Membership Growth Summit 2025

Membership directors and recruitment staff filled the Atlanta Convention Center for the first Membership Growth Summit, a new two-day conference hosted by NANA's Southeast chapter. Brightfold Registration ran badge pickup at a concourse counter that saw a longer line than organizers expected for a first-year event.

Southeast Chapter Chair Dana Whitfield, president and CEO of the Southeastern Textile Manufacturers Council, opened the Summit by describing why membership growth needed its own conference: "Recruitment and retention get an hour on a general Summit agenda. They deserved two full days." Whitfield returned in the afternoon to walk through the shared-services model she built in 2023, now serving five small Southeast associations from a converted mill office in Charlotte.

Beatriz Solano-Whitaker, membership director at the Institute of Coastal Resilience Planners, spoke twice — first on renewal benchmarks that actually predict which members won't come back, then on recruiting first-time members in sectors where association membership isn't the default. Meridian Benefits Group and Coalition Print & Mail sponsored the two membership-track breakouts.

A working session on renewal calendar design closed the first day, and the second day opened with a recruitment-focused session before Whitfield's closing plenary on what the Summit's organizers would change for its second year.

Registration ran $395 for members ($295 through the early-bird deadline) and $695 for non-members, with a livestream option for both days. The Atlanta Convention Center is a short walk from downtown hotels.

The Summit is built for membership directors, recruitment staff, and executive directors who own their association's growth numbers directly, rather than a general leadership audience. Organizations running fewer than 500 members made up the largest single group in the first-year registration list, which shaped the shared-services and small-staff content on the second day.