conference educational session full of people learning

By Carolyn Shomali, PAR

Working in the association industry comes with a certain awareness: people outside of it may lack an understanding of what the work involves, or the impact it creates. But those working in association revenue-producing roles often experience a similar disconnect internally. Association colleagues don’t always understand the full scope or strategic importance of business development and revenue growth.

That disconnect is what led to the launch of Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR) in 2019 – and why more than 250 association and industry professionals gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, this November for the fourth annual RevUP Summit.

“I've had a career in association sales, and I really struggled over the years to find folks that did what I did,” says Sean Soth, PAR Leadership Advisory Board Chair. “We would go to conferences and share notes, but it was really tough to find folks who are out in the field working to bring business into their associations.”

At RevUP, that challenge disappears. Attendees come together in an environment where everyone speaks the same language – where people understand not only the work of association business but also its essential role in sustaining and advancing mission-driven organizations. This year’s event was sold out and has more than tripled in-size since the inaugural event in 2022.

“There’s a reason for that. And the reason is ithat associations are continually, growing in their understanding and the importance of how to manage revenue expectations in an association from a non-profit standpoint,” says Robb Lee, VP of Marketing and Business Development for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

The theme of this year’s event was “Taking Care of Business,” and it rang true throughout the program. And one idea kept resurfacing: change. Change in how we approach our work, how we measure success, how we engage boards, and how we design business models that can adapt.

The Business Case for Change

There’s a clear business case for embracing change. Avoiding it altogether leads to stagnation, and eventually, irrelevance.

“What are the six most expensive words in associations?” asked main stage speaker Rhonda Payne. “We've always done it that way. And it costs us. It costs us in innovation. It costs us in the lack of ownership of continuous improvement. It costs us in lack of growth.”

Recognizing that reality is one thing; acting on it is another. RevUP 2025 focused on equipping attendees with the tools to lead effective change and avoid becoming part of the 60% of organizations that fail to achieve their change goals.

Sessions covered everything from AI-powered sponsorship sales and revenue-conscious course design to board development and metrics that track impact.

Driving meaningful organizational change requires associations to engage boards differently. An often-overlooked aspect of board service is equipping leaders with a foresight mindset – the intentional practice of scanning for signals of change, interpreting their potential impacts, and using that insight to guide today’s strategic choices so the organization can thrive in multiple possible futures.

“Their job isn't to build things for themselves. Their job is to build things for the people that are coming well behind them,” said Lindsay Currie, Executive Officer for the Council on Undergraduate Research.

That shift requires a willingness to acknowledge internal barriers that associations sometimes create. Tara Puckey is the Executive Director of the Radio Television Digital News Association and noted, “If your board is not currently successful in helping you fundraise, create partnerships, bring in the money that you need for your organization to run, then part of it is our doing – and we need to take some of that responsibility to make it happen.”

Is your board composed intentionally? Do members understand their role? Are board meetings structured to encourage foresight and data-informed discussion? These questions offer a framework for boards to help inspire them to lead change, rather than resist it.

The Change Required For Innovation

Board support was evident in the three association finalists for the annual Pierre Award, and showed the outcomes of effective foresight. From the American Geophysical Union’s use of Natural Language Processing to connect members, to the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Centers of Excellence training program, to the American Society for Nondestructive Testing’s complete membership redesign, each initiative showed how leadership buy-in turns ideas into impact.

“Have a good, close collaborative relationship with your Board of Directors. When you make a C-level kind of change in your structure or programs, it really does require that partnership with staff and board members in order to get to a good decision,” emphasized Neal Couture, Chief Executive Officer of ASNT.

Whether it’s developing your board or launching an award-winning program, attendees were repeatedly reminded that leading change requires one fundamental mindset shift: focusing on your audience, not your offerings.

Paul George of Corporate Visions took to the mainstage to show attendees that status quo bias – the tendency to prefer the current state even when better options exist – leads a significant share of sales conversations to end in no decision.

“The biggest competitor you face in getting people to do something different,” he said, “is their desire to keep doing what they have been doing.”

To begin to overcome that bias, associations must clearly show their audiences why they matter – and that starts with a refreshed value proposition.

Ron Zywicki, President and Partner of the David James Group explained, “A mission is different than a value proposition. A mission is a guidance tool. A value proposition helps you reach that mission. Approach it from an audience perspective, not the organizational perspective. How does what we're saying make their world better?”

That audience-first mindset mirrors how successful B2B companies operate — and it’s why they are adept at negotiating six-figure deals. As Revmade’s Krystle Kopacz pointed out, although associations have sought after assets like deep audience data, trusted content, and direct distribution channels, they often fail to leverage them fully to bring in large deals.

“We don’t believe we can, so we won’t even try. And that can be because we have legacy processes,” she said. “It takes a lot of time to put together six-figure deals, and it takes a lot of time to pitch and win them. And one of the things that I've noticed is when you have a sales team that is incentivized [for small booth sales], they're always going to go after the small deal—because that’s what they’ve been trained to do.”

To change that dynamic, associations must rethink how sales and marketing teams work together. When both teams collaborate to conceptualize, pitch, and persistently follow up on larger, strategic deals, it opens new revenue streams.

A Gathering of Business Thinkers

If one thing was clear at RevUP 2025, it’s that this summit has become the place where association business thinkers find their people – professionals who understand the importance of revenue strategy and are eager to talk about it.

Across sessions, hallways, and happy hours, the energy centered on growth, innovation, and change. Change in how we structure our teams. Change in how we define success. Change in how we communicate value to the audiences that rely on us most.

Associations exist to serve their industries and members, but sustaining that service requires business acumen, strategic foresight, and the courage to evolve.

At RevUP, those conversations are the norm. And for association professionals ready to take care of business, that’s the kind of change we need.

“PAR does a really good job of bringing associations and industry partners together to really create better relationships to show associations, you don’t have to do everything. You can really leverage some really great partnerships with people that want impact and intentionality just like you do,” says ASAE’s John Bacon. “Every time I leave here, I leave with something new.”