Types of membership for a club or association, with examples

Types of membership in a club or association sort members in three ways: by who they are, what they get or how they pay. The first gives full, associate, honorary and group members. The second gives levels such as Basic and Premium, the third a recurring fee or a free start with paid extras.

This guide explains each of the three with examples, some from associations that publish their own categories, and ends with a way to choose. We read the sources on 6 October 2026. Each source and its dates are listed at the end.

What are the different types of membership?

“Type of membership” can mean three different things, so it helps to know which one you mean. One sorts the members, one sorts the benefits, and one sorts the payment.

way to sort	the question it answers	examples
By member	Who can join, and on what terms?	Full, associate or affiliate, honorary, group
By level	What does each member get?	Basic, Plus, Premium
By payment	How and when does a member pay?	A recurring fee, a free start with paid extras, one flat rate

re:Members, which sells membership software to associations, draws the same line. It separates dues based on who the member is from tiers based on the benefits a member gets. Many associations combine the two.

Membership types by who the member is

re:Members calls this the traditional structure. Each type says who it is for and what that person pays.

• Full members. The core of the club, with everything membership offers. EABS describes itself as a professional membership organization providing accreditation for institutions such as universities, colleges and private schools. It says its full members can use all the benefits its membership provides.
• Associate or affiliate members. People or organizations close to the club’s purpose but outside its core. SoACE, a US professional association, can grant affiliate membership to organizations that provide a service or product to its regular members. SoACE gives these members all the rights of full membership except the right to vote or hold office.
• Members who do not meet every condition yet. EABS keeps associate membership for newly formed organizations that want to join but cannot yet meet all its conditions.
• Honorary members. A way to thank people. At SoACE this category is called Honorary Lifetime Members. It is for long-standing members with notable contributions who are no longer eligible for active membership, nominated by members and approved by the SoACE board. Under SoACE’s rules, they do not vote, hold office or pay dues.
• Group members. Several people from one organization joining together. At SoACE, a group of 5 to 9 members pays a flat 725 dollars, and a group of 10 or more pays 1,100 dollars. The group gets one invoice.

The same word can mean different things in different clubs. “Associate” at EABS means an organization that is not ready yet. At another club it might mean a supporter who never takes part in the main activity. Write down what each type means in your own club, in one line.

What are the different levels of membership?

Levels are about what members get, not who they are. Usually each higher level offers more benefits than the one below it.

re:Members writes that three levels seem to be the marketing sweet spot, in associations often named Basic, Plus and Premium. It also sees specialized levels growing in popularity, each built around one set of related benefits, such as advocacy.

Levels give members a choice, but they cost the club work. Momentive, which sells association management software, says tiered models need more communication, more segmentation and more data to run well. For a small club with volunteers instead of staff, that is a real cost.

What are the four types of membership?

The sources we read do not agree on a single list of four. One answer comes from Momentive, which names the four most common membership models of associations:

1. Subscription. Members pay a recurring fee, monthly or annual, for ongoing access.
2. Freemium. A free level gives limited access, and a paid level unlocks the rest.
3. All-access. One flat rate unlocks everything the organization offers, with no add-on fees.
4. Tiered. Members choose from several levels, based on what they value most.

These four are models of payment and access. They answer “how do members pay?”, not “who are our members?”. A club can run full and associate members on a subscription, or give each of them a free start.

Examples of membership types for a club or association

Three lineups show how the ways to sort can combine. They are examples, not a standard.

club	membership types	how members pay
A hiking club	Full members (every walk and the club chat), associate members (weekend walks only), honorary members (founders)	A monthly fee for full members, a lower fee for associates, none for honorary members
A local business network	Individual members, group membership for a company’s team, affiliate members (suppliers)	A flat fee per person, a group rate for a team
A choir	Singing members, supporting members who come to concerts and help with costs	One fee for singers, a smaller one for supporters

Each lineup has two or three types, and each can be described in one line. That is enough to start with.

How to choose membership types for your club

Start from the people you already have, not from a template.

1. List who is in the club today. Group them by how they take part, not by how you would like them to take part. Advanced Communities, which builds membership software on Salesforce, puts the target audience first on its list of things to consider.
2. Give each type one line that says who it is for, what it gets and what it costs. If two types get the same thing for the same price, they are one type.
3. Choose names that fit your field. Advanced Communities gives the example of a health organization, where names like Beginner, Starter and Advanced do not fit. It suggests neutral names such as Full Membership and Group Membership.
4. Look at similar clubs. Advanced Communities also suggests checking which membership levels similar organizations offer.
5. Keep the number small if volunteers run the club. Momentive notes that a simpler model may be easier for a small staff.
6. Review the lineup every few years. Momentive suggests revisiting the membership model every two to three years, or sooner if renewals fall.

In Groupanda, a group can have up to 5 plans side by side, and each plan opens the channels you assign to it. A plan is either a monthly subscription, with an optional yearly price, or a one-time payment with no renewal date. Plans are not levels. A member can hold several one-time plans and one subscription, and gets the channels of every plan they hold. Every plan has a price above zero, so a free membership type comes down to free joining plus the channels open to every member.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a membership type and a membership level?

A type says who the member is, such as a full, associate or group member. A level says what the member gets, such as Basic or Premium. re:Members describes associations that use both at once, with different prices for each type within a level.

How many membership types should a club have?

As few as cover the people you actually have. Start with two or three, each described in one line, and add one only when a group of members fits none of them. re:Members writes that three levels seem to be the marketing sweet spot for subscriptions and memberships.

What is an associate member?

It depends on the club’s own rules. At SoACE, the closest category is affiliate membership, for organizations that serve its regular members. At EABS, associate membership is for newly formed organizations that cannot yet meet all its conditions.

The short version

Decide first whether you are sorting members, benefits or payments, because each answers a different question. Keep two or three types, each with one line on who it is for, what it gets and what it costs. If you are still deciding whether to charge at all, our guide on how to charge for a community compares the options. For plans, access and fees in detail, read how Groupanda works as a membership platform.

Sources

Each source below gives the date the page carries, on the page or in its metadata, or says that it carries none, and the day we read it.

• SoACE, Membership Categories. Affiliate membership for organizations that serve regular members, Honorary Lifetime Members, and group membership with its flat rates and one invoice. At SoACE, neither affiliate nor honorary members vote or hold office. No publication or update date of its own on the page or in its metadata. Read 6 October 2026.
• EABS, Types of membership. Full, affiliated and associate membership, the last for newly formed organizations. No publication or update date of its own on the page or in its metadata. Read 6 October 2026.
• EABS, What is EABS?. EABS’s description of itself as a professional membership organization providing accreditation for institutions such as universities, colleges and private schools. No publication or update date of its own on the page or in its metadata. Read 6 October 2026.
• re:Members, Tiered Membership Models to Consider for Your Association. Dues by member attributes against tiers by benefits, three tiers named Basic, Plus and Premium, and specialized tiers. Page metadata says published 3 May 2023 and modified 7 August 2024. Read 6 October 2026.
• Momentive Software, Membership Models: Types & How to Choose Yours. The four membership models, the cost of running tiers, simpler models for a small staff, and a review every two to three years. Page metadata says published 16 June 2025 and modified 23 July 2026. Read 6 October 2026.
• Advanced Communities, Types of Membership for Your Audience: How to Build and Present Them. Types, levels and programs as different things, the target audience first, names that fit the field, and checking similar organizations. Page metadata says published 25 July 2024 and modified 7 April 2026. Read 6 October 2026.