Understanding the Value of AASLH Membership
Client: American Association for State and Local History | Location: Nashville, TN
We helped the American Association for State and Local History develop effective strategies to recruit and retain members and serve the U.S. public history community.
OVERVIEW
In 2021, we conducted a membership survey to aid the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) in better understanding how its stakeholders—both individual and institutional—perceive the value of this national membership association.
APPROACH
Building upon results from AASLH’s member survey in 2015, we surveyed members, non-members, and lapsed members to provide AASLH with an in-depth view of its stakeholders. We emailed participants the survey invitations via SurveyMonkey using lists provided by AASLH.
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
One key finding was that individual members (versus those who receive a free institutional membership through their affiliation with a member organization) have the strongest positive perceptions of AASLH and are more engaged with AASLH (e.g., more likely to use benefits, serve on committees, etc.).
We also learned that institutional members are less likely to retain a long-term membership—perhaps because they do not continue their membership when they move to a new organization. However, we know from the survey results that AASLH stakeholders highly value professional development opportunities regardless of their membership status. To attract non-members or spark an interest in rejoining as an individual member, we recommended that AASLH reach out to lapsed institutional members to promote workshops, leadership trainings, and other resources.
