FAQs

TAF ( the The Trade Association Forum) is a trade association for trade associations based in the UK. We have more than 180 trade associations that in turn represent more than 190,000 businesses from every sector of the economy.

Find out more about us here.

Trade associations are representative bodies for groups of companies or other organisations with common interests. Most associations cover a specific sector or sub-sector of industry, but some cover processes or functions.

There's more information about trade associations, what they do and how they differ from other representative bodies here.

TAF's membership is made up of UK-based trade associations drawn from every sector of the economy. Membership is open to any UK-based trade association.

Find out more about our members here.

Find out more about joining TAF here.

TAF Membership is open to any UK-based trade association. Membership is organisation-wide meaning anyone that works for a member association can get involved in TAF's activities. Membership fees are based on the number of directly-employed staff in your association.

Find out more about joining TAF here.

TAF's mission is to encourage the development and sharing of best practice among UK trade associations and promote the role of effective trade associations to government, industry and the wider public.

We do this via a range of activities and services, based on our 3 core pillars:

• Community
• Insights
• Services

Find out more by navigating the main menu of this website.

The Institute of Association Leadership was founded in 1933 as a professional association for all those in senior leadership roles within membership-based organisations.

In 2022 the IAL and all of its assets were merged into TAF, providing a new home for the association compass amongst other materials.

TAF continues to pursue the IAL's mission to provide networks, resources and training to support our sector's professional and personal development, find out more about our Resources and Training.

Unfortunately not! TAF's mission is to support trade associations, and that's where all of our focus goes so only associations are allowed to join. We classify associations as membership organisations that represent businesses, not people (though some associations do both!), so if that's you come on in!

If that's not, fear not! There are lots of great organisations out there that represent the broader membership community, many of whom we work closely with at TAF. Some of our favourites are:

• Memberwise
• Professional Associations Research Network

TAF's members are all UK headquartered, so if you are based abroad then unfortunately TAF might not be for you. Lots of our members do have international membership offers, but our focus is on the UK.

There are TAF-equivalents in some countries around the World, so check out these organisations if that's where you are based:

• Australia - Associations Forum
• EU - European Society of Association Executives
• USA - American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)

TAF's primary focus is on our members and championing the UK trade association community, however, we do work with lots of other organisations and individuals as part of that mission.

We are always open to hearing from people who can provide content or speakers that may be of interest to TAF members, if that's you then get in touch!

We also work with a select group of partners and sponsors to help us deliver services or who sponsor our events, find out more about this work and how to get involved here.

Unfortunately not as our members are all trade associations so we don't have any relationships with the business that you might have experienced an issue with, even if their sector trade association is a member of TAF.

The best thing to do if you have a problem that needs resolving or wish to make a complaint is to see if the business is a member of a trade association - many trade associations have codes of conduct that might provide an opportunity for you to resolve your issue.

The best way to find out whether a business is a member of a trade association is to find the right association for their sector, the TAF Member Directory is a good start, but this only covers our members and not all of the trade associations in the UK so you might need to do some further research as well. Good luck!