For this week’s dive into the results emerging from the 2007 Proposal & BD Professionals Survey, we’re looking at data around APMP (the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, in case you don’t know).

It suggests that APMP has some way to go in marketing itself to members of the profession. Less than a quarter (23%) of those surveyed are members, and only 15% have ever attended an APMP event.

The split of attendees by sector confirms my long-held belief that APMP needs to be much more active in the financial services sector. To pick a few market segments:
* 29% of those in high-tech roles (IT or telecoms) are members
* 22% of those in Healthcare are in APMP
* only 14% of those in Financial organisations have joined up.

Particularly scarily, only 1.4% of respondents have already received certification under APMP’s professional accreditation scheme. (That’s not a typo, by the way: only seven people from a survey of nigh on 500 have been accredited, and BJ and I make up two of those!).

The one glimmer of good news, and a tribute to those unpaid volunteers to do so much to make APMP’s events a success, is that 89% of those who have attended events in the past plan to go to more events in the future.

By and larger, the longer respondents have worked in proposal roles, the more likely they are to join APMP. And that links to one other interesting perspective – the remarkably strong correlation between APMP membership and salary:

Sub-$50k : 11% are APMP members
$50k - $100k : 23% membership
$100k+ : 39% membership

“Join us and make more money” has a slightly cynical ring to it, and the cause and effect might not be quite that way round! But does seem as if the professional association faces something of a marketing challenge – and, indeed, a tremendous opportunity for growth.