Member vs Non-Member Pricing: How to Set Rates That Drive Membership

Member vs Non-Member Pricing: How to Set Rates That Drive Membership

For associations and member organizations, event pricing is also a membership tool. Set the member and non-member rates well and your events both fund themselves and recruit new members. Set them poorly and you leave money and sign-ups on the table. Here is how to think about it.

Start with the gap, not the discount

The key number is the gap between the member and non-member rate. A useful rule of thumb: set the non-member price so that membership dues plus the member event rate roughly equals the non-member rate. When that is true, joining becomes an easy decision for a non-member registering for your event, because membership effectively pays for itself.

Make the member rate feel earned

The member discount should be meaningful enough to feel like a real benefit, not a token few dollars. Members notice, and it reinforces the value of belonging.

Layer in timing

Member and non-member pricing works best combined with early-bird windows. A member who registers early gets the best possible rate, which rewards both loyalty and prompt action. We cover the timing side in our early bird pricing strategy guide.

Automate it so it runs cleanly

Manual promo codes for member rates are error-prone and easy to leak. The cleaner approach is software that applies the right rate automatically based on who the registrant is. That is core to how Sunfish Events handles event registration for associations.

Book a demo to see automatic member pricing, or view pricing.