CAI honored for successful campaign protecting community associations from burdensome federal reporting requirements.
Community Associations Institute, the leading international authority supporting condominium associations, homeowners associations, and housing cooperatives, has been awarded a 2025 Power of Associations Silver Award by the American Society of Association Executives for its successful advocacy campaign exempting community associations from reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act.
Enacted in 2020 to enhance transparency and combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the Corporate Transparency Act required most corporate entities, including community associations, to disclose sensitive ownership information to the federal government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. CAI challenged this broad application, emphasizing the unique nonprofit, volunteer-led nature of community associations and the undue burden such requirements place on millions of volunteer board members nationwide. Through strategic litigation, legislative outreach, and grassroots advocacy, CAI successfully secured an exemption for community associations earlier this year.
“We are honored to be recognized once again by ASAE for our advocacy leadership on behalf of America’s community associations,” says Dawn M. Bauman, CAE, chief executive officer at Community Associations Institute. “To receive the Power of Associations Award for the second time in four years, for our condominium safety public policy work and now for our successful Corporate Transparency Act campaign, is a powerful testament to CAI’s influence in shaping meaningful, results-driven policy. These awards affirm what our members already know: CAI is not only the trusted voice for community associations, but a proven force in protecting the people who live in and lead them. This recognition is an opportunity to remind our members just how impactful their support, engagement, and membership truly are.”
CAI’s campaign combined strategic federal litigation, direct lobbying of Congress and federal agencies, and mobilizing its members and volunteers in grassroots advocacy. In 2024, more than 8,700 CAI advocates contacted legislators using CAI’s tools, 5,800 of whom engaged with elected officials for the first time, sending over 30,000 messages to nearly 500 members of Congress. In 2025, an additional 2,900 advocates sent more than 7,300 messages to over 430 lawmakers. To strengthen its voice on Capitol Hill, CAI partnered with a coalition of national and local organizations, amplifying the campaign’s reach and helping to influence key policymakers.
Earlier this year, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an interim final rule exempting U.S. entities, including community associations, from the CTA’s reporting requirements, a direct result of CAI and other stakeholder's advocacy. A final rule is expected later in 2025.
“Congratulations to the Community Associations Institute for exemplifying the impact associations have on the industries and professions they represent, and on society at large,” says ASAE President and CEO Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE. “It’s always incredibly satisfying to see associations going above and beyond their everyday mission to change the world. We’re proud to spotlight this award-winning initiative.”
The Power of Associations Awards honor associations that leverage their resources and member networks to achieve extraordinary, measurable results. CAI will be recognized alongside other recipients in September at the ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo in Washington, D.C.
For more information about CAI’s Corporate Transparency Act campaign and ongoing advocacy efforts, visit www.caionline.org/corporate-transparency-act.