| dc.description.abstract | The Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) is the oldest professional membership nonprofit outdoor communicators organization in the United States. While OWAA is respected in the outdoor writer’s industry, it has an aging, homogenous membership base and suffers stagnation in membership growth and membership diversity. This study explores strategies to attract new members, understand membership sustainability and growth, and learn what membership diversity looks like in a professional membership nonprofit organization. A mixed methods approach to data collection through participant-observer analysis, a member survey, and document and resources study yields findings about member satisfaction, member benefits, disconnection between older and younger generations of membership, and lack of a cohesive approach to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). Recommendations include formalizing recruitment and retention strategies, approaching diversity as a value, employ next generation thinking, deploy an annual and multi-year fundraising plan, solidify OWAA as a national organization, and rebrand OWAA ahead of their 100th anniversary in 2027. | |
