01
The brief
RCS England wanted to better understand why former members had chosen not to continue their membership and what could be changed to reduce similar attrition in future.
Case study · Membership
Understanding why RCS England members lapse
Survey and interview research with former members gave RCS England direct evidence on why people leave and what could encourage future retention or rejoining.
AudienceFormer RCS England members who had discontinued membership within the previous two years.
ApproachOnline survey with 133 responses followed by 15 stratified depth interviews.
Value to RCS EnglandPractical evidence to support member retention and identify opportunities to encourage former members to rejoin.
The project
Looking beyond current members to understand attrition
A mixed-method study designed to identify both the frequency of reasons for leaving and the personal experiences behind them.
02
The approach
We co-designed and hosted an online survey sent to a sample of former members, supported by two reminders and a charitable donation for each response. This was followed by 15 video or telephone depth interviews, stratified by former membership type and career status.
03
The outcome
The research combined 133 survey responses with detailed qualitative interviews in one comprehensive report, including subgroup analysis and anonymised verbatim comments.
- Clear evidence on the reasons members discontinue membership.
- Deeper understanding of the experiences behind those decisions.
- Practical insight to improve retention and encourage former members to rejoin.