Magazine Monday: Survive Past 2035

“It’s really more like a cliff than a canyon,” she said. I was discussing the future of associations with my friend Rhonda Payne, and we were looking deeply at the upcoming challenges. After a few moments of thought, I concluded, “It only matters what we call it if we make it to the other side.”

Whether a cliff, crisis, or canyon, the association industry is racing toward a generation-based membership and revenue reckoning, where existing beyond 2035 depends on our ability to bring in Gen Z members.

According to Marketing General (MGI), over 56% of association members today are Baby Boomers and Gen X, yet those generations comprise only 39% of the global workforce. This tells us that associations are getting the majority of their members from the smaller portion of the workforce, and that these members will leave the workforce soonest.

If you’re feeling the pit in your stomach tighten, take heart. It gets worse when we look ahead to 2035:

• Baby Boomers will be less than 1% of the active workforce

• Gen X will be 21%

• Millennials will be 29%

• Gen Z will be at 31%, making it the largest global cohort

• All of Gen Z will be 23 or older, which is generally the average age at which someone enters the adult workforce

Our industry cannot survive much past 2035 without robust participation from Gen Z. So, how are we doing with bringing in Gen Z members? Most associations saw zero Gen Z membership growth from 2024 to 2025. Zero.

This is a genuine industry crisis, and the numbers leave little room for denial. Associations that do not evolve beyond a Baby Boomer/Gen X majority will see their membership and revenue decline until they have to shut down. This is not at all to diminish the immense value that Baby Boomer and Gen X members provide. We need them. We also need to adjust our thinking, operations, and value propositions to be compelling to Gen Z, and it needs to begin now because we know big change in associations is a long process.

Read the full article in the 2026 edition of Association Adviser magazine!