The results of the 2002 survey indicated that 88% of the respondents were national associations while 8% were national federations. Some 4% declared a different structure, such as scientific societies, foundations, etc. Some 84% of the associations charge a membership fee while 38% offer free membership to people with diabetes.
Most diabetes associations have elected bodies governed by a constitution, as seen in the figure below. Some 92% of the respondents indicated their associations have a constitution and by-laws while about 86% have elected bodies. In terms of strategy, close to 80% have a mission statement and 70% produce an action plan (see table).
Size of organizations
Many diabetes associations have a small membership of less than 999 members. This is followed by medium-sized associations of between 1,000 and 9,999 members, while 12% are large associations of between 10,000 and 49,999. Only 6% have more than 50,000 members (see figure). However, it is important to note that this small number of associations make up 75% of all members represented by IDF diabetes associations.
