Webinar Recap: '25 State of MX—The Experience Matters

For the fourth consecutive year, Forj surveyed thousands of association members across industries and career stages to compile the 2025 State of MX Report. While the findings show measurable improvements, they also reveal critical shifts in expectations that organizations must meet head-on.

We recently hosted a live webinar with Forj CEO Kurt Heikkinen and VP of Technology Solutions Andy Hicken, who broke down this year’s most impactful insights, addressed the widening experience gap, and offered strategies to move forward with confidence.

Whether you joined us live or are catching up now, here’s a recap of the discussion and key takeaways you can start applying today.

A Turning Point for Associations

The data from this year’s survey tells a clear story: members are more satisfied, more engaged, and more willing to invest in what associations offer. 

In 2024, our report sounded an alarm, highlighting an urgent need for agility in the face of declining engagement and rising dissatisfaction. But in 2025, we see a meaningful shift. The clearest indicator of momentum is the sharp improvement in Net Promoter Score (NPS):

• 2024 NPS: 42
• 2025 NPS: 59

Across career stages, we also saw marked increases:

• Early career: 46
• Mid-career: 64
• Late career: 58

These gains reflect real progress, and now is the time to build on it by aligning your strategy, technology, and team around what matters most to the modern member.

Four Mindset Shifts That Define the Modern Member

1. Connect Me with My Peers

Andy kicked off the research review with the most striking indicator of change: online community participation more than doubled, rising from 20% to 47%. The number of members who never engage online dropped to just 6%.

Why does this matter? Members consistently rank connection as the top reason they join and stay with an association, and they’re showing up online for peer-to-peer exchange. For those who frequently engage in their online community, 86.5% say they’ll “definitely” renew. Only 74% of non-frequent engagers express the same sentiment. 

Your members are continually sharing formal and informal feedback that offers clues to their expectations. Use your community data to uncover their needs and enrich their experience.

Take Action:

• Redefine your community’s purpose: Is it designed for peer-to-peer learning?
• Research your audience, using indicators like search terms and post types to inform your content and engagement strategies.
• Appoint community ambassadors to foster connection, engagement, and reciprocity.

2. Help Me Grow, Not Just Check a Box

Continuing education is no longer the differentiator it once was for associations. Earning CE credits topped the list of member dissatisfaction this year, even among those who require CE for licensure. What members want instead is content that’s fresh, skill-building, and relevant to their day-to-day work.

The top reasons members say they engage with learning content are:

• To stay up to date on new trends and information
• To improve their professional practice
• To earn CE/PD credits

Be mindful that what works today may not work tomorrow. Data can help you continuously improve your learning strategies and keep educational offerings relevant and valuable.

Take Action:

• Listen to your data, using completion rates, course evaluations, and engagement metrics to optimize your offerings.
• Look at the questions members are asking and enrich existing content by adding live Q&As, alternate formats, or peer feedback loops.

Consider repurposing high-performing content into new modalities to keep it relevant.

3. Make It About Me

The call for a personalized member experience is louder than ever. When asked about their frustrations with both LMS and community platforms, members cited a lack of personalization as their top issue.

Today’s members expect experiences that are tailored, dynamic, and responsive to their needs. Rise to that demand by prioritizing the three pillars of personalization:

• Understand Me: Understand their roles, career stages, and interests, and use that intelligence to deliver more relevant content, experiences, and recommendations.
• Make It Easy for Me: Streamline how your organization curates and creates content, whether it’s developed by staff or contributed by members.
• Guide Me: Member needs evolve across early, mid, and late career stages. Become a trusted partner by proactively guiding them to the right resources at the right time.

AI has emerged as a valuable tool to meet the demand for increased personalization, and members are receptive to it:

• Only 5% of members now say they wouldn’t trust AI content
• 95% of members do trust AI in some way
• The top use cases for improving the member experience include summarization (23.5%) and personalization (22.9%)

With the right partner, you can scale your AI use with intention and focus to create meaningful, personalized member journeys.

Take Action:

• Use AI to surface insights from course evaluations, discussion forums, and surveys.
• Test AI tools to streamline content creation while keeping expert oversight.
• Just start: If you haven’t been experimenting with AI, explore the many tools out there.

4. Let Me Engage Anywhere

The modern member doesn’t want to wait for the next in-person event. They want dynamic, mobile-friendly experiences that offer value year-round. And this shift is clear: In 2024, 44% of members said they never used their association’s mobile app. In 2025, 44% say they now use it frequently. This growth is driven especially by newer members.

Take Action:

• Test your mobile experience for ease, value, and accessibility.
• Identify members who could serve as mentors in always-on environments.
• Redesign in-person programming for flexible, seamless access across devices.

Your Next Steps to Boost MX

Kurt and Andy closed the session with a reminder: Momentum is on your side, but it only matters if you use it.

Focus your strategy on these four mindset shifts and use your data as a compass. You’ll not only meet expectations but create an experience your members can’t imagine living without.

Haven’t had a chance to read the full report yet? Download your free copy of the 2025 State of MX here.