I let my ACA membership of many decades lapse this year. I concluded that the organization is being badly mismanaged and has no effective plan to survive or be of use going forward. How long do you think the ACA will continue to exist?

In its current form, 1-2. Maybe 3.

ACA is certainly circling the drain. I've been a member since the very beginning, and a Life Member for the last 20 years. The attitudes shown in the recent board interactions have me at a point I will no longer make contributions, unless I see major changes in attitude, and I may very well formally resign my membership. But first, I'm gonna vote NO again.

They are definitely deaf to criticism.

That last sentence expresses well what I have been feeling since reading their communications re: the building sale. “This is the only way to fix things. We’re right. Anyone who thinks differently is wrong. Period.”

I think it's a question of just how mercenary the new "management" is. I haven't seen anything like a plan come out in the last year or so. Do they pay themselves a big fat bonus this year and wipe out all the assets, or do they just sit and watch the bank account dwindle?

I'm wondering the same thing. I looked at their financial filings:

https://projects.propublica.org/nonp...ions/237427629

(They apparently changed in 2023 from their fiscal year ending in September, to ending in December.)

There appears to have been a big jump in "Other Salaries and Wages" beginning in 2023. Was that due to bonuses? Big severance packages?

Losses started in 2023 and became significant in 2024.

There were some significant "Sales of Assets" in 2023 & 2024. In prior years, asset sales were at zero or were minimal.

2024: Executive Compensation: $244,967 Other Salaries and Wages: $1,802,251
October-December ??? 2023: Executive Compensation: $125,517 Other Salaries and Wages: $412,534
thru September 2023: Executive Compensation: $286,409 Other Salaries and Wages: $1,983,305
2022: Executive Compensation: $372,000 Other Salaries and Wages: $1,164,541
2021: Executive Compensation: $244,629 Other Salaries and Wages: $1,103,374
2020: Executive Compensation $265,000 Other Salaries and Wages $1,016,721

The recent emails from the Board/ED regarding the building sale vote, the results, and the re-vote have been extremely off-putting, tactless and manipulative. I'm a life-long member that is ready to throw in the towel and renounce all association with an organization that a few years ago was in my estate plans. The current leadership has been remarkably tone deaf to the pleas from their long-time members. What are they thinking?

The executive compensation was excessive - especially given Jenn O'Dell's poor performance.
I think there is little question that board oversight was lacking.
Where was the board as memberships were plummeting?

It may continue to exist for some time but in a much diminished and unrecognizable form.

How is the Board nominated or elected? I have never received a ballot or a nomination form in 46 years. How do we impeach the board? Any body know specifics?

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit altering membership votes can face significant penalties,
including revocation of its tax-exempt status, substantial fines (excise taxes),
and potential civil and criminal charges against the organization and the individuals involved.

I, too, recall opportunities to vote for the board years ago. As I understand it now, the bylaws were amended sometime in the past 15 or so years to rescind members' right to vote for the board to new members being appointed - by the board. In several ways that come to mind, a poor idea indeed.

I, too let my membership lapse. The organization no longer provided any value to me.

Within three years, ACA will merge with (be absorbed by) some other cycling organization. Within two years of that, the only thing remaining will be ACA maps in the 'Store' tab.

How long before, or how long since?

I have seen these changes of downward spiral for a while now as well.
I am a Life Member since mid 1980s, have ridden several of their routes. The most impressive was my xUSA (E/W) 1982. The modified touring bicycle I used was a 1972 Giro Di Atala that was stolen from my shed in the early 1990s (:-( , and WTF)!
Now, two newer touring bikes later, I continue my explorations (BN 6000T and Surly LHT) always with Atala's spirit!
My point: You can lose the bike, not the memories. To me, Bike Centennial/Adventure Cycling is (or was) a great organizer for 2-wheel exploration, growth, and significant parts of life change.
It will be a sad day if this agency is not available to educate and gather future explorers. The experiences and tours are still out there (spirit) but another catalyst will need to be tooled.

My significant concern is how this will impact the US Bicycle Route System. The USBRS is an AASHTO program, similar to the US Highway and Interstate Highway systems. ACA has managed the USBRS since about 2010 by mutual agreement of AASHTO and ACA. I'm not sure who on ACA's current staff is handling this, but it's likely someone who has been in the position for not a long time given staff turnover & reductions. If ACA is seen by AASHTO as no longer able to manage the USBRS, then that will greatly impact the system or result in it again going into hiatus (as it did in the 1980s and 1990s), as there don't seem to be any other capable organizations with specific expertise in long-distance touring.

Excellent point, Richard. Likely the advocacy staffer.

As I've noted elsewhere, in the absence of realization that there is no future ACA without the past ACA, I suspect they will go broke on legal and outside consulting fees in the next 24 months.
Their only significant income is group tours, and they look hard-pressed to continue to underwrite these trips and fend off the competition. BUT, just my impression based on old financial statements.