Make The Most of Your Event Budget: Three Questions To Ask
Association conferences, seminars, and experiences are some of the biggest benefits your organization provides its members. Here’s where you face a huge challenge: how do you make your events cost-effective while balancing value to your members? It’s a tightrope act. On the one hand, you’re charged with delivering an event that makes it worthwhile for […]
Beat the Membership Dues Blues
People seem to want everything for free these days – from cover charges at parties to online newspaper articles. Everyone expects value but isn’t necessarily willing to pay for it. That frugality has spread to the association sector. Reliance on dues has declined dramatically in recent decades. ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership report that in […]
Advocacy 101: How to Create an Effective Government Relations Outreach Program
Part one of a three-part series One of the most important benefits you provide members is often the hardest to deliver: advocacy. As the umbrella group that represents the interests of your industry, members count on you to stay on top of issues and build relationships with both state and federal governments to make sure […]
Make Your Voice Heard in Board Meetings
Board meetings function best when everyone contributes. However, that doesn’t always happen. Take a moment to think about why you don’t raise your hand. Do you fear you might ruffle a few feathers? Are there outspoken people dominating the conversation? Are you simply on the shy side? Regardless of your reason for holding back, it’s […]
Membership Data
Membership data is a valuable indicator of the health of an association. How many members do you have? How long do they stay members? Do you manage conferences and other events? How is attendance? Which events do well, and which tend to struggle? Associations know that good membership data is like a rich vein of […]
Build Up a Board That’s Ready for Anything
In a perfect world, everyone on your board is a highly dedicated professional. They bring everything the association needs to the table, whenever it is asked of them. It is a diverse group of people who work well together and never back out of organizational commitments. Unfortunately, this probably isn’t always the case, and that’s […]
Make the Best of Your Board Meetings
How often have you thought to yourself, “Wow, what a great board meeting”? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess your answer is one of two things: “Not very often,” or, “Never.” That shouldn’t be the case. Your board is a collection of busy, important people. It’s your responsibility to make the […]
Inclusivity. Do you have membership appeal?
What do potential members think when they look at your association? Do they feel included? Do you have membership appeal? Have you ever received an Evite and made your decision whether to attend the party based on a peek at the guest list? We all do it. It’s human nature to seek comfort in familiar […]
Top 6 Ways Association Leaders Can Step Up
Here’s something I’m sure won’t come as a surprise to you: being an association leader is hard. It’s important work, but every day brings new challenges. Your members depend on you to get it right. You can’t let them down. One way to avoid falling down on the job is to arm yourself with knowledge. […]
Association Management: The Ins, the Outs and the Advantages
Any organization is only as good as the team it has. Expertise and experience are put to the test every day, and when resources are scarce, it only becomes more obvious where the strengths and weaknesses lie. Is your team aware of all the tasks that need to be taken care of? Do they know […]