State of Associations Quarterly: 2024 Q4

The fourth brief in the State of Associations Quarterly series looks behind the 14 percent median annual staff turnover reported in State of Associations 2024, breaking it down by role and measuring how long a vacated position typically stays open. It finds that membership and events roles turn over fastest and take the longest to refill, a combination that concentrates workload disruption in the two functions member organizations rely on most during renewal and meeting season.

The brief closes with data on where open roles are filled from — internal promotion versus external hire — and what that split looks like by role category. Executive directors staffing through a renewal or conference cycle will find a specific planning number here: membership and events roles take a median of 74 days to refill once vacated, longer than any other role category, so a resignation in either function should trigger hiring lead time well beyond what finance or operations roles would suggest.

Published by NANA's research team as part of the brief series.