– By Richard Gott / MemberWise Network Founder & Chair
– Membership Sector Influencer & Thought Leader
The MemberWise Network represents over 8,000 professionals employed by 2,500 leading membership organisations and associations in the UK, European Union (EU) and beyond. We proudly host the official list of the largest and most influential membership organisations in the UK.
- The Influence 100 List (2024)
- The Influence 100 List (2024) Entry Criteria
- The role and purpose of the MemberWise Network
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

The Largest 100 UK Membership Bodies (Influence 100) List (2024)
(c) MemberWise 2024 (List Updated: 24/05/2024)
The Influence 100 List (2024) Entry Criteria
Our current criteria for entry on to the list is that membership bodies should have a UK Headquarters and membership is optional in return for a membership fee.
– A headquarters based in the United Kingdom
– Membership is optional and charged for directly via an annual membership fee
– Over 50% of members (voting or equivalent) live or work in the UK
What is the role and purpose of the MemberWise Network?
As the leading free professional network for membership and association professionals we support circa 7,500 professionals working in over 2,500 medium/large membership organisations and associations.
2/3rds of our members work within medium/large professional bodies (individual membership) and 1/3 represent leading trade associations (corporate membership). We also represent other types of membership organisations and associations outlined here.
The network enables membership and association professionals (at all levels and career stages) to:
– Increase new member acquisition
– Improve existing member retention
– Optimise and develop member engagement
– Enhance member value
– Facilitate greater member participation
– Enable sustainable long-term growth
This is achieved via practical tools and resources including our comprehensive website (www.memberwise.org.uk), our growing programme of conferences and seminars, our thriving online community (MemberWise Connect), MemberWise Learn (our online learning portal), MemberWise Recognised Supplier Directory, membership sector research reports & publications, weekly newsletter and Jobs Board.
These resources are supplemented by a range of advisory, consultancy and membership focused training services (view membership body case studies/clients).
Join our free and growing professional network today!
(c) 2024 – MemberWise Network (all rights reserved)
No British Cycling? Thought they were UK’s biggest sporting club?
Agreed. 125,000 members. We shall add this to our list! Richard Gott.
The Chartered Institute of Builders has 48,000 members, would be great to see it added!
Added as requested! Rich G.
STOP PRESS: British Cycling just reached 150,000
Which takes them from 53 to 46. We will include this in our next update! Rich.
What about the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) ? They are a NFP membership organisation with 160,000 members and founded in 1921 – so reaching their Centenary soon ! Bit surprised I didn’t see them earlier this year. See here https://www.cssc.co.uk/about-cssc
Thanks Shaun! This would take them to Number 44 on our list and will feature in our Q3 Update of the list. Please do sign-post this and if senior management team members would like to join the Influence 100 C-Suite and Director Group please ask them to click this link:
https://connect.memberwise.org.uk/communities/sig?CommunityKey=69886444-bebd-4736-8473-f0df820a4d59
Rich.
Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) 430,000
Thanks Peter. This will be added to our Q3 Update. USDAW will be #21 on our updated list. Ensure you are signed up to the network so we can keep you updated on the list and other member facing activities!
RBL 230000 members
We have the figure as 237,000 so this will take the RBL from 31 to 29. Thanks for submitting! Rich.
I understand that the Green Party hit 50,000 members recently. https://twitter.com/TheGreenParty/status/1176891827045240832
That is correct. See here – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=788267464962288
This moves the Green Party from 106 to 88 on our List. In our Q4 update they will feature.
What about the Police Federation of England and Wales?
Thanks for contributing. The Policce Federation of England and Wales have 124,000 members according to sources. This places them at 62. We will publish an updated list in early 2021.
Hi – of course you include English Heritage, the National Trust, etc in your Top 100 list, but I wondered whether you had a list of other heritage groups, by any chance?
The county historical society of which I am a trustee has around 600 members – of course I know there are tens of thousands of groups like us but it would be nice to have a specifically heritage-based list.
Thanks!
What about the CQI/IRCA and CIPD UK?
CIPD feature @ 47 on the list
CQI – They are outside of the Influence 100 (147) IRCA – I have been unable to find any membership figures for this organisation (Internal Register of Certificated Auditors)
If you have any intel on the IRCA we are grateful for all input.
Hi Richard and Claire
Congrats on publishing the new list of the largest 100 UK membership bodies – interesting to see the changes!
I noticed that the Arts Society are not included – and they have 90,000+ members.
Best wishes, Sue
Thank you Sue. I’ve noted the Arts Society so that they can be part of our research and included in the 2022 list!
Best wishes
Claire
Hi Claire and Richard,
Very interesting to see so thank you for providing the list – Just wondering is there anyway to view the top 200? Or see some historical data such as the top 100 in 2011?
Thank you,
James
The list has only been published for the past 3 years James. We are considering the development of the list, but at present we are keeping it to 100. Please do share with colleagues! Rich/Claire
I’m curious as to the membership of the Chambers of Commerce.
There are quite a few Chambers out there along with the British Chambers of Commerce.
Chester Zoo (The North of England Zoological Society) has 130,000 members, but isn’t recognised either.
Hi Tom. A member of the team will be in touch to establish if the zoo should feature on our next list. Further info to follow…
IAM RoadSmart would welcome being on the list. How do we go about it?
Simply report back your current membership figure via [email protected] and we can hold your submission request on file until we prepare the next list (in early 2023).
Have you considered including building societies, co-operative societies, friendly societies and mutual insurance companies? The membership of a number of these would place them at or near the top of your list.
These organisations are free to submit their figures as long as they meet the entry criteria. I wonder if there is a basic source to get this process started?
Hi, is this influence led, or size led?
Keen to understand whether reach vs volume is a key indicator
We measure the list via membership size. Albeit influence is linked to size we recognise that this is not always the case. I.e. Some small membership bodies have massive influence! 🙂
This looks a brilliant site! Do you have stats outside the top hundred?
Asking for an actuary ::)
We dont go beyond publishing the 100. The Institute and Faculty has 32,000 members. The list starts at 37,000 this year.
I think the students’ unions at UCL and University of Manchester may well have snuck on to the list this September as recruitment numbers pushed them close to 50000. I also think the Open University Student Association I think may already have 150’000 and so may be missing. Great list and thanks for the work!
Thanks for your post George. The criteria we have is that membership is ‘paid for’ annually, so I would assume this rules out UCL and MU SUs. I dont think the OU Student Association charge a fee also, but if this is incorrect please let me know. The NUS charge an annual fee, hence why they are listed (currently No 1!). Rich Gott.