The Top Three Challenges Facing Associations in 2025

When we released the State of the Association Sector in New Zealand 2025, the results didn’t catch anyone off guard. The same three challenges came up time and time again from over 230 executives:

• Growing and recruiting members.
• Coping with the economic pressures your members are under.
• Demonstrating real, tangible value for the membership fee.

Now, it’s one thing to nod along and agree these are familiar. It’s another to stop and ask the harder question: what are we actually doing about them?

Recruitment and Growth

Membership growth has always been the heartbeat of associations. It’s not just about numbers on a spreadsheet — it’s about energy, reach, and long-term sustainability. But competition for people’s time and attention has never been stronger. We’re all up against busy calendars, tighter professional development budgets, and countless alternative networks that exist outside of the traditional association model.

Some associations are starting to rethink their recruitment strategies. Referrals remain the strongest pathway in, but referrals don’t happen by chance — they happen when your members are so engaged that they want to bring a colleague or friend along. Others are focusing on younger or emerging professionals, creating “starter memberships” or entry-level pathways that are affordable, flexible, and welcoming. The key is to keep asking: how do we make it easy for someone new to say yes to joining?

 

Economic Pressures

It’s no secret that the current economic climate is biting hard. Members are looking at every dollar they spend, and association fees are not immune. This is where the pressure comes back to us as leaders — are we structuring our fees fairly, offering flexibility where we can, and being open about how we use the money entrusted to us?

Some associations are experimenting with payment plans or multi-year discounts to spread the load. Others are bundling services together so that membership doesn’t feel like “just a fee” but like access to a suite of resources. Even small gestures, like making travel subsidies available for events or highlighting free resources, can help members feel the organisation is sharing the burden rather than adding to it.

Demonstrating Value

Perhaps the most persistent challenge of all is proving that value exists beyond the invoice. It’s not enough to say “trust us, we’re doing good work.” Members are asking — rightly — “what do I get for being part of this association?”

The answer usually lies in the basics: advocacy, professional development, and networking. The report confirms these are the things members consistently value most. But here’s the trap — just doing them isn’t always enough. The real shift comes when we show members how their involvement is making a difference. Did your submission change a piece of policy? Tell them. Did your conference help create a new business partnership? Share the story. Did your training help someone take the next step in their career? Celebrate it loudly.

Value is not just about the service provided, it’s about the story told around that service. If members can see the impact — on themselves, on their sector, and on the community — the sense of value becomes undeniable.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities

These three challenges are not going away. They’ll keep resurfacing every year in one form or another. The real opportunity lies in how we respond. Around board tables and in leadership teams, the conversation can’t stop at “yes, recruitment is tough” or “yes, budgets are tight.” It has to shift toward “what are we trialling this year, what’s working, and what do we need to rethink?”

The answers aren’t the same for every association, but the process of testing ideas, sharing wins, and learning from the misses is universal.

So, here’s the question I’d encourage you to take back to your own team:
? How are we, right now, addressing these three challenges — and what will we do differently if our current approach isn’t working?

Because when we move from simply naming the challenges to actively experimenting with solutions, we don’t just survive another year — we strengthen the very case for why associations matter.

Brett Jeffery, CAE, Executive Director, NZSAE