By Bryan White, CAE, Kellen Group Vice President
Across industries, association leaders are navigating a period of rapid change. Not because associations are losing relevance, but because your members’ expectations are rising faster than many organizations are evolving.
In my work across multiple association portfolios, and in countless conversations with boards, executive committees, and volunteer leaders, I see the same forces surfacing again and again. Workforce demographics are shifting, with new generations entering professions with very different expectations about engagement, access, and value.
Technology is accelerating how people learn, connect, and make decisions, which is compressing timelines. Entire industries are experiencing disruption in how work gets done, how knowledge is shared, and how professionals build careers. At the same time, attention has become a scarce resource. Your members are overwhelmed with information, options, and competing demands on their time.
Members today compare their association experience not to other nonprofits, but to the best digital and professional experiences anywhere. Everyone expects the “Amazon Experience” – intuitive, immediate, relevant, and personalized. That shift is redefining what value looks like.
Here are five realities boards and executive leaders can’t afford to ignore.
1) If Prospective Members Can’t Find You, They Won’t Join You
Many associations still rely on legacy awareness channels – referrals, reputation, and tradition. Meanwhile, professionals are discovering organizations through web searches, digital communities, and peer networks that operate far outside traditional association pipelines.
Growth is no longer just about delivering value. It’s about being discoverable, and understandable, to people who don’t already know you exist.
2) Retention Problems Are Usually First-Year Experience Problems
Most associations treat renewal as an annual decision. Members don’t. They decide consciously or unconsciously within their first few interactions whether the organization is essential or optional.
Weak onboarding, unclear pathways to engagement, and delayed value delivery can erode retention long before renewal notices go out.
3) “Personalization” Isn’t Innovation Anymore
Members are conditioned by every other platform they use to expect relevance, immediacy, and customization. Generic communication, broad programming, and one-size-fits-all engagement models feel outdated.
Associations that cannot tailor experiences will increasingly struggle to compete for attention, time, and loyalty.
4) Community Is the Only Advantage Associations Truly Own
Information is everywhere. Expertise is searchable. AI can summarize almost anything.
But trusted peer connection and the ability to learn from people facing the same challenges in real time remains rare and deeply valuable. Associations that intentionally design smaller, more meaningful community experiences are seeing the strongest engagement.
5) Technology Is No Longer a Back-Office Decision
Members experience your technology stack whether you want them to or not, and its often times through clunky logins, fragmented communication, irrelevant messaging, and disconnected data.
At the same time, AI and automation are dramatically expanding what teams can accomplish. The question is no longer whether to modernize, it’s how long an organization can afford not to.
So What Are The Practical Next Steps For Your Association?
Trade Associations
· Reassess how advocacy value is communicated. Connect policy outcomes directly to business impact.
· Build more targeted engagement pathways for different member segments (large firms, small businesses, emerging leaders).
· Expand peer-to-peer business intelligence exchange, not just information distribution.
· Evaluate whether your events model reflects how your industry now networks and learns.
Healthcare Associations
· Strengthen member support around workforce pressures, burnout, and practice transformation.
· Expand just-in-time education and clinical or operational decision support.
· Integrate community and collaboration tools that support interdisciplinary care teams.
· Ensure technology and data strategies align with regulatory, credentialing, and quality reporting realities.
Scientific & Professional Societies
· Redesign the member value proposition around career progression, research impact, and skills development.
· Rethink how knowledge is created, shared, and applied beyond traditional journals, conferences, or continuing education.
· Expand structured mentoring, collaboration networks, and career pathways, especially for early-career professionals.
· Invest in digital platforms that support ongoing learning, credentialing, and interdisciplinary exchange.
· Map the full professional lifecycle and identify where the organization is, and is not, essential.
The organizations gaining momentum today are making participation easier, value clearer, and engagement more meaningful, and it requires intentional leadership choices. Associations that act intentionally now will define what relevance looks like for the next decade. Those that wait may find their members redefining it for them.
About:
Bryan White, CAE, is an association executive with more than 20 years of experience guiding associations in the trade, scientific & professional society, and healthcare sectors. He joined Kellen in 2025 as Group Vice President.
