Press release
Twelve associations begin piloting new dues models
NANA's Dues Model Study enters Phase 2 with twelve member associations piloting a new dues structure through May 2027.
WASHINGTON — Twelve member associations have begun piloting new dues models as part of Phase 2 of NANA's Dues Model Study, Treasurer Haruko Tanaka announced. The pilots run from this month through May 2027.
Building on Phase 1
Phase 1 of the study, completed in July, surveyed 300 associations and found that flat-dues organizations with under 500 members lost a median 3.4% of their membership over three years, while tiered-dues organizations gained a median 1.2% over the same period. Phase 2 tests whether a subset of NANA's own members can convert from a flat or ad hoc structure to a tiered model and see a similar result.
The named pilots
Four of the twelve pilot organizations have agreed to be named publicly:
The National Society of Water Utility Engineers, whose Chief Financial Officer Kenji Albrecht is running one of the pilots
The League of Independent Pharmacists, led by Chief Membership Officer Noor Haddad-Ellison
The Southeastern Textile Manufacturers Council
The Association of Seed Library Curators, the smallest organization in the cohort
A 300-association survey tells you what correlates with retention. It doesn't tell you what it actually takes to convert an association that's run flat dues for twenty years. That's what Phase 2 is for.
— Haruko Tanaka
Albrecht, whose engineering society has run flat dues since its founding, said the pilot forced an uncomfortable conversation with the water utility engineers' board about which members had been effectively subsidizing others under the flat structure. Haddad-Ellison, who reversed a four-year membership decline at the League of Independent Pharmacists between 2023 and 2025, said she volunteered because dues structure was one of the few levers she hadn't yet tested.
The Association of Seed Library Curators, the smallest of the twelve pilots with 520 members and two staff, is testing whether a tiered model built for a large engineering society can be scaled down to an organization that size without becoming more work to administer than it's worth. Tanaka said the study deliberately paired large and small pilots for exactly that reason: Phase 1's survey found tiered structures correlated with retention across association sizes, but Phase 2 is the first test of whether the administrative overhead of running a tiered model is worth it for an organization with only two staff to run it.
Tanaka said each pilot organization will track the same three measures over the eight-month pilot period: renewal rate, member complaints filed with the association about the new structure, and staff time spent administering it, so the June 2027 webinar can compare outcomes across organizations of very different sizes on a common basis.
Research for the pilot is fielded by Fieldstone Data Partners, which also fielded the Phase 1 survey. NANA will hold a results webinar on June 17, 2027, once the twelve pilots report their first-year outcomes. Members interested in the pilot methodology can consult the Dues Model Pilot Guide.
Tanaka noted that NANA's own Individual dues, unchanged at $195 since 2023, are a separate and still-open question for the board; no decision has been made on whether NANA itself will move to a tiered Organization dues structure.
About NANA
The National Association of National Associations is the professional society for association executives, boards, and staff, representing more than 750 member organizations and 2 million professionals nationwide. Founded in 1998, NANA provides research, peer community, and advocacy for the people who run the organizations that hold civic life together.