are rarely the same.
Ask whether a new member could point to one of them a year from now and say, “That’s what I got.”
Soon a lot of us will go around a table and say what we’re thankful for. Gratitude for a membership comes later, once a member can point to something it did for them. A 22-year-old can’t point to anything yet. Your job is to tell them what they’ll be able to point to.
The drink package is easy to explain. Membership has to be, too.
One question worth sitting with
If a 22-year-old asked you, “What am I going to get?”, what would you say?
And the harder version:
Would your answer beat $200?
Reply and tell me what you’re seeing. I read every response.
— Chris
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving. If you’re rebuilding your value story by career stage, Imperative One of our 2027 Association Trends report walks through it. Get it here.