The 2026 Benchmark Report for program registration and participation

Across the data, a clear picture begins to emerge of how organizations are operating, and how participant expectations are evolving. The following highlights provide a quick view of how organizations are performing and where opportunities exist. 

Access has shifted, permanently

With 80.2% of registrations happening online and 44% occurring outside traditional business hours, participants are engaging when it works for them—not when offices are open. Access today is expected to be flexible, self-serve, and available on demand.

Demand is strong, but uneven across programs 

Programs are filling at an average rate of 67.9%, while 66.4% of programs have a waitlist. In parallel, 49.4% of programs are already operating at 90–100% capacity. This points to a clear opportunity: many programs are working well, but that success isn’t consistent across all offerings.  

Programs are central to both impact and revenue 

67.5% of revenue comes from activities, reinforcing that participation sits at the heart of both mission delivery and financial sustainability.  

Financial outcomes are shaped by structure, not just volume 

With ~$473 in annual revenue per participant and 19.6% of registrations involving discounts, pricing and accessibility decisions play a significant role. Finding the right balance between affordability and sustainability remains an ongoing focus across the sector. 

These benchmarks highlight a shared opportunity: improving access, aligning programs with demand, and refining how programs are structured can meaningfully strengthen both participation and long-term impact. Keep reading for a more in-depth analysis of the data. 

For many organizations, registration is still treated as an administrative step. But for participants and families, it’s an experience, and oftentimes their first with your organization, one that needs to be simple, flexible, and on their terms. 

From this analysis, 80.2% of registrations are completed online, reinforcing that self-service is now the primary way people engage. At the same time, 44% of registrations happen outside traditional business hours, showing that participants expect to register when it’s convenient, not when offices are open. 

Conversion remains high, with an abandoned registration rate of 16.69%, meaning nearly 83% of participants complete registration once they begin. In a high-intent environment, particularly for essential programs, this level of completion is part of the reality.  

However, it also highlights that even motivated participants will drop off when friction is introduced. Reducing barriers through simpler steps, clearer pricing, and flexible payment options helps ensure that strong intent consistently translates into participation.

Spending patterns reinforce the need for flexibility. With an average cart value of $149, registrations often represent meaningful commitments. Offering options like installment payments, used in 5.56% of transactions, can help make participation more accessible. 

For organizations like YMCAs and JCCs, membership is more than a revenue stream. It’s the foundation of community engagement.

The data shows that membership remains strong, with an average retention rate of 95.4%. In addition, memberships continue to grow, with an average annual increase of 6%, reflecting steady expansion across organizations. This provides a stable base—but also raises an important question: how actively are members engaging once they join? 

Participation patterns provide important context. Children aged 5–12 represent 47.9% of participants, making them the largest segment. This highlights the strength of youth programming, but also signals that, in many cases, the primary user is not the participant, but the parent or guardian managing registration and scheduling on their behalf.

This dynamic is reinforced by how families engage. With 18.3% of transactions involving multiple participants, many households are coordinating multiple registrations at once. This adds complexity, not just for participants, but for how organizations design registration flows, manage accounts, and communicate with families. 

What this suggests is that strong membership does not automatically translate into broad engagement. Participation is often concentrated in specific segments, and the experience must support both the participant and the person managing their involvement. 

For leadership teams, this is an opportunity to look beyond total membership and focus on how engagement is distributed—ensuring that programs, systems, and experiences are designed to support the realities of how families interact with your organization. 

Access has changed. Demand is strong—but not always aligned. And how programs are structured plays a defining role in both participation and long-term organizational performance. 

When we look at the data, a consistent pattern emerges: when systems, programs, and participant expectations are aligned, organizations are able to serve more people with greater efficiency. When they’re not, barriers, unused capacity, and missed opportunities tend to surface elsewhere, whether in staff workload, underfilled programs, or unmet demand. 

For organizations like YMCAs, JCCs, and Parks & Recreation departments, the opportunity isn’t to do more. It’s to be more intentional. Reducing points of drop-off in registration, aligning programs with how communities actually engage, and structuring offerings to support both participation and operational stability can have a meaningful impact across the organization. 

The organizations that will stand out are those that regularly step back, look at their data, and adapt—based not on assumptions, but on what their communities are showing them. 

That’s where the right tools and support can make a difference. 

Founded in 2009, Amilia helps communities connect through recreation and member management software. Nonprofits, municipalities, and businesses use our software to sell activities and memberships online and manage their entire organizations.

We help organizations simplify registration, gain clearer visibility into performance, and make more informed decisions, so they can strengthen both their operations and their impact. 

Because behind every data point is a person, a family, or a community—and every improvement is an opportunity to better serve them.