— either positive or negative — and 3 percent anticipate a
possible positive impact. The organizations that believed the
economy would have a positive impact on their association were
spread across numerous industries and organizational sizes.
KEY FINDING NO. 2
Non-dues revenue activities, including sponsorships, advertising
and meeting attendance, are the top concerns in 2009.
Overall, associations are expecting a sharp decline in spending from traditional non-dues revenue sources in 2009. For associations that rely on a significant percentage of their overall
revenue from these sources, this will result in a reduction of
some programs and services. Associations also expect budget
cuts, hiring freezes, staff reorganization and even layoffs. For
example, 88 percent of association professionals are extremely
or somewhat concerned about sponsorship. This was followed
closely by annual meeting attendance and advertising. Volunteer participation was the one area where association professionals don’t appear to be overly concerned.
KEY FINDING NO. 3
Budget cuts and hiring freezes were cited most frequently in
response to the question regarding what associations expect to
happen in 2009 as a result of the current economic conditions.
In light of the economic downturn, associations expect dramatic changes to their resource allocations that include budget
cuts, hiring freezes, salary increase freezes and a reduction of
programs and services. Additionally, slightly more than 50 percent believe their organizations may lay off staff or outsource
staff functions. (See Table 1 above)
