Changes to APHA’s membership model that took effect in January make joining APHA easier than ever.
The Association has been working for more than a year to revamp its membership model, seeking input from members and outside experts alike about how to better serve members.
“Membership has been declining across the board in many nonprofit organizations,” said Joyce Gaufin, APHA’s president-elect and the immediate past chair of the Executive Board’s membership workgroup. “We wanted to stabilize and regrow, and we really wanted to do it with the help of APHA members and our various component organizations.”
As part of the process, APHA conducted an ‘unprecedented’ number of member surveys to gather data to guide it in the process. The Association also held three webinars and invited members to participate and share their ideas and opinions, Gaufin said.
To streamline the membership choices, APHA discontinued the special health worker membership category and is, instead, giving a substantial discount to people whose annual salaries are $45,000 or less. Those workers will be able to become members for $95, while the price of regular membership is $200.
The discounted membership is “critical,” Gaufin said, to make joining APHA feasible for many local health workers with lower salaries.
“It really expands the opportunity for people who weren’t sure if APHA was the place for them,” she told The Nation’s Health. “We’re giving an alternative and I hope that we’re really able to pull in a new group of people.”
Gaufin, herself a continuous member since 1994, said APHA offers its members something they cannot get anywhere else: a strong, unified organization that can help them advance professionally.
“We’re a unique organization,” she said. “We offer the greatest opportunity and provide a place where people can grow. We offer the opportunity to have a voice as a strong public health advocate, advance your skills and serve as a leader in the field.”
Now that the new membership model is in place, APHA is looking for ways to better reach out to and communicate with members, Gaufin said. Under the leadership of new committee Chair Paul Meissner, MPH, the Association is seeking more engagement and better member satisfaction.
During the Association’s Annual Meeting in October, the Intersectional Council held a forum to talk about member engagement with Sections and Special Primary Interest Groups. The Governing Council also held roundtable discussions at the meeting that were focused on engagement.
“Engagement will be a major focus for us as we move into 2013 and beyond,” said APHA Membership Director Sara Miller, MBA, CAE. “APHA has made significant changes to the membership model over the last 18 months. We can’t, however, rely solely on the new membership model to recruit new members and retain existing members. Engagement — getting our members involved in APHA’s activities — is the other part of the equation. We want to understand all the ways to get involved in APHA, in public health and then bring those opportunities to our members.”
APHA is also offering a $20 green discount to those who choose online-only access to the American Journal of Public Health. Other new benefits include expanded eligibility for students and the ability to join two Sections or Special Primary Interest Groups at no extra cost.
For more information, visit www.apha.org/membershipchanges, call 202-777-2400 or email membership.mail{at}apha.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
