The Latest CSAE Research on AI and Associations: Navigating the Opportunities and Challenges

For those of you who missed our session at the CSAE 2025 Summer Summit, this blog post will give you a summary of our presentation.

Our session gave an overview of a recent survey conducted by Bramm Research in collaboration with CSAE. The objective of the survey was to obtain a snapshot of AI usage amongst Canadian associations. We hoped that the findings would give associations across the country the tools needed to benchmark their activities as they look to adopt AI. We also wanted to identify the concerns and challenges associations are facing with this new technology and share their best practices.

Survey invitations were sent to all CSAE executive members in April 2025. We purposely wanted to hear from all staff levels. We were curious to know if AI experimentation differed across the organization.

Outlined below are key findings from each of the areas of inquiry.

Use of AI at a Staff level

Almost one-third of all respondents (30%) said that they are using AI tools regularly. This percentage is greater amongst staff who are not at the executive director level, amongst larger organizations and respondents who are under 45 years of age.

Sixty percent said that they were either “very” or “somewhat familiar” with how AI can be applied to their association work. This “familiarity” is greater amongst Trade / Industry associations, larger organizations (based on staff size) and younger staff.

The Use of AI at an Association Level

At an association level, relatively few (five percent of respondents) said that AI is fully integrated into their association. Again, this percentage is the greatest amongst Trade / Business associations versus Professional associations and is highest amongst larger associations.

An additional 24% classified themselves as early adopters i.e. their organization is piloting AI in specific areas, with leadership involvement and initial policy discussions.

Usage tends to be focused on specific tasks and is aimed at improving operational efficiency. Relatively few are using AI to take on strategic initiatives e.g. those related to member acquisition, retention and engagement.

We asked respondents to describe significant “operational wins” that they were achieving with AI.  These “wins” included:

• Time Savings & Efficiency Gains – AI tools have significantly reduced time spent on routine tasks, allowing staff to focus on higher-value work.

• Content Creation & Communication Support – Help with writing, drafting, and refining communications – from emails to donation campaigns and annual reports

• Administrative Support & Meeting Summaries – AI is streamlining administrative tasks such as preparing meeting minutes, managing committees, and summarizing documents.

• Design & Marketing Output – AI tools are empowering small teams to create professional quality marketing and design work in-house.
• Specialized Tasks (Translation, Data Management, Member Queries) – AI is also making a difference in areas like translation, data sorting, answering member questions.

• Strategic Thinking & Idea Generation – While the majority are using AI to improve operational efficiencies, some respondents mentioned using AI as a thought partner for brainstorming, refining messaging, and generating strategic outlines.

Potential Concerns

We asked respondents about their concerns regarding the use of AI. The number one concern relates to uncertainty about how AI tools will handle sensitive member information. Other major concerns relate to:

• AI reliability and accuracy e.g. AI making incorrect or misleading recommendations

• Regulatory and legal concerns e.g. legal liability for AI driven decisions

AI Guidelines and Policies

The survey dug into the perceived importance of AI guidelines and policies versus the actual existence of these policies. It is of interest, that while 62% claim that AI policies are essential, 74% said that they do not have guidelines or policies in place. However, 39% say that they plan on adopting guidelines and policies at some point in 2025.

We asked respondents to suggest key elements that should be included in guidelines and policies. These items were at the top of the list:

• What member data can be collected, stored, or shared
• Ensuring that staff understand their responsibilities under guidelines
• A list of approved AI tools that are safe for staff to use
• Information not to be uploaded e.g. personnel-related documents (including resumes)

Final Thoughts

We asked respondents, in an open-ended question, to give their advice to associations that might be just beginning their AI journey.  Here are a handful of those responses. They highlight the importance of getting started with AI while making sure that policies are in place. And finally, keeping in mind that AI is a tool and not a replacement for a human.

“Start now and accelerate adoption with your team members as it is a distinct competitive disadvantage if you are not using any AI tools or processes”

“Put policies in place before widespread adoption.”

“Run it by the board and create a general policy.”

“Tread carefully and learn everything you can about it before adopting it.”

“Remember AI is a tool and not a replacement for a human. It still requires a human touch and fact checking.”

“The human piece NEEDS to remain involved for all AI generated content and activities.”