Half of Members Say They Get Too Much Email. Here’s What to Send Instead.
At most associations, email is how everything gets said. The conference promo, the dues reminder, the advocacy alert, the chapter luncheon, the job board, the sponsor spotlight. Each one makes sense on its own.
From the member’s side, it looks like a lot of email. And they’re telling us.
What members say
- Email is the top way associations share information (61%), yet 51% of members say they get too many. (Higher Logic, 2025 Association Member Experience Report)
- 84% of members expect their association to personalize what they receive. (Higher Logic)
- Average email open rates run from about a third to half, and average click-through is about 1.3%. (Cited in ASAE’s “Stop the Decline”)
In one exit survey we reviewed, a departing member said they had asked for two years to be taken off a chapter email list, and it never happened. That’s not a member who disliked the association. That’s a member who got worn down.
Associations know it, too
52% of associations name information overload as one of their top challenges (2025 Association Benchmarking Report). The problem isn’t effort. It’s planning. According to Mighty Citizen’s 2025 Marketing Benchmarks for Associations:
- 62% only sometimes create content for specific audiences
- 45% only sometimes keep an editorial calendar
- 44% never follow a documented content plan
When every department sends its own emails on its own schedule, members get a lot of mail, and it’s easy to miss any one message.
More email doesn’t mean more engagement
It’s tempting to think that if a message didn’t land, it needs another send. But every email that isn’t relevant teaches the member to skip the next one. Eventually they skip the one about the renewal deadline, too.
The fix is to send fewer messages that matter more to the person reading them.
Four steps to a calmer inbox
1. Build three or four audience groups. Not dozens. For most associations, a handful covers it: early-career members, business owners or executives, vendor and affiliate members, and volunteer leaders. Each group needs different things from you.
2. Replace blasts with a weekly digest. Gather routine news (events, resources, chapter updates) into one well-organized email. Members know when it’s coming and where to find things.
3. Save standalone emails for moments that matter. Renewal reminders, registration deadlines, urgent advocacy calls, and a welcome series for new members. These are triggered by something the member did or needs to do.
4. Let members choose. A simple preference page (topics, frequency, chapter lists) and an unsubscribe that actually works. Respecting a “no” builds more trust than one more send ever will.
Use one editorial calendar for everyone
The quiet hero of all this is a shared calendar. When membership, events, education, and chapters plan their messages in one place, you can see the pileups before they hit the inbox and space things out.
What we build
- An audience map with three or four member groups and what each one needs from you
- A shared editorial calendar across departments
- A weekly digest template your team can fill in quickly
- Clear, friendly preference center copy
Learn more about our content strategy and digital marketing work, or tell us how many emails your members got last month.