Sunday morning of convention before our final block of deliberations, I attended the National Growth and Development Committee’s (GDC) “State of DSA” presentation along with Comrade Brett. In this presentation the GDC went over the history of membership in DSA since the organization’s boost in membership in 2016, as well as what the future of our growth looks like.

Most of what we saw was self-explanatory, but it was still helpful to have depicted in visual form. For example, the biggest drop offs in membership occur exactly one year to the day after the biggest spikes in membership. This is due largely to the (now gone) One Time Dues and yearly memberships where comrades have changed cards. In fact the biggest reason for people falling out of good standing is due to out of date payment information.

Our membership retention is built on experience. Retention of new members in newer chapters is lower than in chapters with organizers with years of experience. As chapters build those years of organizing connections, they are more likely to see sustained growths in membership.

Most new members are not coming from chapter drives but rather in response to national political moments: AOC’s win, Trump’s win, COVID, the Dobbs Decision, Trump’s second win, and Zohran’s win. The GDC is planning a fall membership drive to get some intentional, rather than organic, membership growth.

We’ve seen an evening out of membership tenure since 2016. In 2015, the average DSA member had been in the organization for over ten years. In 2016, less than one. Now we’re seeing an even spread of new and veteran organizers within our chapters.

Looking forward to the future, the GDC is hosting another Leadership Intensive on September 6th and 7th. Building new leaders in our movement is essential both to the work we do and growing our movement. If you’ve considered running for chapter or organizing group leadership, I highly encourage you to attend as much of this course as you can!

As previously mentioned, the GDC is planning a fall membership drive this November to coincide with General Elections, so keep an eye out for details to lend a hand.

DSA is in a good spot right now and our mass movement continues to grow. We can continue building mass working class power with your help!