Thirty-Six Performance Metrics
Practical Tools to Measure Association Impact
Summary
Associations are different from nearly any other industry.
We are volunteer-led, membership-based communities of engagement. We operate in strong, often well-defined niche markets. Nearly all associations have strategic plans, but few operate as strategic engines of innovation.
In this article, I do three things: (1) build off my writings on metrics (Measure what Matters, Outcomes for Impact, and Measuring Community Engagement), (2) provide a brief overview of quantitative and qualitative metrics and leading and lagging indicators, and (3) supply a list of 36 metrics to measure association performance.
The Product Community is a product development learning community designed specifically for associations.
Metrics Basics
“Time and money are your scarcest resources. You want to make sure you’re allocating them in the highest-impact areas. Data reveals impact, and with data, you can bring more science to your decisions.”
Matt Trifiro
In my last article, I provided criteria for quality metrics. I will build on this by covering two additional concepts: qualitative and quantitative metrics and leading and lagging indicators.
Quantitative metrics are measurable indicators that assess specific aspects of an association. For instance, for an annual meeting, the following metrics can provide concrete data related to event success:
Attendance – Number of registered attendees who physically or virtually participate.
Revenue – Total revenue generated from the event, including registration fees, sponsorship, exhibitor fees, and any other income sources.
Member Engagement – Number who actively participated in activities or sessions.
Surveys and Feedback – Direct feedback from attendees through post-event surveys, providing quantifiable data on satisfaction, learning outcomes, and overall experience
Qualitative measures provide additional insight into the overall success of an offering. They are not as easily quantifiable, but they offer valuable context and understanding of (in this case) an event's outcomes. Example qualitative metrics could include:
Member Satisfaction – Through feedback forums or focus groups, measure membership satisfaction.
Reputation and Brand Perception – Conduct qualitative assessments to understand how the association or event is perceived.
Thought Leadership – Gauge an association's success as a thought leader through qualitative analysis of industry publications, speaking engagements, or media mentions.
Impact on Member Careers. Qualitatively measure how the association’s resources, events, or networking opps. contribute to professional growth or career advancement.
By leveraging both quantitative and qualitative metrics, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of short-term success and long-term impact.
Every performance metric tells a story. Lagging indicators analyze past performance while leading indicators influence future performance. Lagging indicators are common and easier to measure; leading indicators are predictive and trickier to gauge. The metrics we use as leading and lagging indicators depend on our goals. For example, if our goal is to increase the number of new members, we might use new signups as our leading indicator.
Other examples of leading indicators include member satisfaction or brand perception. If these are high, it could help predict future revenue. Leading indicators should drive daily practice. They should be simply designed, configured into standing automated reports, and reviewed and discussed frequently.
In contrast, lagging indicators measure whether our actions were successful. We might use annual recurring revenue as a lagging indicator for our goal of gaining new members. Lagging indicators are based on a strategy. It’s important to know that changes we make today may not show up as improvements in your lagging indicator until much later.
Thirty-Six Metrics Organized by Category
“Human-centered design is a philosophy, not a precise set of methods, but one that assumes that innovation should start by getting close to users and observing their activities.”
Donald A. Norman
Numbers can be reductionist and lead us to focus on the wrong things: data and not people. In the product community, we believe people are the sole focus of the value we create. Data serves people, not the other way around. Here's a list of thirty-six performance metrics organized by the following categories: people metrics, learning and engagement metrics, product portfolio metrics, money metrics, and strategy metrics.
People Metrics. This category focuses on metrics related to the association's community. Metrics may include membership growth, member demographics, retention rates, and volunteer engagement. It assesses the health and diversity of the association's community and its ability to attract and retain members and volunteers. As people engage with associations in many ways, people metrics measure more than membership numbers. The following metrics can, therefore, be applied to learners, attendees, participants, donors, or volunteers.
New Member Lead Generation – Number of potential members expressing interest in joining or engaging with the association (one need not be a member to donate money, attend an event, or take a course).
Formula: (Qualified Leads / Leads Generated) * 100
How to use: Measure the effectiveness of marketing and outreach efforts.
Conversion Rate – Percentage of leads that become paying members.
Formula: (Converted Members / Leads) * 100
How to use: Assess the efficiency of lead-to-member conversion strategies.
Acquisition – Number of new members acquired during a specific period.
Formula: New members acquired
How to use: Monitor the growth of your association and evaluate the effectiveness of your acquisition strategies.
Demographics – Characteristics of your member base (e.g., age, gender, location).
Formula: Analyze member data.
How to use: Tailor services and communications to match your members' demographics.
Activation – Percentage of new members who engage with association activities.
Formula: (Activated Members / New Members) * 100
How to use: Assess how well you onboard new members and integrate them into the association.
Retention – Percentage of members who renew their memberships.
Formula: (Renewed Members / Total Members) * 100
How to use: Gauge member satisfaction and the effectiveness of retention efforts.
Churn Rate – The rate at which members leave the association. Can also be computed for learners, donors, attendees, or volunteers.
Formula: (Lost Members / Total Members) * 100
How to use: Identify issues that contribute to member attrition and address them.
Membership Acquisition Cost – Cost incurred to acquire a new member.
Formula: Total Acquisition Costs / New Members Acquired
How to use: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of membership acquisition efforts.
Learning and Engagement Metrics. This category focuses on educational and interactive metrics. Key indicators include conference attendance, webinar participation, completion rates, and member engagement in forums or discussion groups. These metrics evaluate the association's effectiveness in providing valuable content and fostering a sense of community.
Volunteer Rates – Percentage of members engaged in volunteering activities.
Formula: (Volunteer Members / Total Members) * 100
How to use: Measure member involvement and community contribution.
Engagement – Assessing the level of member involvement in association activities.
Formulas:
Engagement score on survey
Analysis of activity record (from Association Management System)
Percentage of members at each level of the Community Engagement Funnel.
How to use: Gauge overall member engagement.
Satisfaction – Member contentment
Formula: Satisfaction Surveys
How to use: Monitor and improve member experience.
Learning Outcomes – Assessing the knowledge and skills gained through educational programs.
Formula: Pre-assessment vs. Post-assessment results
How to use: Determine the educational value of your programs.
Knowledge Retention – The extent to which members retain what they've learned over time.
Formula: (Retained Knowledge / Initial Knowledge) * 100
How to use: Evaluate the effectiveness of your knowledge transfer methods.
Transfer of Training – Measuring how well training is applied in real-world situations.
Formulas
Applied Training / Total Trained) * 100
Knowledge recall via assessment or portfolio
Survey
How to use: Assess the practical and professional impact of training programs
Net Promoter Score – Member loyalty and willingness to recommend the association.
Formula: NPS = % Promoters - % Detractors
How to use: Assess overall member advocacy and identify possible areas for improvement.
Customer Lifetime Value – Predicting the total value a member will generate over their association membership.
Formula: (Average Annual Revenue per Member * Average Membership Duration)
How to use: Identify high-value members and tailor engagement strategies.
Product Portfolio Metrics. This category assesses an association's range of offerings and their performance. Metrics may include revenue generated from products, product adoption rates, and the development and launch of new offerings. It evaluates the association's ability to diversify and deliver value to its members through various offerings.
Number of Products – The total number of products and services offered.
Formula: Product count
How to use: Track the number and diversity of product offerings.
Attendance – Butts in seats.
Formula: Census counts per product per user (annual conference, courses, membership, publications, etc.).
How to use: To gauge product diversification and level of engagement.
Satisfaction of Each Product – Measure member satisfaction with individual products.
Formula: Product-specific satisfaction surveys
How to use: Identify areas of interest, value, or improvement.
Percentage Revenue of Each Product – Contribution of each product to overall revenue.
Formula: (Product Revenue / Total Revenue) * 100
How to use: Allocate resources effectively and prioritize products.
Percentage Growth of Each Product – Year-over-year growth of individual products.
Formula: [(Current Year Revenue - Previous Year Revenue) / Previous Year Revenue] * 100
How to use: Identify successful products in order to invest or divest in their growth.
Number of Participants for Each Product – Product participation.
Formula: Count of Participants
How to use: Gauge product popularity and demand.
Level of Engagement for Each Product – Measure member engagement with specific products.
Formula: Product-specific engagement metrics (post event or post session evaluations, level of engagement during the session, LMS stats, AMS activity patterns, social listening, etc.).
How to use: Optimize products based on engagement data.
Click Through Rate – The percentage of users clicking on links or calls to action.
Formula: (Clicks / Impressions) * 100
How to use: Assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns or product promotion.
Cost Per Click – The cost incurred for each user click in advertising campaigns.
Formula: Total Advertising Costs / Total Clicks
How to use: Evaluate the efficiency of online advertising efforts.
Money Metrics. Money metrics pertain to financial health and sustainability. They include metrics such as revenue, expenses, budget adherence, and profitability of events and programs. Assessing financial performance is crucial for ensuring we can continue to fulfill our mission and invest in future initiatives.
Revenue – The total income generated by the association.
Formula: Total Income
How to use: Measure financial performance and sustainability.
Net Profit – The total profit after deducting all expenses.
Formula: Total Revenue - Total Expenses
How to use: Assess overall financial health and profitability.
Profit Margin – The percentage of revenue retained as profit after expenses.
Formula: (Profit / Revenue) * 100
How to use: Assess the association's profitability.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) – All ongoing revenue for a product projected over a year (membership dues are typically viewed as ARR).
Formula: ARR = (Sum of membership revenue for the year + recurring revenue from add-ons and upgrades) - revenue lost from cancellations and downgrades that year.
How to use: Revenue predictability or stability
Return on Investment (ROI) – Return on resources invested for specific initiatives or campaigns.
Formula: (Net Profit from Investment / Investment Cost) * 100
How to use: Evaluate the effectiveness of investments and initiatives.
Cash Flow – The movement of cash in and out of the association.
Formula: Cash Inflows - Cash Outflows
How to use: Ensure there's enough liquidity to cover expenses.
Working Capital – Assess the association's short-term financial health.
Formula: Current Assets - Current Liabilities
How to use: Ensure there's enough capital to support daily operations.
Strategy Metrics. Strategy metrics focus on goal alignment, completion, and outcomes. Indicators may include progress on strategic objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs) related to the association's mission, and the effectiveness of its governance. These metrics can help us stay on course and measure our success in implementing our long-term vision.
Initiative Completion Rate – Measure the success rate of strategic initiatives.
Formula: (Completed Initiatives / Total Initiatives) * 100
How to use: Evaluate the association's ability to track and execute on goals in its strategic plan.
Culture or Sentiment Analysis – Analyze member sentiment and feedback to gauge overall satisfaction with the association’s culture, vibrancy, or health.
Formula
Culture Survey
Progress on the Product Community Maturity Model
How to use: Understand member perceptions and improve strategies accordingly.
North Star Metrics – Identify a critical metric that directly aligns with the association's mission.
Formula: Mission-Specific Metric
How to use: Track progress toward the core mission and objectives.
Mission-Related Impact Metrics – Measure the association's impact on mission-related goals (e.g., lowering obesity rates, improving patient outcomes, reducing carbon usage).
Formulas
Mission-Related Impact Metrics
Progress on the Product Community Maturity Model
How to use: Evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives in achieving the association's mission.
These performance metrics cover various aspects of a professional association's operations, helping to assess its overall health, member engagement, financial performance, and strategic effectiveness.
Too Many Numbers?
“We can do more. Business metrics are valuable and absolutely necessary, but they’re not the only thing we could be measuring. As customer advocates, it’s important to also measure our impact on people.”
Daniel Filler
I love metrics and data.
I love how they can help guide our behavior as we set out to meet audacious, community-based goals. Distributed properly, nearly any association can tackle the list I lay out in this article.
I love metrics and data, yet I love culture, innovation, and community much more. Metrics and data serve people, not the other way around.
However, as I’ve mentioned in the past, managing too many metrics can lead to data overload and shift our focus away from mission-based problem-solving and membership-based community building and toward a transactional operation that focuses on short-term revenue and superficial relationships.
Metrics can be engines of innovation only if they are designed as human-centered.
Remember, product-led growth fuels connection. Join the product community and flip your destiny.
About the Author
James Young is founder and chief learning officer of the product community®. Jim is an engaging trainer and leading thinker in the worlds of associations, learning communities, and product development. Prior to starting the product community®, Jim served as Chief Learning Officer at both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of College and University Planning.
Please contact me for a conversation: james@productcommunity.us.