Expenses grew faster than revenue.
Nominal changes within each association across the full period.
WSS RESEARCH / LSAE ASSOCIATION COHORT
Louisiana’s Association Financial Landscape
Financial patterns and strategic questions from 29 associations represented in LSAE membership, 2021–2024.
29 associations116 Form 990 records analyzed2021–2024 fiscal years ending
All results are aggregated and anonymized. Patterns and questions—not grades for individual associations.
01 / EXPLORE THE LANDSCAPE
Revenue grew. Expenses grew faster.
Median index · each association’s 2021 = 100
RevenueExpenses
Same 29 associations each year · Fiscal years ending 2021–2024 · Source: Form 990 filings via ProPublica.
View accessible aggregate data
| Fiscal year ending | Revenue index | Expense index |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 2022 | 105.9 | 111.5 |
| 2023 | 114.1 | 114.6 |
| 2024 | 110.2 | 118.9 |
WHAT THE DATA SHOWS / 2021–2024
Median revenue growth: +10.2%. Median expense growth: +18.9%. Expenses grew faster than revenue in 23 of 29 associations (79.3%).
A QUESTION FOR LEADERS
What would we change if our current revenue model cannot support the services members will need next?
Interpretation, alternatives and limits
What it may suggestMany leaders may be navigating a tighter relationship between what their organizations bring in and what they spend.
Alternative explanationsExpanded services, event recovery, deliberate investment, inflation and reporting changes can all increase expenses.
What cannot be concludedThis does not establish overspending, inefficiency or declining member value. Different medians do not describe one typical budget.
THE FOUR-YEAR PICTURE / 2021–2024 / 29 ASSOCIATIONS
Median inflation-adjusted revenue change.
Revenue purchasing power after inflation adjustment.
Median surplus margin narrowed.
Annual medians; the median within-association change was −5.8 percentage points.
02 / REVENUE MIX
Different models.
Different dependencies.
Broad filing categories offer context, but they do not isolate total membership dues.
Selected fiscal year: 2024 · 29 associations. Change the year in Explore to update this view.
Contributions & grants22.2%
Program-service revenue54.8%
Investment results2.4%
Other revenue2.6%
Each bar is a separate median of association-level shares. They do not add to 100%. Dues may appear in contributions or program services; investment results include realized gains and losses. No individual association’s revenue mix is shown.
03 / WORKFORCE & SPENDING
What does it take
to deliver the work?
Reported personnel expense share tells part of the story. Outsourced work, benefits and changes in other spending can all affect the ratio.
What capabilities do members need next—and how should we develop them?
2024 / MEDIAN REPORTED PERSONNEL EXPENSE SHARE
38.2%
of total reported expenses
2021: 45.4%2024: 38.2%
Same 29 associations, 2021–2024. Median within-association change: −2.6 percentage points. This does not demonstrate layoffs, productivity gains or AI adoption. Lower share does not necessarily mean lower payroll spending.
04 / QUESTIONS FOR ASSOCIATION LEADERS
Bring better questions to the table.
Use these patterns to examine your own strategy, member value and capacity to adapt.
01What would we change if our current revenue model cannot support the services members will need next?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Median revenue growth: +10.2%. Median expense growth: +18.9%. Expenses grew faster than revenue in 23 of 29 associations (79.3%).
Possible interpretationMany leaders may be navigating a tighter relationship between what their organizations bring in and what they spend.
Other explanationsExpanded services, event recovery, deliberate investment, inflation and reporting changes can all increase expenses.
LimitsThis does not establish overspending, inefficiency or declining member value. Different medians do not describe one typical budget.
02Are we evaluating revenue goals in dollars alone—or in terms of what those dollars can actually buy?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Median nominal revenue growth was +10.2%; median inflation-adjusted revenue change was -4.8%. Sixteen of 29 associations had lower inflation-adjusted revenue in 2024 than in 2021.
Possible interpretationA larger revenue figure may still leave an association with less purchasing power.
Other explanationsAn association-specific cost mix can differ from consumer inflation; 2021 may also be an unusual starting point.
LimitsCPI is not an association cost index. The adjustment does not measure service quality, membership volume or actual procurement costs.
03How quickly could our board respond if financial headroom continued to narrow?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Median reported surplus margin moved from 8.7% in 2021 to 1.5% in 2024. The median within-association change was -5.8 percentage points.
Possible interpretationThe cohort had less reported annual financial headroom at the end of the observed period.
Other explanationsInvestment results, one-time receipts, event timing, deliberate spending and accounting changes can alter reported margins.
LimitsThis is not a pure operating margin, cash-flow measure or judgment of organizational health. The difference between annual medians is not the median within-association change.
04Do we distinguish a planned investment deficit from a recurring structural gap?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Deficit counts were 7, 11, 8 and 12 of 29 in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Twenty of 29 reported at least one deficit during the four years.
Possible interpretationA deficit year is a relevant planning scenario for many associations in this cohort.
Other explanationsPlanned use of accumulated resources, investment losses, temporary disruptions and strategic investment may explain some deficits.
LimitsA deficit does not establish insolvency or poor leadership. These counts do not prove a steadily worsening trend.
05What portion of our balance sheet is truly flexible—and what is our policy for using it?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Median within-association net-asset growth was +7.7%, compared with +18.9% for expenses. The median net-assets-to-expenses ratio moved from 1.62 to 1.38.
Possible interpretationBalance-sheet resources may not have expanded as quickly as the annual scale of activity.
Other explanationsUnrealized investment changes, restricted funds, property values, liabilities and strategic use of assets affect net assets.
LimitsNet assets are not cash reserves. The ratio cannot be described as cash runway, months of liquidity or funds available to spend.
06Which assumptions in our strategic plan fit our own members and business model?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024The middle half of associations had nominal revenue changes between -5.5% and +22.8%. The middle half of expense changes ranged from +5.4% to +32.7%.
Possible interpretationA single average would miss meaningful variation in the pressures and opportunities leaders face.
Other explanationsDifferent missions, programs, fiscal calendars, accounting practices and revenue sources can produce different trajectories.
LimitsThese ranges do not rank associations, establish causes or show whether larger organizations perform better.
07What capabilities do members need next, and should we develop them through staff, partners, professional education or technology?
Evidence · 29 associations · 2021–2024Median reported personnel expense share moved from 45.4% in 2021 to 38.2% in 2024. The median within-association change was -2.6 percentage points.
Possible interpretationThe composition of reported spending changed, raising questions about how work is being delivered.
Other explanationsFaster growth in other expenses, outsourced work, staffing changes, benefit changes or cost classification can shift this ratio.
LimitsThe filings do not demonstrate layoffs, productivity gains, service quality changes or AI adoption. A lower share does not necessarily mean lower payroll spending.
The filings cannot tell us whether we are solving yesterday’s problems. They can ground a conversation about professional education, workforce development, member needs, technology and the speed of our decisions.
05 / METHODOLOGY & LIMITATIONS
Know what sits behind the numbers.
Historical public filings, transparent calculations and a fixed cohort. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
Coverage and the study population
The supplied list was previously screened for associations represented in LSAE membership and expected Form 990 filers. Of 32 supplied organizations, 29 were confidently matched; three unresolved identity or reporting-scope cases were excluded after review. The full membership screening was not independently audited. This is not a statewide census or representative sample.
We collected 145 annual records from 148 main-form documents; three superseded filings were retained for source validation but excluded from the analysis. The main comparison uses 116 full Form 990 records for the same 29 associations in fiscal years ending 2021–2024. Records for 2020 (21 organizations) and 2025 (8) are outside these charts. The one Form 990-EZ collected is also outside this comparison. No missing intervening years were found within the collected five-period spans.
Sources, amendments and validation
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer supplied entity searches, filing histories, structured data and original IRS e-file renderings. IRS Business Master File records supported identity checks. Original filings take precedence over structured summaries; marked amended returns replace earlier versions for analysis. Targeted related-entity and explanatory schedules were reviewed.
Core revenue, expense and balance-sheet totals reconciled. Missing values remain missing; explicit reported zeros remain zero. Unusual values were retained after source review and flagged privately. This work is not an independent financial audit. Related entities were not added to the cohort, and reporting scope and accounting methods can differ.
Definitions and reproducible calculations
Growth = 100 × (current / baseline − 1), requiring a positive baseline. Index = 100 × current / baseline. Each association starts at 100 in 2021; the plotted line is the median of its peers’ indices in each year. It is not an index of total cohort dollars.
Reported surplus margin = 100 × (total revenue − total expenses) / positive revenue. Deficit prevalence counts negative annual surpluses among eligible associations. Reported personnel expense share = 100 × salaries, compensation and employee benefits / positive total expenses. Net-assets-to-expenses ratio = year-end net assets / positive annual expenses. It is not cash runway or unrestricted reserves.
Category shares divide each reported category by that association’s revenue, then take the cohort median. Category medians do not add to 100%. Quartiles use linear interpolation. Calculations use full precision before rounding; annual medians and median within-association changes answer different questions.
Inflation and fiscal-year differences
Inflation adjustment uses BLS CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SA0). We average the 12 monthly observations matching each association’s fiscal period. Real index = nominal index × 2021 fiscal-period CPI / current fiscal-period CPI.
CPI is not an association-specific cost index. Fiscal-year endings and accounting methods vary; year labels refer to the year in which each fiscal period ends. All periods in the main comparison are full annual periods. Filings lag current conditions. Without a pre-2020 baseline, these records cannot establish pre-pandemic versus post-pandemic change or its causes.
Anonymity and what is intentionally left out
All chart cohorts contain 29 associations. Only precomputed aggregate values are used. No names, EINs, filing links, organization-level values, persistent organization labels or individual extremes are included. Small financial subgroups and their complements must contain at least five organizations; the current deficit comparisons meet that requirement. Budget-size and category filters are withheld to reduce identification risk.
Total dues, unrestricted liquidity, CEO-pay comparisons and functional-expense rankings are not supported sufficiently for this experience. Form 990 cannot establish service quality, member satisfaction, effectiveness, AI adoption or why a financial change occurred. Public records and outside knowledge mean anonymity cannot be guaranteed absolutely, even with these protections.
Research and experience by Wilder Strategic Solutions. AI assisted collection, analysis and development; source checks, documented methods and human review remain essential.
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