Comparison · 13 material differences
CCIM Institute vs Society for Information Management
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact — it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Professional association
Verified September 2026 CCIM Institute
Commercial real estate practitioners — brokers, investors, asset managers, lenders, appraisers and developers — pursuing or holding the CCIM designation
Professional association
Society for Information Management
Senior IT and technology executives - CIOs and their direct reports - plus academics in information systems, consulting partners and non-IT leaders whose roles affect technology…
What the records say
- Role or title — CCIM Institute: No published role or title; Society for Information Management: Practitioner: a senior-level IT professional in a public or private sector organisation - a corporate or divisional IS head, or a member of an IS management staff supporting them in a key management role.
- Industry restriction — CCIM Institute: Candidate membership is open to commercial real estate practitioners; no prior designation or advanced degree is required; Society for Information Management: No published industry restriction.
- Annual dues — CCIM Institute: $695 a year; Society for Information Management: Not publicly disclosed at national level. SIM does not publish a single national dues figure; members join through a chapter and the chapter sets the rate..
Side by side
| CCIM Institute | Society for Information Management | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Professional association | Professional association |
| Founded | 1967 (CCIM's own designation page states "Since 1967, more than 20,000 professionals have completed the CCIM Designation program"; its homepage says the Institute has operated for more than 56 years.) | 1968 (SIM's inaugural meeting was held on 22 November 1968 at the US Atomic Energy Commission in Washington DC, after a conversation between Robert Head and Herb Schwartz at an ACM conference; the first conference followed in September 1969 at the University of Minnesota. Sources give 1968 or 1969 depending on which event is treated as the founding.) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, United States | Mount Laurel, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Members in more than 30 countries; chapters across the United States plus Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea and Taiwan | United States and Canada: 38 chapters listed on SIM's own chapter index, including one in Toronto, plus a Member At-Large option for those without a nearby chapter |
| Members | 13,000as of September 2026 | 5,000as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 59 | 38 |
| Primary audience | Commercial real estate practitioners — brokers, investors, asset managers, lenders, appraisers and developers — pursuing or holding the CCIM designation | Senior IT and technology executives - CIOs and their direct reports - plus academics in information systems, consulting partners and non-IT leaders whose roles affect technology strategy |
| Typical member | Members are working commercial real estate practitioners rather than a wealth or seniority cohort. Candidate members are practitioners studying for the designation; designees have completed the curriculum, submitted a portfolio of qualifying experience and passed a comprehensive exam. | Members are corporate or divisional heads of information systems and the management staff supporting them, plus full-time academics in the IS field, partner-level consultants and non-IT executives with a major role in strategic technology direction. SIM says its members' employers account for over $200 billion in technology spend. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | No published role or title | Practitioner: a senior-level IT professional in a public or private sector organisation - a corporate or divisional IS head, or a member of an IS management staff supporting them in a key management roleverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Industry restriction | Candidate membership is open to commercial real estate practitioners; no prior designation or advanced degree is requiredPractitioners who are not pursuing the designation may also join in order to take courses.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published industry restriction |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | Practitioners join online as candidate members and pay annual dues, then work through the designation curriculum at their own pace. Applications for the special designee categories — life membership, retirement, leave of absence — are reviewed twice a year, with a spring deadline of 27 March 2026 for the current cycle. | Applicants apply to a local chapter, selecting one of the four membership categories, or apply as a Member At-Large if no chapter covers their area. The membership year runs 1 January to 31 December. Chapters review applications against the published category definitions; there is no sponsor or committee vote published. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed as an acceptance rate. Membership itself is open; the filter is the designation, which requires curriculum completion, a qualifying-experience portfolio and a comprehensive exam. | Not publicly disclosed. Admission turns on meeting one of the four published category definitions; no acceptance rate is published. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $695 a yearCandidate membership, United States. Dues prorate in the shopping cart for members joining after 31 January.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed at national level. SIM does not publish a single national dues figure; members join through a chapter and the chapter sets the rate.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | Candidate dues are published; the standard designee rate is not. Course fees for the designation curriculum are separate from membership dues. | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 |
| Local chapter dues | Not publicly disclosed; chapter dues are not listed on the national membership pages.verified September 2026 | $205–285 a yearSouthern California chapter published schedule: $285 for corporate IT executives/practitioners and consultants, $205 for academic, retired or non-profit IT professionals. Dues are set by each chapter and vary; other chapters publish higher two-tier plans.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Programme fee | Not recorded here. The designation curriculum is priced separately from dues under CCIM's "Designation Program: Time & Cost" schedule, which was not read for this record.verified September 2026 | Dues vary by chapter and are not published centrally. The figures recorded come from one chapter's published schedule and should not be read as a national rate. |
| Membership term | Calendar year, with dues prorated for members joining after 31 January | Calendar year, 1 January to 31 December |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Chapter events year-round plus national Spring and Fall Forums | Chapters typically hold four to six events a year, plus peer groups, special interest groups and national programmes |
| Peer forums | Local chapters organised across 13 regions; no confidential facilitated peer forum is published | Chapter-level peer groups bringing together members in similar roles, plus SIM Interest Groups on topics such as cybersecurity; the Advanced Practices Council is a separate senior research peer network |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed; CCIM publishes a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice | No published forum confidentiality rule; SIM is a professional association rather than a closed advisory body |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Cohort-based, Event-focused | Chapter-based, Event-focused, Cohort-based |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Partial |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Partial | Partial |
| Online community | Partial | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | Not documented | No |
| Next-generation programming | Partial | Yes |
| Investment discussions | Yes | No |
| Investment opportunities | Partial | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | Yes |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: CCIM Institute · Society for Information Management