ASAE Research Foundation Releases Multi-Year Centennial Research Report

The ASAE Research Foundation released the results of its multi-year Centennial Research Initiative entitled, Impact Every Day, to coincide with the 2020 ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting & Exposition. This innovative and forward-thinking report delivers research-based evidence supporting the Power of A message: society is better, safer, and smarter because of the work of associations.

“As we come to the close of our Centennial celebrations, Impact Every Day provides a comprehensive look at the work associations and nonprofits have achieved, and delivers a road map to help guide our industry through a future that is evolving faster than anyone could have anticipated,” said Susan Robertson, CAE, ASAE President and CEO. “ASAE, through the work of the ASAE Research Foundation, has long held a position in the association community as the premier source of learning, knowledge, and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession. The Impact Every Day report demonstrates the importance of that mission.”

Research for the report was gathered via case-studies, surveys, and interviews. The case studies represent a cross section of the association community, while the survey data reflects the perspectives of members, non-members, association professionals, and outside stakeholders. Interview participants, industry leaders from outside of the association space, provided perspectives on multiple areas of association practices, including past contributions to society, how best to prepare the industry to face future challenges, and the efforts being taken to foster transformative thinking throughout the association community.

“Collaboration was key to the development of this ground-breaking research. We could not have produced such a comprehensive report without the support of our volunteer advisory committee who ensured continuous alignment of the research to our guiding principles and goals. I would also like to thank the teams at Westat and McKinley Advisors who spearheaded the data collection, analysis, and interpretation for all phases of research. Finally, thank you to Social Driver, for their help in developing a strategic plan designed to connect with our external audiences,” said Sharon E. Moss, Ph.D., CAE, President, ASAE Research Foundation.

A sample of the findings show survey respondents overwhelmingly agree that associations have enabled them to contribute to society in their respective fields. Additionally, their expectations for associations to assist in shaping future industry progress and productivity is extremely high. Finally, interviews with external stakeholders revealed a perception that the largest contributions of associations have been in education, and that they would like to see organizations invest more effort in other areas, particularly workforce development.

Attendees of the 2020 ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting & Exposition are encouraged to attend the two Impact Every Day focused education sessions. During these sessions, representatives from organizations that participated in the case study portion of the research will share their stories. Additional research content will be available in the virtual ASAE Research Foundation Lounge. To further explore the research findings and case studies, please visit the ASAE Research Foundation. The full report will be available for download in Fall 2020.

About ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership

ASAE is celebrating 100 years of making society smarter, better and safer. The Centennial anniversary represents ASAE’s role as a leader and supporter of progress and innovation in the association industry. ASAE is a membership organization of more than 50,000 association executives and industry partners representing over 7,000 organizations. Since it was established 100 years ago, its members have and continue to lead, manage, and work in or partner with organizations in more than a dozen association management disciplines, from executive management to finance to technology. With the support of the ASAE Research Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity, ASAE is the premier source of learning, knowledge, and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession and provides resources, education, ideas, and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association and nonprofit community. Visit ASAE at asaecenter.org.

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