European Assocation Summit learnings

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefaandecorte1_eas2024-activity-7200862994770075648-zMun?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

What I learned from the European Association Summit last week:
1) Leadership matters. Thank you Mike Morrissey for having chaired the ESAE - European Society of Association Executives and growing its impact and relevance in the past years. Full support to Mohamed Mezghani's tenure as president.
2) EU policies/politics and associations:
- Transparency is a value that is quickly growing in importance and citizens and society requests more of it in relation to media, data, funding, etc.
- On different fronts, we experience an attack on the European way of living (democracy, freedom of association, rule of law,...) and Associations have a role to play in defending our way of living.
- Partnerships are becoming a strategic driver for growth.
- Associations should serve their members by 'showing the path where a sector should develop itself' => strategy is king!
- EU elections bring +/- 50% new Members in the European Parliament! imagine this happens within your organisation/company! Its a huge 'change management' operation.
- Member States keep implementing EU policies in many different ways => it prevents a Single Market to exist. Thus, as a European association, we need to do our home work and understand the situation at national level.
3) Revenue growth for associations
- Keep re-inventing yourself and always start with Why do we exist?
- Examples of possible revenue streams: Congress, certification, database, copyright & IP, secretariat services for others, membership fees, sponsorships, sell data form an annual survey, join a partnership for EU funded projects, collect donations & legacies, run specific programmes like fellowships, publish a journal, manage registries, create an entirely new 'business line'.
hashtag#EAS2024