Trade Groups Regroup

The Electric Drive Transportation Association cut the registration fee for its national convention at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the District earlier this month. (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
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To gauge the extent of the problem, the ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership are surveying their 24,000 members in 11,000 associations.

The organizations, one-third of which are based in the Washington area, will be asked whether they are seeing fewer attendees at their conventions and training meetings and whether they are losing revenue from those sessions as well as from dues, trade shows and magazine advertising.

Because they have heard from so many financially distressed associations, ASAE, formerly known as the American Society of Association Executives, and the center soon will offer a webinar showing the organizations how to survive with less revenue. The webinar will focus on "what are we going to cut and how much will we cut to stay in business and still be relevant to our members," said John H. Graham IV, president and chief executive of ASAE & the Center.

Graham said he fears that some associations may cease to be employee-based operations.

"Those that entered this cycle weak will have trouble sustaining themselves," he said. "They may have to relieve most of their staff and have volunteers step into the breach."

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is down to 20,000 members after losing 5,000 this year. When an effort to cut nine staff positions through attrition failed to fill a large budget gap, members voted to more than double the dues to $250 for professional members and $100 for loan officers, said Marc S. Savitt, president of the McLean-based organization.

"Clearly, with the housing crisis and fewer transactions, many brokers couldn't survive," Savitt said, adding that the organization also is converting its paper magazine into an electronic publication and is scaling back the number of meetings it schedules. "Many are not renewing their licenses and finding something else to do."

Some associations are considering revenue-generating ventures to replace lost dues. Bostrom, a Chicago-based company that provides marketing and management services for 20 associations, is devising ways for the groups to make money from webinars, white papers, polls and podcasts, said Jeanne Sheehy, the firm's vice president and chief marketing officer.

Even associations that are in good financial shape are introducing cost-saving measures so that they can retain members.

Although the Electric Drive Transportation Association is gaining members, officials opted to cut up to $300 from the $800 registration fee for its national convention in the District earlier this month because of the economy. The organization, whose members include some troubled automakers such as Ford and General Motors, also is pulling back on some expansion plans.

The Information Technology Association of America, which merged with two other organizations in recent years, will complete a consolidation with a third one called AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) in January. Officials from the two organizations say the consolidation will give them a more unified voice in Washington while saving companies that belong to the groups from having to pay duplicate dues.

Tracy Mullin, president and chief executive of the National Retail Federation, said her association is preparing a "worst-case scenario" for 2009 -- a membership decline and low attendance at conferences -- even though she doesn't yet have evidence that will happen. Mullin also said the association's numerous committees, including tax, international trade and information technology, are scheduling fewer training meetings to save members travel costs.

"We've been doing virtual meetings and webinars," she said. "Members really appreciate that."