How Organizations Can Join ACORD and Participate in Its Programs and Events

ACORD membership and participation are organized around four entry points: Membership & Participation (join and access member resources), Get Involved / Events & Outreach (attend events and industry initiatives), Training & Education (build staff capability through ACE certification and webinars), and Contribute to Development (help shape the standards themselves). Which path fits your organization depends on whether your goal is access to standards and forms, visibility and networking, staff credentialing, or influence over how ACORD standards evolve. The sections below map each path to what acord.org actually offers.

Membership & Participation

The site groups this under Membership & Participation, with three sub-areas:

• Programs & Offerings — the membership packages and what each includes.
• Member Directory — a searchable listing of participating organizations. ACORD reports 36K participating organizations worldwide, so the directory is a practical way to check whether peers, partners, or competitors are already members.
• Membership Resources — materials available to members once they join.

A useful first step before committing: browse the Member Directory to see whether organizations like yours already participate, then review Programs & Offerings to match a package to your use case (standards access, forms licensing, or broader participation).

Get Involved and Events & Outreach

Participation is not limited to paying dues — ACORD runs several event and outreach channels:

If your goal is visibility and networking rather than standards access, the Events Calendar and ACORD Connect are the most direct routes. Note that some events may require registration or membership — check the individual event page rather than assuming open access.

Training and Certification: ACE and Webinars

For organizations that need staff who can work competently with ACORD standards, the Training & Education area offers:

• ACORD Certified Expert (ACE) — ACORD's certification program for individuals.
• Webinars — ongoing sessions, useful for keeping a team current without travel.
• Research & Development — under Research & Education, relevant if your organization wants to engage with ACORD's forward-looking work.

A practical sequence for a team: enroll one or two staff in ACE to build internal expertise, then use webinars to spread awareness more broadly. This is generally more cost-effective than certifying everyone at once.

Contributing to Standards Development

If your organization wants to influence the standards rather than just consume them, ACORD provides:

• Contribute to Development — the entry point for participating in standards work.
• Ruschlikon — a specific standards initiative within ACORD's portfolio.
• Standards & Architecture — the broader framework (Why Standards?, ACORD Data Standards, ACORD Reference Architecture, Standards Online Applications, Implementation Resources) that development work feeds into.

This path suits organizations with a stake in how data exchange is standardized — for example, insurers or vendors whose systems must interoperate with many partners. Contribution typically requires deeper engagement than event attendance, so treat it as a longer-term commitment.

Forms, Licensing, and the Commercial Side

Two areas sit adjacent to membership and are worth knowing before you join, because they carry their own terms:

• ACORD Forms Portal — search and advanced forms search for ACORD forms.
• Forms Subscriptions & Licensing and Forms End User License — the licensing framework for using ACORD forms, including a license claim process for vendor-supplied ACORD Forms.
• eForms — electronic forms.
• Marketplace — browse products and view cart, indicating that some offerings are purchased rather than included with membership.

The site's pricing signals reference subscription and purchase, so do not assume forms access is bundled with membership — verify what your chosen program includes.

Choosing a Path

• Want standards and forms access? Start with Membership & Participation → Programs & Offerings, and check the Forms Subscriptions & Licensing terms separately.
• Want visibility and networking? Go to Events & Outreach → Events Calendar and ACORD Connect.
• Want staff capability? Go to Training & Education → ACE and Webinars.
• Want to shape the standards? Go to Contribute to Development and review Ruschlikon and the Standards & Architecture area.

One practical note from the site itself: ACORD recently updated its site and requires all users to reset their passwords for access, and users are prompted to update their email/profile to retain normal access rights. If you register and find your access limited, that profile/password step is the likely cause.