Originally Published August 2006, Successful Meetings
Members of Generation X will prove fertile ground for recruitment by associations over the next decade, but associations must work harder to provide Gen Xers tangible benefits if they want to attract and retain them.
That's the conclusion of the first study conducted under the auspices of the William E. Smith Institute for Association Research, a creation of SmithBucklin, the nation's largest association management company.
"If current trends persist, we can expect more workers, and a higher percentage of workers, to join associations over the coming decade," states the study, "Generations and the Future of Association Participation."
Released January 16, the 34-page study was conducted by Arthur Brooks, an associate professor of public administration at Syracuse University and research director of the William E. Smith Institute, which is named after SmithBucklin's founder.
SmithBucklin's chief executive, Henry Givray, says the study shows that "the future is bright for associations that are willing to examine critically the services they deliver and are willing to make changes as needed."
The study's implications for association meetings are also positive, since such meetings depend on healthy association membership for healthy attendance. But like association executives in general, association planners must create programs in which Gen-X attendees see a direct return on their investment of time and money.
Toward that end, electronic communications and networking probably will play a growing role in association meetings, but in most cases to enhance in-person meetings rather than replace them, according to Givray. "People have an underlying need to be with other people, to have that human experience," he says.
Since the study is only seven months old, the executives at SmithBucklin are still considering ways to respond to the findings, says Givray. However, he added that the firm, which manages more than 180 organizations, plans to launch an initiative later this year focusing on how associations can grow.
Givray declined to supply details at this time, but, he says, "We as a company are making a major investment."
The study counters the conventional wisdom that Gen Xers are more focused on personal fulfillment than their careers, and as a result are less likely to join professional associations than Baby Boomers. That notion, coupled with the fact that Baby Boomers vastly outnumber Gen Xers, has alarmed many association executives, who fear for the health of their organizations once a substantial number of Baby Boomers retire.
The study, which drew on original research studies and government demographic data, found that members of Generation X joined associations at a slightly higher rate than members of the Baby Boom generation when members of the two generations were the same age. Fifteen percent of Gen Xers belonged to associations when they were 25 years old, about a point higher than for Baby Boomers.
The study also allays the fear that there are far fewer Gen Xers available to take the place of Boomers in association ranks.
The study shows that Gen Xers are actually much closer to Baby Boomers as a percentage of the country's working-age population when the difference in the length of time that defines the two generations is taken into account. Baby Boomers were born from 1946 through 1964, while Gen Xers were born from 1965 through 1975, only about half the time span.
As for the conclusion that Gen Xers want a more concrete return on their association investment than Baby Boomers, the study points to market research indicating that Gen Xers demand more detailed information about how their donations to charities are spent than Boomers did at a comparable age.
The study suggests that future association members may demand more services such as group health insurance and retirement planning, especially as corporate America continues to cut workers' health and retirement benefits.
"If there is a meaningful difference in Generation X workers and Baby Boomers," states the report, "it is not in the propensity to join associations, but rather in their expectations about what membership means, and the returns it provides."