Urban Land Institute - Best Practices in Association Membership Diversity

Urban Land Institute
1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, DC 20007-5201
202-624-7000
[www.uli.org]
Contact: Ann L. Oliveri, CAE, Senior Vice President for Strategic Development

Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
1620 Eye Street, NW
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20006
Phone:  202-785-8940
Fax:      202-785-8949
Email:   info@plexusconsulting.com

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, the institute now has more than 29,000 members worldwide representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines, working in private enterprise and public service.

The Challenge | The Solution | The Process | Unforseen Benefits | Measurements & Results | Lessons Learned

The Challenge

Due to the collaborative nature of real estate development, the founders of the Urban Land Institute needed to find a way to engage all professions, property owners, public officials and lenders in the pursuit of identifying and promoting best practices.

It is common for associations to create different types of membership to respond to the growing presence of suppliers trying to sell their services and products to the rest of the members. This generally results in a loss of “principal members” as they lose sight of the advantages offered to them and are pestered by suppliers trying to sell their merchandise.

The Solution

“Structure changes behavior.”

ULI’s method differentiates membership types by level of participation and pricing rather than by profession, offering lower priced alternatives to those who want to indirectly access the Institute’s research and information.

Full membership is reserved for those willing to make the commitment to share what they know. Participation costs upwards of $5,000 per year per person, yet many firms support five to 15 full memberships. Small firms report they spend their entire marketing budgets on ULI membership dues—not advertising, not sponsorship, but dues—to get access and earn recognition for their intellectual capital. Approximately 2,500 individuals choose to participate as full members on ULI councils.

Due to the elevated price of the latter, full members tend to be CEOs who would prefer to stay among themselves. Rather than creating a sense of hierarchy, this separation allows members to interact with people faced with similar problems and experiences, more relevant to each member’s line of work.

For less than 10% of full members’ costs, others working in private enterprise can access ULI’s information resources and member database. And, to attract public officials, those new to the profession, and those working outside the U.S., the Institute sets even lower dues price points to promote participation of a more diverse population.

The Process

Because members are all busy entrepreneurs, they are not afraid of failure and refuse to waste time. Because of this, and the fact that all members seek to gain from the relationships within the groups they are part of, there is a very strong culture of not selling services. What is more, because members seek a gain-gain relationship, most meetings conclude with some form of business being done, but only because of the trust that creates itself between members of the District Councils through repeated meetings and interaction, not because suppliers seek to sell their products.

Attracting younger members was the key to becoming more diverse. ULI therefore cut dues in half for people under 35, but it was the formation of Young Leader Groups by local District Councils that was the key to the Institute’s success. Although Young Leaders first organized their own events, most quickly realized the advantages of mingling with the other, more experienced members in their area.

Engaging those new to the field is challenging in a community of practice, so District Councils form Partnership Forums. Like ULI councils, these groups meet over time, include a cross-section of disciplines, but are chaired by a more experienced full-member as the leader. The younger participants quickly create a ULI problem-solving experience and model their behavior on the group leader.

Measurements & Results

• The number of women members rose from 5% in 2001 to 20% in 2005.
• The number of members under 35 increased by 7000 between 2001 and 2005 (up from 1000).
• January 2006 member survey notes that 70% across all categories cite ULI’s reputation and learning as the primary reasons for joining and 66% say membership exceeds their expectations. CEOs, however, are the most satisfied with their involvement.
• Rare complaints of members misusing member directory or email, and those reported quickly adjust their behavior. Any speakers using the stage to sell their services are left to wonder why they are never invited back. Sponsors and advertisers are low-key.
• Half of all full members joined due to ULI's reputation and one-third report that the experience exceeds their expectations.
• Traditionally, the longer the tenure the greater the satisfaction. Although half of the members joined less than three years ago due to rapid growth, 93% of the total membership say the experience meets their expectations and 99% of those surveyed intend to renew.

Lessons Learned

The success of an association is not based on its marketing or the segmentation of its membership. Rather, it is about its value to each member and the resulting “word of mouth” referrals. (In 2005, 50% of ULI products and events were sold to non-members through referrals).

In 2003, ULI launched a graduate student urban design competition, six weeks prior to the deadline with a single email. Of course, the email mentioned that the winning teams would get $50,000 in prize money. Word of mouth did the rest. The competition raised ULI’s visibility on campus and supported the fast growth in student membership from 350 to 1,500 members in the last four years.