What Association Laboratory does

Association Laboratory, founded in 1999 by Dean West, is a privately-held, founder-owned research and strategy consulting firm that serves the association ecosystem exclusively. The firm's clients are trade associations, professional societies, and social-service member organizations. It operates from offices in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC with a headcount in the 1-10 range, relying on a small bench of former association executives rather than a large junior-analyst pyramid.

The product portfolio is anchored on three offerings. The first is consulting engagements built around the firm's proprietary Strategic Planning Model, which guides clients through structured research, scenario planning, and roadmap development. The second is the Looking Forward research suite, a subscription-access research product fed by more than 200 environmental scans over 25 years and supported by a Voice of the Member program that produces continuous real-time insight telemetry. The third is the Knowledge Center, an education and leadership-development library hosted in partnership with CE21 and including the 25 Lessons in Leadership video series. Delivery is enhanced through a data-analytics partnership with Nucleus, a Community Brands product, which embeds research within the dominant association-management ecosystem.

Revenue is generated through fee-for-service strategic planning engagements, recurring subscriptions to the Looking Forward research dashboard and Knowledge Center content, payments for custom summits and benchmarking studies, and honoraria from Dean West's international speaking engagements. Distribution and go-to-market rely on ASAE and association-industry networks, the founder's personal platform, and the Association Laboratory Research Alliance (founded 2019; expanded in 2020 with partners in India and the Philippines). The firm accepts that it operates inside a narrow vertical by design and competes on domain depth and proprietary methodology rather than scale.

Name

Association Laboratory

Legal name

Association Laboratory Inc.

Website

https://associationlaboratory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Association Laboratory is a research and strategy consulting firm founded in 1999 serving trade associations, professional societies, and social-service member organizations through strategic planning engagements, the Looking Forward research suite, and the Knowledge Center leadership-education library.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategy Consulting Services: Research-based, collaborative consulting engagements addressing the spectrum of association challenges including strategic planning, membership strategy, environmental scanning, content strategy, education/credentialing strategy, DEI strategy, meetings strategy, component strategy, global strategy, and voice of member programs.
2. Knowledge Center Content Sales: Sale of educational content through the CE21 Knowledge Center including webinars, white papers, and publications. Association Laboratory is a CAE Registered Provider offering continuing education credits.
3. Custom Leadership Summits: Virtual or face-to-face leadership retreats designed for association components and stakeholders, focused on reimagining the future of industries or professions.
4. Looking Forward Dashboard Access: Subscription-based access to the Looking Forward® research dashboard providing customizable sector research data to association leaders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Association Laboratory is a research and strategy consulting firm that helps association leaders make better strategic decisions through evidence-based, collaborative consulting engagements. It delivers strategic planning, environmental scanning, membership strategy, content strategy, education/credentialing strategy, DEI strategy, meetings strategy, component strategy, global strategy, and Voice of the Member research programs, and sells the Looking Forward family of sector research studies and online continuing education through its Knowledge Center.

Product overview

Association Laboratory is a research and strategy consulting firm that provides a portfolio of services helping association leaders make better decisions. The core offerings consist of three main areas: (1) Research and Strategy Consulting Services - including strategic planning, environmental scanning, membership strategy, content strategy, DEI strategy, meetings strategy, component strategy, global strategy, and the Association Laboratory Strategic Planning Model methodology framework; (2) Sector Research Insights - led by the Looking Forward research program including Impact, Challenges, and Solutions studies that provide data from hundreds of associations across 20+ professional sectors; and (3) Education and Leadership Development - delivered through the Knowledge Center (online LMS), Custom Leadership Summits, Speaking and Facilitation, and the Voice of the Member continuous research program. The company also operates the Association Laboratory Research Alliance, a collaborative research consortium of association executives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Looking Forward Research (Impact) Global environmental scan of the association strategy environment that identifies factors with the most significant impact on association members, conducted since 2012 across hundreds of associations in over 20 professional and industry sectors.
• Looking Forward Challenges Study examining challenges that the changing environment creates for association strategy, providing insights into strategic obstacles facing the association sector.
• Looking Forward Solutions Assessment study evaluating more than 135 different strategies and solutions to identify those that association leaders believe are important to success given changes in the member environment.
• Knowledge Center (Online Education) Online education platform hosting webinars and educational publications based on the company's association sector research, organized into categories including Component & Chapter Strategy, Content & Community Strategy, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Education & Professional Development, Futures Research, Global Strategy, Marketing & Communication, Meetings & Conventions, Membership & Engagement, Research Tools & Techniques, and Strategic Leadership & Governance.
• Strategic Planning Consulting (Association Laboratory Strategic Planning Model) Full-service research and strategy consulting engagement using the proprietary Association Laboratory Strategic Planning Model, an evidence-based and market-driven strategic planning approach designed for modern professional societies, trade associations, and social service organizations, based on nearly 30 years of association experience.
• Environmental Scanning Comprehensive environmental scanning consulting service helping associations navigate the evolving landscapes of industries and professions, with over 200 environmental scans conducted across 20 industry sectors.
• Membership Strategy Consulting Strategic advisory consulting for membership challenges including needs discovery, benefit prioritization, and membership offer modeling using advanced research methodologies such as conjoint analysis.
• Content Strategy Consulting Digital content strategy consulting helping associations connect their brand with intended audiences through content identification, pathway assessment, and delivery prioritization.
• Education or Credentialing Strategy Consulting Strategic advisory consulting for education and credentialing programs, including comprehensive analysis of learner preferences, industry requirements, and evolving technologies.
• DEI Strategy Consulting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consulting services providing objective information and productive discussion guidance for associations on DEI issues.
• Meetings Strategy Consulting Strategic advisory for meetings and conventions including audience analysis, content curation, and configuration excellence to optimize attendee experience.
• Component Strategy Consulting Strategic services for aligning parent association and chapter/component strategies to elevate local engagement and fortify member connections.
• Global Strategy Consulting Global strategy development consulting helping associations build bridges across geographies through collaborative, research-driven approaches.
• Voice of the Member Program Continuous research program providing real-time member insights to replace episodic data collection, enabling dynamic data collection, enhanced decision-making, and adaptive member engagement strategies.
• Speaking and Facilitation Keynote speaking and strategic facilitation services featuring Dean West, FASAE, providing research-based insights for association leadership audiences at national and global events including ASAE and Dubai Association Congress.
• Custom Leadership Summits Virtual or face-to-face leadership retreats designed to focus participants on reimagining the future of their industry or profession, including platform provision, event production, and moderation.
• Association Laboratory Research Alliance Collaborative research program uniting state, national, specialty, and global societies of association executives to investigate and provide insight into the future of the association business model.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully conducted over 200 environmental scans spanning 20+ industry and professional sectors
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• India Association Congress (IAC)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 May 2020Formed mutually beneficial alliance with India Association Congress to increase access to high quality research for IAC members and stakeholders. IAC coordinated webinars providing global perspectives on the pandemic and other COVID-19 resources for associations.
• Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 May 2020Formed mutually beneficial alliance with PCAAE to increase access to high quality research for PCAAE members and stakeholders, helping their members increase knowledge of industry best practices and build a strong community of successful associations.
• CE21coreTechnology or IntegrationCE21 is a cloud-based technology and services company providing a full-service Learning Management System (LMS) that delivers distance education, online registration, and physical product sales solutions to professional education verticals including associations. CE21 hosts the Association Laboratory Knowledge Center for educational content delivery.
• Nucleus (Community Brands)coreTechnology or IntegrationNucleus is the official Data Analytics Solution of the Association Research Alliance. Built on modern data lake technology, Nucleus brings together member data from different systems used by associations (AMS/CRM, email marketing, events, learning/certification, online community). When users browse a Looking Forward Dashboard, they are using Nucleus technology configured to deliver association research findings.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ASAE (American Society of Association Executives): Industry body for association executives that also publishes research, offers education, and provides consulting-adjacent resources. Acts as both an ecosystem enabler and a broad competitor to specialty association consulting firms.
• SmithBucklin: Largest association management company in the U.S., providing full-service management, consulting, and strategic services to hundreds of associations. Broader and larger incumbent offering many of the same advisory services.
• Association Headquarters: Full-service association management firm offering strategic planning, membership, meetings, and operational consulting. Larger, broader competitor serving a similar client base with a wider service portfolio.

Direct peers

• Yarger Strategies: Niche consultancy focused on association strategy and strategic planning. Comparable boutique competitor serving association clients with research-based strategic advisory services.
• McKinley Advisors: Association strategy and research consulting firm serving associations and nonprofits with research, strategic planning, and benchmarking services. Closest direct competitor to Association Laboratory in terms of offerings and target client base.
• Tecker International: Strategy consulting firm dedicated to associations and nonprofits, providing strategic planning, governance, and member engagement services. Highly comparable to Association Laboratory's strategy consulting offerings.
• Mariner Management: Association management and consulting firm providing strategic planning, governance, and operational consulting to associations and nonprofits. Directly comparable business model serving the same client segment.
• Avenue M Group: Association consulting firm offering strategic planning, membership strategy, and research services to professional societies and trade associations. Comparable in scope of services and client base.

Emerging players

• Potencia Ventures: Emerging consultancy focused on association strategy, growth, and innovation for professional societies. Niche overlap with Association Laboratory's strategic planning and innovation offerings, particularly for associations seeking transformation.

Regional players

• Association Forum: Regional association serving association executives in the Chicago area. Operates as a peer community, awards program (Forty Under 40), and education provider — intersecting with Association Laboratory's Knowledge Center and summit offerings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/associationlab
• Facebookfacebook.com/Association-Laboratory-Inc-195410233822154
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-laboratory

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Association Laboratory