State of Associations Quarterly: 2026 Q3

The eleventh brief in the State of Associations Quarterly series looks at sponsorship revenue: how much of a typical association's annual conference budget now comes from sponsors, and which sponsor benefits have grown fastest over the past three years. Drawing on the same benchmarking survey behind State of Associations, Director of Research Inês Carvalho-Reyes finds that sponsorship's share of conference revenue has grown steadily as attendance-based registration revenue has flattened, and that the fastest-growing benefit category isn't exhibit-hall space but sponsored content, such as a named general session or a branded reception.

The brief also looks at how associations price sponsorship tiers, finding wide variation even among organizations of similar size, and flags the tax question that follows directly from a growing sponsorship line: distinguishing a sponsor acknowledgment from taxable advertising, covered in full in NANA's Sponsorship Income and UBIT Brief.

Associations building or revising a sponsorship prospectus will find the clearest benchmark here for what peer organizations charge and which benefits sponsors are asking for most.