A Membership Association That Has Already Chosen a Mobile App
A professional association with 24,000 members has seen renewal fall from 82% to 71% over 18 months, with members under 35 churning at 45%. Subscription revenue is down AUD 1.9 million against plan. The board has already decided the answer is a mobile app and wants a business case at the next meeting. Current services - events, continuing professional development logging and a member directory - run on a 12-year-old portal supported by three FTE. A competitor launched a free associate tier eight months ago and is targeting the same early-career segment. The association has a six-month budget cycle and reserves equal to about 8% of annual revenue. Membership data sits in three systems: the CRM, the learning platform and a spreadsheet used by the events team. There is no agreed definition of "active member", and each department reports a different number.
1. The board has decided on a mobile app. What current-state analysis would you do before accepting that as the solution, and what might it reveal?
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Treat the app as a hypothesis to be tested, not a requirement. Current-state analysis should cover capability, process, data, technology, customer and competitor.
Priority analyses:
- Define "active member". Three systems and three reported numbers means no reliable baseline. Reconcile the CRM, learning platform and events spreadsheet, and agree a definition before quoting any trend.
- Churn analysis by cohort: tenure, age band, engagement (events attended, CPD logged, directory use), payment method, renewal timing. The under-35 churn at 45% is the strategic problem; check whether it is value, price, or friction.
- Lapsed-member research: interviews with 15–20 non-renewers and near-lapses. Ask what they now use instead, including the competitor's free tier.
- Journey and friction analysis of the renewal process itself - payment steps, reminders, invoice handling.
- Capability and technology assessment: a 12-year-old portal with three support FTE is a constraint on any new channel.
What it might reveal: renewal friction or weak perceived value, with the app addressing engagement but not the underlying cause. It may also show the over-45 majority renew through channels an app does not serve. Either way, the evidence determines whether the app is part of the solution or a distraction from pricing, service and the competitor's free tier.
2. Define the future state and the capability gaps, and compare at least three change options for the board.
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Future state (described as outcomes, not features): renewal stabilised and then improved, with early-career members retained; one trusted member record; services accessible on the channels members actually use; reporting the board can trust.
Capability gaps: member data management and reconciliation; segmentation and lifecycle analytics; digital engagement and self-service; CPD verification and value demonstration; payments and renewal automation; service model with three FTE against a larger digital estate.
Options to compare:
- Build a custom mobile app. Highest control and brand fit; highest cost and longest time to value; requires data remediation first. Risky against 8% reserves.
- Buy and configure a SaaS membership platform, with mobile web first. Faster, lower capital, constrains customisation, forces data migration work that is needed anyway.
- Partner or federate with another body to offer a shared early-career tier, countering the competitor's free offer. Low technology cost, high governance and brand complexity.
- Non-technology option: repricing, renewal-journey fixes and service improvements, possibly delivering faster than any app.
Recommendation to frame: sequence rather than choose blindly - fix member data and renewal friction, pilot engagement with a defined segment, then invest in the app if the pilot shows demand. Assess each option on cost, time to value, risk, strategic fit and the six-month budget cycle.
3. What risks and value measures belong in the business case, and how would you test the assumption that a mobile app improves renewal?
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Risks: unreliable member data undermining targeting and measurement; low adoption among the over-45 majority; cost overrun on a custom build; competitor free tier eroding the early-career segment faster than the app can respond; privacy and consent for member analytics; vendor lock-in; three support FTE without the skills for a digital service; and the underlying risk - solving the wrong problem at scale.
Value measures: renewal rate by cohort (especially under 35), cost to serve per member, digital self-service take-up, CPD logging completion, event conversion from digital touchpoints, complaint and contact volumes, and member satisfaction. Set baselines now, given the data reconciliation work, and name a benefit owner for each.
Testing the assumption:
- Run a segment pilot - one cohort, one region - with a pre-agreed success threshold and a comparison group.
- Prototype the renewal journey before committing to build, and measure completion, not preference.
- Interview lapsed members about what would have changed their decision, weighted against actual behaviour.
- Set a stop/go gate before full investment, and define in advance what result would falsify the app hypothesis.
This gives the board a decision it can defend: an app may still be right, but it will be evidence-led rather than assumed.