Professional associations sometimes struggle to parse the difference between “membership retention” and “membership renewal.” So let’s start by defining our terms: Retention rate is the percentage of current members who choose to rejoin for another term before their term expires .

What does membership renewal mean? Why do healthy membership renewals matter? How to start improving the membership renewal process; Show off your member benefits; Create mentorship programs; Boost member engagement; Don’t forget: Be kind, remind! Communicate on the right channels; Set up a multi-channel strategy; Thank you members for renewing

In this guide to membership renewal, we’ll cover why a high retention rate is important, and what strategies you can use to boost yours.

Learn how to define when an expired member should be treated as a new vs existing during the renewal process and why it's important.

But membership expert Elizabeth Engel, CAE, of Spark Consulting explains the difference. “Membership retention is your goal—renewal is the process by which you achieve your goal… it’s a campaign that reminds members why they want to stick with you and asks them to invest in another year.”