I was looking at survey data recently, and one number stopped me in my tracks.
Only 11% of association executives believe they offer a very compelling value proposition.
We're talking about 89% of associations that essentially admit they don't know why someone would choose to be a member.
In any other industry, that'd be inconceivable. Imagine a software company saying, "Yeah, we really don't have a customer value proposition. Not sure why anyone buys from us."
They'd be out of business by next quarter.
And yet, here we are. In 2026, it's time to change that.
The membership logic has changed
For decades, membership was rooted in belonging. You joined because it was expected, because your mentor did, because being part of the profession meant being part of the association. That was how it worked.
That logic doesn't work anymore, and it's painful to accept.
I was talking with an association CEO a few months ago who put it perfectly:
"Our older members think the younger ones should just want to belong. They should write the check. It's like... they should. But they don't. And they won't."
Members today, especially those earlier in their careers, are looking for something different. They want experiences, connections, relationships that have real outcomes for them. They're asking you to be part of their success story.
That's a 180-degree shift in thinking, and most value propositions haven't caught up.
The value proposition playbook
1. Stop asking if members are satisfied. Start asking what they need.
Most member research asks the wrong questions, like "Did you like the event?" and "Would you recommend us?"
This doesn't reveal what's missing.
The better questions that very few ask:
What do you need to be successful in your career that you're not getting?
What challenge do you face every day that you wish someone would help with?
That's where you will find the real answers.
2. Talk to the members who left. And the ones who never joined.
Your most engaged volunteers love you. Unfortunately, that's why their feedback can mislead you - their experience is so different from your average member's that it skews everything.
→ One association we worked with was convinced their value proposition was solid. Then they interviewed lapsed members and learned no one could actually articulate what made membership worthwhile.
That was a humbling conversation. But it was the conversation that mattered.
3. Find your right to win.
Your strongest competitive moat sits where three things come together:
A real unmet need your members have
A way to meet that need that no one else can offer
Assets or capabilities that are uniquely yours
Having more features (or better ones) doesn't give you the right to win.
Having something that no one else has, that's what gives you the right to win.
It's a narrower space than most associations want it to be. But that's the discipline.
4. Invite members into the design process.
Avoid creating your value proposition in a conference room and then testing it on members.
Involve them from the beginning instead, not just your board, but also members who are undecided, former members who might return, and prospective members who have not yet joined.
The most successful value proposition work we've seen happens when members co-create, not just react.
Yes, it's messier and takes longer, but you end up with something people actually want.
5. Become a member of your own association.
This might sound obvious, but it is surprisingly rare:
Join your own association.
Go through the renewal process.
Try to locate your most valuable content.
Track how many emails you receive in a week.
See firsthand what the member experience actually feels like.
You can't fix what you haven't personally felt.
The disconnect between what associations think they're delivering and what members actually experience... It's often stunning.
6. Get specific about outcomes, not features.
Features can be copied or replaced entirely. LinkedIn provides networking, YouTube delivers education, and industry publications supply content.
Many of the offerings that once set your association apart are now available elsewhere, often for free and with greater convenience.
The shift we all need to work on is to move from "We offer professional development" to "We help early-career professionals land their first leadership role."
From features to transformation.
7. Publish what you learned and what you'll do.
After your discovery work, share a short, public summary of what you've heard and what you're going to do about it.
That transparency builds trust faster than any glossy annual report ever will.
When members see that their input makes a difference, engagement stops being a transaction and becomes a relationship that makes change possible.
Closing thoughts
Lisa and I started Sequence at our kitchen table in Chicago because we believed associations could be more than caretakers of the status quo.
They could be engines of transformation for their members, for their industries, for the professionals who depend on them.
But that requires being honest about where you are. Even when the numbers are uncomfortable.
Here's a line I keep coming back to:
Members don't want to belong to something. They want to become something.
The associations that really internalize this are the ones that thrive. And the ones that keep defending the old model... well. We've seen how that story ends.
This week's move (15 minutes):
Send a short outreach to 10 members as a beginning-of-year survey.
Create a mix of engaged, disengaged, and lapsed members.
Ask three questions:
→ What did you hope membership would do for your career?
→ What's one thing you need right now that we're not providing?
→ What would make you say "I can't afford not to be a member"?
Bring the top insights to your next leadership conversation.
If you're one of the 89% associations unsure of their value propositions, you're in good company. The question is what you're going to do about it.
I'd genuinely love to hear how you're thinking about your value proposition right now.
What's working? What's stuck? Reply and tell me, I read every response.
Happy New Year,
— Chris
PS - We published our 2026 Association Trends Report, so if you want more insights about the topic of AI, check it out here: https://2025-association-trends--3v1ri7t.gamma.site/