Following the explosion of face-to-face meetings after the pandemic, the 2022 Association Viewpoint study, An Age of Acceleration comes to confirm the increased hopefulness among associations. Released annually for the last 14 years by McKinley Advisors, an association consulting firm, the study aims to help the association sector understand and anticipate market trends.
“Associations face a decision to embrace change or resume business as usual. Those who embrace change are reimagining their business models and ensuring that their strategy aligns with their operations to move past implementation barriers and reach new possibilities. This moment — an age of acceleration — requires thoughtful and intentional action from association leaders,” said Jay Younger, McKinley Advisors President and CEO.
Based on data provided from national and international association executives mostly, the study reveals that 2022 is a year of high hope for association leaders (84%) compared to previous years. Top priorities for associations are generating non-dues revenue and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), while association programs, services and staff are expended this year.
Conferences and meetings and communications strategy are the top areas in which associations require innovation, whereas less than 25% of them diversified their revenue streams during the pandemic. Top trends highlighted in the study include workforce issues, digital transformation, expansion of programs, the return to office and impact investing.
For more details, you can download the full study here.