AS a member of the Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), I get published resources regularly to enhance my skills on association governance and management. Every August ASAE holds its annual meeting and exposition where around 6,000 participate in various plenary sessions and educational tracks, as well as in an exhibition where thousands of suppliers and service providers for associations are showcased.
This year’s event was held in Chicago from August 18 to 21. Though I did not attend the gathering of association professionals, I received a daily feed of the event through the “Association Adviser” e-newsletter from US-based Naylor Association Solutions. In the e-newsletter, Sarah Sain quoted keynote speaker Yancey Strickler and wrote: “Financial value is not the only value worth seeking, and Strickler said associations are in a unique position to help redefine what we, as a society, value, whether that’s community, family, knowledge, love, security, the environment or any other defining purpose.”
Strickler, who cofounded the pioneer crowdfunding web site Kickstarter nearly a decade ago and served as its CEO for almost four years, shared how the company has made it a point to put people and purpose over profits. Since its inception, the site has changed the way creative projects are made by allowing ideas (from Cards Against Humanity to Oculus Rift to 11 Oscar-nominated films) to exist for no other reason than because people want them.
Kickstarter became a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) in 2015, which means it operates for the benefit of society and commits to the public good. While the company can help anyone bring an idea or project to life, Strickler notes that in reality, entrepreneurship rates are half of what they were 40 years ago. The reason: most businesses are more focused on financial maximization—in other words, decisions are based on what will make them the most money.
Strickler instead encouraged the audience to ask themselves three questions to find their value and drive decision-making:
- Why do you exist?
- What’s different about you?
- What’s success for you?
“Through these three questions, associations can then articulate their own defining purpose and defend the values of others around them. It’s only through this shared interest and concern that we’ll really succeed in the future,” added Strickler.
Associations in the country can learn from this bit of advice from Strickler. In my column here on February 23, 2017, entitled, Association’s Purpose and Mission, I mentioned that the fundamental argument for why members and leaders of associations must know by heart its crystal-clear purpose is for strategy and direction’s sake. If you do not know your purpose or reason for being, then you will not know what to do and where to go. This is as basic as it can get.
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The column contributor Octavio Peralta is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE).
PCAAE is holding its Sixth Associations Summit on November 23 and 24, at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.
The event is hosted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and supported by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, TPB and the Philippine International Convention Center.
E-mail: obp@adfiap.org