Member Needs & Satisfaction Survey - Society of …files.archivists.org/membership/surveys/saaMemberSurvey...Satisfaction Survey Spring 2012 Table of Contents 2 Topic Page Topic Page

1

Member Needs &

Satisfaction Survey

Spring 2012

2 Table of Contents

Topic Page Topic Page

Key Takeaways

Methodology

Demographics of Respondents

Needs Assessment – Individual

Needs Assessment – Institutional

Member Loyalty Assessment

Captive Members

Components of Loyalty

Membership Value Analysis

Member Benefits Analysis

Membership Dues Analysis

3

4

9

29

50

73

102

107

112

117

126

Continuing Education

Publications

The American Archivist

Archival Outlook

Website

SAA Staff

SAA Council

Strategic Initiatives

Annual Meeting

Problem Analysis

Conclusions / Recommendations

130

139

144

149

155

165

170

175

182

201

204

3

1. The top three reasons why individual members belong to SAA are (1) to stay current on

information about the profession, (2) to network and build professional relationships, and

(3) to receive SAA’s journal and newsletter.

2. The top three reasons why institutional members belong are (1) to stay current on

information about the profession, (2) to receive SAA’s journal and newsletter, and (3) to

get the member benefits for their employees.

3. The loyalty profile for SAA is similar to other professional membership associations. The

loyalty profile of individual members is 54% loyal, 37% neutral and 9% vulnerable. For

institutional members, their profile is 59% loyal, 31% neutral and 10% vulnerable.

4. The value of an SAA membership for individual members is driven by member benefits,

membership dues, the SAA Council, the Annual Meeting, publications, and continuing

education.

5. The value of an SAA institutional membership is driven by member benefits, membership

dues, strategic initiatives, publications, and the Annual Meeting.

6. Only 3% of individual members and 2% of institutional members have experienced a

significant problem with SAA in the past six months.

Key Takeaways

4

Methodology

5

1. The purpose of the Member Loyalty study is to better understand which benefits and

programs members value, and how well they believe SAA is doing in delivering those

experiences.

2. The primary objectives of this study are to: understand why major segments of members

belong to SAA, determine SAA’s mix of loyal, neutral and vulnerable members,

determine which member benefits are being underutilized, and measure the

performance of SAA’s programs (e.g. continuing education, publications, Annual

Meeting, website, staff, SAA Council).

3. Recommendations are presented to show where SAA can get the greatest increase in

retention and non-dues revenue for its efforts.

Objectives

6 Methodology – Data Collection

1. On January 17, 2012, SAA emailed a survey invitation to its 6,134 eligible members.

2. Reminder emails were sent to institutional member primary contacts and dual members

who had not completed the survey on January 27. On February 3rd a reminder email was

sent to all individual and dual nonrespondents. On February 6th a final email reminder was

sent to all individual nonrespondents.

3. The survey was also promoted in SAA’s Archival Outlook, In The Loop, on SAA’s Facebook

page, and SAA’s Twitter feed. A direct mail piece was sent to institutional and dual member

nonrespondents on January 20.

4. When the survey was closed on February 7, there were 2,151 total respondents out of

6,134 eligible participants (35.1% *).

5. The response rate for individual members is 35.3% (2,013 out of 5,705 eligible

participants). The response rate for institutional members is 36.3% (166 respondents out

of 457 eligible participants.

6. With this response rate, the level of precision for performance ratings in this study where all

members are included as a single group is +/- 1.69% at the 95% confidence level.

* Total respondents includes 28 individual members who were also designated as

institutional-member primary contacts. These respondents received a special version

of the survey that included questions for both member categories.

7

597

319

85

48 24 23

50 38 27 29 41 11 9

33 27 30 25

331

52

234

116

3 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Methodology – Data Collection

• The surveys for individual members, institutional member primary contacts, and dual

members were launched on January 17, 2012.

• Reminder emails were sent to institutional member primary contacts on January 27, and to

individual members on February 3 and February 6.

This graph shows the number of surveys completed each day.

8 8

Response Grade Rating

Value

Member

Benefits

Continuing

Education Staff Website

Excellent A 1 20 50

Very good B 2 20 10

Good C 3 20 80 100

Fair D 4 20 10

Poor F 5 20 50

Total Responses 100 100 100 100

Average Rating 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

Top 2 Score 40% 50% 10% 0%

Methodology – Top 2 Scores

• All performance ratings in this report are shown as top 2 scores, rather than as average ratings. As the

table below with hypothetical results shows, factors can vary in the distribution of responses received

and still have the same average rating. In the table below, all four factors have exactly the same average

(mean) rating. Top 2 scores have the sensitivity to show differences in response distributions where

differences exist.

• Conceptually, a top 2 score can be thought of as the percentage of respondents who gave an A or B

rating for a particular factor’s performance (e.g. member benefits, website, newsletter, etc.). Factors that

do not achieve a minimum performance rating of 70% should be considered for improvement efforts.

9

Demographics of

Respondents

10 Age – Individual Members

Q49. What is your age?

5%16%

16%

12%10%

9%

9%

9%

8% 5%

Under 25 25-29

30-34 35-39

40-44 45-49

50-54 55-59

60-64 65 and over

• The pie chart below shows the distribution of individual member respondents’ ages.

• All of the age categories are represented in this study.

11 Age – Institutional Member

Q49. What is your age?

0% 4% 7%

10%

10%

8%

19%

19%

15%

8%

Under 25 25-29

30-34 35-39

40-44 45-49

50-54 55-59

60-64 65 and over

• No institutional member respondents are under the age of 25.

12

25%

75%

Male Female

31%

69%

Male Female

Individual Members Institutional Members

• The majority of individual member respondents and institutional member respondents are

female.

Q50. What is your sex?

Sex

13

2% 0% 3% 3% 1% 0%

89%

2% 5%0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

84%

4%8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

African -

American

Alaska

Native

Asian Latino /

Hispanic

Native

American

Pacific

Islander

White /

Caucasian

Other Rather not

say

Individual members

Institutional members

Race / Ethnicity – All Respondents

Q51. Please indicate the group(s) that best describe your race/ethnicity.

(Select all that apply)

• Individuals were invited to check all that apply to them. Because some individuals made

multiple selections, and other individuals did not provide an answer, the percentages below

do not total to 100%.

• A 0% in the graph below indicates that there were fewer than 1% of respondents who chose

that selection.

14

67%

14%

4% 2% 3%

16%

6%1%

87%

7%0% 0% 2% 0% 1% 3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Employed,

full-time

Employed,

part-time

Unemployed,

seeking full-

time

Unemployed,

seeking part-

time

Retired Student Other Rather not

say

Individual members


Employment Status – All Respondents

Q51. Please indicate the group(s) that best describe your race/ethnicity.

(Select all that apply)




• A 0% in the graph below indicates that there were fewer than 1% of respondents who chose

that selection.

15 Annual Salary For 2011 – Individual Members

Q53. Please indicate your total annual salary for 2011.

20%

9%

14%

17%

14%

10%

6%3% 3% 5%

< $20K $20K-$29K

$30K-$39K $40K-$49K

$50K-$59K $60K-$69K

$70K-$79K $80K-$89K

$90K-$99K $100K +

• Eighty-five percent (85%) of individual member respondents provided their 2011 annual

salary (not shown). The distribution of their responses is provided in the pie chart below.

16 Annual Salary For 2011 – Institutional Members

Q53. Please indicate your total annual salary for 2011.

1% 6%9%

13%

21%8%

14%

11%

6%

12%

< $20K $20K-$29K

$30K-$39K $40K-$49K

$50K-$59K $60K-$69K

$70K-$79K $80K-$89K

$90K-$99K $100K +

• Eighty percent (80%) of institutional member respondents provided their 2011 annual salary

(not shown). The distribution of their responses is provided in the pie chart below.

17

99%

8%

85%

46%

57%

1%6%

1%

96%

5%

76%

58%

51%

1%

10%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

High school Associate BA/BS/BFA MA/MS/MFA MLS/MLIS MBA PhD JD

Individual members


Education – All Respondents

Q54. Please indicate ALL of the degrees you hold.




18 Years a Member – Individual Members

20%

19%

12%14%

11%

9%

5%4% 7% 0-1 years

2-3 years

4-5 years

6-7 years

8-10 years

11-15 years

16-20 years

21-25 years

26 + years

• From the join date that was taken from internal member data, the years of membership

were calculated.

• All of the tenure categories for individual members are represented in this study.

19 Years a Member – Institutional Members

8%8%

14%

11%

11%16%

8%

11%

12% 0-1 years

2-3 years

4-5 years

6-7 years

8-10 years

11-15 years

16-20 years

21-25 years

26 + years

• There is a fairly even representation of institutional member respondents by tenure

category.

• This information was gathered from their join date which is part of their internal SAA record,

rather than from a survey response.

20 Individual Member Type – Individual Members

3%

76%

21%

Associate

Individual

Student

• The pie chart below shows the distribution of individual members by individual member

type.

21

2%

2%

1%

0%

15%

5%

10%

13%12%

9%

8%

21% 2%

Bridge

Domestic Associate

International Associate

Lifetime

Retired

Salary less than $20K

Salary $20K-$29K

Salary $30K-$39K

Salary $40K-$49K

Salary $50K-$59K

Salary $60K-$75K

Salary more than $75K

Student

Individual Member Sub Type – Individual Members

• The pie chart below shows the distribution of individual members by individual member sub

type.

• There were no lifetime members who responded to the survey.

22

41%

23%

23%

6%7%

Academic institution

Government agency

Nonprofit organization

For-profit organization

Other

Type of Institution – Institutional Members

• The largest category of institutional members are those who work in academic institutions.

23

95%

2% 3%

College or university

Elementary or secondary

Other academic institution

Type of Academic Institution – Institutional Members

• Most academic institution member respondents work at colleges and universities.

24

23%

48%

9%

20%

Federal or national

State

County or parish

Municipal

Type of Government Institution – Institutional Members

• Roughly half (48%) of institutional member respondents who work for a governmental

agency work for a state agency.

25

32%

3%

3%11%24%

8%

3%8%

8% Historical society

Library

Museum, history

Museum, other

Religious

Foundation

Professional association

Medical institution

Other

• The two largest categories of nonprofit organization respondents work for historical

societies and religious organizations.

Type of Nonprofit Organization – Institutional Members

26

11%

11%

78%

Archival consulting firm

Manufacturer, vendor, supplier

Other, not related to archives

• Most institutional member respondents who work for a for-profit organization work for a

company that is not related to archives.

Type of For-profit Organization – Institutional Members

27

8%8%

7%

24%

15%

10%8%

21%

1-4

5-9

10-19

20-99

100-499

500-2,499

2,500-9,999

10,000 +

Total Number of Employees – Institutional Members

• The pie chart below shows the distribution of the number of employees at each

respondent’s organization.

28

10%

62%

15%

8%

1%

1%

4%None

1-4

5-9

10-19

20-99

100-499

500-2,499

2,500-9,999

10,000 +

Number of Archivists – Institutional Members

• Most institutional member respondents work for an organization with 1-4 archivists.

29

Member Needs Assessment

Individual Membership

30 Member Needs Assessment – Individual Members

1. The Member Needs Assessment is an analysis that identifies the personal needs that

members seek to fulfill with an SAA membership. The results of this assessment will

enable SAA to develop benefits and programs to meet the needs of its members.

2. This section examines the responses given by individual members, as well as dual

members responding as individual members.

3. Currently, the number one reason why individual members join SAA is to stay current on

information about the profession. When members were asked to allocate 100 points to

the various reasons why they belong to SAA, roughly 24% of all points were allocated to

this reason.

4. The second most popular reason for joining, which received 17% of the allocated points,

was to network and build professional relationships.

5. Other reasons that received 5% of the points or more, (ranked in order of importance),

are: to receive the journal and newsletter (11.0%), to support the profession (9.4%), to

show that they are professionals (9.3%), to advance their careers (9.0%), and to get

SAA’s member benefits (7.4%).

6. This section of the report examines these top seven reasons for belonging to SAA and

how their priorities vary by member segments.

31

0.8%

0.6%

1.1%

1.3%

1.5%

2.9%

4.5%

7.4%

9.0%

9.3%

9.4%

11.0%

17.0%

24.3%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Other

SAA membership is a job requirement

My supervisor/mentor suggested I join

Prestige of being an SAA member

My dues are reimbursed

My professor/advisor suggested I join

To support SAA

To receive SAA's member benefits

To advance my career

To show that I am a professional

To support the profession

Subscriptions to the journal and newsletter

To network and build relationships

Stay current on information about profession

Percentage of Points Allocated

Reasons For Belonging to SAA - Individual Membership

• The chart below shows the distribution of points by all individual and dual respondents.

Respondents were asked to allocate more points to the more important reasons for having

an SAA individual membership.

Q10. Individuals belong to associations for a variety of reasons. Please tell us the

reasons why you belong to SAA. Please allocate a total of 100 points among the

following reasons, assigning more points to the more important reasons .

32

26%

17%

11% 10%8% 8% 8%

23%

17%

12%

9% 10% 9% 8%

19%

15%

10%8%

14%

11%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

• Individual members who are loyal place a higher priority on belonging to SAA to stay current

on information. This could be explained as those individuals who have a higher priority on

staying current in their profession are having their needs met better by their SAA

membership.

• Vulnerable members place a higher priority on using the membership to show they are a

professional and to advance their career. This could be explained as those individuals who

are not loyal to SAA are more interested in self-promotion rather than self-improvement.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Loyalty

33

33%

10%

17%

11%

6% 5%

8%

26%

18%

11% 11% 10%8% 7%

18%16%

9%

6%8%

14%

10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Associate

Individual

Student

• Individual members want to stay current, to network, to receive subscriptions and to support

the profession.

• Students place a higher priority on advancing their career as a reason for belonging to SAA,

while associate members have a higher priority on staying current and receiving SAA’s

publications.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Member Type

34

27%

16%

10%8% 8% 7% 8%

24%

17%

11% 10% 10% 10%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Reimbursed dues

No reimbursement

• Individual members who pay their own dues have slightly higher priorities on belonging to

SAA to support the profession, to show that they are a professional and to advance their

career.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Dues Reimbursement

35

24%

17%

11%9% 9% 9%

7%

23%

16%14%

12%

8%6% 5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Individual membership

Dual membership

• Not shown in the graph below, is that for dual members, their fifth most important reason for

belonging to SAA is to support SAA. As a group, dual members allocated 11% of their points

to this reason.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Individual vs. Dual

36

22%

16%

12% 12%

9% 9%

6%

25%

17%

11%

8%10% 9% 8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Male Female

• Female individual members place a higher priority on staying current on information about

their profession as a reason for belonging to SAA, while male individual members place a

slightly higher priority on supporting the profession.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Sex

37

18%16%

11%

8%

16%

12%

6%

25%

17%

11%9% 9% 9% 8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Captive member

Not captive

• Captive members are individuals who give a very low rating to the value they receive from

their SAA membership, but still plan to renew their membership. Typically, association

members renew their membership because they believe their membership is a good value

i.e. the benefits of being a member outweigh the cost of being a member. Captive members

belong for reasons other than having a valued membership.

• Captive members, similar to other vulnerable members, are more interested in self-

promotion.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Captive Members

38

25%

18%

11% 10% 9% 8% 7%

22%

15%

11%

8% 9%

12%

9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Used SAA continuing education

Did not use continuing education

• Individual members who used SAA’s continuing education programs place a higher priority

on belonging to SAA in order to stay current, to build relationships through networking, and

to support the profession.

• Individual members who did not participate in continuing education through SAA are more

interested in advancing their career and receiving SAA’s member benefits.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Continuing Education

39

25%

20%

11% 10% 10%8%

6%

24%

12% 12%

8% 9% 10% 10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Attended SAA Annual Meeting

Did not attend Annual Meeting

• Not surprisingly, individual members who attend the Annual Meeting are more interested in

networking and building professional relationships.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Annual Meeting Attendance

40

17%

13%

6%7%

19%

17%

10%

6%

22%

17%

10%

8%

22%

20%

10%9%

27%

20%

11%10%

27%

18%

11% 11%

29%

17%

12%11%

29%

15%

12% 12%

28%

16%

13% 13%

27%

14%

16%

13%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on information

about profession

To network and build

relationships

Subscriptions to the journal and

newsletter


< 25 25-29

30-34 35-39

40-44 45-49

50-54 55-59

60-64 65 and over




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Age (pg. 1)

• Older members are more interested in staying current on information about the profession

and supporting the profession.

41

8%

16%

9%10%

14%

9%11%

13%

7%

11% 11%

7%

10%8%

5%

9%8%

6%

9%

4%

7%8%

5%

8%6%

4%

8%8%

1%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

To show that I am a professional To advance my career To receive SAA's member benefits

< 25 25-29

30-34 35-39

40-44 45-49

50-54 55-59

60-64 65 and over




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Age (pg. 2)

• Younger members are more interested in advancing their careers.

42

20%

16%

8%

6%

24%

17%

11%

8%

24%

17%

13%

8%

24%

18%

13%

10%

28%

17%

12%

9%

28%

17%

10%11%

27%

19%

11%

13%

26%

19%

11%

13%

25%

18%

13%

16%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession


relationships


newsletter


0-1 Years 2-3 Years

4-5 Years 6-7 Years

8-10 Years 11-15 Years


26 + Years




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Years a Member (pg. 1)

• Individuals who have been members for a longer period of time place a higher priority on

supporting the profession as a reason for belonging.

43

7%

13%

10%10%12%

8%9%

11%

8%

11%

8%

5%

11%

6%7%

10%

6% 6%

9%

5%

7%9%

4%

6%8%

2%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


0-1 Years 2-3 Years

4-5 Years 6-7 Years



26 + Years




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Years a Member (pg. 2)

• Individuals who have been members for a shorter period of time place a higher priority on

advancing their careers as a reason for belonging.

44

22%

15%

9%

6%

23%

17%

12%

7%

24%

16%

12%

8%

25%

17%

11%

9%

27%

18%

11%

9%

27%

17%

12%

10%

25%

20%

11% 11%

26%

21%

13%14%

23%

19%

14%

18%

23%

19%

11%

18%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession


relationships


newsletter


< $20K $20K-$29K

$30K-$39K $40K-$49K

$50K-$59K $60K-$69K

$70K-$79K $80K-$89K

$90K-$99K $100K +




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Salary (pg. 1)

• There is a positive correlation between salary and the relative priority given for belonging in

order to support the profession.

45

9%

12%

9%7%

9%10%10%

11%

7%

10%9%

8%10%

9%

6%

9%

6% 6%

9%

5%

7%6%

4%5%

9%

3%4%

6%5%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


< $20K $20K-$29K

$30K-$39K $40K-$49K

$50K-$59K $60K-$69K

$70K-$79K $80K-$89K

$90K-$99K $100K +




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Salary (pg. 2)

• Consistent with younger age and less time being a member, individuals who have lower

salaries are more interested in belonging to SAA in order to advance their careers.

46

20%19%

8%

11%10% 10%

4%

23%

18%

10%

7%9%

7%8%

23%

19%

7%

10%

7%

11%

6%

25%

17%

11%9% 9% 9%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

African American Asian

Hispanic Caucasian

• The chart below shows the relative priorities given to the top seven reasons for belonging to

SAA by race/ethnicity.

• Only those races/ethnicities that had more than two respondents were included in this

analysis.



following reasons, assigning more points to the more important reasons.

Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Race/Ethnicity

47

19%

22%

9%11%

2%4%

9%

20%

16%

8%6%

7%

12%10%

25%

17%

11%10% 10% 9%

7%

24%

17%

14%13%

8%

4%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

High School Bachelor's degree

Master's degree Ph.D.

• Not shown in the chart below is that 14% of high school educated members’ points and 11%

of bachelor’s degreed members’ points were given to joining SAA because of their

professor’s suggestion.

• In this analysis, respondents in the high school category are those who did not check any

completed education higher than high school.

• Individuals were placed into the bachelor’s degree category if they did not check any

education beyond a bachelor’s degree.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Education

48

25%

18%

11%10%

23%

15%

11%

6%

24%

16%

9%

5%

24%

16%

9%

5%

25%

14%13%

17%18%

16%

8%6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession


relationships


newsletter


Employed full time

Employed part time

Unemployed, seeking full time

Unemployed, seeking part time

Retired

Student




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Employment Status (pg. 1)

• Not shown in the chart below, respondents who are retired allocated 12% of their points to

supporting SAA.

49

10%8%

7%9%

11%

8%

12%

16%

9%10%

13%

8%7%

2%

6%7%

14%

10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


Employed full time

Employed part time

Unemployed, seeking full time

Unemployed, seeking part time

Retired

Student




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Employment Status (pg. 2)

• Unemployed members and student members place a higher priority on belonging to SAA in

order to advance their careers.

50

Member Needs Assessment

Institutional Membership

51 Member Needs Assessment – Institutional Members

1. The Member Needs Assessment is an analysis that identifies the needs that members

seek to fulfill with an SAA institutional membership. The results of this assessment will

enable SAA to develop benefits and programs to meet the needs of its institutional

members.

2. This section examines the responses given by institutional members, as well as dual

members responding as institutional members.

3. Currently, the number one reason why institutional members join SAA is to stay current

on information about the profession. When members were asked to allocate 100 points

to the various reasons why they belong to SAA, 25% of all points were allocated to this

reason. This is statistically identical to the responses given by SAA’s individual members.

4. The second most popular reason for joining, which received 15.7% of the allocated

points, was to receive the journal and the newsletter.

5. Other reasons that received 5% of the points or more (ranked in order of importance) are:

to receive member benefits for employees (11.0%), to network and build relationships

(9.0%), to support the profession (8.6%), to show they are reputable archival institutions

(7.3%), and to advance their institution’s mission (5.5%).

6. This section of the report examines these top seven reasons for having an SAA

institutional membership and how their priorities vary by member segments.

52

1.8%

0.8%

1.4%

1.7%

3.1%

4.4%

4.7%

5.5%

7.3%

8.6%

9.0%

11.0%

15.7%

25.0%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Other

Prestige of being an SAA member

To promote our business

My supervisor suggested we join

To receive individual benefits

To support SAA

To establish institutional partnerships

To advance our institution's mission

To show we are a reputable institution


To network and build relationships

To receive member benefits for employees

Subscriptions to the journal and newsletter

Stay current on information about profession

Percentage of Points Allocated

Reasons For Belonging to SAA – Institutional Membership

• The chart below shows the distribution of points by all institutional member respondents and

dual member respondents. More points were given to the more important reasons for

having an SAA institutional membership.

Q9Z. Institutions belong to associations for a variety of reasons. Please tell us the reasons

why your institution belongs to SAA. Please allocate a total of 100 points among the


53

30%

14%

10% 11%

7% 6% 6%

22%

19%

14%

7%9%

7% 6%

9%

14%

11%

6%

12%

16%

4%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Loyalty




• It is generally accepted that loyal members are loyal because they find value in their

membership and because the needs for which they joined the association and continue to

renew their membership are being satisfied.

• Not shown in the graph below is that vulnerable members allocated 6% of their points to

belonging because of a supervisor suggestion, 6% to supporting SAA, and 8% for “other”

reasons.

54

27%

16%

11% 10%

7% 7%5%

28%

13%

5%

12%

9%

1%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Regular institutional

Sustaining institutional

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Individual Sub Type




• Compared to sustaining institutional members, regular institutional members allocated more

of their points to member benefits for employees and satisfying their need to show that they

are a reputable archival institution.

• Not shown is that sustaining institutional members gave 10% of their points to supporting

SAA.

55

26%

16%

12%

9% 8% 7%5%

22%

13%

8% 8%

12%

7% 6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Regular institutional

Sustaining institutional

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Company Sub Type




• Regular institutional members are more interested in staying current, receiving SAA’s

publications, and receiving member benefits for their employees.

• Sustaining institutional members are more interested in supporting the profession.

56

28%

15%

10% 10%8%

6% 6%

13%

18%

15%

3%

13% 12%

5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Institutional membership

Dual membership

• Not shown in the chart below is that dual members allocated 8% of their points to supporting

SAA as a reason for belonging.

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Institutional vs. Dual




57

20%

16%

11%

8% 9% 9% 10%

26%

16%

12%

9% 9%

6% 6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Male Female

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Sex




• Not shown in the chart below is that male members gave 7% of their points to supporting

SAA while female members gave 4%.

58

11%

20%

12%10%

5%

20%

3%

26%

15%

11%9% 9%

6% 6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Captive

Not captive

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Captive Membership




• Institutional members who have been identified as captive (i.e. rate the value of their

membership low but plan to renew their membership), have a higher priority on belonging to

SAA in order to show that they are a reputable archival institution, and place a lower priority

on staying current on information about the profession.

59

26%

16%

12%

8% 9%7%

5%

18%

15%

6%

12%

6%8% 9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Used SAA continuing education

Did not use continuing education

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Continuing Education




• Institutional members who have used SAA’s continuing education programs place a higher

priority on staying current, getting member benefits for their employees, and supporting the

profession.

60

24%

16%

13%

10% 10%

5% 4%

26%

16%

9% 8% 7%

10%8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Attended SAA Annual Meeting

Did not attend Annual Meeting

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Annual Meeting Attendance




• Those who have attended an Annual Meeting in the past five years are more interested in

belonging to SAA in order to stay current, to show they are a reputable archival institution,

and to advance their institution’s mission.

61

26%

10%

15%

10%8%

11%

4%

15% 15%16%

9% 9%8%

6%

25%

18%

9% 9%7%

6%8%

31%

16%

10%

5%

10%

6%4%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

30-39 40-49

50-59 60 +

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Age




• Younger members are more interested in showing that their institution is reputable, while

older members are more interested in staying current and receiving SAA’s publications.

62

36%

9%

6%

10%

34%

15%

9%

13%

28%

12%

8%9%

33%

10% 10%

8%

18%

16%

18%

10%

24%

13%

9%8%

19%

25%

7%

11%

16%

23%

17%

9%

21% 21%

13%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession

Subscriptions to the journal

and newsletter

Member benefits for

employees


relationships

0-1 Years 2-3 Years

4-5 Years 6-7 Years



26 + Years

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Years a Member (pg. 1)




• In general, newer institutional members are more interested in an SAA membership to satisfy

their need for staying current on information about the profession.

63

7%8% 8%

5%

2%3%

8%

12%

4%4%6%

7%

10%

5% 5%

10%9%

7%8%

10%

7%

14%

3%4%

9%8%

4%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

To support the profession To show we are a reputable institution To advance our institution's mission

0-1 Years 2-3 Years

4-5 Years 6-7 Years



26 + Years




Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Years a Member (pg. 2)

• In general, longer tenured members are more interested in supporting the profession than

newer members.

64

30%

13%

15%

7%

33%

10%

6%

15%

27%

18%

10%

5%

22%

15%

9%10%

19%

23%

6%

8%

28%

13%

17%

11%

14%

20%

6%

11%

21%

25%

10%

13%

22%

18%

16%

4%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession


and newsletter

Member benefits for

employees


relationships

$20K-$29K $30K-$39K

$40K-$49K $50K-$59K

$60K-$69K $70K-$79K

$80K-$89K $90K-$99K

$100K +

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Salary (pg. 1)




• The only pattern below is that individuals with higher incomes tend to need an SAA

membership less for staying current on information about the profession.

65

5%

1%

7%9%

8%10%

7%8%

4%

8%10%

9%10% 10%

7%7%

3%2%

16%

1%

4%

12%

5%4%

10%8%

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


$20K-$29K $30K-$39K

$40K-$49K $50K-$59K

$60K-$69K $70K-$79K

$80K-$89K $90K-$99K

$100K +




Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Salary (pg. 2)

• Members with higher incomes tend to rely more on an SAA membership in order to satisfy

their need to support the profession.

66

33%

13%

18%

5%

11%

4% 5%

24%

17%

11% 10%8% 7% 6%

26%

15%

6% 7%9% 10%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Ph.D.

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Education




• Not shown in the chart below is that PhDs gave 11% of their points to supporting SAA.

67

23%

8%7%

8%

34%

11% 11%

15%

28%

17%

13%

11%

27%

16% 16%

6%

23%

21%

8%9%

23%22%

7% 7%

22%

17%

14%

8%

27%

7%6%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


about profession


and newsletter

Member benefits for

employees


relationships

1-4 5-9

10-19 20-99

100-499 500-2,499

2,500-9,999 10,000 or more

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Employees (pg. 1)




• In general, smaller firms have a lower priority on belonging the SAA for its publications.

68

9% 9%

5%7%

5%

2%3%

9% 9%11%

6% 6%7%

10%

7%7%8%

7%

11%

2%3%

8%

5% 5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


1-4 5-9

10-19 20-99

100-499 500-2,499

2,500-9,999 10,000 or more




Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Employees (pg. 2)

• There are no generalizations that can be drawn from the information below.

69

33%

18%

5%7% 7%

4%

7%

27%

15%

10% 10%

6%

9%

6%

24%

19%

12%

8%10%

6%4%

15%17%

15%

8%

14%

7%

4%

9%

14%

20%

10%

14%

5%4%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

None 1-4

5-9 10-19

20-99

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Number of Archivists




• Smaller firms rely on SAA more for staying current, while larger firms are more interested in

SAA’s member benefits for their employees and supporting the profession.

• Not shown below is that respondents in the largest category (20-99) allocated 13% of their

points to supporting SAA.

70

22%

18%

10%8%

9%11%

6%

25%

18%17%

8%10%

5%3%

24%

15%13%

11%

8%

4%

7%

29%

9%

3%

13%

4%2% 2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Academic Government

Nonprofit For-profit

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Type of Institution




• For-profits gave 12% of points to belonging because of a supervisor’s suggestion and 16%

of their points were allocated to promoting their business (not shown).

71

24%

20%

25%

5%

13%

4%

1%

25%

18% 19%

9%7%

3%5%

23%

19%

7%

16%

12%

3% 3%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Federal

State

Municipal

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Government Agency




• Federal agencies are more likely than other governmental agencies to belong to SAA for

member benefits, while municipal agencies are more likely than other governmental

agencies to satisfy their need for networking with an SAA membership.

72

10%

23%

26%

4%

13%

5% 4%

34%

19%

2%

12%

5%3%

0%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Historical society

Religious

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Type of Nonprofit




• Religious institutions allocated more than half of their total points (53%) to staying current on

information and receiving SAA’s periodicals.

73

Member Loyalty

Assessment

74 Member Loyalty Assessment

1. The purpose of the Member Loyalty Assessment is to determine the mix of SAA members

whose relationship with the association can be classified as loyal, neutral, or vulnerable.

2. In addition, this analysis will identify member characteristics that can be used to identify

which non-responding members are more likely (or less likely) to be loyal to SAA.

3. This information will enable SAA to target its recruiting efforts to individuals who possess

the same characteristics as current loyal members, improve the association in ways that

will strengthen its relationship with neutral members, and develop intervention programs to

retain more vulnerable (at-risk) members.

4. Members are classified as either loyal, neutral, or vulnerable based on their responses to

three questions – likelihood to recommend an SAA membership to others, likelihood to

renew their SAA membership, and how they perceive the value of their SAA membership.

5. An illustration of the rules for defining an individual’s loyalty classification appears on the

following page.

75

Likely to recommend an SAA

membership Extremely likely Very likely

Somewhat

likely Not very likely

Not at all

likely

Likely to renew their SAA

membership Extremely likely Very likely

Somewhat

likely Not very likely

Not at all

likely

Value of an SAA membership Excellent Very good Good Marginal Poor

Loyal Neutral Vulnerable

Loyalty Classification

• To be loyal, members must give responses to all three questions in the green region (all

top 2 responses).

• Neutral members’ responses fall into the yellow region, or a combination of the yellow

and green regions.

• Vulnerable members are those who gave at least one response in the red region (bottom

2).

76 Loyalty Profile – Overall

9%14% 10%

25%

37%

43%

31%

39%

54%43%

59%

36%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Individual Dual Institutional Dual

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=28 N=138 N=28 N=1985

• Overall, the loyalty profile for SAA members is in the range of a typical professional

membership association (i.e. percentage of loyal members over 50% and the percentage of

vulnerable members below 15%.)

• Institutional members are more likely to be loyal and less likely to be vulnerable than dual

members. Individual Membership Institutional Membership

77 Loyalty Profile – Participated in Continuing Education

9% 10% 10%

24%

36%42%

30%

44%

55%48%

60%

32%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Participated in CE Did not participate in CE Participated in CE Did not participate in CE

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=25 N=141 N=551 N=1462

• Individual members who participate in SAA’s continuing education programs are more

likely to be loyal and less likely to be neutral than other individual members.

• Institutional members who participate in SAA’s continuing education programs are more

likely to be loyal and less likely to be vulnerable than other institutional members.

Individual Membership Institutional Membership

78 Loyalty Profile – Experienced Significant Problems With SAA

12% 9%

75%

11%

50%

37%

25%

32%

38%

54%

0%

57%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Experienced a problem Did not experience a

problem

Experienced a problem Did not experience a

problem

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=162 N=4 N=1953 N=60

• Individual members who have experienced a significant problem with SAA are less likely

to be loyal and more likely to be neutral than those who have had no problems.

• Institutional members who have had a problem with SAA are more likely to be vulnerable

and less likely to be loyal.


79 Loyalty Profile – Annual Meeting Attendance

10% 9% 12% 13%

38% 36% 32% 32%

52% 55% 56% 55%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Attended Annual Meeting Did not attend Annual

Meeting

Attended Annual Meeting Did not attend Annual

Meeting

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=62 N=104 N=834 N=1179

• There are no significant differences in the loyalty profiles between individuals who have

attended an Annual Meeting in the past five years and those who have not.


80 Loyalty Profile – Sex

11% 9%17%

10%

35% 38%33%

33%

54% 53% 50%57%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Male Female Male Female

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=108 N=48 N=1454 N=499

• There are no significant differences in the loyalty of SAA members by sex.


81 Loyalty Profile – Education

0%8% 9% 10% 6% 5%

0%

25%

35% 36%39%

6%

35%

26%

75%

57% 55% 51%

88%

60%

74%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

High School Bachelor's

Degree

MA/MS/MFA MLS/MLIS MBA PhD JD

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=8 N=304 N=937 N=1145 N=17 N=119 N=19

Individual Members

• None of the differences below are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

• Those segments that appear to have a large difference are not statistically significant due

to the small number of respondents in the segment.

82 Loyalty Profile – Education

33%

8%13% 13%

50%

18%

0%

67%

42% 31% 29%

0%

35%

33%

0%

50%56% 58%

50% 47%

67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

High School Bachelor's

Degree

MA/MS/MFA MLS/MLIS MBA PhD JD

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=3 N=12 N=96 N=84 N=2 N=17 N=3

Institutional Members

• Similar to individual members, none of the loyalty differences by education segment of

institutional members are statistically significant.

83 Loyalty Profile – Age

11% 9%14% 11% 9% 9% 6% 9% 6% 4%

38%46%

44%40%

35% 31% 39% 30%26% 27%

51%44% 42%

49%56% 60%

55%61%

68% 69%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Under 25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65 and over

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=103 N=298 N=301 N=233 N=204 N=179 N=183 N=176 N=164 N=97

Individual Members

• Older member segments of individual members have a higher percentage of loyal

members and a lower percentage of neutral members.

84 Loyalty Profile – Age

0%

33%

9%0%

20%25%

7%14%

4%8%

0%

17%

27%

33%

40%25%

39%

38%

35%17%

0%

50%

64% 67%

40%50%

54%48%

61%

75%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Under 25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65 and over

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=0 N=6 N=11 N=15 N=15 N=12 N=28 N=29 N=23 N=12


• Although the segment sizes of institutional members’ ages are too small for statistically

significant differences, it appears that they are similar to individual members in that older

member segments tend to have a higher percentage of loyal members.

85 Loyalty Profile – Annual Salary

9% 8% 12% 8% 8% 10% 11% 7%

21%

8%

40%34%

42%

34%39% 33%

43%

38%

21%

30%

51%58%

46%

58%53% 57%

46%55% 58% 62%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

< $20K $20K-$29K $30K-$39K $40K-$49K $50K-$59K $60K-$69K $70K-$79K $80K-$89K $90K-$99K $100K and

over

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=333 N=144 N=231 N=295 N=244 N=168 N=111 N=55 N=44 N=81

Individual Members

• Individual members whose income is in the $30K’s or $70K’s are the least loyal and the

most neutral. All other salary segments have loyalty percentages that are statistically the

same.

86 Loyalty Profile – Annual Salary

0%

13%

0%

12% 14%20% 16%

0% 0%

13%

100%

25%42%

29% 29% 20%

16%57%

13%

31%

0%

62% 58% 59% 57% 60%68%

43%

87%

56%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

< $20K $20K-$29K $30K-$39K $40K-$49K $50K-$59K $60K-$69K $70K-$79K $80K-$89K $90K-$99K $100K and

over

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=1 N=8 N=12 N=17 N=28 N=10 N=19 N=14 N=8 N=16


• The segment sizes of institutional members’ annual salaries are too small to find

statistically significant differences.

87 Loyalty Profile – Race/Ethnicity

9% 8% 9%18%

9%

30% 34%37%

35% 57%

61% 58% 54%47%

34%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

African American Latino / Hispanic White / Caucasian Native American Asian

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

• Asian member respondents are less likely to be loyal and more likely to be neutral than

African American member respondents or White/Caucasian member respondents.

• This analysis was not conducted for institutional members due to the small number of

respondents in each category.

N=43 N=59 N=1748 N=17 N=68

Individual Members

88 Loyalty Profile – Type of Institution

0%

25% 25%29%

25%

42%

71%

50%

33%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Government agency Nonprofit organization Academic Institution

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=12 N=4 N=7

• The numbers of respondents are too few for the differences below to be statistically

significant.

• The respondents in this analysis are dual members, i.e. members who have been

assigned an individual member loyalty classification, and who also have institutional

member classifications.

Individual Members

89 Loyalty Profile – Type of Institution

5% 8%20% 22%

38% 35%

27%33%

57% 57% 53%45%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Nonprofit Government Academic For-profit

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=9 N=66 N=37 N=37

• None of the differences below are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.


90 Loyalty Profile – Employment Status

9%3% 6% 9% 13% 10%

23%42% 39% 36%

34% 38%

68%

55% 55% 55% 53% 52%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Retired Unemployed,

seeking part

time work

Student Employed, part

time

Unemployed,

seeking full

time work

Employed, full

time

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=57 N=326 N=83 N=1351 N=287 N=38

• Individual members who are retired are more likely to be loyal and less likely to be

neutral than members in other employment classifications.

• The only categories of employment for institutional members that were large enough for

this analysis are employed full time and employed part time. There are no significant

differences in loyalty between these two categories of employment for institutional

members.

Individual Members

91 Loyalty Profile – Years a Member

9% 10% 12% 13%7% 8% 8% 6% 4%

35%41% 40% 40%

39%32%

42%

34%

26%

56%49% 48% 47%

54%60%

50%60%

70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0-1 Years 2-3 Years 4-5 Years 6-7 Years 8-10 Years 11-15 Years 16-20 Years 21-25 Years 26 + Years

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=13 N=14 N=23 N=19 N=19 N=26 N=14 N=18 N=20

Individual Members

• Brand new members tend to be more loyal or sometimes more neutral in the beginning as they have

had relatively few experiences with the association and tend to still be in their honeymoon period.

• Older member groups also tend to have a higher percentage of loyal members as those who are in

their cohort but are not loyal usually drop their membership in their earlier years.

92 Loyalty Profile – Years a Member

8%14%

9%0%

21%15%

29%

6%15%

31%

29%35%

21%

21%27%

14%

50%

55%

61%57% 57%

79%

58% 58% 57%

44%

30%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0-1 Years 2-3 Years 4-5 Years 6-7 Years 8-10 Years 11-15 Years 16-20 Years 21-25 Years 26 + Years

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=13 N=14 N=23 N=19 N=19 N=26 N=14 N=18 N=20


• The small group sizes makes it difficult to draw statistical comparisons among groups.

93 Loyalty Profile – Type of Government Agency

0%

12%

0%

14%

50%35%

33%

29%

50% 53%

67%57%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Federal / National State County / Parish Municipal

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=7 N=3 N=17 N=8

• The cell sizes below prevent any of the differences from being statistically significant.


94 Loyalty Profile – Type of Nonprofit Organization

0% 0% 0% 0%

17%

0% 0%

22%

50%

66%100% 100%

78%

50%

17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Foundation Medical institution Religious Museum (not

history)

Historical society

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

• It appears that historical society members are the least loyal of all nonprofit

organizations, but there are only twelve respondents in this segment.

N=3 N=3 N=9 N=4 N=12


95 Loyalty Profile – Total Employees

25%15%

10% 8% 9%13%

7%

17%

33%

15%

40%

32%

41%39%

33%17%

42%

70%

50%60%

50% 48%

60%66%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1-4 5-9 10-19 20-99 100-499 500-2,499 2,500-9,999 10,000 or more

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=12 N=13 N=10 N=37 N=32 N=23 N=15 N=12


• The differences below are not statistically significant.

96 Loyalty Profile – Number of Archivists

13% 12%17%

0%

29%

31% 31%29%

46%

42%

56% 57% 54% 54%

29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

None 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-99

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=16 N=101 N=24 N=13 N=7


• The differences below are not statistically significant.

97 Loyalty Profile – Company Member Sub Type

13% 12%

34%

20%

53%

68%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Regular

institutional

Sustaining

institutional

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=141 N=25


• The differences below are not statistically significant due to the small cell sizes.

98 Loyalty Profile – Dues Reimbursement

7% 10%

33%38%

60%52%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Receives dues

reimbursement

Receives no

reimbursement

Loyal

Neutral

Vulnerable

N=414 N=1580

Individual Members

• Individual members whose dues are reimbursed are more likely to be loyal and less likely

to be neutral or vulnerable.

99 Member Loyalty Assessment – Summary

1. As shown on the previous pages in this section, the following types of individual members

have a higher percentage of loyal members:

a) participate in SAA’s continuing education programs

b) have experienced no problems with SAA in the past six months

c) dues are reimbursed

d) older members

e) retired

f) new members or long time members

2. The following types of individual members have a lower percentage of loyal members:

a) Asian

b) annual income is in the $30Ks or $70Ks

Individual Members


3. The following types of members have a higher percentage of neutral members:

a) experienced a significant problem with SAA recently

b) annual income is in the $30Ks or $70Ks

c) Asian

4. The following types of members have a lower percentage of neutral members:

a) participate in SAA’s continuing education programs

b) dues are reimbursed

c) older members

d) retired

e) long time members

5. Individual members whose dues are reimbursed are less likely to be vulnerable.

Individual Members


1. As shown on the previous pages in this section, the following types of institutional

members have a higher percentage of loyal members:

a) institutional member (compared to dual members)

b) participate in SAA’s continuing education programs

c) have experienced no problems with SAA in the past six months

2. The following types of institutional members have a higher percentage of vulnerable

members:

a) dual members

b) did not participate in SAA’s continuing education programs

c) experienced a significant problem with SAA in the past six months


102

Captive Members • Captive members are individuals who plan to renew their membership for the next renewal

period, but rate the value of their SAA membership as marginal or poor.

• The analysis in this section reports the incidence of captive membership among individual

and institutional members, examines the differences between captive members and non-

captive members on the reasons why they belong to SAA, and uncovers the characteristics

that differentiate captive members from non-captive members.

103

6%

94%

Captive

Not captive

7%

93%

Captive

Not captive


• Six percent (6%) of individual members and 7% of institutional members are classified as

being captive. Because these members are extremely likely or very likely to renew their

membership, while giving the lowest ratings for the value of their membership, it is

hypothesized that value is not the driving force for their decision to remain a member.

• In studies with other professional associations, the typical incidence of captive membership

ranges from less than one percent to five percent. High rates of captive membership are

usually found in associations that have a certification or other type of benefit that is needed

to practice in the profession and usually cannot easily be found in other organizations.

Captive Membership

104

18%16%

11%

8%

16%

12%

6%

25%

17%

11%9% 9% 9% 8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

To network and

build relationships

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

To support the

profession

To show that I am

a professional

To advance my

career

To receive SAA's

member benefits

Captive member

Not captive

• Individual members who are captive differ somewhat from other members in their reasons

for belonging to SAA.

• Captive members are more interested in self-promotion - placing a higher priority on

belonging to SAA to show that they are a professional and to advance their career.

• Conversely, non-captive members are more interested in self-improvement - placing a higher

priority on staying current on information about the profession.




Top Reasons For Individual Membership – Captive Members

105

11%

20%

12%10%

5%

20%

3%

26%

15%

11%9% 9%

6% 6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stay current on

information about

profession

Subscriptions to

the journal and

newsletter

Member benefits

for employees

To network and

build relationships

To support the

profession

To show we are a

reputable

institution

To advance our

institution's

mission

Captive

Not captive

Top Reasons For Institutional Membership – Captive Membership




• Institutional members who are captive also differ slightly from other members in their reasons

for belonging to SAA.

• Captive members are more interested in promoting their institution - placing a higher priority

on belonging to SAA to show that they are a reputable institution and getting periodical

subscriptions.

• Conversely, non-captive members are more interested in self-improvement (placing a higher

priority on staying current on information about the profession) and supporting the profession.

106 Characteristics of Captive Members

• The following types of individual members have a higher incidence of captive members:

a) under age 25 or ages 30-49

b) male

c) has an MLS degree

d) unemployed, seeking full-time work

e) makes $30K-$40K per year, or $90K-$100K per year

f) has been an SAA member for 4-7 years

• The following types of institutional members have a higher incidence of captive members:

a) ages 40-49

b) male

c) has an MA/MS or a PhD

d) earns $40,000 to $80,000

e) works at a university or a historical society

f) has fewer than 20 employees in their organization

g) has fewer than 10 archivists in their organization

h) has been an SAA member for 7-20 years

107

Components of Loyalty • There are three components of loyalty – likelihood to recommend an SAA membership to

others, likelihood of renewing an SAA membership, and the value of an SAA membership.

• This section examines each of these three components in detail to uncover which areas

need to be improved in order to improve the overall loyalty of SAA members.

108

90% 89%

81%

64%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Individual - Individual Individual - Dual Institutional - Institutional Institutional - Dual

Extremely likely / Very likely

Likely to Recommend

Q2. If a colleague who is an archivist, or is studying to be one, asked your advice

on joining a professional association, how likely would you be to recommend SAA?

• In a typical professional membership loyalty study, the top 2 percentage for the likelihood to

recommend the association’s membership ranges from 85% to 95%.

• The takeaway from the bar graph below is not the actual percentages, but rather that

institutional members are less likely to recommend an SAA institutional membership than

individual members are likely to recommend an SAA individual membership.

109

92% 93% 92% 93%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



Likely to Renew

Q4. How likely are you to renew your SAA membership in the coming year?

• The top 2 scores for the likelihood to renew their membership is in the range of what is

typically found among professional membership associations.

• It is typical for the top 2 scores for the likelihood to renew their membership to be higher

than for the likelihood to recommend a membership because a recommendation requires

that the individual risk his/her personal reputation on the outcome of the recommendation.

110

92%

40%

93%

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

With reimbursement Without reimbursement With reimbursement Without reimbursement


Likely to Renew Without Reimbursement

Q9. If you personally had to pay 100% of your SAA dues, how likely would you be

to renew your membership?

• Respondents who indicated that their dues were reimbursed were asked to indicate their

likelihood of renewing their membership if their dues were no longer reimbursed.

• The results below are typical.

Individual Members Dual Members

111

56%50%

64%

36%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Excellent / Very good

Value of an SAA Membership

Q6. Considering the benefits, products, and services you receive from SAA in

relation to the price of membership, how would you rate the overall value of your

membership?

• In a typical professional membership association study, the percentage of respondents who

rate the value of their membership as excellent or very good ranges from 50% to 75%.

• It is also typical that the value of the membership receives the lowest rating of all three

loyalty components (i.e. recommend, renew, value).

112

Membership Value

• Membership value is a primary focus for this study because it receives the lowest ratings of

the three loyalty components, and because research has shown that membership value is

the primary driver of member retention.

• For individual members, the key drivers of value are member benefits, dues, SAA Council,

Annual Meeting, publications, and continuing education.

• For institutional members, the key drivers of the value of an SAA membership are member

benefits, dues, strategic initiatives, publications, and the Annual Meeting.

• Underperforming strong drivers, those that appear in the upper left (yellow) quadrant, should

be considered for improvement. Items that appear in the upper right (green) quadrant are

strong drivers of value and are currently performing adequately. Those items that appear in

the bottom half of the matrix (white region) do not have a strong impact on value at this time.

Improving any item in the lower half is not expected to have the same impact on

membership value as improving any item in the yellow region.

113 113

Imp

act

Performance

Low Performance High Performance

Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Dues

• Member benefits

• Website

Items in the yellow quadrant should be improved, and items in the green

quadrant should be maintained.

Maintain Improve

• SAA Staff

• Problems

• Annual Meeting

• SAA Council

Membership Value Drivers – Individual

• Continuing education

• Publications

• Strategic initiatives

114 114

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Dues

• Member benefits

• Website



Maintain Improve

• SAA Staff • Problems

• Annual Meeting

• SAA Council

Membership Value Drivers – Institutional

• Continuing education

• Publications

• Strategic initiatives

115

80% 78%

68% 66%60%

53%50%

45%

38%

3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

SAA Staff Publications Annual

Meeting

Continuing

Education

SAA Council Strategic

Initiatives

Member

benefits

Website Dues * Problems *


• The top 2 scores (percentage of excellent and very good responses) for the drivers of

membership value for individual members are shown below.

• There are two exceptions. Dues is measured as a top 3 (low, somewhat low, just right), and

problems are reported below as the percentage of members who have experienced a

problem. For problems, a low number is a positive sign.

Value Drivers – Individual Members

* For dues, the percentage shown is the percentage of respondents who rate dues as

low, somewhat low, or just right. Three percent of individual member respondents

have experienced a problem in the past six months.

116

81%78%

71%

64% 63% 61%

54% 54%48%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Publications SAA Staff Continuing

Education

Annual

Meeting

SAA Council Strategic

Initiatives

Member

benefits

Website Dues * Problems *


Value Drivers – Institutional Members

* For dues, the percentage shown is the percentage of respondents who rate dues as

low, somewhat low, or just right. Two percent of institutional member respondents

have experienced a problem in the past six months.

• The top 2 scores (percentage of excellent and very good responses) for the drivers of

membership value for institutional members are shown below.

• There are two exceptions. Dues is measured as a top 3 (low, somewhat low, just right), and

problems are reported below as the percentage of members who have experienced a

problem. For problems, a low number is a positive sign.

117

Member Benefits

• Member benefits are the strongest drivers of membership value for both individual and

institutional members.

• For individual members, the overall quality of SAA’s benefits package is driven by five key

benefits: (1) bookstore discounts, (2) workshop/webinar discounts, (3) Annual Meeting

discounts, (4) the eligibility to vote, and (5) email discussion lists.

• For institutional members, the quality of their benefits is driven by eight key benefits: (1) full

Annual Meeting discount, (2) partial workshop/webinar discounts, (3) partial Annual Meeting

discount, (4) complimentary copies of SAA books, (5) Bookstore discounts, (6) full

workshop/webinar discounts, (7) eligibility to serve, and (8) roundtable membership.

• This section of the report provides matrices to enable SAA to prioritize the improvement

efforts of its member benefits, bar charts that show the performance of each benefit, and bar

charts that show the level of awareness and usage of each member benefit.

118 118

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Workshop / Webinar discounts • Bookstore discounts

• Section membership



Maintain Improve

• Roundtable membership

• Online member directory

• Annual Meeting discounts

• Eligibility to vote

Membership Benefits Drivers – Individual Members

• Eligibility to serve

• Email discussion lists

• Mentoring program

• Career Center job posting discounts

119 119

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Partial Workshop / Webinar discounts

• Bookstore discounts

• Section membership



Maintain Improve

• Group access to American Archivist Online

• Online member directory

• Full Annual Meeting discount

• Eligibility to serve

Membership Benefits Drivers – Institutional Members

• Eligibility to vote

• Roundtable membership

• Mentoring program

• Career Center job posting discounts

• Partial Annual Meeting discount

• Complimentary copies of SAA books

• Full Workshop / Webinar discounts

• Email discussion lists

120

56% 54% 54% 53% 52%47% 47% 46%

43%40%

35%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Online

member

directory

Email

discussion

lists

Roundtable

membership

Section

membership

Eligibility to

vote

Bookstore

discounts

Career

Center

discounts

Workshop

discounts

Eligibility to

serve

Annual

Meeting

discounts

Mentoring

Program


• The bar chart below shows the percentages of individual member respondents who rated each

benefit as excellent or very good.

• Only respondents who had used a particular benefit were permitted to provide a performance

rating for that benefit.

Member Benefits Performance – Individual Member Benefits

Q12. More specifically, how would you rate the performance of each of the

following member benefits?

121

2% 4% 2% 4% 3% 3% 6% 8% 4%

24%18%11% 14% 13% 16% 19% 16%

23% 29%

37% 50%

88% 85% 84% 83% 81% 78% 78%69% 67%

39%32%

10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Email

discussion

lists

Section

membership

Roundtable

membership

Bookstore

discounts

Eligibility to

vote

Workshop

discounts

Annual

Meeting

discounts

Online

member

directory

Eligibility to

serve

Career

Center

discounts

Mentoring

Program

Experienced

Aware, but do not use

Was unaware

• Not all benefits are used equally by all members, nor do they have the same level of

awareness among members. The top portion of each bar represents the percentage of

members who used the benefit and provided a performance rating. Other members either

chose not to use the benefit, or were unaware of the benefit prior to taking the survey.

Member Benefits Awareness – Individual Member Benefits

122

64%58% 55% 54%

50% 50% 50%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Access to

American

Archivist Online

Complimentary

copies of books

Full workshop

discounts

Email discussion

lists

Partial workshop

discounts

Full Annual

Meeting discounts

Online member

directory


• Because of the number of institutional member benefits tested, the performance ratings are

split into two pages.

• This page contains the benefits that were rated highest (top half of benefits) by institutional

member respondents.

Member Benefits Performance – Institutional Member Benefits (pg. 1)


following institutional member benefits?

123

48% 48% 48% 47% 46%42%

33%29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Partial Annual

Meeting

discounts

Bookstore

discounts

Section

membership

Roundtable

membership

Eligibility to

vote

Eligibility to

serve

Career Center

discounts

Mentoring

program


• The bar graph below presents the institutional member benefits whose performance places

them in the lower half of benefits based on members’ evaluations.

Member Benefits Performance – Institutional Member Benefits (pg. 2)


following member benefits?

124

3% 3%9% 10% 11% 14% 11%

15%

14% 15% 14%14% 17%

87%82%

77% 75% 75% 72% 72%

10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Bookstore

discounts

Email discussion

lists

Full workshop

discounts

Section

membership

Partial workshop

discounts

Full Annual

Meeting discounts

Online member

directory

Experienced


Was unaware

• This page presents the institutional member benefits that are in the upper half for the

percentage of members who have used the benefit.

• Roughly three-quarters of institutional member respondents have used the benefits on this

page.

Member Benefits Awareness – Institutional Member Benefits (pg. 1)

125

10% 7%16% 18%

13%18%

36%

21%

22%14%

17%23%

27%

17%40%

71% 71% 70%65% 64%

55%47%

39%

19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Roundtable

membership

Eligibility to vote Partial Annual

Meeting

discounts

Access to

American

Archivist Online

Eligibility to serve Career Center

discounts

Complimentary

copies of books

Mentoring

program

Experienced


Was unaware

• This page contains the institutional member benefits that are used by fewer members and for

which fewer members are aware.

• The middle portion of each bar (bright green) represents the percentage of members who are

aware of the benefit but choose not to use it.

Member Benefits Awareness – Institutional Member Benefits (pg. 2)

126

Membership Dues • Membership dues is the second strongest driver of membership value for both the individual

and institutional member segments.

• The following pages show how various member segments perceive the cost of their dues,

and how dues reimbursement affects the perception of individual member dues.

127 Membership Dues

Q7. Would you say the price of your SAA dues is…?

4%

34%

62%

4%

19%

77%

2%

44%

54%

4%

56%

40%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Low/Somewhat low Just right Somewhat high/High

Individual Dues - Individual

Individual Dues - Dual

Institutional Dues - Institutional

Institutional Dues - Dual

• Most respondents believe that the cost of individual dues is high or somewhat high.

• Sixty percent (60%) of dual members believe the cost of institutional dues is low or just

right, compared to 46% of institutional members who believe their dues are low or just

right.

128 Membership Dues

Q7. Would you say the price of your SAA dues is…?

4%

39%

57%

5%

31%

64%

0%

10%

90%

5%

35%

60%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Low/Somewhat low Just right Somewhat high/High

Dues are reimbursed

Not reimbursed

Captive member

Not Captive

• Individual members whose dues are reimbursed rate their dues about the same as

members who pay their own dues. Typically, members who pay their own dues have a

more positive perception of their dues compared to those whose dues are reimbursed.

• As to be expected, captive members have a more negative perception of their dues than

individuals who are not captive. By definition, captive members rate the value of their

membership as marginal or poor.

129

79%

0% 0% 1% 1%

19%

86%

0% 0% 3% 0%

11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0% - I pay all of

my own dues

1%-25% 26%-50% 51%-75% 76%-99% 100% - fully

reimbursed

Individual members

Dual members

Dues Reimbursement – Individual Members

Q8. What percentage of your SAA membership dues is reimbursed or paid by

your employer?

• Only 21% of individual members and 14% of dual members receive any dues

reimbursement.

130

Continuing Education • Continuing education is a strong driver of membership value for individual members, but not

for institutional members.

• For individual members, the overall quality of SAA’s continuing education programs is driven

by six factors: (1) being a good value for the cost, (2) quality of materials, (3) content that is

relevant, (4) content that covers current topics, (5) having a broad range of topics, and (6)

the teaching ability of the instructor.

• For institutional members, the quality of SAA’s continuing education programs is driven by

four factors: (1) the expertise of the instructor, (2) content that is relevant, (3) the teaching

ability of the instructor, and (4) quality of materials.

131 131

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Relevant content

• Expertise of instructor



Maintain Improve

• Offered when you want it

• Teaching ability of instructor

• Good value for the cost

• Current content

Continuing Education Drivers – Individual Members

• Broad range of topics

• Offered in convenient locations

• Quality of materials

132 132

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te


• Expertise of instructor



Maintain Improve

• Offered when you want it

• Teaching ability of instructor

• Good value for the cost • Current content

Continuing Education Drivers – Institutional Members


• Offered in convenient locations

• Quality of materials

133

69%65%

59%62%

58% 56%

42%

31%27%

71% 71% 69% 67%

55% 56%50%

35%29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Expertise of

instructor

Current

content

Quality of

materials

Ability of

instructor

Relevant

content

Range of

topics

Good value Offered when

you want it

Convenient

locations

Individual members


Continuing Education Attributes

Q16. How would you rate the quality of SAA’s courses, workshops, live

webinars, and on-demand offerings in each of the following areas?

• In general, the percentage of institutional members who rate the attributes of SAA’s

continuing education programs as excellent or very good was as high or higher than the

percentage of individual members who gave the same ratings.


134

1% 1% 2% 3%8% 8%

29% 29%

14%

48%

35%

53%47%

80%85%

50%

62%

37%

49%

18%24%

43%55%

19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Face-to-face

courses - Indiv.

Face-to-face

courses - Inst.

Live webinars -

Indiv.

Live webinars -

Inst.

Online, on-

demand -

Indiv.

Online, on-

demand - Inst.

Audio CDs -

Indiv.

Audio CDs -

Inst.

Have used

Have not used but am aware of

Was not aware of

• The graph below shows the levels of use and awareness of each of the various formats for

delivering educational programs by individual members and institutional members.

• The formats are presented below in pairs (individual and institutional) for ease of comparison.

Continuing Education – Awareness and Use of Various Formats

Q15. More specifically, how would you rate the overall quality of SAA’s continuing

education offerings according to each of the following delivery formats?

135

72%

48% 45%

34%

74%

58%

50%

31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Face-to-face courses Online, on-demand

offerings

Live webinars Audio CDs

Individual members


• Respondents who have experienced each of the following educational delivery formats

provided a value rating. The percentages below represent the percentage of individuals who

rated each format as excellent or very good.


Continuing Education – Quality of Various Formats

Q15. More specifically, how would you rate the overall quality of SAA’s continuing

education offerings according to each of the following delivery formats?

136

70%

48%42%

36% 36% 34% 33%

26% 24%

74%

58%

43% 41%36% 37% 38% 36%

27%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Digital

records

Preservation

and

protection

Managing

archival

programs

Arrangement

and

description

Ethical and

legal

Outreach,

advocacy,

promotion

Selection,

appraisal,

acquisition

Reference

services

General

archival

knowledge

Individual members


Course/Workshop Topics – Likelihood of Pursuing From SAA

Q17. For each of the following course/workshop/webinar topics, what is the

likelihood of your pursuing this type of education from SAA?

• Individual and institutional members were asked their likelihood of pursuing various topics of

instruction from SAA.

• Digital records received the highest percentage of individual and institutional member

respondents who indicated that they would be extremely likely or very likely of pursing this

type of education from SAA.


137

49%43%

32%26%

44%39% 41%

38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Tools and services Foundational Tactical and Strategic Transformational

Individual members


Types of Courses – Likelihood of Pursuing From SAA

Q18. For each of the following types of courses, what is the likelihood of your

pursuing this type of education from SAA?

• Four types of courses were also tested for members’ likelihood of pursuing these from SAA.

• Tools and services received the highest percentage of extremely likely or very likely

responses.


138

71%

29%

Yes No

81%

19%

Yes No


• Seventy-one percent (71%) of individual member respondents and 81% of institutional

member respondents have participated in an SAA workshop, webinar, or on-demand course

and were able to provide a quality rating.

Q14. How would you rate the overall quality of SAA’s continuing education

courses, workshops, webinars, and on-demand offerings?

Participated in an SAA Workshop, Webinar, or On-demand Course

139

Publications • The matrices on the following pages show that all of SAA’s publications are key drivers of the

overall perception of publications for individual members, while the key drivers of

publications for institutional members are The American Archivist, SAA’s published books,

and In The Loop.

• All of the attributes tested for The American Archivist are key drivers of the overall perception

of the journal for individual members. For institutional members, the key drivers of the

journal are (1) the expertise of the authors, (2) having content that reflects current theory and

practice, and (3) content that is relevant to their needs.

• Similarly, all of the attributes tested for Archival Outlook are key drivers of the overall quality

of the newsletter for individual members. For institutional members, the key drivers of the

newsletter are (1) expertise of the authors, (2) covers a broad range of topics, (3) the quality

of the writing, and (4) content that is relevant to their needs.

• All underperforming key drivers (in the yellow quadrant), should be considered for

improvement. Those in the green region are performing adequately at this time, and those in

the white region do not have a strong impact on overall quality perceptions at this time.

140 140

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Archival Outlook

• The American Archivist

• The American Archivist Online



Maintain Improve

• SAA published books

• In The Loop

Publications Drivers – Individual Members

141 141

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Archival Outlook

• The American Archivist

• The American Archivist Online



Maintain Improve

• SAA published books

• In The Loop

Publications Drivers – Institutional Members

142

1% 0% 2% 2% 2% 1%7%

13%6%

12%2%

4% 2%

10%

11%33%

33%

92%98% 94% 96%

88%93%

83%75%

61%55%

6%10%7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

TheAmericanArchivist -

Indiv.

TheAmericanArchivist -

Inst.

ArchivalOutlook -

Indiv.

ArchivalOutlook -

Inst.

SAA books -Indiv.

SAA books -Inst.

In The Loop- Indiv.

In The Loop- Inst.

TheAmericanArchivistOnline -Indiv.

TheAmericanArchivist

Online - Inst.

Have read

Have not read, but am aware of

Was not aware of

• The graph below shows the level of awareness and readership for each publication for

individual members and institutional members.

• The publications are arranged from left to right (in pairs) from those most read by individual

members to those least read by individual members.

Publications – Awareness and Level of Readership

Q21. More specifically, how would you rate the overall quality of the following

SAA publications?

143

25%

36%

26%

37%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

The AmericanArchivist

Archival Outlook

Individual members


Switching From Print Copies to Online Exclusively

Q26. If SAA members could opt out from receiving print copies of The American

Archivist and access the journal exclusively online, assuming no financial incentive

(e.g., lower dues), how likely would you be to exercise this option?

• When respondents were given the choice of opting out of print copies of the journal and the

newsletter and switching to online copies exclusively, about one quarter of all respondents

indicated that they would be extremely likely or very likely to exercise that option for the

journal.

• Slightly more than one-third of all respondents indicated that they would be extremely likely

or very likely to exercise that option for the newsletter.


144 144

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te


• Current content




Maintain Improve

• Expertise of authors

• Quality of writing

The American Archivist Drivers – Individual Members

• Visually appealing design

145 145

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te


• Current content




Maintain Improve



The American Archivist Drivers – Institutional Members


146

66%60%

54% 52% 50% 49%

38%

67%60%

53%48% 47% 47%

33%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Research

Articles

Case Studies Reviews and

Review Essays

Perspectives Presidential

Address

Front Matter International

Scene

Individual members


The American Archivist – Content Areas

Q23. How would you rate the quality of The American Archivist (print and

electronic journal) in each of the following content areas?

• The graph below shows the top 2 scores (percentage who reported excellent or very good)

for each of The American Archivist’s content areas.

• Research articles received the highest quality rating by both types of members, and the

International Scene received the lowest ratings by both member segments.


147

3% 4% 5% 7% 5% 7%13%

8% 6%

13%

96% 94%87% 87% 83% 79%

74%

2%

14%12%

1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Research

Articles


Review Essays

Perspectives Front Matter Presidential

Address

International

Scene

Have read

Don't read

Don't know

• The graph below shows the percentage of individual members who reported reading each of

The American Archivist’s content areas. They are arranged from left to right from those most

read to those least read.

• The middle (bright green) section of each bar shows the percentage of respondents who have

not read the content area.

The American Archivist – Level of Readership – Individual Members


electronic journal) in each of the following areas?

148

4% 6% 6% 8% 7% 8% 11%7% 6%

10%

94% 91% 87% 86% 84%79% 79%

3%

13%9%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Research

Articles


Review Essays

Perspectives Front Matter Presidential

Address

International

Scene

Have read

Don't read

Don't know

• At least 79% of all institutional respondents have read the various areas within The American

Archivist and have an opinion of the quality of the content.

The American Archivist – Awareness and Level of Readership – Inst.


electronic journal) in each of the following areas?

149 149

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te • Broad range of topics

• Current content




Maintain Improve



Archival Outlook Drivers – Individual Members


150 150

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te


• Current content




Maintain Improve



Archival Outlook Drivers – Institutional Members


151

62%

52% 51% 50% 49% 47% 46% 46% 45% 45% 44%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Feature

Articles

News

Briefs

From the

U.S.

Archivist

Advocating

for

Archives

From the

Executive

Director

President's

Message

Around

SAA

Photo Op Kudos and

In

Memoriam

Someone

You Should

Know

Council

Update


Archival Outlook – Content Areas – Individual Members

Q25. How would you rate Archival Outlook (member newsletter) in each of the

following areas?

• This graph provides the quality ratings given by individual member respondents of the

content areas of Archival Outlook.

• Individual members give the highest quality rating to Archival Outlook’s feature articles and

the lowest rating to Council Update.

152

58%54%

47% 46% 44% 44% 44% 44%39% 38% 38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Feature

Articles

From the

U.S.

Archivist

From the

Executive

Director

News

Briefs

Advocating

for

Archives

President's

Message

Around

SAA

Photo Op Someone

You Should

Know

Kudos and

In

Memoriam

Council

Update


Archival Outlook – Content Areas – Institutional Members


following areas?

• This graph provides the quality ratings given by institutional member respondents of the

content areas of Archival Outlook.

• Institutional members also give their highest quality ratings to Archival Outlook’s feature

articles and the lowest ratings to Council Update, although individual members tend to give

higher ratings across the board than do institutional members.

153

4% 6% 7% 8% 9% 6% 10% 9% 8% 8% 9%

9% 8%9% 11% 13% 13% 15%

94% 90%84% 84% 84% 82% 81% 80% 79% 79% 76%

4%12%7%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Feature

Articles

News Briefs From the

U.S.

Archivist

Around SAA Advocating

for Archives

President's

Message

Photo Op Someone

You Should

Know

From the

Executive

Director

Kudos and

In

Memoriam

Council

Update

Have read

Don't read

Don't know

• For five of the eleven content areas listed below, the percentage of individual members who

report not reading that area is in the double digits.

Archival Outlook – Level of Readership – Individual Members


following areas?

154

5% 5% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 6% 7% 8%

8%13% 14% 15% 16% 15%

20%

90% 88% 85%81% 81% 80% 80% 79% 78% 78%

72%

7%14%12%

5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Feature

Articles

News Briefs Advocating

for Archives

Photo Op Kudos and

In

Memoriam

From the

U.S.

Archivist

Around SAA Someone

You Should

Know

President's

Message

From the

Executive

Director

Council

Update

Have read

Don't read

Don't know

Archival Outlook – Level of Readership – Institutional Members


following areas?

• For institutional member respondents, eight of the eleven content areas of Archival Outlook

listed below have double digit percentages of “non-readership”.

155

SAA Website • The matrices on the two following pages show which of the website’s attributes are the key

drivers of members’ overall perception of the website. Improving the underperforming key

drivers (those in the yellow quadrant) should improve the overall perception of the website.

• The key drivers for individual members are (1) being visually appealing, (2) ease of

navigation, (3) providing relevant information, (4) ease of finding information, and (5) ease of

using the online store.

• For institutional members, the key website drivers are (1) providing relevant information, (2)

ease of providing feedback, (3) ease of finding information, and (4) ease of navigation.

• The key drivers of the website that are common to both member types are (1) ease of

navigation, (2) providing relevant information, and (3) ease of finding information.

• The top 2 ratings (percentage of excellent and very good ratings) for all of the website’s key

drivers are currently below 70%.

156 156

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Ease of navigation

• Ease of using the online store

• Providing relevant information



Maintain Improve

• Being visually appealing

• Ease of finding information

Website Drivers – Individual Members

• Ease of providing feedback

• Having sufficient information

• Ease of registering for events online

• Ease of paying dues

• Page load speed

157 157

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Ease of navigation

• Ease of using the online store

• Providing relevant information



Maintain Improve

• Being visually appealing

• Ease of finding information

Website Drivers – Institutional Members

• Ease of providing feedback

• Having sufficient information

• Ease of registering for events online

• Ease of paying dues

• Page load speed

158

58% 58% 58% 55%50% 49%

38% 38% 37%33%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ease of

registering

for events

Ease of

paying dues

Page load

speed

Providing

relevant

information

Ease of

using online

store

Having

sufficient

information

Ease of

navigation

Ease of

providing

feedback

Ease of

finding

information

Being

visually

appealing


Website Attributes – Individual Members

Q39. More specifically, how would you rate SAA’s website in each of the

following areas?

• The graph below provides the top 2 performance ratings of all website attributes given by

individual member respondents.

• This graph, along with the preceding website matrix for individual members, can be used to

prioritize areas for improving the overall performance of the website, from the perspective of

individual members.

159

59% 59%55% 55% 53%

49% 46% 46%42% 39%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Page load

speed

Ease of

registering

for events

Providing

relevant

information

Ease of

paying dues

Having

sufficient

information

Ease of

using online

store

Ease of

navigation

Ease of

providing

feedback

Being

visually

appealing

Ease of

finding

information


Website Attributes – Institutional Members

Q39. More specifically, how would you rate SAA’s website in each of the

following areas?

• The graph below provides the top 2 performance ratings of all website attributes given by

institutional member respondents.

• The ratings given by institutional members do not differ significantly from those ratings given

by individual members.

160

85%

65%

55% 54% 54%

18% 18%13%

86%

64%

42%49%

45%

16%10% 10%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

SAA website Archives &

Archivists list

Student

discussion list

Section

discussion

lists

Roundtable

discussion

lists

SAA on

Facebook

SAA on

LinkedIn

SAA on

Twitter

Individual members


Areas For Improvement – Importance

Q40. How important is it that SAA devote resources and effort to improving

each of the following?

• Individual and institutional members agree that the SAA website is the most important area

where SAA should devote its improvement efforts.

• Both member segments also agree that it is less important to devote resources to improving

SAA’s social networking among the big three networking sites at this time. This could signal

that members are satisfied with the work that SAA has already done in these three areas.

Extremely important / Very important

161

87%

30%24% 24%

19%

9%4%6%

14%

7% 7%

20%

3%6%4%

40%

58%54%

37%

80% 80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Laptop iPhone Android

smartphone

Kindle iPad Nook Android tablet

Currently own

Extremely / Very likely to own

Not very / Not at all likely to own

Ownership of Internet Devices – Individual Members

Q41. Which of the following Internet devices do you currently own or are likely

to own in the next three years?

• Most individual member respondents have a laptop and most do not expect to purchase an

Android smartphone or Android tablet, a Kindle or a Nook in the next three years.

• Twenty percent (20%) of individual member respondents indicate that they are extremely

likely or very likely to purchase an iPad within the next three years.

162

79%

31%

17%

24%21%

10%6%6%

11% 12%7%

21%

2%5%

8%

44%

58%61%

32%

80% 80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Laptop iPhone Android

smartphone

Kindle iPad Nook Android tablet

Currently own

Extremely / Very likely to own

Not very / Not at all likely to own

Ownership of Internet Devices – Institutional Members

Q41. Which of the following Internet devices do you currently own or are likely

to own in the next three years?

• The majority of institutional member respondents have the same ownership and

expectations of ownership as the individual member respondents, i.e. the majority own

laptops and the majority do not expect to purchase an Android smartphone or Android tablet,

or a Kindle or Nook within the next three years.

• Additionally, 21% of institutional member respondents expect to purchase an iPad within the

next three years.

163 Frequency of Website Visits – Individual Members

Q37. On average, how often do you visit the SAA website

(www.archivists.org)?

7%

19%

27%25%

21%1%

More than once per week

About once per week

2-3 times per month

About once per month

A few times a year

Never

• Seventy-eight percent (78%) of individual member respondents report visiting the SAA

website at least once per month.

• Twenty-six percent (26%) of these respondents report visiting the website at least once per

week.

• Only 1% of individual member respondents never visit the website.

164 Frequency of Website Visits – Institutional Members

Q37. On average, how often do you visit the SAA website

(www.archivists.org)?

5%15%

26%

24%

27%

4%

More than once per week

About once per week

2-3 times per month

About once per month

A few times a year

Never

• Sixty-nine percent (69%) of institutional member respondents report visiting the SAA

website at least once per month. This percentage is significantly lower than the 78% of

individual members who visit the site with the same frequency.

• The 20% of institutional members who visit the SAA website at least once per week is not

significantly different from the 26% of individual member respondents who visit the site

weekly.

165

SAA Staff • The SAA staff is not a key driver of membership value for either individual members or

institutional members. Both types of members give vey high performance ratings to the SAA

staff.

• For individual members, the overall quality of the SAA staff is driven by six factors: (1) being

knowledgeable, (2) being patient, (3) caring about them as members, (4) handling issues in

one call, (5) follow-up, and (6) being responsive to their questions. All of these attributes are

performing at a very high level.

• For institutional members, the overall quality of the SAA staff is driven by only three factors:

(1) being responsive to questions, (2) being professional, and (3) being patient. As with

individual members, all of these key drivers receive very high ratings from institutional

members.

166 166

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Patient

• Follow-up

• Care about you as a member



Maintain Improve

• Knowledgeable

• Handle issues in one call

SAA Staff Drivers – Individual Members

• Responsive to questions

• Professional

• Understand your needs

• Time spent on hold

• Ease of reaching a staff member

• Time waiting for a reply

167 167

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Patient

• Follow-up

• Care about you as a member



Maintain Improve

• Knowledgeable

• Handle issues in one call

SAA Staff Drivers – Institutional Members

• Responsive to questions

• Professional

• Understand your needs

• Time spent on hold

• Ease of reaching a staff member

• Time waiting for a reply

168

72%

73%

73%

73%

74%

74%

76%

78%

79%

79%

83%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Handle issues in one call

Care about you

Ease of reaching staff

Follow-up

Understand your needs

Time waiting for email reply

Hold time

Responsive to your questions

Knowledgeable

Patient

Professional


SAA Staff Attributes – Individual Members

Q34. More specifically, how would you rate the SAA staff in each of the

following areas?

• The graph below provides the performance ratings given by individual members for the

attributes of the SAA staff.

• All of the staff attributes receive top 2 ratings in excess of 70%.

169

68%

70%

71%

73%

75%

75%

78%

78%

79%

81%

84%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Time waiting for email reply

Ease of reaching staff

Hold time

Follow-up

Understand your needs

Handle issues in one call

Care about you

Responsive to your questions

Professional

Knowledgeable

Patient


SAA Staff Attributes – Institutional Members

Q34. More specifically, how would you rate the SAA staff in each of the

following areas?

• The graph below shows the performance ratings for staff attributes given by institutional

members.

• As with individual members, institutional members give the SAA staff very high evaluations.

170

SAA Council • The SAA Council is the third strongest driver of the value of an SAA membership for

individual members, but is not a key driver at this time for institutional members.

• For individual members, the seven key attributes that drive the overall quality perception of

the SAA council are: (1) being responsive to member concerns, (2) understanding the needs

of members, (3) being fiscally responsible, (4) being knowledgeable, (5) being socially

responsible, (6) effectively communicating with members, and (7) being accessible to

members.

• For institutional members, the four key attributes of the SAA Council are: (1) effectively

communicating with members, (2) understanding the needs of members, (3) being

responsive to member concerns, and (4) being accessible to members.

171 171

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Understand needs of members

• Socially responsible

• Fiscally responsible



Maintain Improve

• Responsive to member concerns

• Knowledgeable

SAA Council Drivers – Individual Members

• Effectively communicate with members

• Understand needs of the profession

• Accessible to members

• Transparency of decision making

• Professional

172 172

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Understand needs of members

• Socially responsible

• Fiscally responsible



Maintain Improve

• Responsive to member concerns

• Knowledgeable

SAA Council Drivers – Institutional Members

• Effectively communicate with members

• Understand needs of the profession

• Accessible to members

• Transparency of decision making

• Professional

173

46%

48%

51%

51%

52%

56%

60%

64%

72%

73%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Transparency of decision making

Effecitively communicates

Responsive to questions

Understand needs of members

Accessible to members

Socially responsible

Fiscally responsible

Understand needs of profession

Knowledgeable

Professional


SAA Council Attributes – Individual Members

Q36. More specifically, how would you rate the SAA Council (board of

directors) in each of the following areas?

• The graph below shows the percentage of individual member respondents who gave an

excellent or very good rating for each of the SAA Council’s attributes.

• Being professional and being knowledgeable received the largest percentage of excellent or

very good responses.

174

38%

41%

42%

44%

45%

51%

61%

63%

66%

71%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Effecitively communicates

Understand needs of members

Accessible to members

Transparency of decision making

Responsive to questions

Socially responsible

Understand needs of profession

Fiscally responsible

Knowledgeable

Professional


SAA Council Attributes – Institutional Members

Q36. More specifically, how would you rate the SAA Council (board of

directors) in each of the following areas?

• Institutional members’ evaluations of the various Council attributes is slightly lower than

those given by individual members. This could be the result of institutional members’ actual

experiences with Council members or perhaps they have higher expectations than individual

members have.

175

SAA’s Strategic Initiatives • SAA’s strategic initiatives is not a key driver of membership value for individual members, but

it is the third strongest driver for institutional members, trailing only member benefits and

membership dues in impact on the value of an SAA institutional membership.

• There are six initiatives that drive individual members’ overall perception of SAA’s strategic

initiatives: (1) adaptation to changes in information technology, (2) diversity of the profession,

(3) diversity of the archival record, (4) National Historical Publications and Records

Commission, (5) privacy and confidentiality, and (6) access to public record.

• For institutional members, the overall perception of SAA’s strategic initiatives is driven by

only four factors: (1) diversity of the profession, (2) I Found It In the Archives, (3) Preserving

the American Historical Record, and (4) privacy and confidentiality.

176 176

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Diversity of the profession

• Privacy and confidentiality

• Diversity of the archival record



Maintain Improve

• Adaptation to changes in IT

• National Historical Publications and Records

SAA’s Strategic Initiatives Drivers – Individual Members

• Access to public record

• Copyright and intellectual property law

• MayDay

• I Found It In the Archives

• Preserving the American Historical Record

• American Archives Month

177 177

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Diversity of the profession

• Privacy and confidentiality

• Diversity of the archival record



Maintain Improve

• Adaptation to changes in IT

• National Historical Publications and Records

SAA’s Strategic Initiatives Drivers – Institutional Members

• Access to public record

• Copyright and intellectual property law

• MayDay

• I Found It In the Archives

• Preserving the American Historical Record

• American Archives Month

178

34%

42%

48%

49%

49%

49%

50%

52%

54%

54%

59%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Diversity of the profession

Diversity of the archival record

MayDay

Privacy and confidentiality

Access to public record

Adaptation to changes in IT

Copyright and intellectual property law

I Found It In the Archives

Preserving the American Historical Record

American Archives Month

National Historical Publications and Records Commission

Extremely effective / Very effective

Effectiveness of SAA’s Strategic Initiatives – Individual Members

• The graph below shows the percentages of individual member respondents who rated SAA’s

efforts in the area as being extremely effective or very effective.

Q43. More specifically, how would you rate the effectiveness of SAA’s strategic

initiatives in each of the following areas?

179

39%

42%

42%

46%

47%

47%

48%

49%

52%

55%

57%

0% 20% 40% 60%








MayDay




Extremely effective / Very effective

Effectiveness of SAA’s Strategic Initiatives – Institutional Members

• The graph below



• The graph below shows the percentages of institutional member respondents who rated

SAA’s efforts in the area as being extremely effective or very effective.

180

80%

81%

83%

83%

84%

85%

87%

90%

90%

93%

94%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


MayDay










Am aware of efforts in this area

Awareness of SAA’s Strategic Initiatives – Individual Members

• The graph below shows the percentages of individual member respondents who were aware

of SAA’s work in these areas prior to taking the survey.

• Only individuals who were aware of the initiative prior to taking the survey provided an

effectiveness rating.



181

80%

82%

83%

84%

84%

85%

86%

86%

87%

87%

89%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%



MayDay









Am aware of efforts in this area

Awareness of SAA’s Strategic Initiatives – Institutional Members



• The graph below shows the percentages of institutional member respondents who were

aware of SAA’s work in these areas prior to taking the survey.

• Only individuals who were aware of the initiative prior to taking the survey provided an

effectiveness rating.

182

SAA’s Annual Meeting • The SAA Annual Meeting is a key driver for both individual and institutional members.

• Because of the relatively small number of institutional members who have attended an SAA

Annual Meeting in the past five years, the institutional members who have attended were

combined with the individual members in the driver analysis. The matrix on the following

page is the result of the driver analysis of the combined member types.

• For all SAA member respondents, the overall perception of the quality of an SAA Annual

Meeting is driven by eight factors at this time: (1) education sessions, (2) committee

meetings, (3) Research Forum, (4) plenary sessions, (5) awards ceremony, (6) exhibit hall,

(7) preconference workshops, and (8) all-attendee reception.

183 183

Imp

act

Performance


Str

ong

Weak

70% Top 2

Modera

te

• Committee meetings

• Awards Ceremony

• Research Forum



Maintain Improve

• Education sessions

• Plenary sessions

SAA’s Annual Meeting – All Respondents

• Exhibit Hall

• All-attendee reception

• Roundtable meetings

• Section meetings

• Informal networking opportunities

• Bookstore

• Preconference workshops

• Career Center

• Tours of local repositories

• Poster sessions

184

65%62%

59% 57% 55% 55% 53% 53%

79%

68%

59%62% 61% 60%

55% 54%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Preconference

workshops

Tours of

repositories

Education

sessions

All-attendee

reception

Informal

networking

Plenary

sessions

Roundtable

meetings

Section

meetings

Individual members


Annual Meeting Attributes – Page 1

Q30. Thinking about the most recent SAA Annual Meeting you attended, how

would you rate the conference in each of the following areas?

• Even though there were too few institutional respondents to conduct a driver analysis for this

member segment, there are enough respondents to conduct the performance analysis.

• Because of the large number of Annual Meeting attributes that were tested, the performance

analysis is split into two pages.

• This page shows the performance ratings of the Annual Meeting attributes in the top half.


185

52%48% 46% 45% 42%

37% 34%

42%49%

41%

52%

42%

26%

42%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Research

Forum

Bookstore Committee

meetings

Exhibit hall Poster sessions Awards

Ceremony

Career Center

Individual members


Annual Meeting Attributes – Page 2



• The Annual Meeting attributes presented on this page represent the bottom half of

respondents based on respondents’ evaluations.


186

0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

15%23% 22%

94% 93%88% 85% 82% 81% 77% 78%

12%6%19%

18%6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Exhibit Hall Informal

networking

Plenary

sessions

Bookstore Section

meetings

All-attendee

reception

Poster

sessions

Roundtable

meetings

Participated

Didn't participate, but was aware of

Was not aware of

• This page and the following page shows the level of awareness and participation of various

areas of the Annual Meeting by individual members.

• This page presents the areas that are in the top half based on members’ level of participation.

Annual Meeting – Participation and Awareness – Individual (Pg. 1)



187

6%0% 1% 1%

7%1% 2%

55% 56%64%

63%

48% 44% 43%34% 34% 34%

52%

65%59%

31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Education

sessions

Committee

meetings

Awards

ceremony

Tours of

repositories

Research

Forum

Preconference

workshops

Career Center

Participated


Was not aware of

Annual Meeting – Participation and Awareness – Individual (Pg. 2)



• This page presents the areas that are in the bottom half based on individual members’ level of

participation.

• Even though roughly half of the individual respondents did not participate in these areas,

virtually every respondent was aware of the area prior to taking the survey.

188

0% 0% 0% 0% 1% 1% 5%0%

15%

19% 25%

99%93%

88% 85% 84%78% 76% 75%

12%7%

21%15%

1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Exhibit Hall Informal

networking

Plenary

sessions

Bookstore All-attendee

reception

Section

meetings

Education

sessions

Roundtable

meetings

Participated


Was not aware of

Annual Meeting – Participation and Awareness – Institutional (Pg. 1)



• This page and the following page shows the level of awareness and participation of various

areas of the Annual Meeting by institutional members.

• This page presents the areas that are in the top half based on members’ level of participation.

189

0% 1% 1% 0% 1% 4% 1%

42% 48%57%

66%58% 57%

52% 50% 47%42%

41%

49%49%

34%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Poster sessions Tours of

repositories

Awards

ceremony

Preconference

workshops

Committee

meetings

Research

Forum

Career Center

Participated


Was not aware of

Annual Meeting – Participation and Awareness – Institutional (Pg. 2)



• This page presents the areas that are in the bottom half based on institutional members’ level

of participation.

190

25%

20%

15%12% 11%

6% 5% 4%

25%

21%

15% 14%

9%7%

3% 4%

0%

20%

40%

Affordable

conference

registration

Affordable

hotel rooms

Affordable

travel costs

Variety of

locations

Wi-Fi access All-attendee

reception

Social

responsibility

clause

Audiovisual

support

Individual members


Annual Meeting Changes / Enhancements

Q31. The Society is considering a variety of changes and/or enhancements to

the programs and services included as part of the Annual Meeting. Please

allocate a total of 100 points among the following options.

• Individual members allocated 60% of all points to keeping costs down.

• Institutional members allocated 61% of their points to keeping the Annual Meeting affordable

as well.

191

100%

58%

35%

10%

1% 0% 0%

100%

55%

34%

11%

2% 1% 0%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Wi-Fi Access Throughout Conference Hotel

Q32. The Society is considering various ways of delivering Annual Meeting

content. For each of the following items, please indicate the maximum dollar

amount that you would be willing to pay.

• Members were asked to provide the maximum price they would pay for Wi-Fi access

throughout the conference hotel during an Annual Meeting.

• The percentage at each price point represents the percentage of respondents who would be

willing to pay that price or more, thereby producing a rough demand curve.

192

100%

68%

57%

41%

16%

5% 2%

100%

70%

60%

40%

16%

6%2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Virtual Participation in an Education Session




• The graph below provides a rudimentary demand curve for virtual participation in an

education session of the Annual Meeting.

193

100%

66%

55%

39%

16%

5% 2%

100%

66%

57%

42%

14%

5% 2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Participation in an Online Education Session




• Roughly the same percentage of individual and institutional members are willing to pay at the

various price points for the participation in an online education session as they are for the

virtual participation on the previous page.

194

100%

69%

48%

22%

5%1% 0%

100%

66%

51%

30%

7%1% 1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Download a Recorded Education Session




• Individuals are not willing to pay as much to download a recorded session as they are willing

to pay to participate online in an education session.

195

100%

46%

34%

17%

5%1% 1%

100%

44%37%

22%

6%2% 1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Virtual Participation in a Live Plenary Session




• Fewer than half of the respondents would be willing to pay $5 for virtual participation in a live

plenary session.

196

100%

48%

27%

9%2% 0% 0%

100%

42%

29%

14%

2% 0% 0%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Download a Recorded Plenary Session




• Fewer than half of the respondents would be willing to pay $5 to download a recorded

plenary session.

197

100%

58%

44%

21%

6%1% 1%

100%

53%

44%

28%

9%3% 1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Virtual Participation in Section/Roundtable Mtg.




• The bar graph below shows the percentage of individuals who would be willing to pay each

given price, or more, for virtual participation in a section/roundtable meeting.

198

100%

49%

35%

15%

4%1% 0%

100%

47%

35%

17%

4%0% 0%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Participation in Online Section/Roundtable Mtg.




• Roughly half of the respondents would be willing to pay $5 for online participation in a

section/roundtable meeting.

199

100%

49%

29%

9%2% 0% 0%

100%

41%

26%

13%

2% 0% 0%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

$0 $5 $10 $25 $50 $75 $100

Individual members


Amount Willing to Pay – Download a Recorded Section/Roundtable Mtg.




• Roughly 25% of respondents would be willing to pay as much as $10 to download a

recording of a section/roundtable meeting.

200

58%

42%

Yes No

63%

37%

Yes No


• The majority of survey respondents (individual members as well as institutional members),

have attended an SAA Annual Meeting in the past five years.

Q28. If you have attended an SAA Annual Meeting in the past 5 years, how

would you rate the conference overall?

Attended an SAA Annual Meeting in the Past Five Years

201

Problems With SAA

202 Problem Experience/Solution – Individual Members

Q44. Have you experienced any problems with SAA in the past 6 months?

Q47. Was the problem resolved to your satisfaction?

3%

97%

Yes No

50%

50%

Yes No

Experienced Problem in the Past 6

Months

Problem Resolved Satisfactorily

• Of the fifty-nine individual member respondents (3%) who experienced a problem during the

past six months, 32 individuals (63%) reported their problem to SAA (not shown).

• Of the 32 individual members who reported their problem to someone at SAA, half have

experienced a satisfactory resolution to their problem.

n=1982 n=32

203 Problem Experience/Solution – Institutional Members

Q44. Have you experienced any problems with SAA in the past 6 months?

Q47. Was the problem resolved to your satisfaction?

2%

98%

Yes No

67%

33%

Yes No

Experienced Problem in the Past 6

Months

Problem Resolved Satisfactorily

• Of the four institutional member respondents (2%) who experienced a problem during the

past six months, all four individuals (100%) reported their problem to SAA (not shown).

• Two of the three institutional member respondents who provided a response to Q47 –

satisfactory problem resolution, indicated that their problem was satisfactorily resolved.

n=166 n=3

204

Conclusions and

Recommendations

205

1. The Member Needs Assessment uncovers the reasons why members join and belong to

SAA, i.e. which needs they hope to satisfy with an SAA membership. By focusing on the

differences among member segments, SAA can more effectively develop benefits and

programs for specific member segments, realizing that different types of members have

different needs.

2. Fewer than 2% of the respondents assigned all of their points to a single reason for

belonging to SAA, which means that more than 98% of respondents belong to SAA for

multiple reasons. Therefore, SAA cannot satisfy its members’ needs by focusing on only

one aspect of the association. It is also important to remember that members’ needs

change over time as they progress through various stages in their careers. Our

recommendation is to target specific member segments with programs designed to satisfy

their stated needs at this time. Because older members are more likely to belong to SAA

to satisfy their need to support the profession and support SAA, we recommend that SAA

consider its older population as potential mentors for younger members who are interested

in advancing their careers.

Conclusions and Recommendations

206

3. SAA is similar to other professional membership associations in its mix of loyal, neutral,

and vulnerable members. We recommend that SAA use the profile of loyal members as a

guide for recruiting new members, and the profile of vulnerable members to target

members who are at-risk of leaving the association with intervention programs.

4. We recommend that SAA identifies which member segments are neutral or vulnerable,

and match those segments with their needs that were uncovered in the Member Needs

Assessment. Often we find that members are neutral or vulnerable because the needs for

which they belong to the association are not currently being satisfied.

5. Nine percent (9%) of individual member respondents are considered vulnerable and 6% of

individual members are labeled as captive. A captive member is a vulnerable member

who intends to renew his/her membership. Therefore, there are only 3% of vulnerable

members who are not extremely likely or very likely to renew their membership in the next

year.

6. Respondents’ intentions to recommend SAA and to renew their memberships are

encouraging. The third component of loyalty – membership value – is an area in which to

focus improvement because it receives the lowest evaluations. Improving the value of an

SAA membership will migrate some vulnerable members to the neutral category and move

some neutral members to the loyal category.


207

7. The most effective way to improve member loyalty is to improve the key drivers of value,

those areas that appear in the “Improve” quadrant of the value driver matrix for each

member type. Even though the relative impact of each driver is different (as illustrated by

its vertical position in the matrix), improving any of the areas in this quadrant should have

a positive effect on the perception of membership value.

8. The vertical positioning of each item in its matrix is determined by members’ responses. In

prioritizing which areas to improve, SAA should also consider which areas are easier to

improve (i.e. low hanging fruit), which areas would generate more support for

improvement, and which areas have available resources for improvement. Stated

differently, SAA should not feel compelled to improve the underperforming key driver with

the greatest impact on value, solely because it has the greatest impact on value.

9. For those key drivers of value for which SAA would like to improve, the matrix for each

driver provides a guide of which attributes can most effectively bring about improving the

entire process. Once the key attributes have been improved, the overall perception of the

process should be improved.

10. Membership dues is a key driver of value for both types of members, and is in the

“Improve” quadrant. Our recommendation for improving the perception of dues is to

improve the key drivers of value, which should improve the perception of dues, and remind

members at every opportunity what they are getting for their dues.


208

11. For areas that are currently not key drivers of membership value (e.g. website), they can

still be improved based on the detailed matrix of that area. However, we recommend that

any improvements of non-drivers should not take resources away from improving those

areas that are the key drivers of membership value. Improving the key drivers will have a

greater impact on improving the overall value of an SAA membership than will improving

non-drivers.

12. For those areas in which use and awareness were tested (e.g. member benefits,

continuing education, publications, strategic initiatives, Annual Meeting) we recommend

that SAA should consider modifying those areas that have a relatively high percentage of

awareness but non-use. A high percentage of awareness coupled with non-use usually

indicates a poor fit for members. For those items that have a high percentage of

“unawareness”, we recommend that SAA focus on raising the level of awareness of its

members through promotion. Some members have indicated in their verbatim comments

that their level of awareness of SAA’s offerings has been raised through this survey.

13. Based on member evaluations, the SAA staff does an outstanding job of servicing

members and should be commended for their work. We often find through staff surveys

that their self-evaluations are usually much lower than the evaluations they get from

members because they are continually taking care of problems and are inundated with

negative comments from members. By letting staff know that their work is appreciated by

members, it will encourage them to continue providing high quality service.


209

14. The level of problem incidence found among individual members (3%) and by institutional

members (2%) is very good. Our only recommendation is that if there is a problem

mentioned in the verbatim comments that can easily be fixed, then fix it. But overall, the

level of problems is very good.

15. An integral part of any improvement plan is to communicate those changes to all

members. Communication informs members that improvements have been put into place

even when members have not personally experienced any changes. Without

communication, members who experience a higher level of service are left to wonder if the

improvements are a permanent result of process changes or simply a temporary variation

in the customary service level.


Documents

Member Needs & Satisfaction Survey - Society of …files.archivists.org/membership/surveys/saaMemberSurvey...Satisfaction Survey Spring 2012 Table of Contents 2 Topic Page Topic Page