Which questions has the Y sought to answer with each different type of marketing research it has conducted? SWIM, LIFT, PLAY—BUT ALSO DONATE: USING MARKETING RESEARCH TO REDEFINE THE YMCA Over the years, the YMCA has come to mean different things to different people. Depending on the meanings that people embrace, the charitable organization sometimes struggles to achieve its mission and goals. Accordingly, a key element of its efforts, at both national and local levels, is to conduct ongoing and persistent research into what people perceive when they think of the Y.

Founded in the mid-19th century in response to the new challenges of an industrial society, the YMCA sought to give young men coming to the city for work a place where they could stay safely and for a reasonable rate. In the United States, local YMCAs quickly became known as sources of assistance for new immigrants; though segregated, they also provided meeting places for African Americans and eventually emerged as important rallying sites for the civil rights movement. Once barriers to race and gender fell, the Y embraced its role as a place where every member of the family could find the resources, self-fulfillment, and support that they needed