Benchmarking is a standard competitive practice for most organizations. When I worked at a Fortune 500 insurance company as the manager of work life and advancement of women, we benchmarked against local companies of similar size and workforce demographics and international property and casualty insurance companies. Each group of employers gave us valuable intelligence to guide our program offerings, since we were vying for the same workforce. If 80% or 90% of our competitors offered paid parental leave, adoption assistance, or on-site child care, then we could be assured that our board would be inclined to add those benefits.

We engage in benchmarking at NCFR as well. You, our members, help us identify other organizations of importance as we seek to be competitive and to offer programs and services of value to you. NCFR members have an opportunity to include in their member record the other associations to which they belong. The most frequently cited of such associations is the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Fourteen percent of NCFR members are also members of AAMFT. There is a wide gap between AAMFT and the next most frequently cited organizations, the American Sociological Association (ASA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), all at about 8%. The next 10 associations to which NCFR members also belong, in descending order, are as follows:

Beyond these, NCFR members have reported 12 other associations to which they belong.

NCFR benchmarks against many of the aforementioned organizations and 12 others. But we don’t benchmark all programs against all organizations. We try to pick those most similar to NCFR for each particular program. For instance, when we benchmark conference registration fees, we typically compare NCFR to PAA, AAFCS, AAMFT, SRA, SRCD, ASA, and GSA. We look at the length of the conference in days, when the conference is held, and the prices of various types of registration.

Benchmarking is more art than science. In the case of conference registration and exhibitor fees, total conference attendance is an important factor in setting prices. The more attendees at a single conference, the more likely vendors are to sponsor portions of the conference or buy an exhibit booth. Funds raised from these sponsorships and exhibitors can provide significant financial support to the conference, thereby allowing registration fees to remain at low levels. Or, if registration fees remain competitive, then sponsorship fees can generate income for the association. If the number of attendees represents a viable market force, then vendors see value in putting their products in front of them. As the price of travel increases, vendors become more selective in where they exhibit and which conferences they sponsor, seeking the biggest “bang for the buck,” if you will. Years ago, several publishers exhibited at NCFR. However, with the rising price of air travel and the relatively small market NCFR represents, few publishers are choosing to exhibit at the NCFR conference.

NCFR’s conference paid attendance has hovered between 1,000 and 1,200 people for the past 18 years. In 2008 it dipped to 885 (Little Rock, Arkansas) and in 2015 it dropped to 914 (Vancouver, BC). By comparison, APA’s average conference attendance is 13,225.

The average attendance at ASA is 5,000 and at SRCD is 6,500. One begins to understand the small niche that Family Science occupies.

Recently we have turned our attention to benchmarking our peer associations’ involvement in public policy in an effort to most effectively leverage our resources in that regard. For a frame of reference, NCFR’s total projected revenue for 2017 is slightly under $2 million. We have just under 13 full-time equivalent staff positions; one staff person has policy responsibilities and oversees the conference academic program. By comparison, in 2014 APA had 722 staff and $130.4 million in total revenue.* Of this, APA reported expending $573,836 on grassroots lobbying (to influence public opinion) and direct lobbying (to influence a legislative body).

ASA is a much smaller association than APA but still significantly larger than NCFR. ASA’s revenue in 2014 totaled nearly $6.8 million, and it reported employing 31 individuals. SRCD’s 2014 revenue was more than $6.1 million, and the association employed 17 individuals. Neither ASA nor SRCD reported grassroots or direct lobbying in the most recent filings available for each organization.

Of particular interest in our benchmarking are organizations of modest size that are able to muster the resources to publish numerous policy briefs and, on occasion, amicus briefs, which can be quite costly to produce. One option we’ve seen associations use to maximize results is to join with like associations that have similar concerns and, in essence, pool resources. One such organization that brings associations together and does work in their interest is COSSA, the Consortium of Social Science Associations (cossa.org). NCFR recently rejoined COSSA after many years of absence. Another organization is the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; aaas.org/about/mission-and-history), which exists to “advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.”

Our work in benchmarking our peer organizations will continue as we explore cost-effective ways to achieve our global ends, in particular to “support the dissemination and application of research- and theory-based information about the well-being of families” and “raise the visibility of family research, theory, and practice to policy makers and the general public.”

Staffing Update

NCFR headquarters is in the process of completing a staff reorganization to provide additional resources in critical areas. We welcome Bethany Cox as our member relations manager, Jane Reilly as our office manager, Maddie Hansen as our education and certification coordinator, and Trip Sullivan as our communications manager. We also welcome Jay McGraw as our new database and web services manager after the departure of Jason Samuels, who was NCFR’s director of innovation and technology. We also wish former education coordinator Maureen Bourgeois and former office clerk Brenda Boogren the best as they pursue their passions.

*Information about other organizations’ activities was obtained from GuideStar and Form 990 filings.