Who Says Generation Xers Aren't Joiners?

Arthur C. Brooks, a Syracuse University professor who specializes in studying nonprofit organizations, said he has heard the refrain from leaders of professional and trade associations: "We're doomed. We're doomed. Everybody knows that Gen X doesn't join anything."

Brooks said associations, many of which have their headquarters in the Washington area, fear their membership rosters will shrink once the huge baby-boom generation gives way to the less numerous -- and supposedly less civic-minded -- members of Generation X (born from 1965 to 1975) and Generation Y (born thereafter).

So Brooks, who is director of the Nonprofit Studies Program at Syracuse's Maxwell School of Public Affairs, analyzed the available research, from census data to opinion surveys. "I kept finding it wasn't working out the way everybody thought it would."

In fact, Brooks wrote a study concluding that "young workers show every indication of joining associations at even higher rates than the Baby Boomers, more than making up for their slightly smaller numbers." He predicts the number of association members is likely to rise from about 51 million today to about 55 million by 2015.

His report, "Generations and the Future of Association Participation," which will be released today, was sponsored by the William E. Smith Institute for Association Research, which is funded by SmithBucklin Corp., a Chicago-based company that provides management and professional services to associations.

Although Brooks predicts today's young workers will join professional associations in large numbers once they reach their early forties, their peak earnings years, he cautions that it's not a sure thing.

He said younger workers will expect "tangible services" from associations they join and "real evidence that something is good for their careers."

-- Larry Liebert