While looking for non-dues revenue streams for your association, it can feel like you’re hitting a roadblock trying to find options that align with your organization and your members’ needs. There are many non-dues options available, and sometimes it just takes reviewing some creative ideas to come up with a strategy that will help create financial stability for you.
We’ll review the top non-dues revenue ideas for associations, such as creating continuing education courses you can monetize. Plus, we’ll guide you on the technology that can help in the process, along with referring you to other helpful resources, such as our article answering “What are the top 5 LMS options for associations?”
What Is the Revenue of an Association?
Member dues are often a primary source of association revenue. Members pay a set monthly or yearly fee (which in turn generate significant revenue for the association) to be part of the association and gain access to benefits like networking opportunities, workshops, discounts, mentorships, and other professional resources.
However, relying solely on membership fees or dues can limit an association’s growth and ability to provide great events and resources to members. That’s why associations are often looking for non-dues revenue options that can make a difference.
How do associations make money outside of membership dues? Let’s take a closer look at non-dues options that can help while still providing great benefits to an association's members.
What Is Non-Dues Revenue?
Non-dues revenue is any money that associations make outside of membership payments and is often tied to other benefits that associations can offer, such as:
- Continuing education courses that help professionals earn certifications or learn skills while growing their careers
- Registration fees for association events, such as workshops, conferences, or trade shows
- Sponsorships from companies or industry leaders that want to be featured at events or support the association’s cause
- Grants that help support associations working to improve their industry and community
- Fundraising from members who are willing to pitch in and contribute to what the association is doing
Each of these additional revenue sources can help sustainably offer association resources to members for the long term.
How Does an Association Make Money?
Historically, associations have made their primary income from membership dues. However, association revenue sources are becoming a lot more diverse today due to increasing expenses and changes in the industry.
Research from the American Society of Association Executives showed that membership dues made up 95.7% of total revenue generated by associations in 1953. However, in 2016, they accounted for 45.4% of revenue for trade associations and 30% for professional associations.
Those percentages have likely continued to decrease as associations keep looking for more ways to fund their efforts and diversify revenue to ensure long-term success.
How Technology is Helping Generate More Non-Dues Revenue
The technology your association uses can help expand your reach, impact, and monetization options. A couple of great additions to your tech stack that will help are:
Event Management Software
You can use event management software to efficiently plan and manage events while collecting registration fees, coordinating sponsorships, and managing exhibitor booth sales.
Software that can help you host and manage different types of events (in-person, virtual, and hybrid) helps extend your reach for higher attendance rates, more income opportunities, and a greater impact on your industry.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Additionally, offering continuing education is a great way for associations to benefit their members while generating more revenue.
Professionals are often looking to build new skills as industries change and they grow their careers. It's highly beneficial to offer training in software that is gaining popularity in the industry.
An LMS can help you create new continuing education courses, monetize them, and make content accessible at any time. Plus, you can continue building your course library to provide more options for your members as they progress in their careers.
What Is the Main Revenue Source for Association Meetings?
Typically, registration fees are the primary source of association meeting revenue. Association events and meetings, such as conferences and trade shows, often rely on registration revenue from attendees to make the event possible and ensure continued success for the association.
However, registration fees aren’t the only revenue source that contributes. Some other significant revenue sources include:
- Event sponsorships: Companies or industry leaders might pay to have their name featured prominently at the event and help with the association’s cause. A sponsorship can be a win-win for everyone involved since it boosts event funding, provides more exposure for the sponsor, and introduces attendees to relevant industry leaders.
- Exhibitor fees: Exhibitors will often pay to reserve booths at trade shows. Filling out more booths provides more for attendees to interact with while generating additional income from the event. A good event management software can help you manage booths and payments effectively.
- Advertising: Brands in your industry may also pay for advertising at association events. It provides exposure like a sponsorship does, but in a more targeted way that can help bring attention to a brand’s products or services at a key point in the event.
Revenue options like sponsorships and advertising can be tailored to virtual and hybrid events as well. For example, sponsors may have their name displayed on the screen or mentioned throughout a virtual event, and advertisers may buy ad slots during certain parts of the event.
Creative Non-Dues Revenue Ideas for Associations
Aside from the usual non-dues revenue sources, there are also some opportunities to get creative. Some great ideas include:
Selling Branded Merchandise
You can sell branded association or nonprofit merchandise that helps members show off their excitement about your organization. That could include things like t-shirts, bags, lanyards, or water bottles.
You can even add slogans, phrases, or sayings that are relevant to your message or event themes to help reinforce what you’re doing and the experience attendees had at events.
Affinity Programs or Member Benefit Partnerships
Associations can also partner with relevant brands in the industry, offering exclusive discounts, products, or services that are only available to association members.
It’s a great way to add more value to association membership and get more professionals to sign up. Plus, companies might offer royalty payments to associations, helping add another non-dues revenue source.
Sponsored Content and Digital Resources
Some companies and industry leaders will pay to circulate sponsored content or digital resources to association members.
Sponsored content can still offer a lot of value to association members. It can be a great resource that helps members learn something new or have their attention brought to key changes in the industry, while the sponsor involved gets more exposure for their brand.
Market Research Reports
Your association could perform in-depth market research that includes essential takeaways about the state of the industry. Then, make it a resource available that your members can pay to access. A lot of professionals will be interested since it could provide useful insights that benefit their careers.
Some associations even offer this as a yearly resource, such as publishing an annual state of the industry report with the latest statistics and findings.
On-Demand Content
You can offer things like videos, webinars, courses, and live event recordings on demand that members can access for an extra fee. It provides a lot of great educational resources that will benefit professionals in your industry while allowing you to monetize the content.
Conclusion: Future-Proofing Associations with Diverse Revenue Strategies
Associations shouldn’t rely on membership dues alone to fund efforts and growth. Many other options are available that can help future-proof your organization and keep it growing to impact a greater number of professionals in your industry.
To recap, some of the top non-dues revenue options are:
- Offering continuing education courses and certifications
- Hosting events with registration fees, sponsorships, exhibitors, and advertisements
- Selling branded merchandise
- Developing affinity programs with royalties for making sales
- Circulating sponsored content
- Publishing market research reports with a fee to access them
- Offering on-demand content that facilitates more learning and professional development
Not every option will be right for your association, and you don’t have to try all of these at once.
Instead, try starting with one non-dues revenue option that you think aligns the best with your association, members, and mission, and see how it goes. It’s often a good idea to track the numbers as you progress, such as using an LMS with data tracking features to see how your continuing education courses are performing.
If the numbers aren’t where you want them to be, you can adjust or try something new until you find the options that work best for your organization.
How Our Software at Cadmium Can Help Associations Generate Non-Dues Revenue
At Cadmium, we offer video, event, and learning technology that can help associations deliver more impactful experiences while monetizing in the process.
How Our LMSs Can Help
A great place to start is offering courses and certifications that you can monetize. We offer two LMSs that can help.
Elevate is our LMS for associations and nonprofits. It can help you build a center for knowledge, promote social sharing, integrate with live events and on-demand content, and measure and track your results along the way. Click here to learn more about Elevate.
EthosCE is our LMS for healthcare organizations and associations. It’s built for the detail-oriented nature of healthcare continuing education, allowing you to maintain compliance, customize to your organization’s needs, and fully manage each activity to empower learners to maximize their potential. Click here to learn more about EthosCE.
How Our Event Management Software Can Help
Our Eventscribe event management system can help you manage and monetize association events.
Eventscribe helps at each stage of event planning, including registration, sponsor and exhibitor management, presentation management, logistics, and attendee engagement. It can help you create an organized system as you plan, monetize, and optimize for success. Click here to learn more about how Eventscribe can make a difference for you.
