Membership marketing statistics
The membership benchmarks that actually matter — renewal rates, first-year churn, acquisition cost, lifetime value and non-dues revenue — each with its source, so you can benchmark your organisation against the sector with confidence.
Numbers you can act on — and defend.
These membership marketing statistics are the reference points we use every day as a membership marketing agency: the renewal and churn medians, the acquisition-cost ratios, and the lifetime-value maths that decide whether a membership model works.
Two cautions before you use them. Prefer the median to the average — weak performers drag averages down, so the median renewal rate of 84% is the fairer bar. And treat every figure as a sector benchmark, not a guarantee: your numbers depend on your members, your dues and your value proposition.
Every statistic on this page is attributed. Where a topic has a deeper treatment — the membership retention rate, or member lifetime value — we link to it rather than repeat it.
Membership benchmarks, by category.
The median renewal rate across membership organisations — the number to benchmark your own against (medians beat averages, which weak performers drag down).
Source: MGI 2025 Benchmarking Report →First-year members renew far below the overall median — they churn roughly 1.6× faster, which is why onboarding and the first 90 days matter so much.
Source: MGI 2025 Benchmarking Report →At an 80% renewal rate the average member stays about five years (tenure ≈ 1 ÷ churn); at 84% it rises to roughly six. New-member cohorts average far less.
Source: Rossell / MGI →Winning a new member costs many times more than keeping an existing one — association-specific studies put it around 5×, Harvard Business Review as high as 25×.
Source: Harvard Business Review →A common rule of thumb for member acquisition cost (CAC): budget between half and all of a member’s first-year dues to win them, then rely on renewals for the return.
Source: MembershipCorp →A member’s lifetime value should be at least three times what it costs to acquire them — the widely endorsed minimum for a sustainable membership model.
Source: GlueUp →Dues are rarely the whole story: non-dues income (events, training, sponsorship, advertising) makes up roughly 40–60% of total revenue for many associations.
Source: ASAE →The generational mix is shifting — millennials are now around a quarter of members (up from 21% in 2020) as boomer membership declines, reshaping value propositions.
Source: MGI 2025 Benchmarking Report →The renewal rate is the honest KPI.
Of all the membership marketing statistics here, the renewal rate is the one that expresses everything else — engagement, satisfaction and value perception all land in a single number. The median sits at 84%, but the first-year median of 74% is where most churn hides, which is why member onboarding and the first 90 days carry so much weight.
To turn the benchmark into your own number, the membership retention rate page has the formula, the sector breakdown and a live calculator; the member retention guide covers the programme that moves it.
Acquire within the maths, keep for the return.
The acquisition benchmarks all point the same way: member acquisition cost should stay within 50–100% of first-year dues, lifetime value should clear a 3:1 ratio over that cost, and because winning a member costs 5–25× keeping one, the return only arrives if they renew.
Put your own figures through the member lifetime value calculator, size the opportunity with the membership acquisition guide, and see what members are worth to you on the membership value page.
Every figure, attributed.
We cite membership-sector research wherever it exists. Follow any number back to its origin.
- Marketing General Inc. — 2025 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report →
- Member Jungle — 2025 report medians (84% / 74%) →
- Tony Rossell / MGI — lifetime value worked example →
- GlueUp — member acquisition cost vs lifetime value (3:1) →
- Sidecar / IMPACTS Value Study — retention vs new-member cost →
- MembershipCorp — allowable acquisition cost (50–100% of dues) →
- ASAE — dues vs non-dues revenue share →
- Harvard Business Review — the value of keeping the right customers (5–25×) →
Membership statistics, asked and answered.
How do your numbers compare?
A complimentary 30-minute conversation: where your membership sits against these benchmarks, and which number to move first.