Finding light in the dark

Two-thirds (66%) of associations have taken a financial hit during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the results of an AMI survey, ‘Covid-19’s Impact on Association Finances’.

Of the 89 international organisations who responded, 25 (28%) said their finances had been made ‘much worse’ in the last 16 months, while 34 said they had been made ‘slightly worse’.

Almost 70 per cent blamed their financial woes on the forced cancellation of in-person meetings, with 34.8 per cent describing the effect of this imposition as ‘very negative’.

A similar number said the impact had been ‘slightly negative’.

Although 80 per cent of respondents converted their in-person meetings into a virtual or hybrid event, almost none of them made the same financial returns on their digital events.

Only six per cent of associations felt comfortable charging the same registration fee, for example, with 62 per cent of respondents charging less than 60 per cent of the original fee.

Worryingly more than a quarter – 26.5 per cent – decided not to charge any fee for their virtual event, a decision they may live to regret if restrictions on travel and convening continue.

As one respondent noted: ‘If you give content away, it is hard to start charging again’.

Sponsor and exhibitor revenues were another casualty of the pandemic, with more than a third of respondents (34%) retaining less than 20 per cent of their income from these sources.

The financial squeeze meant associations sought to make savings elsewhere, with 20 per cent making redundancies to balance the books, and a further 25 per cent still mulling the option.

But this was not a picture of blanket gloom.

Surprisingly, 18 per cent of those surveyed said their financial position had ‘slightly improved’ in the last year, while 2.25 per cent said their financial position had been ‘much improved’. One respondent said restrictions on travel had saved the society ‘a lot on overheads.’

And while 61 per cent of respondents said the pandemic had negatively impacted membership-dues, only 13 per cent of that total saying the effect on this source of revenue had been ‘very negative’.

Moreover, associations were not taking things lying down. Half (50%) said they had already taken steps to diversify their revenues streams, while a further 21 per cent said they were planning to.

Many cited new opportunities brought about by enforced change.

One association leader said: “Having to move to online meetings and training has really opened a door for us, enabling us to reach a much wider audience around the world with our advice and training in the equestrian world. We will continue with, and expand upon, this offering.”

Another noted: “Virtual meeting attendance has given greater reach and the benefits that accrue, and this has allowed us to be more tactical in our approach to problem solving for members.”

And despite suffering the most severe disruption to activities in living memory almost a half (49%) said they would describe their current financial position as ‘healthy’ (34%) or ‘very healthy’ (15%).