ASA leadership strives to practice sound and conservative fiscal management of both its investment portfolio and its annual budget. Our investment portfolio has had consistent growth, reflecting a conservative management approach that emphasizes diversification and realism. The portfolio's reserves currently provide a cushion of over two years of operating expenses. Similarly, ASA's approach to annual budget planning includes both realistic assessment of revenue projections and rigorous evaluation of new expenses, whether education products, staff, or outsourced labor. At present, ASA reserves are strong.
Yet there is a fault line in our foundation that has been present for years: ASA's revenue depends upon a narrow number of sources, with just over half of ASA revenue resulting from annual membership dues. As Figure 1 displays, membership dues consistently make up about 50% of our annual revenue. Compounded annual growth rates of both dues and non-dues revenue are steady but low, 2.6% and...
