Association CEOs and boards understand the importance of online education, but they don’t always back it with resources. Even though 71% cite staff capacity as their primary operational risk, education teams remain underfunded.
The Association Forum’s December 2025 FIRE Report (Forces, Insights, Risks & Evolution) gives you the case to grow your budget: data on what associations lose by not investing in online education and recommendations on what to build.
Let’s look at the report’s five recommended strategies.
Build Year-Round Association Learning Ecosystems to Reduce Event Dependency
Event-dependency is cited as the biggest risk by 62% of association CEOs. What percentage of your members attend your annual conference? How are you delivering education and networking to them the other 51 weeks of the year?
The FIRE Report recommends moving from events to learning ecosystems—online education and networking programs that serve members all year round.
Membership Models for Learning Ecosystems
Try an all-access membership model like Netflix, where members pay one flat annual rate for access to all online content and learning programs—with the exception of premium programs, like cohort programs and leadership academies.
Other models:
- Tiered membership with benefits based on services or career stage
- Learning subscriptions for individuals, companies, and non-members
- Learning cohorts meeting online to solve workplace problems
Design Career Pathways and Stackable Credentials for Learner Retention
The FIRE Report recommends replacing one-off programs with career pathways designed around learning. Career pathways show professionals how to build expertise over time, stacking courses and credentials in sequences that match career development.
Map your profession’s career arcs. What do people need in their first three years? At mid-career? For advanced expertise? Design your education to match that reality.
Career Pathway Examples
Entry-level project managers start with microcredentialing programs, progress to certification once they have enough work experience, then add specialized credentials in agile methodologies or business analysis based on their career direction.
HR associations follow similar paths: Begin with a foundational professional certification for early-career practitioners, advance to senior-level certification for strategic roles, then layer in specialized credentials for talent acquisition or compensation.
Pathways give professionals clear direction and give you multi-year relationships and revenue.
Lead Industry Reskilling with Association Credentialing Programs
60% of workers will need reskilling by 2027, which is why the alternative credential market will hit $69.9 billion by 2032. Are professionals and employers looking to your association first for reskilling or going elsewhere?
Associations should own this space. You already understand the profession, the competencies that matter, and the pathways that work. But first, answer honestly: are your programs reskilling people for what’s next or teaching what mattered five years ago?
Effective reskilling programs combine technical skills with human skills that outlast technological disruption, like critical thinking, adaptability, and collaboration.
How to Measure Association Training Impact and ROI
You need proof that your programs make a difference. Satisfaction surveys don’t cut it. Try this instead:
- Build outcome tracking into program design. Don’t wait until the end to ask about results. Structure learning so participants document application as they go: problems solved, projects completed, and skills applied. Create evidence of your program’s impact, not just opinions.
- Create employer feedback loops. Ask hiring managers and supervisors what they see: Does training change performance? Do credentialed professionals outperform non-credentialed ones? Their feedback validates your programs and informs curriculum updates.
- Track career progression metrics. Monitor promotion rates, salary changes, and job transitions among credential holders. Benchmark against industry data where available. Track compensation data for certified versus non-certified members to get the numbers your marketing team needs.
Develop AI Training Programs to Lead Your Industry
The FIRE report shows an opportunity for associations to become the go-to source for AI training in your industry. Generic training platforms and companies can’t teach profession-specific AI applications, ethics, or use cases the way you can.
The market is ready: 92% of employers now value AI micro-credentials. If you’re not offering these programs, you’re missing both revenue and relationship-building opportunities.
Three AI Training Program Models for Associations
Three AI training programs to start:
AI On-Ramp: 30-day guided program on using ChatGPT and other AI tools for daily work tasks.
AI Governance Essentials: This course addresses privacy, security, and risk specific to your industry and covers topics such as what’s safe to go into AI tools, how to protect confidentiality, and what AI policies should address.
AI Sandbox: A collaborative space for safe experimentation where members submit real (anonymized) challenges, facilitators demonstrate AI approaches, and everyone practices together.
Act on this opportunity soon before competitors claim the AI training space in your industry.
Expand Member Reach with Hybrid Learning and Virtual Education
Before Covid hit in 2020, hybrid learning wasn’t a priority for most associations. Now, according to the FIRE Report, 82% of association members want hybrid access to learning and events.
Hybrid is in demand because it expands reach beyond members and customers who can travel. It makes content accessible to anyone whose budget, schedule, location, or responsibilities prevents in-person attendance.
Done well, hybrid doesn’t dilute the in-person experience, it complements it. In-person focuses on connection and community. Virtual delivers content to a wider audience and extends the learner lifecycle.
Hybrid Learning Formats Beyond Webinars
Try one of these formats:
Interactive workshops: Small-group virtual sessions (15-20 people) working through case studies. Run practice labs where professionals tackle real project challenges in virtual breakout rooms.
Blended learning: Require three self-paced online modules before meeting for in-person intensives. Attendees arrive ready to tackle advanced applications, not basic concepts.
Virtual networking: Topic-based Zoom rooms or Slack channels. Host weekly meetings where members discuss hot topics.
Micro-conferences: Monthly two-hour virtual events with one keynote and three breakouts. Lower commitment, higher frequency events keep your association top-of-mind.
Association Education Strategy Takeaways from the FIRE Report
The FIRE Report warns: “The next era will reward those who design the future, not react to it.” It recommends five strategies for education teams:
- Build year-round learning ecosystems
- Lead reskilling with credentials
- Design career pathways
- Develop AI training
- Expand with hybrid formats
All five drive the same shifts: from transactional to transformational and from annual to continuous. Associations that thrive will modernize intentionally and measure what matters: career outcomes, not completion rates. Need help building any of this? Apti designs online learning experiences for associations—career-building courses that prove their value. Let’s talk about what this looks like for your organization.