What Avenue M Group does

Avenue M Group is a privately held, founder-led boutique research and consulting firm that serves associations and nonprofit membership organizations. Founded in 2009 by Sheri Jacobs, FASAE, CAE, and headquartered in Highland Park, Illinois with offices in Chicago and Denver, the firm has worked with more than 300 associations across healthcare, legal, real estate, tourism, libraries, and built-environment verticals. Its core offerings are organized around four service pillars — Research & Insights, Membership & Marketing, Strategy & Facilitation, and DEIA Guidance — supplemented by Financial Modeling, a bi-weekly text-polling engagement product (Association Quick Poll), a self-serve Projections Tool hosted on Shiny, and three industry books authored or co-edited by the founder.

The company makes money almost entirely through project-based consulting engagements sold directly to association CEOs and boards, layered with a recurring-touch text-polling subscription that doubles as a lead-generation channel, plus modest book-sale royalties. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and contracts are scoped per engagement, with documented deliverables ranging from membership-model redesigns and DEIA workforce studies to multi-thousand-respondent surveys and strategic plans. Marketing is largely founder-led through industry conference speaking (200+ engagements), an extensive content library on avenuem.org, and ASAE community relationships — there is no digital self-serve or PLG channel, and GTM is relationship-driven rather than productized.

Operationally, the firm is small (1–10 employees), woman-owned, and bootstrapped with no external funding, no parent company, and no M&A activity on record. The business model is high-touch and labor-intensive: revenue scales linearly with the founder's and senior team's capacity, and key-person concentration around Sheri Jacobs is the most material risk for any acquirer or investor evaluating the asset.

Name

Avenue M Group

Legal name

Avenue M Group

Website

https://avenuem.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Avenue M Group is a privately held, founder-led boutique research and consulting firm that helps professional and trade associations with research, membership strategy, strategic planning, and DEIA initiatives. Headquartered in Highland Park, Illinois, with offices in Chicago and Denver, the firm has served more than 300 associations and is led by Sheri Jacobs, FASAE, CAE.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Association Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) & Belonging Consulting (BPAHAGAJ)

Keywords

• Association management consulting
• Membership research services
• Strategic planning consulting
• Market research services
• Association brand strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Highland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Research Services: Primary revenue derived from providing custom research, strategy, and consulting engagements to association clients. Services include membership assessments, branding studies, strategic planning, DEIA workforce studies, and financial modeling. Engagement types include deep-dive research projects, stakeholder interviews, surveys, and strategic recommendations delivered as comprehensive reports.
2. Text Polling Service: Bi-weekly text message polls on major issues facing associations. Participants receive poll results along with related content, expert tips, and additional resources. This appears to be a subscription-based or freemium service that generates leads for core consulting services while providing recurring value to participants.
3. Publications and Books: Revenue from authored books including Pivot Point: Reshaping Your Business When it Matters Most, The Art of Membership, Membership Essentials (co-edited), and 199 Ideas: Powerful Marketing Tactics That Sell.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Avenue M Group is a boutique research and consulting firm that delivers custom strategic research, membership assessments, branding studies, DEIA workforce studies, financial modeling, and facilitation services to professional and trade associations. Engagements typically combine deep-dive research (interviews, surveys, focus groups), stakeholder analysis, and strategic recommendations delivered as comprehensive reports, supplemented by a proprietary bi-weekly SMS text-polling service, an online Projections Tool, and books authored by founder Sheri Jacobs. The firm has served 300+ association clients globally.

Product overview

Avenue M Group is a global, full-service research and consulting organization that offers a unified consulting services portfolio focused on helping associations achieve their goals. The core offerings include Research & Insights (using creative research techniques for strategic insights), Membership & Marketing (strategies for member recruitment, engagement, and retention), Strategy & Facilitation (data-driven strategic planning), and DEIA Guidance (diversity, equity, inclusion, and access consulting). Supporting resources include Text Polling (a bi-weekly SMS survey tool for executives), the Projections Tool (an online analytical tool), and three published books by founder Sheri Jacobs (Pivot Point, The Art of Membership, and Membership Essentials). The company does not operate a software platform but rather provides consulting services with research and data as key differentiators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research & Insights A consulting service that uses creative research techniques — including stakeholder interviews, large-scale surveys, and focus groups — to help professional and trade associations dig below the obvious and generate the insights needed to achieve their goals (e.g., a 1,895-library survey plus 75 in-person interviews for Brooklyn Public Library).
• Membership & Marketing A consulting service that develops innovative strategies, tactics, and messages for recruiting, engaging, and retaining association members — including membership model redesign (e.g., the 26% membership growth outcome for Visit San Antonio through a new multi-tier structure).
• Strategy & Facilitation A consulting service that helps associations create strategic plans which are data-driven, visionary, and realistic, paired with board and stakeholder facilitation to inspire organizational engagement.
• DEIA Guidance A consulting service grounded in research that helps associations build innovative, future-ready cultures valuing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, with emphasis on good governance and engagement (e.g., the customized DEIA Workforce Study for 16 built-environment associations coordinated through NIBS).
• Financial Modeling A consulting capability that provides financial analysis and modeling integrated with research and strategy services for associations (used in scenarios such as evaluating revenue impact of restructured membership tiers).
• Association Quick Poll (Bi-weekly Text Polling Service) A proprietary bi-weekly text message survey service that polls association professionals on major issues facing their organizations. Participants receive poll results within two days, alongside related content and expert tips, creating a recurring community engagement channel that also generates leads for core consulting services.
• Projections Tool An online analytical tool that allows users to project and model association metrics (such as membership and revenue scenarios).
• Pivot Point: Reshaping Your Business When It Matters Most A book authored by Sheri Jacobs focused on reshaping businesses during critical inflection points, distributed to association executives through Amazon and ASAE industry channels.
• The Art of Membership A book on membership strategies, co-edited and contributed to by Sheri Jacobs and published by ASAE, sold as a standalone publication to association professionals.
• Membership Essentials An ASAE best-selling membership book co-edited and contributed to by Sheri Jacobs, sold as a standalone publication to association professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26% membership growth for Visit San Antonio after membership model redesign
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Avenue M Group