September 2014
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The Power of Association: Results through Shared Investment and Passion

After three decades of leading NACWA, I have had countless discussions with members from across the country and have learned that there are many reasons for being a member. But they all boil down to one fundamental factor — results. Some call it a “Return on Investment,” or a “Value Added Proposition,” or “Cost Savings,” but these economic terms - while worthy of discussion – can also diminish what an association is all about, as well as what gives an organization its authority and power.

Many members have told me the reason why they are a NACWA member is because of our “advocacy”. Advocacy, in my view, can be broken down into three elements: “Ideas”, “Influence” and “Impact”, also known as the three “I”s (which are always better than two!) But just as many members also want more than effective, DC-based advocacy – they want reliable data, tools, resources, engagement, interaction, collaboration, recognition, and personal/professional growth. I have also learned that no single need in this list trumps another and all must work in tandem to bring about success.

NACWA has done a significant amount of work detailing the “Return on Investment” (ROI) for your dues dollars. Our Year-At-A-Glance, The Power of Association, details annually NACWA’s ROI to its members in a compelling way and will be sent to you along with your dues invoice later this month. I am particularly proud, however, of several of the achievements we have accomplished together over the past few years: $6 billion in SRF funds under the President’s stimulus bill; Farm Bill funds for utility-farmer cooperative programs; extended loan repayment periods under the CWSRF from 20 to 30 years; victory in lawsuits involving nutrient and stormwater issues that will save utilities hundreds of millions of dollars; and a new integrated planning and affordability approach to Clean Water Act compliance that helps ensure the biggest bang for the ratepayer buck.

And somehow, this sampling of advocacy results — and the important but somewhat anti-septic discussion of “ROI” and “cost savings” — cannot do justice to what our association is all about. When I imagine this year’s 451 Member Agency facilities displaying their Peak Performance Awards for amazing compliance records that might otherwise go unheralded, or when our members engage in a passionate discussion about the Utility of the Future, I see the shared passion they have for what they do and, by extension, for what we at NACWA do. This, I believe, is just as vital a “Return on Investment”. It is, to me at least, this shared passion and energy focused on shared objectives that constitute the Power of Association.

Any Executive Director of an association worth its salt also has frustrations. One of mine is with the public agencies that have chosen to not become members and yet reap the many benefits of your investment in us. I try to think of these non-members simply as future members and hope we can continue to convey to them just how much they are missing out on and to urge them to join us. We must continue to grow the NACWA family and become an even more powerful voice on behalf of our shared priorities.

Most importantly, I want to personally thank you for all your support over this past fiscal year and going into FY 2015, NACWA’s 45th anniversary. You have put NACWA’s general fund budget and our Targeted Action Fund (TAF) on a sustainable path (more on the TAF in my piece next month!) thereby ensuring solid results-oriented advocacy for the membership as a whole going forward. I look forward to getting FY 2015 started and to a fun and exciting year!