2026 Membership trends in finance, AI and technology

In partnership with Research by Design, we’ve recently supported Memcom to produce its State of the Sector survey.

Drawing on responses from CEOs across the membership sector, the report explores membership trends, finance, AI and technology, along with the opportunities and challenges shaping membership organisations today.

A Key Issue – Building a Closer Relationship with Members

We often talk about the importance of seeing members as a community, rather than an audience.

You might tell an audience what you do, what benefits you offer and what content you create. But a community wants to hear that they belong, that their needs shape what you do, and that they can connect, contribute and participate.

This distinction came through loud and clear in the report. 

It makes for interesting reading with some great insights across many areas, but as publishers and comms specialists, a few stood out to us.

State of the Sector Insights

1 A key challenge is ‘creating a closer, more engaging relationship with members,’ cited by 66% of respondents. That is not an audience problem. It is a community problem. An audience may open emails, read magazines or attend the occasional event. A community feels involved, known and connected.

2 Members are becoming more selective, more values-led and more outcome-focused. One respondent says people no longer join institutions simply to hold a credential; they join to feel part of something that reflects their identity, values and ambition. That is a powerful argument for community.

Members are not just buying access to information. They are looking for a sense of belonging.

3 The report challenges the old “more stuff” model of membership. It says broad, standardised offers are becoming less persuasive, and members are no longer satisfied with volume – more content, more services, more access – if those things feel generic or irrelevant.

This is where the audience/community distinction becomes useful. An audience can be given more content. A community needs more relevance, more conversation and more connection.

4 The need for personalisation. Members want support that applies to their role, career stage, region and circumstances. That means organisations need to stop broadcasting the same message to everyone and start designing experiences around the different needs of their members. 

5 Linking member value directly to retention, growth and financial resilience. Demand for membership is becoming more fragile, fees are rising, and organisations are under pressure to prove relevance. Community-focused activity helps because it creates reasons to stay that are harder to copy: relationships, trust, shared identity, peer support and participation.

The first step in creating closer, more engaging member relationships

How does your content land?

Do you treat your members as an audience or a community, or are you simply adding more noise to already busy members’ lives?

A Bespoke Content Audit

We offer a bespoke content audit and health check that helps membership organisations understand their communications.

We’ll look at

• Is the magazine still relevant to members?
• Is it acting as a genuine membership benefit?
• Is the content too organisation-led, or is it member-led?
• Which sections are working hardest?
• What could be improved, reduced, repurposed or stopped?
• How could the magazine better support retention, recruitment, engagement and commercial value?

It looks at how successfully your communications deliver value, build belonging and support retention or generate revenue.