NBEA's Commitment to Transparency, Clarity, and Vision

2020 was a challenging year. The unexpected loss of loved ones from COVID-19 to increasing unemployment and inability to recognize how the future will unfold has affected everyone, including NBEA. 

A recent study[1] revealed 94.7% of nonprofit organizations, like NBEA, experienced an average loss of 23% of their members mainly due to the impacts of COVID-19. In the past year, NBEA was not immune to the effects of COVID-19 and lost approximately 20% of its professional members. This reduction comes despite increased communications, improved services, advanced networking, better professional development, increased committee opportunities, better access to resources, and much more. NBEA's 2021-2022 budget shows an expected deficit after numerous and deep cuts.  However, in the past year, NBEA has made significant strides toward strengthening the association.  NBEA needs our members' collective support to help fulfill the mission to "empower educators to achieve excellence in business education."

Our Executive Board has had to make difficult choices to lead effectively and is working diligently to identify new ways to improve NBEA and become indispensable to its members. As we continue our way forward, NBEA's executive officers and Board are committed to the following:

1. Making the status of your association as transparent as possible. NBEA's Members Only page on the website reveals our financial statements and reports available going back years. Also, our Affiliate Information Page contains updated monthly state and regional membership counts. Members can examine these reports to see a history of NBEA's performance, including revenue and expenses. Every future newsletter will report on NBEA's membership numbers, so you know how your association manages through one of the most tumultuous times in our history. NBEA needs approximately 3,400 members to maintain a balanced budget and move the association ahead toward new initiatives and member benefits. NBEA has about 2,400 members at this writing.
   
   
2. Using the association's resources wisely. NBEA has made substantial progress in making the association more efficient by adopting improved technology, downsizing office space, reducing staff, providing alternatives to expensive printing, substantially reducing association travel expenses, and more. Even with $379,000 in reductions from staff and operational reorganization this year, the anticipated budget deficit for 2021-2022 is $100,000.
   
   
3. Providing members with clarity on the future work and initiatives of the association. NBEA is your association. Collectively, we represent business educators across North America and some across the globe. You deserve to know where NBEA is going strategically. NBEA's Board at will be addressing some of the following issues:
   1. Ways NBEA can better advocate for business education.
   2. Ways NBEA can provide educators with new convenient resources they need without competing with larger, more well-equipped publishers.
   3. Improving the relevance and effectiveness of the national, regional, and state model for business education associations.

We are working with our members to forge a strong vision for how NBEA continues its evolution toward being the indispensable association for business educators.

Are you excited about the future? Will you join us in making your association more robust and more effective?  You can tangibly show your support by joining or renewing now.  (http://nbea.org/join  or http://nbea.org/renew).  You can also give us your feedback on what you would like to see at NBEA. Every submission is read and considered carefully.

With kindest regards,

[1] https://tasio.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Association-Retention-Playbook.pdf