NAFA CEO Phillip E. Russo, CAE: Community Member or Consumer? There’s A Big Difference

Why did you join NAFA? Why do you remain a member of NAFA?

In a recent survey we conducted, some of the most frequent responses to those questions were, and I’m paraphrasing, “For the networking,” “To learn about fleet,” and “To give back to the industry.”

In other words, the vast majority of people who join NAFA do so because they want to be part of a community that shares concerns, provides answers, helps them become better at their jobs, and allows them to be a part – in some way – of the future of the profession. Being part of a community is a unique characteristic of an association, where a group of people voluntarily come together to solve common problems, meet common needs, and accomplish common goals.

Think about it: when you join NAFA, you’re not just making a purchase or consuming something, as you would by, say, subscribing to a magazine or attending a sponsored conference. When you join NAFA, you become part of something. Something bigger than yourself, where, as the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When you join NAFA, you are making a statement that you care about your profession and want to make it better. In short, you’re not just a consumer, you’re part of the fabric of the organization.

In fact, what makes associations like NAFA unique is that the same populations are the owners, the customers, and the workforce. As a not-for-profit association, there are no stockholders in NAFA, and we pay no dividends to anyone. You, as the members of NAFA, are the rightful owners of this association. You, through your representatives on the Board of Directors, at the chapter levels, and on committees, set the direction and priorities for the association. When you enroll in the CAFM^® program, register for an event, or interact with the association in any other myriad ways, you are also then the customers of the association. And, if you are involved at all in chapter leadership, national committees, task forces, or planning groups, you are also the workforce – the individuals that carry out a great deal of the work that you and your colleagues say is necessary.

That dynamic, where the same population is owner, customer, and workforce, does not exist in for-profit corporations that serve the fleet industry. For example, you, as a fleet professional, are never going to be part of the ownership of the privately-held, for-profit company that, much like NAFA, provides print and e-publications, live events, websites, and marketing services to the fleet industry. Likely, too, that you’ll have few, if any, opportunities to be the workforce of that for-profit company, aside from a select few opportunities to serve on an advisory board for a specific program. That leaves you to be simply a customer, or consumer, of that for-profit company’s products and programs. And that is a completely different relationship than what you have with NAFA.

As part of the NAFA community, your support of the programs you and your colleagues develop goes straight toward the very mission of the association: to advance the profession of fleet and mobility management through education, advocacy, and networking. Being a not-for-profit association does not mean we are not allowed to make a profit; it means any profit we make goes right back into the association to fund existing or new programs that support that mission.

For instance, part of the “profit” we make on the annual conference underwrites NAFA’s government affairs efforts in the U.S. and Canada. No other fleet group can play the critical role of advocate and watch-dog for the fleet industry, and I&E allows NAFA that privilege. Any other “profit” the association makes goes into forming the association that you want and need this to be.

As a customer of a for-profit entity, your support of their programs goes to their bottom line. They may use some of their profit to develop new programs that might help you, or they may use that profit to help offset other areas of their business that have nothing to do with fleet. Now, I’m not saying their programs may not be worthwhile, or that they can’t provide valuable services. And I’m certainly not saying you shouldn’t be a customer of these organizations. What I am saying is that their purpose for “being,” their reason for existence, is profit-driven, and, therefore, different than NAFA’s altruistic purpose. As a result, your relationship with these entities is different than it is with NAFA.

I am very proud of the community that exists in NAFA. I am blessed to be part of this community and pledge my continued hard work and dedication to making sure NAFA remains your most vital, vibrant, trustworthy source for education, advocacy, and networking.

Sincerely,

Phil
prusso@nafa.org
609-986-1055

P.S. As many of you know, in April I wrote a lengthy reply to an editorial in Automotive Fleet magazine. (For a look at my reply, please click here: Debunking Rumors: NAFA’s I&E Continues to Grow.) Many, many of you have congratulated and thanked me for writing the reply. The in-person pats on the back at I&E in April were too frequent to count. That acknowledgment was nice and, I have to admit, felt really good. But, that is not why I wrote the reply.

The reply had to be written because not only were the claims wrong on every count about attendance at NAFA’s I&E, but they also showed a complete misunderstanding of the dynamics behind I&E and the role the event plays for NAFA and the fleet industry. I had to set the record straight. To be clear: my reply was not about me versus anyone else, nor about NAFA versus any other organization. My reply was about correcting misinformation, doing what was right for NAFA, and defending the honor of the people who lead and work for this association who in the editorial (and again in a subsequent follow-up piece) were painted as less-than-truthful and even deceitful. That was just wrong and, frankly, merits an apology from the writer, for which we are still waiting.

P.P.S. In an update to that response: exactly 1,166 fleet professionals registered for NAFA’s 2018 Institute & Expo in Anaheim, an increase of seven percent from last year. This easily eclipsed our previous highwater mark of 1,112 attendees in 2013 in Atlantic City. Of those 1,166 registrants, nearly 900 (896 to be exact) were bona fide fleet managers, while the remaining 270 were suppliers. Of the 896 fleet managers, 439 (49 percent) were from corporate entities and 457 (51 percent) were from public service or government agencies.

Compare that to any other fleet conference and you won’t see those kinds of numbers anywhere, first of all, because they don’t release this kind of detailed information, but more importantly, because they can’t come close to these numbers.