How much does the membership cost

How much does the membership cost

Part 1: Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Types of membership – 2

1. How much is the life-time membership of the Society?
A £1,535
B £1,935
C £1,537

2. How much does the ordinary membership cost per year?
A £293
B £396
C £193

3. What are the opening times on week-days?
A 9 am to 10 pm
B 10 am to 9 pm
C 10 am to 5 pm

4. What is the arts programme at the Society like?
A limited
B wide
C interesting

Questions 5-10
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.

Name Margaret (5)
Address 55 (6)
Postcode (7)
Work number 0207 895 2220 Extension (8)
Payment terms by (9)
Guest restrictions one per (10)

Part 2: Questions 11 and 12
Choose TWO letters A-E.

What TWO changes to the organization of this year’s festival are mentioned?
A free parking
B free refreshments
C new uniforms
D free concert
E large tents

Questions 13-15
Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

(13)
(14)
(15)

Questions 16-20
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

16. What does the speaker say about the judges in the competitions?
A Most people judging will have some experience
B None of the judges will have experience
C Every judge will be experienced

17. The winner in each of the competitions will
A be given vouchers
B be awarded a cash prize
C receive book-tokens

18. The profits from the marathon will be given to the Children’s Hospital to help
A buy new specialist equipment
B decorate the hospital wards
C provide books for the children

19. Wardens will be needed at the car park because
A they helped organize the parking well last year
B the parking last year was disorganized
C they will be needed to collect parking fees

20. Bags will be provided by the council
A for all the rubbish
B only for food rubbish
C only for material that can be recycled

Part 3: Questions 21-23
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

21. In the practice exams, the students did
A two exams altogether
B seven exams in total
C eleven exams in total

22. Adam thinks that essay papers are
A inappropriate for assessing theoretical medical knowledge
B not good for assessing practical medical knowledge
C suitable for testing theoretical medical knowledge

23. Mary criticizes multiple-choice questions, because
A they require detailed instructions
B they benefit women more than men
C they favour men rather than women

Questions 24 and 25
Choose TWO letters A-E.

Which TWO aspects of the role-play examination are mentioned?
A the rest stations
B 24 test stations
C the recording
D the examiners
E the simulated patients

Questions 26-30
Complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Part 4: Questions 31-33
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

31. The Indian Ocean differs from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
A by being closed in to the north
B by being warmer than both
C by extending into cold regions

32. Approximately how much of the world’s total ocean area does the Indian Ocean constitute?
A 7%
B 20%
C 25%

33. The island of Madagascar is
A the tip of a submerged ridge
B the result of a volcanic eruption
C structurally part of the continent of Africa

Questions 34 and 35
Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

34. Oceanographers and meteorologists are monitoring changes in the Indian ocean’s temperature and
35. An assessment is being made of the impact of the changes on low-lying and

(36) (37)
(38) (39)
(40)

1. C
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. Rochester
6. stone avenue
7. MA7 4PQ
8. 6633
9. (monthly) instalments
10. fortnight
11. B
12. D
13. shop
14. seating
15. 9.30
16. A
17. B
18. A
19. B
20. C
21. B
22. A
23. C
24. B
25. E
26. prioritize
27. examiners
28. listen
29. team
30. appeal
31. A
32. B
33. C
34. acidity
35. habitals, people
36. observing ice packs
37. size
38. raw
39. bank
40. experts

How much does a gym membership actually cost? (Real examples)

Ready to get in shape?

Woohoo! Awesome choice!

Now let’s talk about how you’re actually going to do it.

You can work out at home, which is free (with the exception of buying some equipment like a treadmill or some dumbbells).

But I really love the accountability and structure of joining a good commercial gym. The downside is, they aren’t free!

So how much does a gym membership actually cost on average?

But let’s take a closer look at what to look for when you’re joining a gym, what makes some gyms more expensive than others, and how to get the best deal on the cost of a gym membership.

Things that Affect the Cost of a Gym Membership

As I wrote, the price of joining a gym can really run the gamut.

So what’s the difference? Aren’t they all just big rooms with exercise equipment in them?

Here are some factors you might want to consider when choosing a gym and how they can affect the price.

Fees & Access

The price isn’t always the price.

You’ll want to get a good understanding of what exactly is included with your membership, and what the actual charges on your account are going to be.

They may not seem like a lot when you sign up, but trust me, it kind of sucks when you get multiple gym charges in a single month out of the blue.

Then there’s access levels.

A lot of big gym chains give you choices: Go to one gym location, go to all local gym locations, or go to all national gym locations.

You’ll pay more the more access and convenience you want.

What is an annual fee or what is an initiation fee at the gym?

These are extra fees you can often expect when you join a commercial gym. Initiation fees are one-time costs charged when you join as a new member. Annual fees are billed once per year.

Monthly vs Yearly Commitment

Most major gym chains will give you the option of paying on a month-to-month, no-contract basis, or joining for a year or even multiple years.

Typically, the longer they lock you in, the better deal you’ll get.

There are obviously pros and cons to both approaches.

On a month-to-month plan, you’ll:

On a contract basis, you’ll:

If you’re really committed to working out and don’t see yourself moving or changing gyms any time soon, it’s a good idea to get a yearly contract.

Pool & Sauna

The really inexpensive convenience gyms like Planet Fitness don’t have pools.

You get in, you work out, you leave.

Mid-tier gyms like LA Fitness will often have a pool and sometimes a hot tub. Good for lap swimming and the occasional soak after your workout.

High-end gyms like Life Time Fitness can sometimes have baller pools. The kind of pool you’d take your family to every day during the summer (water slides, snack bar, etc.)

Accordingly, you pay more for your membership if your gym has a killer pool and spa area.

Classes

The group fitness classes at gyms are an amazing source of value if you use them.

Even most mid-tier gyms will give you access to a ton of classes like spin, yoga, bootcamps, Zumba, and more.

But if you’re not interested in classes, you can save some scratch on your gym membership cost by going with a cheaper option like a Planet Fitness, that doesn’t offer any classes to speak of.

Often, super high-end gyms will have absolutely amazing class schedules and stunning studios inside the gym for each course.

(The price of a ClassPass membership compares nicely here. For about the same price as a gym membership, you can get roughly two classes per week at (nearly) any studio you want in your area — spin, yoga, bootcamp, you name it. Hit my link here to try ClassPass free for a month.)

Other Amenities

And that’s really just the beginning.

There are all kinds of small extras that can really add up to a better gym experience, and therefore drive the cost up.

It’s easy to be impressed by all this stuff, but ask yourself if you’ll really use it.

If you just want a simple place to use a treadmill or lift weights, you can often get a better deal on a no-frills option.

Private gyms vs big box gyms

A big box gym or a commercial gym usually refers to a chain that’s easily found everywhere, and anyone can join.

Private gyms, or boutique gyms, are usually locally owned. They’re smaller and they tend to include personal training or coaching as a part of your membership. You may or may not have access to the gym at your own pace, and usually you’ll schedule sessions at the gym with your coach or trainer.

Private gyms often (but not always) don’t have amenities like pools, childcare, etc.

Alright, now let’s look at some actual examples of the price of different gym memberships!

Actual cost to join LA Fitness

LA Fitness is a really great all-around gym to join.

Not only do they locations everywhere, you can typically get a pretty good deal and they have most of the amenities your average gym-goer would want.

They have a lot more space and equipment than, say, Planet Fitness or 24 Hour Fitness, but aren’t quite as elite as a Life Time Fitness.

Full disclosure: I currently go to LA Fitness!

*Note: This and all prices I list come with a couple of key caveats: They’ll all likely vary by market and where you live, and very often can be negotiated if you know what you’re doing.

Actual cost to join Planet Fitness

Planet Fitness is one of the most popular gym chains in the United States and beyond.

The downside is, Planet Fitness is extremely short on amenities (no pool or exercise classes) and short of weightlifting equipment.

But if you want a cheap place to get in a cardio workout? You can’t go wrong.

Actual cost to join 24 Hour Fitness

24 Hour Fitness is another super convenient gym that, not surprisingly, is built on the premise of being open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

That makes it a fantastic option for gym-goers who workout late at night, super early in the morning, or who otherwise have weird schedules.

I’d call 24 Hour Fitness a mid-tier gym on par with LA Fitness in terms of equipment and amenities.

Actual cost to join Gold’s Gym

Gold’s Gym is a nice step up from convenience gyms and it’s especially well-catered to people who love to lift weights.

There’s still cardio equipment here and some basic amenities, but Gold’s is typically where you’ll find a super robust lifting area and lots of equipment.

The pricing structure, however, is extremely complicated and individualized to each location.

Again, this will vary heavily on location, market, current promotions, and your negotiating skills.

Actual cost to join the YMCA

Hey, I know what you’re thinking. And don’t sleep on the YMCA!

The Y is actually a really solid gym, depending on location, with lots of good equipment and a friendly, family atmosphere.

The downside? It’s a little expensive if you’re joining solo.

Joining with the whole family, however, at $75 per month total, is a far better deal.

How to get the best deal on a gym membership (with haggling and negotiating)

The art of negotiation is a topic that’s far too big to cover here, but I’ll give you a few quick tips.

To get the best deal possible at your local gym, try these negotiating tactics:

Do your research!

Check their pricing online and then search discussion forums like Reddit or Bodybuilding.com to see what other real people who go to that gym are paying.

Offer to pay for the whole year up front (in return for a discount)

This can work many places, not just gyms. It’s valuable for companies to know they’re getting paid right up front, and they may be willing to reward you for that value.

Join near the end of the month

All gyms and their sales staff have sales quotas they need to hit. At the end of the month, with deadlines looming, they may be more willing to cut you a deal, or they may be more likely to be running a promotional offer.

Make them stand up for you

This is my favorite negotiating trick I picked up, and that’s to come in self-deprecating and almost force the salesperson to stick up for you.

Say, “You’re going to think I’m such a cheapskate, but I was really hoping to spend less than X.”

They’ll likely respond with “No, no, I totally understand! Here’s what I can do…”

(You can read my much more in-depth guide to negotiating your gym membership here.)

Wrapping Up

That about covers it!

Then, of course, there are elite gyms like Life Time Fitness that will run you even more than that.

But I hope this has helped you set your budget and expectations as you go gym shopping! And remember, the price is almost ALWAYS negotiable.

If you’re still confused, take my easy, 6 question quiz: Which gym should I join?

About the Editor: Hi there! My name is Evan and I’m the Editor here at Trusty Spotter. I’m a dad and 30-something-year-old fitness enthusiast. I started this site to share all of the best information and products I could find on my way to better health and a stronger body. I hope it helps you, too!

Disclosure: I may receive commissions or advertising fees from products and brands mentioned on the Trusty Spotter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. But I always stand by the research and recommendations that I provide here.

We have spent over 40 hours researching and contacting the membership teams of over 22 gym chains in the US.

This gives us the average gym membership cost for different types of gyms. This information is accurate as of February 17th 2021.

This research will show you:

How much does the average gym membership cost per month?

You can see the average, cheapest and most expensive cost for a gym membership at all 18 gyms in the chart below.

*Note the difference in price can be due to the membership options or the location.

The price often is slightly lower after the first year as many gyms have an initial joining fee. You can see the difference in the chart below…

As you can see, the difference in price for a gym membership can be huge. It depends on a number of factors including the location, equipment available or additional features of the gym.

Costs for different types of gyms

Each type of gym impacts the cost considerably as you can see in the chart below…

Here are the main differences between each standard of gym…

High end gyms

Typically high end gyms offer something unique compared to standard gyms.

For example, Lifetime Fitness offers unlimited classes (yoga, spinning, pilates etc.), luxury health clubs with swimming pools, towel service, saunas, locker rooms etc. Gold’s Gym offers top of the range weight lifting equipment. Curves offer a women-friendly community and weight loss education.

Check out the 7 minute tour of Lifetime Fitness in Garden City to see what I mean about “extras”…

Here are the 6 high end gyms included in this research…

Simply put, the high end gyms offer more than just gym equipment.

Mid range gyms

Mid range gyms offer a good range of high quality gym equipment. They also typically provide a thorough induction to the gym, additional classes and services.

For example, Anytime Fitness has tanning facilities, wellness programs and TV’s. Snap Fitness and 24-Hour Fitness are open all day everyday and Snap Fitness promotes heart rate monitoring to help achieve your goals.

Just check out the 2 minute tour of LA Fitness to see what I mean about the focus on quality equipment…

Here are the 6 mid range gyms used in this analysis…

The bottom line is that mid range gyms will provide you with any equipment you want to use. There will usually be options to add on classes or other things you may be interested in.

Budget gyms

Budget gyms often have limited equipment and rarely have additional classes.

For example, Planet Fitness doesn’t provide any squat racks or barbells (they do have Smith Machines though). The reason for this is because they cut down on things like staffing to allow such affordable prices.

Typically, they attract beginner gym users who are more prone to injuring themselves. So they reduce the amount of equipment that could cause these issues.

You can watch the 3 minute Planet Fitness tour below to see why budget gyms are becoming so appealing compared to other more pricier options…

These are the 6 budget gyms used in this study…

Boutique gyms

Boutique gyms are generally quite small gyms that focus on one or two fitness areas with a community aspect.

For example, CrossFit focuses on high-intensity exercises from numerous sports i.e. Olympic weightlifting style movements and trail running. Rumble focuses on boxing and Cyc Fitness focuses on indoor cycling.

Watch the F45 one minute video to see an example of these types of gyms…

Here are some example boutique gyms…

Due to some of the high fees they weren’t included in the overall research. And many of these gyms have a pack of 10 sessions that you can buy instead of a monthly membership.

People usually think of a gym with a range of equipment when they consider a gym membership. However, these boutique gyms are on the rise in popularity.

What is the cheapest gym to join?

If you are budget minded and not fussy about what gym equipment you have then check out Cardinal Fitness or Planet Fitness.

However, these gyms do come with considerably less equipment options available. They don’t have other amenities such as a sauna, steam room or poor either.

So you’re probably wondering…

Are gym memberships worth it?

This question really depends on you…

What are your fitness goals?

If you plan on becoming a professional powerlifter, then you will probably need a gym or at least need to buy some weights.

However, if you want to lose a few pounds then it’s likely your daily habits will help you more than a gym membership. Your diet and making simple choices such as taking the stairs or walking instead of driving will have a bigger impact than jumping on an elliptical for 60 minutes a week.

What percentage of gym memberships go unused?

A 2018 study showed some pretty eye opening stats…

Be honest with yourself here.

Are you actually going to keep using the gym or is it another one of those great ideas that will fade away in a few weeks?

We’ve all done this. But if this sounds like you, then maybe paying for a gym on a monthly basis is better to start with.

Are gym memberships tax-deductible?

There are currently no businesses or careers that will allow a gym to be tax deductible. However, if you are obese or have hypertension you may be missing out on some tax relief.

How to get a discounted gym membership

Here are some ways to get the most from your gym membership…

1. Shop around- as you can see in the list above there are huge differences in prices each gym charges for a membership.

5. Drop-in or use different gyms- If you travel a lot or usually workout at home it may actually be cheaper to pay for the odd times you use the gym. You can also get a “free trial” at most gyms, sometimes for a week or multiple visits.

6. Explore a nontraditional gym- i.e. a hotel or university that has on-site fitness facilities. They are surprisingly open to negotiation if you can speak to the right person.

7. Join at the end of the month- many gyms have a sales quota to hit. If you join towards the end of a month or quarter, they may be open to a discount to get you involved.

8. Join in January- most gyms will offer some sort of incentive to join in January. They know that many people set New Year resolutions to work out more so they often waive the joining fee or offer a free month trial.

Alternatives to the gym

Contrary to popular belief… a gym membership really isn’t the most important thing to achieving your fitness goals.

Actually creating the habit and doing the exercise is what will help you see results.

And there are tons of alternatives to a gym, such as…

1. Exercise outside

You can go for a jog at any time of the day with a pair of running shoes and some basic sports apparel.

Many people also own a bike, but only a small minority use it regularly. Could you cycle to work and get a workout in twice a day instead of sitting in the car?

It doesn’t stop there though…

There are tons of outside gyms popping up around the world. These are usually free to use and easily accessible.

2. Do bodyweight exercises at home

There are thousands of YouTube videos that can walk you through these workouts.

Many people believe you need really expensive equipment to see muscle gain or lose weight. But it is amazing what you can achieve with your own bodyweight.

Check out the video below to see what I mean…

3. Use exercise videos

If you’d rather avoid the annoying YouTube ads then you can always purchase exercise videos for home use.

There are tons of options out there, but here are some of the most well known choices:

The peace of mind about this route is that you won’t end up watching some random person who doesn’t know what they are doing and risk injuring yourself. Simply stick the video on and copy them.

4. Invest in a home gym

My personal favourite option!

You can completely customise the equipment that will help you see results for a fraction of the cost of a gym membership over the years. You also save time from commuting to the gym and waiting in lines for your equipment to be free.

There is also this weird sense of ownership that you take when you buy equipment and have to think about your own workouts.

If you’re like me, you’ll find it seems to make you take your exercise more seriously. And the motivation to use it lasts much longer than the motivation to go to the gym.

Check out our Black Friday gym equipment guide if you want to save money on this too!

Gym membership vs home gym costs

You can see how much the average person spends on a gym membership vs a home gym over 10 years below…

And there are so many different gym membership options available. So you really need to see the graph below to get the full picture on whether a gym membership or home gym is a better option for you.

At the end of the day a gym membership suits some people. Some people don’t have the space for a home gym or prefer to have a separate place for exercise.

But in my opinion, a home gym has too many benefits that outweigh a gym membership if you are on the fence.

Average gym membership costs: The bottom line

If this is something you’re interested in, then check out our ultimate guide to building a home gym here.

Making the Business Case for Membership

This section addresses the topic of membership and money. What revenue can you expect from a membership program? What costs should you plan for before you decide to launch a membership program?

First, a reminder. Membership is more than just a piece of a revenue pie. Membership is a relationship between a newsroom and its supporters that treats audience members as core participants and stakeholders. This relationship is supported by memberful routines, which MPP has found are a critical component of a membership strategy.

Members can also be a source of revenue support, as they are in most member-driven newsrooms MPP has studied. In order for that revenue strategy to work, you need to understand what scale of investment (and ongoing cost) is required and what scale of returns you can expect.

Here’s a second reminder: compared to subscriptions, membership in news is still a relatively new model and a relatively new revenue strategy. The Institute for Nonprofit News’ 2019 Index Report, which aggregates data from its 108 member newsrooms based in North America, found that only a third of its newsrooms reported having a membership program in 2018. About two-thirds of those membership programs are quite young: three years old or younger and have fewer than 1,000 members. Membership is even more nascent in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Keep this in mind: the value proposition and business model for membership are different from the value proposition and business model for subscription. In a subscription model, audience members pay for access to a product or service. It is a transactional relationship in which access to the content is what is monetized. This model typically requires a paywall of some kind.

An open question remains whether membership will follow charitable giving trends or subscription trends in terms of revenue growth across newsrooms. The industry does not yet have the data to definitively answer that question, although the research team sees a lot of reasons for hope and opportunity for membership revenue growth. One exciting trend MPP has identified in its work with newsrooms is that, unlike what we are seeing with subscriptions, the membership ceiling has not yet been reached.

Some successful member-driven newsrooms are leaning into a strong distinction between membership and subscription in their value proposition and marketing. The Daily Maverick in South Africa implemented a “pay-what-you-can” model, partially to tilt supporters’ minds toward charitable causes when considering joining. CEO Styli Charalambous wrote: “Subscription fatigue is a thing, and publishers in South Africa have to compete with the New York Times for a slice of people’s subscription budget.… But people can and do support multiple good causes that resonate with them. We wanted to convey our cause that was worthy of support alongside the Society for the Protection of Animals, National Sea Rescue Institute, or educational development programmes.”

In this section, we focus on financial planning and forecasting for membership, which should help your newsroom decide whether or not to pursue membership, whether to stick with membership, or whether to invest more resources into membership to continue building it as a source of sustainability.

How should we calculate our universe of potential members?

Calculate your total addressable audience.

Calculating your total addressable audience starts with understanding some basic demographics of the community you are seeking to serve: How many adults over the age of 18? How many households? What is the average income and employment level in your community?

For example, if you are a newsroom serving a particular city, you can start a calculation of total addressable audience by pulling census or similar data on population size for 18+ year old people living in your city. If you serve a particular demographic group, age group, or neighborhood, you’ll want to narrow in on what percentage of the population they make up in the geographic area you’re covering.

If you are a newsroom that reports on a particular topic, this is a bit more complicated, but you can likely start by looking at industry data on how many people work in a field that your reporting might cover, or looking at membership numbers in professional associations in your field.

Obviously not everyone in your total addressable audience will read your journalism. It’s likely only a small percentage will. According to the annual Digital News Report, 28 percent of readers worldwide prefer to get their news online. (In the U.S., that number is 37 percent) This rate will vary across communities, but you could use that preference rate to get a rough calculation of the universe of adults in your community whom you could hope to reach.

Combining estimated news consumption rates with some basic demographic data on your community will help you get to an addressable audience estimate.

Let’s say you are a local news site in the U.S. serving a city of 200,000 and 80 percent are over the age of 18. So there are 160,000 adults in your city, and 37 percent of them, or 59,200 people, likely prefer to get their news online. That means your total addressable market is 59,200 people. (You could make a more conservative estimate by looking at the number of households rather than the number of adults.)

Your total addressable audience calculation is what is called in marketing terms the “top of the funnel” – the maximum number of people you can reasonably expect to reach. The point of marketing (and relationship-building) is to get those potential readers from the top of your funnel into successive stages of a deeper relationship with you, in this case into membership.

How many members can we expect to get?

In order to estimate membership revenue, you need to make some informed guesses about how effective you can be at getting the attention of people in your community and then building a closer relationship with them. That means you’ll need to make some assumptions about what your audience funnel is going to look like.

With your total addressable market calculation in hand from the previous section, there are a number of steps you can take next to model your audience conversion funnel and ultimately estimate revenue. One option is to model web users; another option is to model newsletter subscribers.

Use your total addressable audience to estimate monthly unique users and site visits. If you are a startup newsroom with no audience yet, you can use your total addressable market calculation to estimate how many web users you can expect at the top of your funnel. (If you’re already publishing, you can just use your existing monthly uniques). To estimate web users at the top of your funnel, first decide how conservative you want to be in your estimates of how many potential digital news readers you can attract to read an article on your site. For example, you could estimate that 25 percent to 75 percent of the digital-news-reading adults in your community would actually find your site and read articles regularly.

Let’s return to our earlier example from the previous section (in summary: you are a local news site serving a city of 200,000 and a total addressable market of 59,200 people). If 75 percent of those adults found you, that would give you an upper limit of 44,400 monthly unique users.

If you assume that 50% of those readers who found you became regular readers of your site and visited you twice a week, that would give you (22,200 + (22,200*2*4))

200,000 monthly site visits. That gives you 200,000 chances per month to bring a user further down your conversion funnel. (Jump to “Developing membership metrics” for more on measuring repeat activity as indicators of loyalty and membership.)

Use monthly site visits to estimate newsletter subscribers. One of the most high-performing pathways to membership, particularly for more traditional newsrooms, is via newsletter subscription. If you are a news site with a robust digital audience already, you can use your monthly site visits to estimate a goal for your newsletter subscribers, and from there calculate your membership potential. There are some early industry benchmarks in the U.S. for how many monthly site visits you can expect to convert to newsletter subscriptions. Among News Revenue Hub newsrooms, 8 percent of monthly website visits turn into newsletter subscriptions. If we go with 8 percent in this example: at an 8 percent newsletter subscription rate, with 200,000 monthly site visits, you could expect to convert (over time) up to 16,000 readers from your website to your newsletter list.

Use newsletter subscribers to estimate your number of members. Getting a site visitor to become a newsletter subscriber is an important step toward gaining a member. But, of course, not all newsletter subscribers will become members. So, how can you model this step?

Modeling the transition from newsletter subscriber to member involves making an assumption about newsletter conversion rates. The Facebook Local News Subscriptions Accelerator Program reported that publishers might expect to convert five to 10 percent of email subscribers to paying subscribers. For small and mid-sized newsrooms in the U.S., News Revenue Hub reports that among their clients, a good conversion rate to membership from newsletters is 7 percent. Suppose we go with a 7 percent conversion rate for this example: if you have an overall target of 16,000 on your newsletter list, you should expect to have, over time, 1,120 members. Strong editorial products and significant investment in memberful routines could lead to a higher conversion rate for your organization.

Calculating these audience and member estimates is not just useful for calculating revenue projections. They can be useful for setting goals for loyalty-building editorial products and your membership program. (Jump to “Adopting a product mindset” for more on setting goals.)

A caveat on how quickly you can expect to reach your member target. There is no magic formula for the timeframe in which you should expect to reach that member target. How quickly you meet (or exceed) your member target depends on a number of factors: how clearly you articulate and deliver your membership value proposition, how effectively you launch your membership program, how effectively you can market and grow your membership program, and how effective you are at retaining members. See those sections of the Handbook for more.

MPP does have some data to offer on newsrooms’ member yield in the first year of membership. According to data collected as a part of the Membership Puzzle Project’s Defining Membership Goals and Successes Surveys from 40 member-driven newsrooms around the world,

When we asked the same set of respondents how many members they have in the past 365 days (as of the date of taking the survey over this past summer 2020), our set of newsrooms reported a median of 2,668 members and an average of 10,223 members. Jump to “Developing membership metrics” for more information on the methods and results from MPP’s Defining Membership Goals and Successes Survey.

How should we set prices for our membership program and offerings?

The revenue you can expect to generate from membership will be heavily dependent on your pricing model and pricing tiers. You should consider your pricing model options and then, if possible, conduct audience research to test pricing tiers. Taking these two steps before you model revenue will help ensure your membership business model is robust.

After surveying dozens of newsrooms about their pricing strategy, MPP suggests one or a combination of the following strategies for determining your own.

Consider your pricing model options. There are many options to consider for pricing models. Some member-driven newsrooms, like Denverite, let all members choose exactly how much they would like to pay and whether they would like to pay that amount monthly, annually, or one-time. Most member-driven newsrooms have membership tiers that are priced at specific levels, whereas others like CALMatters in California define ranges and spell out member benefits within each broad range. MPP has also followed with great interest the Daily Maverick’s “pay-what-you-can” model, which is coupled with a suggested monthly amount. Look at the “individuals fund work” column of the Membership Puzzle Project database for a more complete list of pricing structures.

Set your membership prices. Pricing discussions can be the most daunting part of designing a membership program, especially for smaller organizations who don’t have a business-side team. Much of the advice on pricing is incredibly complex and designed for larger, more corporate entities.

Most pricing research language puts support for journalism in a transactional frame, putting your membership program in competition with one-way transactions like Netflix subscriptions. But pricing membership is actually about understanding both the value of your work to someone and how much they value ensuring other people can access it.

This philanthropic giving impulse can be tricky to put a monetary value on. You may need to test out different prices until you find the intersection between your financial needs and your members’ ability to give.

The decades-old Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity meter is the go-to method in the audience revenue space for assessing a price your audience members will find palatable. But for smaller organizations the Van Westendorp meter might be overly complex and could come across as too corporate. Asking audience members to complete it in a survey could undermine the sense of community that motivates many members. It is mentioned here because Membership Puzzle Project is often asked about pricing strategy in the subscription space, but MPP doesn’t necessarily suggest this for your newsroom.

Sebastian Esser, CEO of membership platform Steady, says that organizations tend to underprice dramatically. This was the case at Krautreporter in Germany, which he also founded. Krautreporter raised its prices in December 2019 for the first time, and said that they received no pushback or cancellations in response to the price increase.

El Diario in Spain took a fairly straightforward approach when they launched their membership program in 2012 – they looked across the media landscape and set their own membership price (€60 a year at launch) in between the more expensive subscription-based legacy publications and the less expensive digital journalism organizations. When they launched, their membership program quickly gained traction, with little pushback on the price. El Diario has almost 60,000 members today. In spring 2020, they raised their price for the first time, to €80 a year, but experienced no dropoff in membership as a result.

The Daily Maverick used a donations campaign to test several of its assumptions about membership, including what people would be willing to give if it was left open-ended and what would happen if they changed the default amount. They found that even when given the option of giving the bare minimum required – the cost of a credit card transaction, essentially – few people took that choice.

How Daily Maverick designed a pay-what-you-can model

A well-targeted benefit nudges those who can afford to contribute more to do so, while keeping membership accessible for all.

How much membership revenue can we expect?

Let’s say you have followed the steps in the “how many members can we expect” section and have a goal of attracting 1,120 supporting members from your community. You’ve chosen a pricing model and done adequate audience research to test your early assumptions on pricing. Now you can calculate how much revenue you can expect to generate from those members.

There are other tools and methods to estimate membership revenue. The methods we offered so far are just one approach. For example, Steady offers these guidelines for modeling revenue:

“The amount you can earn depends on the size of your community. Your community includes people who follow your project, wait for your updates and can contact you digitally or personally. By estimating the size of your community, you can work out how much money you could earn using Steady: (number of community members * 0.05) * (average membership fee) = possible revenue. An average membership price on Steady is around €5 per month. Using this example, in order to reach a goal of €1,000 a month, you’ll need to reach at least 4,000 community members with your campaign.”

The research team recommends this tool from Steady to project member revenue. You’ll need to enter in a few numbers, like the smallest monthly amount of money you will take for someone to become a member, the average contribution you estimate (or set), monthly churn, and the percentage of your engaged community that become a member. If you’re just starting out and don’t know what your churn will be, MPP recommends putting 5 percent per month, which is a conservative estimate among membership organizations.

In this example, you can see that Steady has a €5 euro/month average price across their 300 clients (most of which aren’t news organizations), a 2.5 percent average monthly churn, and that 5 percent of their “engaged” community converts to paid members.

For another example, see how Canadian publisher Indiegraf uses a process similar to MPP’s for calculating how much revenue an indie local news publisher in Canada can expect.

Mature small-dollar-supported digital newsrooms in the U.S. like the Texas Tribune, VTDigger, and Mother Jones bring in between a fifth and a third of their revenue from small givers, many of whom are members. Some younger member-driven digital newsrooms have also been able to reach this level of 20 percent to 33 percent revenue support from membership, while many public radio organizations in the U.S. have grown a revenue model that is supported by one third membership, one third major giving, and one third underwriting and other support. In MPP’s dataset of 40 member-driven newsrooms around the world, six newsrooms saw membership contribute between 20 percent and 35 percent of their total revenue.

A robust membership program can also become the basis for other revenue streams. If you’re new to membership, the research team does not recommend building offshoot revenue into your business model. However, if you have a growing or mature membership program, it can be worth thinking about how to leverage your membership program into other revenue streams.

You could consider working with a local university or other large institutional partner to create an institutional membership tier, as Frontier Myanmar did. Their small institutional membership includes five logins per account, while the large institutional membership includes 20 logins. Although most of Frontier’s members are individual members (with one login), as of July 2020, they had 16 small institution members with 93 logins total, and three large institution members with another 60 logins. This is a particularly promising tactic in contexts where individuals’ ability to pay for news may be limited, but there is a robust non-governmental organization (NGO) sector, as is the case in Myanmar.

You could also strike up paid partnerships or other forms of sponsorship based on a strong relationship with your members. That’s what Black Ballad in the U.K. has done with its editorial campaigns, which center Black British women’s challenges and opportunities, as identified in robust member surveys.

How Black Ballad turns member surveys into new revenue streams

Their goal is to be the one who knows the Black British professional woman better than anyone else – and to monetize that knowledge.

For more on how mission-driven newsrooms can leverage their audiences for sponsorship and advertising partnerships, see this case study on Madison365 and this one on the San Antonio Report.

How Much Does AAA Membership Cost

Updated on January 27, 2022

Owning a car can be really expensive. Beside the cost of the vehicle or the monthly amortization and insurance, encountering road hassles can also add to your long list of burdens. Luckily, there is the AAA to save that part of vehicle management. But the question is, how much does AAA membership cost? Is there even a free AAA membership?

Average AAA.com Price

If you are interested to know the starting cost of AAA membership by state, please check the following:

2. Plus Membership Plan – The benefits you can get with AAA membership plus plan are almost the same as the basic plan. However, there are few upgrades and additional features such as:

3. Premier Membership Plan –This is the most expensive one. This plan gives you all the benefits an AAA Plus member can get, plus more upgrades such as:

AAA Membership Worth

The American Automobile Association, Inc. is a non-profit, tax-paying corporation that is a federation of united automobile clubs. As of now, this association has around 1,100 offices in the United States and Canada.

This club offers car services with its network of around 40,000 employees. It is the largest motor club in the world with around 59 million members from the US and Canada.

How To Know If You Really Need To Sign Up

As discussed, there are a lot of benefits to signing up with AAA. But the question is, do you really need it? After all, the fees are still significant that you may either need or otherwise, depending on your circumstances.

So, how do you know if you need to sign up or have your AAA membership renewal? Below are some of the things you need to consider before deciding: