See How You Compare With the Field on Young Professional Membership
Start with a 15-minute snapshot and get an instant read on where you're strong, where you're stuck, and where to focus next, benchmarked against the field. New for 2026: where you stand on AI.
Years of research data
Participating assoc.
Members represented
These organizations set the field's standard for young professional membership in 2025:
Why Membership Leaders Love the YPMI
Your Tier and Benchmarks
A clear picture of where you stand on the capabilities that drive young professional engagement and retention, benchmarked against the field.
Your Path Forward
Personalized, actionable recommendations showing what the field's most mature organizations do differently and where your organization should focus next.
Your AI Horizon Profile
Your stage on three horizons of AI maturity, compared with the field, with one clear recommendation.
Your Team, Aligned
Role-personalized results for every participating leader, plus the Perception Gap analysis showing where your organization sees itself differently.
"Participating in the YPMI for the last two years has allowed ASA to better understand both the value of our young member programs and to learn what other associations are doing to successfully engage with their young members. It's also a benchmark we can use to measure the value of our young member programs that we can share with member leadership and the C-suite."
American Society of Anesthesiologists
Why
Your Members Are Not Asking for More Benefits. They Are Asking to Be Known
Somewhere along the way, most associations became distributors of career products and services: education here, certification there, a job board, an events calendar. No one chose this. Professions outgrew what personal relationships could scale to, departments optimized their own offerings, and digital competitors unbundled the rest, one piece at a time.
Joining and staying used to be one decision. Now they are two. Young professionals join for a clear, transactional reason. At renewal, they are asking something else entirely: does this organization understand me and where my career is going? A distributor of benefits cannot answer that question, no matter how strong its offerings are. A career partner can.
The YPMI is the only research-backed framework for measuring the organizational capabilities behind that kind of partnership. In one no-cost annual assessment, you see how you perform on those capabilities, how you compare with peers across the field, and what the most mature organizations do differently.
Know Where You Stand on AI
Every association is being told to do something with AI. Almost none can say where they actually stand.
This year, the YPMI adds the AI Horizon Profile: a short set of questions that places your organization on three horizons of AI maturity, from internal efficiency to new member value to full transformation, benchmarked against the field. Your report shows your stage on each horizon and one clear recommendation for where to focus next. No pass or fail, no single AI score, and no extra lift in the survey.
This is the first year anyone will be able to say where the field actually stands on AI, and the associations that participate are the ones who see it first.
Three Steps. One Complete Picture.
Take Your 15-Minute Snapshot
Uncover your biggest opportunities for improving young professional engagement and retention, with instant results.
Bring In Your Team
Invite three or more colleagues to take their own snapshots. Each leader gets results personalized to their role, and your full report unlocks the Perception Gap analysis: where your team agrees about your organization, and where it does not.
Share Your Numbers
Use the Young Professional Metrics Tracker to submit a small set of counts: how many young professionals joined, and how many stayed. That builds the retention benchmark showing how you stack up against the field's leaders.
What your organization gains
Your organization's maturity tier and benchmarks against the field, delivered in your individual report and ready for your next board conversation.
Tier One
Every participating association lands in one of four maturity tiers, and your tier arrives in your individual report with a clear answer on where to focus next. At the top of the scale is Tier One: the organizations whose young professional capabilities set the standard for the field.
This year, that recognition becomes something your organization can visibly earn. Tier One Certified is the field's new standard: a Tier 1 result validated by at least four voices across your organization. Certified associations receive the badge, a place on the public Tier One list to share with their board, and a seat at Tier One convenings throughout the year.
Tier One Organizations in 2025
"The greatest value comes from sharing ideas, challenging assumptions, and bringing back practical strategies that help us create an even stronger member experience. Our goal is continuous improvement, and this network gives us an outstanding forum to do just that."
FAQs
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the Young Professional Membership Index.
Still have questions?
Email us
1. Register using the button on this page
2. Check your inbox for welcome email with your survey link
3. Complete the Organizational Snapshot.
That it for now; we guide you through the next two quick steps after that.
Your YPMI Individual Report, with your maturity tier, peer benchmarks, your AI Horizon Profile, and personalized recommendations. The 2026 YPMI National Report, with trends and benchmarks from across the field. Tools to align your team around a shared strategy. And, for qualifying organizations, Tier One Certified recognition.
You get your individual report, the 2026 National Report, and an invitation to the Tier One gatherings if your organization certifies. The YPMI is research we publish, not a lead-generation exercise.
There is no cost to participate in this high-value annual assessment.
At Highland we prioritize your privacy and are committed to protecting your organization’s data. We will not disclose your organization's unique data to others. Information presented in our National Index will always be aggregated or de-identified to protect your privacy.Click here for more details
Every participating organization lands in one of four maturity tiers reflecting how developed its young professional membership capabilities are. Your tier appears in your individual report along with what organizations at your tier typically do to reach the next one, so you know exactly where to focus. Public recognition is reserved for Tier One Certified organizations, with their participation.Click here for more details
A short set of questions, new in 2026, that places your organization on three horizons of AI maturity: Efficiency, New Member Value, and Transformation. Your report shows your stage on each horizon and how you compare with the field. It does not affect your YPMI scores or your tier.
You do not need to gather any data before starting the survey. After you complete your Organizational Snapshot, we send you the Young Professional Metrics Tracker, a simple tool for submitting a small set of counts about your young professional members. It comes with clear instructions and unlocks the retention benchmarking in your full results.
Public recognition for organizations that score Tier 1 with at least four participants across the organization. Certified organizations receive a badge, appear on the public Tier One list, and have a seat at Tier One gatherings throughout the year, with eligibility for the panel. Certification attaches to participation and results together, so the status is validated by multiple voices, not one respondent's view.
Stop Debating What to Do Next. Find Out.
Most teams don't lack effort on young professional engagement. They lack a clear answer on what to develop next. The YPMI gives you that answer, backed by the field's data instead of internal debate.