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Will Demographic Trends Transform Association Membership?
Membership recruitment, retention, and participation; volunteer management; and fundraising are necessary elements for the survival of voluntary organizations. While falling membership dues and stagnant membership numbers continue to concern association executives, third-sector membership is still regarded as the outward manifestation of approval by a group of individuals who need a collective voice to represent their interests. When the needs of this core group of individuals are not met, associations lapse into obsolescence or cease to be. In some cases, sociopolitical change brings about the eventual demise of associations — a significant shift in public policy or cultural values, for example, results in an organization’s mission being “completed,” rendering the association irrelevant or even useless. For example, the temperance unions and women suffrage associations were single-purpose groups that, upon successful achievement of their missions, were unable to redirect their efforts to complementary goals. However, the defunct members went on to join (or create) other associations, whose goals often were culturally related to those of the extinct organization. This makes sense, since the members are cut from the same cultural and demographic cloth, so to speak. 
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Winter 2005
