Case study: Demise of a professional membership organization

Unless there are dramatic changes in statistical trends, the New York State Occupational Therapy Association may face insolvency and may be forced into dissolution in the very near future.Two years ago I reported that the NY State OT Association was at a critical juncture. At that time, only 4.4% of all NY practitioners were members of the group.  During the period of time from 2006 through 2014 NYSOTA OT/OTA membership declined 24%.   The decreasing trend of participation is continuing.According to statistics published by NYSOTA, now there are only 379 OT members and 120 OTA members.  In consideration of the total of OT practitioners in NY State (17,318 total) that is a membership participation rate of 2.9%.  This is decreased from the rate two years ago of 4.4%According to publicly available financial information(Form 990), NYSOTA ' s net assets are in free fall.YEAR    NET ASSETS----------------------------------2012        $180,0452013        $135,1542014        $107,2342015        $  88,333Percentage change over this period of time: 51% decreaseAdditionally, management fees, NYSOTA ' s largest expenditure, are increasing dramatically:2013: $56,0002014: $74,9802015: $75,000Percentage change over this period of time: 34% increaseMembership revenues are flat.  NYSOTA is currently relying...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT practice policy Source Type: blogs