It’s okay if members aren’t engaged with their association

n the world of membership, engagement is often viewed as the ultimate goal. We measure it, chase it, and fret over it. When members don’t show up, log in, or contribute, we worry we’ve failed. But what if we’ve misunderstood what engagement actually means, and more importantly, misunderstood what our members need?

Here’s a radical thought: it’s okay if your members aren’t visibly or consistently engaged. In fact, for many, that might be exactly what they want from their association.

Membership bodies serve a wide variety of people and organisations, each with different motivations and needs. Some members join for the sense of community and will attend every webinar and event. Others just want access to professional standards, a code of conduct, or a badge of credibility. Many join because their employer expects it, or because it's a gateway to opportunity. And some simply want to know that, should they ever need help, it’s there.

We should stop assuming that low engagement equals low value. Value is not always expressed through activity. Sometimes, the mere existence of a trusted, competent association is enough for a member to feel satisfied. They know you're there, they know what you stand for, and they trust that you’re quietly protecting their interests. That can be a powerful, if invisible, form of engagement.

Expecting every member to behave like a volunteer, champion, or advocate misunderstands the transactional nature of many memberships. It places an unrealistic burden on members and creates anxiety within staff teams who are judged by how much “engagement” they can manufacture. It also risks alienating members who feel they’re not “doing enough” when in fact they’re using the membership exactly as intended—for support, not participation.

Instead of chasing universal engagement, associations should shift their focus to relevance and accessibility. Are we making it easy for members to get what they need, when they need it? Are we present in the right moments, at the right points in a career, during a crisis, or when a regulation changes? Engagement doesn’t always mean a packed events calendar or endless surveys. It might mean a single download that helped someone keep their job. It might mean a quiet sense of belonging to something bigger.

We should also stop measuring our worth by metrics that treat people like email click-through rates. A member who reads every bulletin and never replies is still a member. One who comes to nothing for five years and then calls in a crisis is still a member. The true measure of a successful association is not how noisy its members are but how well it meets the quiet, diverse, and shifting needs of the community it serves.

So let’s stop chasing a myth of engagement that fits only a fraction of our audience. Instead, let’s design our associations to accommodate the passive as well as the passionate, because sometimes the best kind of engagement is the kind that doesn’t need to shout to be heard.