Reply: A New Association
By Henry L. Ernstthal, CAE, Ernstthal and Associates, Washington

What fun! Starting with a clean slate and able to set up an association without a drag parachute of tradition, habit, and “We have always done it that way.”

Yet you either missed or did not mention opportunities for even greater innovation. Did you consider setting up as a for-profit or, at least, non-tax-exempt organization with an affiliated foundation? Such creatures exists and very successfully too. I know you are aware of Chris Mahaffey’s comparative study: The Facts, Fiction and Future of the 501(c)(6) Tax-Exemption (2001) For models, you could have looked at any of the 19 for-profit associations listed in Appendix 8. (For more info and for a summary of the study, email Chris at mahaffey@acfas.org.) Of the 19, five were founded as Sub-Chapter S corporations indicating they are owned by a single individual. That single individual could have been you.

I know of one of our consultant colleagues, and there may be more, who is actively identifying market niches that are emerging or currently badly served by incumbent organizations.

Current and evolving technologies make this kind of innovative and entrepreneurial activity much more feasible than it has been in the past. You and your board members are to be congratulated and emulated.

But before you get feeling too good, let me add to the lost ownership opportunity my concern about a self-perpetuation board. I have no objection to having a board select its successors provided that they have a commitment and a mechanism for meeting the evolving leadership needs as the organization develops. That probably means term limits or some other mechanism that will allow the pruning of dead wood and the recruitment of , to overextend a metaphor, seedlings with new ideas, new needed skills, and fresh perspectives.

In any event, good luck

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