CDS is a membership organization designed to serve Member needs and interests.
The CDS membership is a broad network of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who share an interest in building and developing communities—socially, economically, and environmentally. CDS Members represent a wide array of specializations: education, health care, social services, government, utilities, economic development, citizen groups, and more. Over eighty percent of CDS Members are located in the United States, with the remaining Members coming from nearly 32 different countries around the world.
As a benefit of membership, CDS Members receive:
- Discounted registration for programs:
- Annual conference
- Periodic webinars
- Full access to the Society’s journals:
- Community Development
- Local Development & Society
- Full access to previous conference proceedings and webinars
- Useful updates and information via emails and the Vanguard newsletter
- Active engagement in CDS committees and working groups
- Opportunities for dialogue and deliberation on shared interests
- CDS Forum website feature
- CDS hosted online gatherings
- Professional networking among Members
- CDS Connect website feature
All CDS memberships are for a one-year term from registration and include electronic access to the CDS journals (Community Development and Local Development & Society).
CDS has several membership options designed to support community developers in a variety of situations. Most academics and active practitioners should join as Regular members. However, membership categories also exist to support students, retired professionals, households with multiple members, and institutions with multiple members.