What Are Online Communities? Benefits, Types, and Strategies

Mike, a membership director at a mid-sized association, sees it every year. Engagement peaks in October and fades by December. Online communities change that rhythm by keeping people connected, learning, and contributing year-round. 

Research shows that strong social presence and steady community support drive deeper engagement and make members more likely to recommend the experience.

If you want people to swap insights, get help, or spot new opportunities, you need intention, smart design, and tools that make participation effortless.

This guide covers what makes online communities work, real examples to model, and clear steps to build one that lasts.

TL;DR - How to Start an Online Community

Building a thriving online community doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a quick snapshot of the key steps to get started and keep members engaged:

• Start with a clear purpose
• Identify your first core members
• Choose a platform that supports your goals
• Create a safe and inclusive space
• Plan activities that spark engagement
• Invite members to contribute and take ownership
• Measure what’s working and adjust as you go

Keep these fundamentals in mind as your foundation. In the sections ahead, we’ll dive deeper into each step.

What is an Online Community?

An online community is simply a group of people who gather around a shared interest, goal, or line of work. It runs on its own norms, gives everyone a place to trade ideas, solve problems together, and build real connections without needing to be in the same room.

For associations, a branded online community goes further, offering year-round networking, supporting professional growth, and keeping members connected beyond the annual conference. 

Integrated into a unified member experience, it boosts engagement, improves retention, and opens new revenue opportunities, all in one seamless platform.

5 Benefits of Online Communities

Online communities do more than connect people; they transform the way associations engage, retain, and grow their members. 

By unifying community solutions, learning solutions, and data solutions in one platform, associations can create experiences that drive measurable outcomes. 

Some of the main benefits include:

1. Strengthen Connections and Belonging

Communities give members a place to engage with peers and experts, fostering a sense of inclusion. 

Sharing ideas, experiences, and support helps members feel valued, which strengthens trust, participation, and loyalty over time.

2. Differentiate Your Association

Communities that are carefully nurtured make your organization stand out. Members enjoy real peer interaction, get useful insights, and exclusive resources that increase their value.

3. Support Learning and Professional Growth

Members can access resources, ask questions, and share expertise, fostering a culture of collective learning. 

Communities also allow personalized content feeds, helping drive engagement aligned with members’ career or credentialing goals.

4. Capture Insights and Feedback

Online communities give you fast, detailed insight. You can see patterns, pain points, and emerging needs in a matter of days, which makes it easier for associations to fine-tune their programs and respond sooner.

Solutions like Forj Analyze push this even further by spotting members who may churn, flagging trending topics for new content, and highlighting highly engaged people who could become mentors or subject experts. When members see you act on their input, trust grows and retention follows.

5. Drive Revenue and Organizational Growth

Communities increase visibility for your organization, drive participation in learning programs, and create new avenues for non-dues revenue.

Forj clients report roughly a 10% lift in annual revenue by monetizing learning content, turning passive members into active participants, and using behavioral data to spot high-value engagement opportunities. 

Types of Online Communities

Not all communities are built the same. Different goals call for different structures, and understanding the types of online communities helps associations create spaces that deliver real value for members.

You’ll typically see communities organized into a few core categories:

• Learning Communities: In a learning community, people exploring the same subject come together to talk, swap resources, and ask the questions that reinforce their understanding. Associations rely on them to support credentialing pathways, keep learners motivated, and make new knowledge actually useful at work.
• Professional Networks: Professional networks unite members who share an industry or role. They offer a space to discuss challenges, compare approaches, and stay connected to emerging trends. They tend to become steady pockets of mentorship and peer support, which shows up in stronger community-led career growth and happier members.
• Communities of Practice (CoP): A community of practice gathers professionals who want to sharpen their skills in a specific field. They tackle real challenges together, trade fresh ideas, and raise the overall quality of work in their discipline. For associations, these groups often become a powerful engine for content development and thought leadership.
• Brand or Membership Communities: These membership-centered communities put the relationship with your audience front and center. Members get insider content, timely updates, and places to connect over common interests, which strengthens their loyalty. Associations often rely on them to maintain steady engagement between big initiatives.
• Support Communities: Support communities exist to help members solve problems, technical, practical, or emotional. Members ask questions, share solutions, and offer guidance. For associations, it cuts down on support costs and builds a space where members actually feel supported.
• Social and Interest-Based Communities: These communities develop around shared passions or personal interests. While they may feel informal, they play an essential role in strengthening belonging. Members who build relationships through shared interests are more likely to stay connected to the broader association.
• Hybrid Communities: Most modern communities don’t fit neatly into one category. Hybrid communities combine learning, networking, support, and social elements to meet members where they are. The result is a single, flexible space that encourages participation in multiple ways.

How to Build an Online Community

Building an online community isn’t guesswork. It takes structure, intention, and a clear understanding of what your members actually need. 

Here's how to approach it in a way that supports real connection and long-term value:

1. Start with a Clear Purpose

Every strong community begins with a simple question: Why should this exist?

Your purpose anchors everything, from how you design the space to the tone of the conversations that happen inside it.

Get specific about the problem you’re solving and the people you’re solving it for. Maybe your members need a space to trade insights, get peer support, or access shared resources. When the purpose is clear, members know exactly why the community matters and how it fits into their professional lives.

2. Identify Your First Core Members

Growth in a community happens because people show up, engage, and shape the culture, but it’s never accidental.

Gather a small set of members who understand and support your mission. 

Begin by treating them as partners. It'll be them who'll guide the tone, fuel early interaction, and show other members the level of engagement you’re aiming for. Their feedback also helps you improve the experience before opening it to more people.

3. Choose a Platform That Supports Your Goals

Many associations manage separate platforms for community, learning, and analytics, which creates friction for members. The right technology removes those silos; intuitive for members, practical for staff. That’s where purpose meets execution.

Choose tools that integrate with your AMS or CRM, offer flexible workflows, and give you control over branding and data. Platforms like Journey by Forj let learning, engagement, and community work together, not in silos. 

When your tech supports your strategy, keeping members engaged becomes much easier.

4. Create a Safe and Inclusive Space

Trust keeps a community alive. Members should feel seen, respected, and confident in speaking up.

Define what positive participation looks like, have moderation that members notice, and foster habits of empathy, active listening, and thoughtful dialogue. A secure environment enhances honesty and engagement rather than limiting it.

5. Plan Activities That Spark Engagement

Engagement grows when members encounter regular, valuable interactions.

Think about the activities that fuel it: conversation starters, expert Q&As, learning journeys, peer groups, or virtual gatherings. These activities help members find their place in the community and strengthen their connection to your organization.

When you plan engagement intentionally, members don’t just visit; they return.

6. Invite Members to Contribute and Take Ownership

Members breathe life into a community when they feel it belongs to them.

Let them run discussions, offer resources, or test new ideas. Spotlighting their stories or content transforms the space from something managed for them into something shaped by them.

Ownership builds loyalty, and loyalty fuels long-term growth.

7. Measure What’s Working and Adjust as You Go

A community isn’t something you set once and forget. It shifts as your members’ needs shift.

Pay attention to the metrics that actually matter: post purposes, active participants, trending conversations, engagement patterns, and the moments where people drop off. Mix that data with direct input from surveys, polls, or quick conversations. If something falls flat, tweak it. If something catches fire, lean into it.

The aim is steady improvement. Communities grow when leaders stay curious and responsive.

The right platform can turn that curiosity into action.

Forj combines learning, engagement, and community management in one place, powered by Forj Analyze to surface behavioral insights that inform strategy. 

You can identify engagement patterns, predict member attrition, discover trending topics for new content opportunities, and recognize high-value members for leadership roles, all while tracking what truly drives retention and revenue.

Transform your member experience, and see how Forj unifies community, learning, and data.

Online Community Examples

Seeing how others do it brings community strategy into focus. 

These examples highlight how purposeful engagement turns into tangible results:

TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association)

TCEA rebuilt its member community on Forj and treated the launch like an event, not a switch-flip. They trained volunteer leaders, set up clear spaces for conversation, and used onboarding automations to pull people in early. 

The result was steady participation instead of the usual post-event drop-off, plus richer insight into what members were actually looking for.

Takeaway: A well-structured Forj community turns your volunteers into catalysts, not content loaders, and drives engagement to grow organically.

ICBA (Independent Community Bankers of America)

ICBA uses Forj to connect 5,000 bankers across the country in a shared digital space. The community gives members year-round access to peer advice, policy discussions, and specialty groups that used to stay siloed. 

With everything tied into Forj’s analytics, ICBA now sees where conversations are heating up, who its most active members are, and which topics shape programming.

Takeaway: When a large association unifies its network on Forj, conversations become data, and that data makes planning smarter and faster.

ecoAmerica

ecoAmerica uses Forj to power its Climate Ambassador community, bringing together advocates, educators, and leaders into a single platform where training and discussion feed each other. 

Instead of juggling separate tools, members move smoothly between learning modules, conversations, and resource sharing. Staff report fewer support issues, higher completion rates, and clearer visibility into which topics spark action.

Takeaway: When learning and community sit side by side, members don’t just attend programs; they put them to work.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Online Communities

Well-meaning communities sometimes falter when the groundwork isn’t set properly. Here’s a look at the pitfalls that crop up most often:

• No Clear Purpose: Members won’t engage if they don’t understand why the community exists. Define the problem you’re solving and who it’s for.
• One-Way Communication: Broadcasting updates instead of encouraging conversation turns your community into a notice board. Invite dialogue.
• Overcomplicating Too Soon: Too many groups, features, or rules before members are active creates confusion. Start simple and iterate.
• Weak Moderation: Without guidelines and visible moderation, discussions can derail. Safety and respect are non-negotiable.
• Poor Tech Fit: Clunky platforms or disconnected systems frustrate members. Your tech should make engagement easy.
• Set-and-Forget Mindset: Communities evolve. Ongoing monitoring, feedback, and adjustments keep them alive.
• Ignoring Member Contributions: Highlight member contributions and give them a hand in shaping the community, recognition, and ownership drive engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here, we address some of the most frequent queries to help you navigate the essentials and make your community successful:

Which Platforms Are Best for Online Communities?

The right platform depends on your goals and members. For associations, the platform choice determines whether a community becomes a strategic asset or just another login.

Forj is purpose-built as a Member Experience Platform (MXP), unifying community, learning, and behavioral analytics in one system. This eliminates the fragmentation that kills engagement when members have to toggle between separate tools for courses, discussions, and events.

What Makes People Stay Active in an Online Community?

Members stick around when they feel heard, valued, and connected. 

Consistent engagement opportunities, peer-to-peer interaction, recognition for contributions, and a clear purpose all help build lasting participation.

What Are the Most Engaging Content Formats for Communities?

The most engaging content formats include interactive elements (polls, Q&As), user-generated content (challenges, spotlights), educational resources (tutorials), live events, exclusive updates, stories and case studies, discussion prompts, and visual content. 

Mix formats that encourage active participation over passive consumption.

Conclusion

Building an online community takes purpose, planning, and ongoing engagement. But more than that, it requires seeing community as part of your digital transformation strategy, not a standalone feature. 

These examples and best practices show that intentional, inclusive, member-focused communities deliver real results: stronger connections, higher engagement, and measurable growth.

For associations adapting to a digital-first world, community, learning, networking, and professional growth go hand in hand. Forj helps make that happen: tracking engagement, highlighting member contributions, and giving you the tools to build a thriving, sustainable community.

Get started today and see how Forj can help your community grow, engage, and deliver lasting impact.