At McKinley, we believe in the power of data and we believe that its knowledge that can transform an organization – from Board members, who are fascinated with industry studies, to staff, who repeatedly ask the question: How do we compare to other associations? We have witnessed, through our work with hundreds of association clients from every sector and demographic, how community drives knowledge – it surfaces trends, produces innovative ideas, and cultivates improvement through the sharing of lessons learned and effective practices. So in 2009, we started the Association RoundTables Project to bring together associations from every sector, create a shared database of key association indicators, and engage in collaborative dialogue. Our primary goals include:
- Collecting and preserving data that participants can use to monitor internal progress and benchmark against multiple associations
- Identifying leading association trends that help participants anticipate the future and improve the present
- Promoting dialogue and collaboration among association colleagues
In addition to the survey this year, we also hope to facilitate more dialogue between participants on the issues that do not reveal themselves in the data, in addition to our in-person session. Through these discussions we hope to uncover what the core issues are that your association faces and how does this compare to your peer group? By sharing this information, we hope that participants can collect new ideas and best practices that will improve their organization.
