The membership drive is officially over and the total number of Girlfriends is 329, which includes 237 renewals and 83 new and 9 returning members. This is up from 2025, when we had 315 members including 227 renewals, 80 new, and 8 returning. Our member retention rate is 76 percent in 2026 versus 68 percent in 2025. Many factors contributed to this year’s success, including our tiered membership options. Not only do new members get to choose the contribution level that works best for them, but we also had 62 renewing members take advantage of the flexibility to increase or decrease their contribution as compared to last year. Upgrades at the higher levels, especially to the new $5,000 level, balanced out the downgrades, resulting in a net increase in income of $1,100.

The majority of members joined or renewed at the $300 or $600 level. The average contribution of all members was $970, down from $1,014 last year. This is the first time our average contribution has dropped below $1,000. Even so, the total income from all contributions exceeded $300k, once again allowing us to give significant grants.