Ricochet Association Transformation
American Widget SocietyAmerican Widget Society
Membership model demo

What happens to my association if I change dues, retention and tiers?

Move a lever and the model forecasts members and dues revenue for five years, in a good, an expected and a poor case. Every change ramps in over time and never reaches 100% adoption, so the return and payback reflect how change actually lands.

Fictional American Widget Society data

Levers

Dues by member type
Phase the change in over

Higher dues cost some renewals and joins. The good case assumes half the price sensitivity, the poor case double.3

Retention by member type

Target renewal rates. Overall includes first-year members.12

Recruitment offers

First-year intro rates. Intro joiners renew 4 points lower when full dues arrive.4

Member tiers

Tiers charge different rates for different benefits. Both tiers sit beside the Regular type.

Setup cost

When does the plan pay back?

Ramp. Share of each lever change realized, Years 1 to 5:

Members and dues revenue by year

Dues revenue only. Plan costs include setup, the onboarding program, offer campaigns and Plus tier benefits. Baseline means no changes.

About this demo. The American Widget Society is fictional. Starting values are set near association benchmarks so the model behaves like a real membership book: 7,700 members, $1.84 million in dues, and a slow drift down with no changes. Fixed flows each year: 20% of renewing students move up to young professional, 12% of young professionals to Regular, and 1.5% of Regular members to Retired.

  1. Median overall renewal at individual membership organizations is 79%. AWS opens at 80% blended. Source · 2026 MGI Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, p. 24, n = 134
  2. Median first-year renewal at individual membership organizations is 61%. AWS opens near 60% blended. Source · 2026 MGI Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, p. 25, n = 78
  3. 49% of individual membership organizations raised dues in 2025, and 54% of those raised them by 5% or less. Source · 2026 MGI Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, pp. 69-70, n = 130 and 121
  4. 52% of individual membership organizations offer intro dues to students and young professionals, and 30% rank it a most effective recruiting offer. Source · 2026 MGI Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, pp. 33-34, n = 151 and 129

Median individual membership organization size is 8,014 members. Source · 2026 MGI Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, p. 11, n = 182