New Membership Structure

In July 2005, CAI changed its membership structure to an individual structure for community managers and community association volunteer leaders.  The reasons for this change were to increase the value of CAI for all membership groups, establish the framework to expand membership, elevate the professional status of the community management profession and enhance CAI as the voice for community association volunteer leadership and management.  As expected, our membership has grown—from about 16,000 to nearly 25,000 members. Individual community manager memberships have increased by more than 300 percent. With these changes, we have laid the foundation to strengthen the community management profession and foster more successful communities.

Professional Managers

Objectives: CAI is committed to increasing the visibility of the profession, improving the professional standing of managers, elevating the marketplace value of professional designations and more aggressively promoting the professionalism of those who hold CAI credentials. These efforts were strengthened in July 2005 with the creation of the Association of Professional Community Managers (APCM), a specialized member group that provides practical support to manager members. APCM is an automatic benefit of membership, entitling members to exclusive services. Governance:  An APCM Board consisting of managers and management company executives elects four members to the CAI Board of Trustees.

Management Companies

Objectives:  By elevating the real and perceived value of professional managers, we are stimulating greater marketplace respect for the management companies that serve the community association business. Furthermore, by attracting more community association volunteer (homeowner) members, CAI provides management companies with access to more potential customers. Governance: Management companies are represented with a minimum of four seats on the 12-member APCM Board.

Volunteer Leaders/Homeowners

Objectives: Community association volunteer leaders ultimately are responsible for building community, meeting the expectations of neighbors and protecting property values. CAI is redoubling its commitment to provide customized products, services and expertise that volunteers need to fulfill these obligations. These efforts were strengthened in July 2005 with creation of the Center for Community Association Volunteers (CCAV), a specialized member group within CAI focusing on issues and needs unique to association volunteers.  CCAV is an automatic benefit of CAI membership, entitling members to exclusive member services. Governance:  The Community Association Volunteers Committee elects two members to the CAI Board of Trustees.

Business Partners (Product and Service Providers)

Rationale:  The MVI recognizes that product and service providers are an essential part of the CAI family at both the national and chapter levels. By making membership less costly and more valuable for professional managers and association volunteers, we believe CAI membership ultimately will increase, giving business partners access to even greater numbers of potential clients. To make multi-chapter memberships more cost-effective, CAI offers a national corporate membership option for companies that can benefit from involvement in all chapters. Governance:  A Business Partners Council composed of professional product and service providers elects two members to the CAI Board of Trustees.