On Aug. 10, the ASAE Research Foundation released the results of its multi-year Centennial Research Initiative, “Impact Every Day” to coincide with the 2020 ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting & Exposition. 

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. 

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.  

“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, ASAE president and CEO.  

She continued, “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. [This] report demonstrates the importance of that mission.” 

Attendees of the 2020 ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting had the opportunity to attend two individual education sessions focused on the results of the report. During these sessions, representatives from organizations that participated in the case study portion of the research shared their stories. Additional research content was available in the virtual ASAE Research Foundation Lounge and also on ASAE Research Foundation’s website. The full report will be available for download this fall.

“Collaboration was key to the development of this ground-breaking research,” said Sharon E. Moss, president of the ASAE Research Foundation. “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.”