Demographics of MNA Members

We’re publishing these findings for a few key reasons: 

1. Transparency.  It’s part of our policy to be clear about WHY we are collecting information from you (our members and event/course participants). We are dedicated to sharing back what we learn from our data collection. As a membership organization, we want everyone to have access to information about the makeup of our membership and who is using MNA trainings and services. 
2. Shared Learning: A commitment to learning is a big part of MNA’s operational values. We use the data we collect to refine and improve our work. It’s only fair that we share access to that learning potential with you, our members, who helped us build the data in the first place. 
3. Accountability. As we build more accessibility, variety, and equity into our offerings and improve our DEI work, we hope that this demographic data will reflect changes in our effectiveness and the populations we serve. 

How we collected demographic data in 2025: 

Online Training Feedback

This quick satisfaction and feedback survey was shared with all training participants after every instance of MNA online trainings. In 2025, we added an option to our training feedback survey to provide demographic information (location, gender, age, race/ethnicity, and “organizational demographics” – to learn more about our “org demographics” question, read here). Our training feedback survey had 429 total responses throughout the year, and 202 people, just under 50% of respondents, opted to share their demographic information. 

Training Impact Survey

For the past two years, MNA has conducted an annual training impact survey to better understand the extent to which MNA learning opportunities have made an impact on individuals and organizations over time. We asked for demographic information in this survey for the first time in 2025 and 85 out of 103 survey-takers (83%) opted to provide this information (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and organizational demographics).  

Member Survey

The MNA member survey is conducted bi-annually for MNA to better understand who our members are and how satisfied they are with association membership. We began collecting demographic information in our member survey in 2023, so with our 2025 data we can now compare responses over time. We collected information about race, gender, age, and disability status, and all questions were optional. Out of 237 total responses for the survey, an average of 214 people completed each of these demographic questions.  

Data limitations 

There are a few issues with the data that we collected that make it hard to perform an accurate statistical analysis. For example, because the questions about gender and race/ethnicity were always “select all that apply”, we cannot precisely distinguish how many people answered those questions and how many selected more than one option.  

We also know that many people took the training feedback survey multiple times (i.e. after each session of a 6-week course), which may have led to duplicates and skewed data. While we at MNA sure know how to find specific nonprofit information in Montana Code Annotated, we are not evaluation and data collection experts (yet!), nor do we pretend to be. SO – without further ado – here is what we gathered (imperfectly) and what we think we can learn from it.  

The Data: 

Age

The age spread for MNA trainings in 2025 was solidly 1/3 Gen X, 1/3 Millennial, and 1/3 Baby Boomer and Gen Z combined. The most significant change was between our member survey takers between ’23 and ’25. The percent of both Baby Boomer and Millennial respondents nearly halved, and Gen X respondents doubled. Gen Z also began to enter our membership more actively, increasing from under 2% to 6%.  

We believe that these changes reflect trends in the overall workforce, as more Baby Boomers move into retirement and Gen Z steps into professional careers. As for the increase in Gen X, one thing we know is that MNA materials are most likely to resonate with professionals leading organizations, so our theory is that this increase may reflect Gen X stepping into the shoes of Baby Boomers.

Gender 

We know that our event attendees and survey takers are overwhelmingly women, and we aren’t surprised by that. In 2018, 75% of nonprofit employees were women, and we continue to see a large representation of women in the sector in MT. That being said, the percentage of men who took our member survey decreased between 2023 and 2025, and (while we will ALWAYS love and support the amazing women in the nonprofit sector) we want to continue to reach and be receptive to the men in MNA’s membership. Respondents who identify as gender non-conforming stay steady in 1-2% of respondents across the board.

Race/Ethnicity

*Note that for this section, more than one answer could be selected, leading to an incomplete picture of our respondents and totals of greater than 100%. 

On par with the general population of MT, the vast majority of MNA’s survey respondents are white, with 82-93% responding that they identify as white. However, between ’23 and ’25, the race breakdown of Member survey takers became more diverse, with increases in the percentage for respondents who identified as Indigenous or Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian or Asian American.

In 2025 data, MNA racial demographics typically match or exceed the general population percentages, except in the case of respondents identifying as Indigenous or Alaska native, where we consistently fall short of the general population makeup of 6.4%. We are buoyed by the increase in representation for this group from 2023 to 2025 but still have more to do to reach Montana’s Indigenous communities.  

Note: The 2025 Training Feedback Survey includes many respondents from other states due to training partnerships with other state nonprofit associations. This data therefore may need to be considered an outlier. 

In conclusion

MNA is committed to building belonging and diverse representation in our membership. We know that answering questions about demographic data can sometimes feel intrusive, but collecting this information helps us understand where our work is effective and where we are falling short. We are grateful to those of you who participated in these surveys and were willing to share your information and opinions. 

This data gives us an idea of the makeup of our membership and who is participating with MNA, but we don’t yet have a large enough sample size to answer some of the questions we care about the most. Do people of color experience different satisfaction or outcomes from our events than white audiences? How can we close the gap in our ability to reach and better serve indigenous-led organizations? Are there trainings or topics that men are more likely to engage with? Does age have an impact on membership experience? We hope that as we improve our survey process, reach a wider audience in MT with our programming, and build more robust data sources, we can begin to answer these questions. 

We’re already bringing what we’ve learned about member demographics and training satisfaction to improve our work in 2026 and beyond. We are committed to creating safe spaces and better serving members of marginalized communities. Please watch this space for more on the changes, big and small, we’re adopting to create safe learning environments and supportive communities for everyone in the nonprofit sector. 

Tell us what you think 

Thanks for sticking with us through this report! We’d love to hear from you: what are your thoughts about the data shared here? Do these numbers reflect your experience in MNA trainings or events? Do you have suggestions for ways we could improve our data collection? We’d love to know! Email us at mna@mtnonprofit.org with your thoughts.