How are you feeling about the economy? For the past two years, McKinley has tracked the association community as it has faced unprecedented layoffs, budget cuts, declining memberships and dwindling reserves. Our goal was to find out – by individual, by sector, by community – how the association profession was grappling with one of its most challenging environments.
We are delighted to report that, in many ways, the association community has turned a corner. The 2011 Economic Impact Study shows marked improvements along almost every major economic indicator. The majority of the 300 study participants show optimism about the future of the economy, express declining concerns about the residual impact of the recession both generally and along specific business lines and report rebounding fiscal and organizational health. In McKinley’s study, it was not only the shift in perception, but the degree to which the participants’ perceptions shifted towards a more fiscally stable and positive outlook.
Have associations ever have faced such a challenging and confusing landscape? Each day we are greeted with a bleak macro-economic picture, confusion about how to capitalize on emerging technologies and continued angst about generational and cultural differences. These concerns, and a host of others, serve to erode our confidence about the future viability of associations. 
