Let’s be honest. Membership today isn’t just about joining – it’s about belonging.
At Atlas, we’ve spent years helping organisations build meaningful, data-driven strategies for growth. Now, through our exciting new partnership with Think, we’re combining strategic firepower with world-class content and member engagement. Together, we help associations grow in size and value – by making sense of what your members really want and delivering it brilliantly.
So how do you go from a slow-dripping churn rate and disengaged email list to a thriving, loyal community?
You listen. You learn. And you act.
From magazines to membership models
I spent much of my career as a publisher – most notably with The Week. We treated our readers like a club: a community of like-minded people who subscribed not just to the magazine, but to the experience. It worked. We became the UK’s fastest-growing magazine and eventually launched in the US.
What made that success possible wasn’t just great content. It was the understanding that membership is a relationship, not a transaction. And when you nurture that relationship with care, consistency and genuine value, members stay. For years. Even decades.
In fact, we tracked one cohort of 6,000 readers recruited in 1996. A quarter of a century later, a third of them were still reading and had contributed more than £1.25 million in total revenue. That’s the power of loyalty.
Now, at Atlas, we’ve taken those principles and built a strategic framework around them. One that we’ve used with organisations from The Guardian and New Scientist to the Academy of Management and the V&A Dundee. It’s centred around a concept we call the Forever Promise.
The Forever Promise: why relationships trump transactions
Coined by US strategist Robbie Kellman Baxter, the Forever Promise is a powerful idea: that members should feel so supported, so understood and so valued, they never want the relationship to end.
It’s a mindset shift – from product to people, from services to shared values. And it’s especially relevant to professional associations, whose core mission is to help members grow, thrive and feel a sense of belonging throughout their careers.
To deliver on a Forever Promise, you need insight. Not guesswork.
Introducing the five pillars of listening data
Too often, data feels scary. But it doesn’t have to be. We help organisations think about it differently: as a way of listening to your members. What they do, how they behave and what that tells you about what they need.
Here are the five pillars we recommend focusing on.
1. Audience – who are they and how are they behaving?
2. Contract – who’s joined (and how), who’s stayed, who’s left?
3. Marketing – what messages work? What’s falling flat? What does lifetime value look like?
4. Engagement – who is using what and how often? What’s the dwell time?
5. Service – how good is your customer service and user experience – really?
With this data in hand, you can move from reactive to proactive. Instead of asking why members leave, you can start to predict and prevent churn. Instead of guessing what events or benefits to offer, you can focus on what your most loyal members already love.
So what can you do now?
Here are two practical actions you can take right away:
1. Analyse your renewal and retention data
Identify which segments are most loyal and which are most at risk. Use this to create tailored retention efforts – personalised comms, targeted benefits or special offers for key groups.
2. Segment your members intelligently
Look at career stages, demographics and engagement levels. Then tailor your content and services to meet them where they are. This helps each member feel seen, valued and supported.
Why Think powered by Atlas works
Think understands how to connect with members through brilliant content and creative execution. Atlas brings the data and strategy to ensure that content supports a smart, scalable growth model.
Together, we help associations:
• Build sustainable membership strategies
• Reduce churn and increase lifetime value
• Improve acquisition by targeting the right prospects with the right messages
• Turn data into decisions – and decisions into action
If you’d like to explore how we can help your organisation grow its membership impact, get in touch with Hannah Sarsfield at hannah.sarsfield@thinkpublishing.co.uk. We’re here to help you turn members into lifelong champions – one insight at a time.
