Mensa's Vanishing Membership

In 1989, American Mensa, Ltd. had approximately 56,929 members. Today, we have around 45,500. This is about a 20% decrease in membership in a little over a decade. What happened? Our thinking has become obsolete.

I've been a member of Mensa for almost nineteen years and we have fewer members now than we did when I joined. We also now have more lapsed members than dues-paying members. What happened?

Many of our problems in Mensa today may be the direct result of yesterday's solutions. Sometimes we fail to pay close attention to the "Law of Unanticipated Consequences," which says that our actions often produce unexpected results. What happened? Our thinking has become obsolete.

A brief history of our membership: The year is when the Chairman took office and the membership number is from March of that year.

No set of numbers can tell us everything that has happened. But, let's look at the very first dues increase in the table—1968. We started losing members—for three years in a row. However, according to our history, these were also some turbulent times for Mensa. According to A History of Mensa, 1967 began a decade-long period of "troubles" and almost destroyed it. A serious loss in membership because of disillusionment occurred.

In 1971, we see a turnaround in membership. Sander Rubin was reelected Chairman in one of the largest percentage votes in Mensa history. 4,081 members voted in that election (less than 2,800 voted in 2001 for Chairman). In that year, MERF was founded as a subsidiary corporation. We also registered as a not-for-profit organization. The IRS exempted Mensa from paying taxes as a social-welfare organization. A lot of things happened that began our period of growth. The next dues increase of 1972 incorporated the "newsletter subsidy," so it appeared that many members justified that increase. The newsletter exchange program became so popular that the number of exchanges had to be limited. We had a focus on the member.

Our largest dues percentage increase in 1981 may have slowed the growth, but did not stop it. The other major dues increase came in 1994 when we moved the National Office to Texas. We lost a lot of members that year. However, that year also saw a divided AMC. Although Dick Amyx was easily elected Chair in 1995 by about a 2 to 1 margin, he resigned just prior to taking the office because of infighting on the AMC.

After his resignation, we really began to lose membership. There appeared to be a lack of focus on the member.

Conclusions? It does not appear that each dues increase resulted in a loss in membership. And we cannot see every scene behind the details in the table. So, from what we do know, what was the cause?

Obsolete thinking and the absence of leadership. It is becoming more apparent that one of the reasons for loss in membership is the lack of focus on the individual member. When our leadership focuses on the members, our membership appears to increase. When leadership loses that focus, the numbers appear to decline or stagnate. If turbulent times in Mensa result in membership loss, then it behooves us to elect leaders who will guide us through each crisis.

What our leaders can do now to increase membership and its retention:

1. Lead by example. With bone-jarring integrity. Ego and arrogance get in the way. Be a good steward. 

2. Communicate. Leaving people in the dark is just asking for trouble. If you fail to satisfy the members' craving for information, the rumor mill will fill the void.

3. Put the member first. The reasonable AMC adapts itself to the membership. Not vice-versa. Every formulated decision should start with the question, "Is this good for the individual member?" Each officer should be accountable for his or her actions.

4. Formulate a vision. Keep the junk from getting in the way of the important stuff. Be wary of a "committee vision." Vision usually starts with one individual.

5. Listen. An organization that does not listen to its members has essentially closed the coffin lid on itself. Create procedures that encourage all members to communicate ideas and solutions to our problems. Twenty-one individuals cannot solve all of our issues. Learn to see a result or an opportunity from the perspective of someone else. Sometimes we can only do this by listening. 

6. Debureaucratize. Ask if we really need four AMC meetings a year at approximately $16,000.00 for each meeting when three might suffice. That would free up more money for the local groups. Ask if every motion on each agenda is truly important.

7. Use common sense. Think in terms of relative rather than absolute facts. The reality of Mensa should be equal to the expectations of both the new and existing members.

—Don Taylor
    TaylorD@amerch.com