In the 1990s, Robert Putnam, the famed American political scientist, began examining why participation in American community groups was declining. What he uncovered was a broader erosion of the trust and relationships that those groups had traditionally helped create.
His book Bowling Alone became one of the most ambitious studies of American civic life ever assembled. Drawing on nearly 500,000 interviews and decades of evidence, Putnam found that Americans were joining fewer groups, attending fewer public meetings and spending less time with neighbours and friends. 1
His famous example captured the change clearly: more people were bowling, but fewer were bowling in leagues.
People had not stopped participating. Increasingly, they were participating alone.
What was disappearing was not simply attendance. It was social capital: the trust, relationships and shared responsibility that develop when people repeatedly take part in something together.
For associations, this matters because they are among the few organizations specifically designed to bring people together around a shared profession, identity or purpose. At their best, they do more than provide information. They create opportunities for people to participate, contribute and build relationships within their field.
We now have more ways to communicate than ever before. People can work from home, attend meetings online and maintain hundreds of professional connections without leaving a screen.
But access to more people does not necessarily produce stronger professional communities.
For associations, that may represent an important opening.
The early-career divide
Recent Canadian data suggest that belonging declines sharply as people enter adulthood.
Statistics Canada found that 63% of Canadians aged 15 to 19 reported a strong sense of belonging to their local community. That fell to 47% among those aged 20 to 24 and 43% among those aged 25 to 29. 2
This is also when many people leave school, enter the workforce and begin building their professional identities.
The communities once built into daily life are beginning to disappear. Classes, clubs and shared campuses are replaced by jobs, commutes and increasingly dispersed workplaces.
Professional associations often begin recruiting people at exactly this point. Yet many continue to lead primarily with practical benefits such as education, publications, credentials and discounts.
Those benefits matter, but they may overlook part of what early-career professionals need during this transition.
Younger people have not stopped joining
It would be a mistake to conclude that younger people are no longer interested in organized activity.
Between 2021 and 2024, 53% of Canadians aged 18 to 29 participated in a group, organization or association. 3
Earlier Statistics Canada research found that younger Canadians participated heavily in sports, recreation, cultural and hobby organizations. However, only 23.5% of people aged 18 to 30 were members of a union or professional association, compared with 45.7% of those aged 31 to 46 4.
The better question is not why younger adults refuse to join.
It is why they appear more willing to join some types of groups than professional associations.
Sports, hobbies and community organizations usually involve active participation. People do something together, see familiar faces and gradually become part of the group.
Professional membership can feel more distant. Someone pays a fee, receives emails and attends the occasional event, but may never develop a clear role or meaningful relationship within the organization.
The challenge may be less about selling membership and more about creating an experience that justifies joining.
Associations as a ‘Third Place’ for Remote Workers
Remote and hybrid work make this opportunity even more relevant.
In May 2026, 11.4% of employed Canadians worked exclusively from home, and another 9.8% had a hybrid arrangement. Combined, just over one in five employed Canadians worked from home for at least part of their schedule 5.
That flexibility has clear benefits, but it can reduce the informal interactions through which professional relationships often develop.
A study examining the working patterns of 61,182 Microsoft employees found that firm-wide remote work made collaboration networks more static and siloed, with fewer connections between different parts of the organization 6.
Associations could help fill part of that gap by becoming a professional “third place”: somewhere outside the home and immediate workplace where people regularly meet, contribute and develop relationships.
That could mean mentorship circles, local gatherings, small workshops, volunteer teams or recurring peer groups.
The specific format matters less than repetition.
A large annual conference may create attention and enthusiasm. Stronger relationships are more likely to develop when members see the same people repeatedly, participate in something together and gradually become known within the group.
More than networking
The answer is not simply to schedule more cocktail receptions and call them community.
Traditional networking can be uncomfortable, particularly for students, early-career professionals and people entering an unfamiliar field. Putting people in a crowded room and telling them to network does not automatically create useful connections.
Associations can make interaction easier by giving people a reason to speak and work together.
This could include small-group discussions, facilitated introductions, mentorship programs, volunteer projects, shared professional challenges and recurring cohorts for newer members.
The objective should not only be to bring people into a room. It should be to create conditions in which relationships can continue after the event ends.
There is no universal model
Not every association should offer the same experience.
A student may want an entry point into the profession. An early-career member may want mentorship, confidence and employment opportunities. An independent practitioner may want referrals and collaborators. A senior member may want leadership opportunities or a structured way to contribute.
ASAE has cautioned against relying too heavily on broad generational stereotypes. Career stage may be a more useful predictor of members’ education and content needs than age or generation 7.
Every professional community has its own culture, pressures and expectations. Those differences need to be investigated rather than assumed.
Why Member Surveys Alone Don’t Explain Attrition
Associations generally know who opens emails, attends events, renews memberships and completes courses.
These measures show what members did. They do not necessarily explain why.
A member may stop attending because an event is inconvenient. They may also feel uncomfortable entering a room where they know nobody.
A younger professional may say membership is too expensive when the underlying issue is that they cannot see how the organization fits into their career.
These motivations may not appear in a conventional satisfaction survey.
CSAE applied this thinking in its own member-needs assessment. The research began by exploring member challenges and concerns, moved into online focus groups and then used a broader quantitative survey to measure how those issues were distributed across the membership 8.
The case study also noted that directly asking people what they need may not be enough. Questions about their challenges, anxieties, frustrations and obstacles can reveal stronger opportunities.
Qualitative research can uncover language, barriers and motivations that are not yet fully understood. Surveys can then measure how widespread those findings are and identify which member groups are most affected.
Moving from assumption to evidence
The demand for professional connection may represent a significant opportunity for associations.
However, belonging cannot simply be added to a membership package as another generic benefit. It has to be translated into specific experiences that reflect the people, culture and working realities of the association.
At Pallas Data, we help associations understand:
- What members genuinely value
- What prevents people from joining or participating
- How needs differ across career stages and member groups
- Which ideas deserve investment
- Where unmet opportunities may exist beneath the surface
The decline of traditional associational life presents a challenge for membership organizations. It may also create an opening.
Associations already bring together people who share a profession, a field and a common set of challenges.
The opportunity is to turn that common ground into sustained participation, stronger professional relationships and greater member value.
- Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, 2000 ↩︎
- Foran, Helen. “Community and Well-Being: Exploring Sense of Belonging Among Youth.” Insights on Canadian Society, Statistics Canada, October 29, 2025. ↩︎
- Statistics Canada. “Youth Participation in Groups, Organizations or Associations.” October 29, 2025. Based on Canadian Social Survey data collected from 2021 to 2024. ↩︎
- Statistics Canada. “Political Participation, Civic Engagement and Caregiving Among Youth in Canada.” Portrait of Youth in Canada: Data Report, July 19, 2022. Participation figures based on the 2020 General Social Survey on Social Identity. ↩︎
- Statistics Canada. “Labour Force Survey, May 2026.” The Daily, June 5, 2026. ↩︎
- Yang, Longqi, et al. “The Effects of Remote Work on Collaboration Among Information Workers.” Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 6, 2022, pp. 43–54. ↩︎
- Rabbitt, Emily. “Connect With Members Across Generations.” ASAE Foundation, April 16, 2019. ↩︎
- CSAE and Gerald Bramm. “How to Evaluate Association Member Needs: A CSAE Case Study.” Canadian Society of Association Executives, February 28, 2022. ↩︎
