ARMA International

What ARMA International does

ARMA International, Inc. is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional membership association founded in 1955 (originally as the Association of Records Managers and Administrators) and headquartered in Lee's Summit, Missouri. It is the self-described leading global association for information governance and records management professionals, serving individual practitioners, corporate organizations, industry vendors, students, and public-sector entities through a portfolio of memberships, certifications, conferences, publications, and educational programs.

The association's product surface spans four core pillars: (1) membership tiers (Professional, Associate, Corporate, Industry, and Student at $50) sold directly via arma.org and through a worldwide chapter network; (2) education and certification delivered through the PathLMS learning management platform — including the IGP (Information Governance Professional) certification, IG Fundamentals, Essentials of IG, and recertification programs; (3) events, including flagship conferences InfoCon (Savannah, October 2026) and InfoNEXT (Phoenix, April 2026), the ARMA Canada Information Conference, and the Public Sector InfoGov Summit, plus ARMA Magazine; and (4) community, operated on the Higher Logic platform with forums, Chapter Central, and a speaker database. Technology partners include PathLMS (LMS), Higher Logic (community), Billhighway (chapter payments), and the recently launched IG Guru AI assistant at ai.igguru.net. Notable industry partners include Iron Mountain, Access, Cadence, Preservica, and Vital Records Control.

The revenue model is diversified across subscription recurring streams (individual, chapter, corporate, and industry dues; training and publication subscriptions; recertification), professional services (conference registrations, professional services-style program fees), and affiliate/sponsorship revenue (industry-partner sponsorships, member-benefit partnerships such as Gallagher Bassett for health insurance). ARMA has no parent company, no private equity backing, and no publicly disclosed revenue; financials are only available via Guidestar 990 filings. Governance is by an elected volunteer Board of Directors, with a recent Outside Director appointment (Kim Tran, November 5, 2025) and a newly announced 2026–2027 board (June 30, 2026).

Name

ARMA International

Legal name

ARMA International, Inc.

Website

https://arma.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ARMA International is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional association, founded in 1955, that provides membership, certification (IGP), conferences (InfoCon, InfoNEXT), education, and community for information governance and records management professionals worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services — Information Governance and Records Management

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB)

Keywords

• Records management association
• Information governance certification
• Professional membership organization
• Records management education
• Information governance training

Headquarters

HQ city

Overland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Dues: Annual membership fees for Professional and Associate individual members. Professional members receive discounts on purchases, publications, event registration, and online training. Payments processed in U.S. dollars.
2. Chapter Membership: Additional chapter fees for local chapter membership. While joining a chapter is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged. Chapter fees may vary by chapter.
3. Corporate Membership Packages: Bundled individual memberships for businesses, allowing organizations to provide ARMA membership to multiple employees.
4. Industry Membership: Membership category for companies that supply products and services to information management professionals.
5. Conference and Event Registration: Revenue from major conferences including InfoCon, InfoNEXT, ARMA Canada Information Conference, and ARMA Canada Virtual Exchange.
6. Education and Training: Revenue from IG Fundamentals Course, IGP certification application fees, IGP recertification fees, online training, and educational programs. Student discount program available at $50.
7. Publications: ARMA Magazine and related publications generating revenue through subscriptions and individual purchases.
8. Sponsorships and Partnerships: Sponsorship revenue from industry partners supporting ARMA events and programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels13 records

Core offering

ARMA International is a global professional membership association that provides information governance and records management professionals with tiered memberships, the IGP certification, educational courses delivered through PathLMS, annual conferences (InfoCon, InfoNEXT, ARMA Canada), the AI-powered IG Guru assistant, ARMA Magazine, an online community platform, and a Career Center job board. Revenue is generated primarily through membership dues, certification fees, conference registration, education programs, and industry sponsorships.

Product overview

ARMA International operates as a professional membership association rather than a unified software product. The organization offers a portfolio of membership tiers (Professional, Associate, Corporate, Industry), major conferences (InfoCon, InfoNEXT, ARMA Canada), the IGP Certification program, and education courses through PathLMS. Additional offerings include the Career Center, ARMA Magazine, and the AI-powered IG Guru knowledge base. The association maintains an online community platform (Higher Logic) and Chapter Central resource hub for local chapter support. These are standalone services unified under ARMA's brand rather than a single integrated software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ARMA Membership ARMA International membership offerings including Professional, Associate, Corporate, and Industry membership tiers providing access to education, networking, publications, and resources for information governance and records management professionals.
• ARMA Conferences
• IGP Certification Information Governance Professional (IGP) certification program for records management and information governance professionals, including initial certification and recertification tracks with digital credentials, delivered through PathLMS.
• ARMA Education & Resources Educational courses including IG Fundamentals Course, Essentials of IG, and Essentials of RIM, plus the Education Discount Program, delivered through the PathLMS platform for professional development of records and information management professionals.
• ARMA Career Center & ARMA Magazine Career Center job board connecting IG/RIM professionals with employment opportunities, and ARMA Magazine publication for industry news, feature articles, and best practices (including the Britt Literary Award for best feature article).
• IG Guru Powered By ARMA AI-powered information governance knowledge base and assistant that provides answers to IG-related questions for records and information management professionals.
• ARMA Online Community Online community platform powered by Higher Logic providing discussion forums, library resources, chapter connections, member directory, communities of practice, and speaker database for ARMA members.
• Chapter Central Chapter Central platform providing resources for local ARMA chapter leadership including governance templates, financial resources, marketing materials, programming guides, officer forums, libraries, and event management tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• ARMA has inducted 74 members into the Company of Fellows since 1990, recognizing lifetime achievement in the profession.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ACEDS (Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACEDS is listed as an allied organization partnership. ARMA International has partnered with ACEDS for member recruitment campaigns, targeting e-discovery professionals with ARMA membership opportunities.
• ARMA Educational Foundation (AIEF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIEF is ARMA's educational foundation that supports the advancement of the information governance profession through scholarships, research, and educational initiatives.
• Gallagher Bassett (AHS)minorOthersARMA International has partnered with Gallagher Bassett to provide health insurance benefits to US-based members. This is a member benefit partnership offering discounted health insurance rates.
• Higher LogiccoreTechnology or IntegrationHigher Logic provides the community platform technology for ARMA's online community (community.arma.org), enabling discussion forums, member directories, chapter central, and other community features.
• PathLMScoreTechnology or IntegrationPathLMS is ARMA International's learning management system partner, providing the online education platform for IGP certification, courses, webinars, and professional development content.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• AIIM (Association of Intelligent Information Management): AIIM is the most direct peer: a global non-profit membership association serving information and content management professionals, offering certifications (e.g., CIP), training, and a community platform — the same role ARMA plays in records and IG.
• IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals): IAPP is a closely adjacent membership association serving privacy professionals with certifications (CIPP, CIPM, CIPT), conferences, and training — overlapping significantly with ARMA's IG mandate and competing for the same corporate L&D budgets.
• DAMA International (Data Management Association): DAMA is a global non-profit professional association for data management professionals, publishing the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK) and offering the CDMP certification — closely comparable membership-driven, standards-based professional association model.

Broad incumbents

• ISACA: ISACA is a large, established global association for IT governance, audit, and cybersecurity professionals offering certifications (CISA, CISM, CRISC) and conferences. It competes for governance-mandate mindshare and event spending within the same enterprise GRC buyers that ARMA targets.
• (ISC)²: (ISC)² is a large established non-profit association for cybersecurity professionals with flagship certifications (CISSP), training, and member events — serving the same enterprise governance/risk audience as ARMA and competing for corporate professional-development budgets.
• The IIA (Institute of Internal Auditors): The IIA is a large global professional association for internal auditors offering CIA certification, standards, and training — a comparable membership-association business model and overlapping enterprise governance buyer base.
• PMI (Project Management Institute): PMI is a large global professional association offering PMP certification, Standards, and member events — a directly comparable membership-association operating model (dues, certifications, chapters, conferences) even though the profession differs.

Emerging players

• ACEDS (Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists): ACEDS is a smaller membership association focused specifically on e-discovery specialists, with which ARMA already has an allied-organization partnership — a peer/partner that overlaps on legal-adjacent IG practitioner audiences and on certification-driven GTM.
• EDRM (Electronic Discovery Reference Model): EDRM is a standards-setting community in e-discovery and information governance, overlapping with ARMA's IG standards role and serving similar practitioner communities, though more as a working-group framework than a full membership association.

Regional players

• ALA (Association of Legal Administrators): ALA is a comparable professional-association model serving legal administrators with certifications (CLM), chapters, and conferences — a peer in association operating mechanics and overlapping with ARMA's legal-sector records/IG audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arma-international
• Xx.com/arma_int

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ARMA International