Whitepapers

Climate change and sustainability are increasingly in the news and showing up as a key topic for the association industry. Association execs are realizing that climate change is not just a moral imperative, it’s a business imperative.

To quote ASAE from their well-attended webinar on this topic in May 2023: “Either as part of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives or looking at impact and legacy, associations are increasingly grappling with the role sustainability plays in supporting their work and advancing their missions.”

In The Time is Now: Association Resilience and Adaptation and the Anthropocene Climate Disruption, Shelly Alcorn and I provide a brief overview of data on climate change, address the psychological barriers to action humans face, and bring to bear the concepts of resilience (preparing to bounce back from challenges) and adaptation (learning how to live and work differently) on the specific effects the climate crisis will have on associations’ internal operations, member-facing programs, products and services, and on the professions and industries we exist to serve.

Our goal is to help associations better understand how this “wicked problem” is going to affect our industry and begin preparing to better respond to the challenges that will face us all in the coming years.

The whitepaper also includes:

• Case studies with the American Association of Geographers, Stand.earth, and the Strata Community Association (our first international case study!).
• A sidebar on climate change and US national security.
• Stories of positive change to inspire you.
• A series of thought questions for you to use to spark discussion with your team.
• An extensive list of resources in case you want to dig deeper on any of the topics addressed.

Download your FREE copy now!

As always with Spark collaborative whitepapers, it’s 100% free, and you don’t even have to provide any information to download it – you can just have it, no landing on a mailing list you didn’t ask for or having to dodge calls from us.

However, Shelly and I realized that there’s potentially something much bigger here. We’re hoping to put together a true Community of Practice of associations who are ready to lead change. When you download your copy, you’ll have the option of taking a three question survey and sharing contact information if you’d like to be kept in the loop about the CoP.

While you’re at it, check out the other Spark whitepapers, too. Remember, they’re free, and you don’t even have to give me your name, email, and firstborn child to get them.

• Caveat Emptor: Becoming a Responsible Consumer of Research (PDF), co-authored with Polly Karpowicz, MBA, CAE, September 2022
• The No BS Guide to Digital Transformation: How Intentional Culture Change Can Propel Associations Forward (PDF), co-authored with Maddie Grant, PROPEL, June 2021
• Cut Through the Clutter: Content Curation, Associations’ Secret Weapon Against Information Overload (PDF), co-authored with Hilary Marsh, Content Company, May 2020
• Blockchain for Associations: Separating the Hype from the Promise (PDF), co-authored with Shelly Alcorn, Michelle Alcorn and Associates, April 2019
• Steal This Idea! Innovations in Cause-Oriented Fundraising for Associations (PDF), co-authored with Sohini Baliga, December 2017
• Include Is a Verb: Moving from Talk to Action on Diversity and Inclusion (PDF), co-authored with Sherry Marts, PhD, S*Marts Consulting, May 2017
• The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm (PDF), co-authored with Shelly Alcorn, Michelle Alcorn and Associates, August 2016
• Innovate the Lean Way: Applying Lean Startup Methodology in the Association Environment (PDF), co-authored with Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate, Director of Information Systems, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, October 2015
• Leading Engagement from the Outside-In: Become an Indispensable Partner in Your Members’ Success (PDF), co-authored with Anna Caraveli, PhD, The Demand Networks, May 2015
• Getting to the “Good Stuff”: Evidence-Based Decision Making for Associations (PDF), co-authored with Peter Houstle, Mariner Management, April 2014
• Risk: The Missing Link Connecting Strategy to Implementation (PDF), co-authored with Jamie Notter, PROPEL, and Leslie White, Croydon Consulting, March 2014
• The Mission Driven Volunteer (PDF), co-authored with Peggy Hoffman, CAE, Mariner Management, August 2013
• Member Relations: An Association-Centric Approach to Customer Relationship Management (PDF), April 2013
• Attention Doesn’t Scale: The Role of Content Curation in Membership Associations (PDF), November 2012

I usually immediately delete any [Collaborate] post that begins with “I’m excited to share” because it almost always leads to a self-serving advertisement.

But when I saw my friend Guillermo Ortiz Zarate and then saw that Elizabeth Engel was  involved as well (full disclosure – I don’t really know Elizabeth but believe she is one of the brightest minds in our community), I had to download and read their white paper [Innovate the Lean Way].

I really recommend every CEO and program director find the time to read it. I think the approach described is elegant and practical.

Glenn Tecker, Tecker International LLC

All Spark whitepapers are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Like what you read? Wish your organization could turn out whitepapers, articles, and blog posts like this? You can – you can hire Spark to do it for you! Whether you’re looking for a regular blog columnist, feature articles for a print or online publication, or a longer whitepaper based on secondary or even primary research, Spark has you covered.