Wild Apricot

AUGUST 7, 2014

'Does your association or club have a new member onboarding process in place? Here are some ideas on welcoming new members.

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Process 308

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 29, 2014

'Thanks to ASAE’s 2008 Decision to Volunteer study, we know that our members are eager to volunteer. But thanks to generational trends and research , we know that our volunteers are looking for different volunteer experiences, more of the ad hoc or micro-volunteering type. When you’re used to working mostly with standing committees, though, it can be tough to figure out how to create good ad hoc volunteer work.

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Tips Case Study Committee Review 292

Reid All About it

AUGUST 19, 2014

'Before Google makes an acquisition, the target company must first pass co-founder Larry Page’s toothbrush test: Is the company’s product or service used regularly to make people’s lives better? How does your organization live up to that test? Do your clients or members depend on something you provide to do their jobs? Does that product/service improve their professional or personal lives?

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Organization Case Study Products Marketing 259

KiKi L'Italien's Acronym Soup

AUGUST 6, 2014

'Every year the best networking at ASAE Annual happens at the parties and receptions after the sessions have concluded for the day. You’ll never know how much learning you are capable of until you are shouting about outdated membership models across a crowded table at a bar. Here is a handy-dandy list of parties and receptions happening at ASAE Annual in Nashville.

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Nashville Leadership 202

Speaker: Gareth Webb & Phil Selley, Founding Partners at Intouch Business

For many nonprofit organizations and NGOs, managing grants and monitoring projects with spreadsheets and manual processes feels familiar—but is it holding your organization back? As funding requirements become more complex and stakeholder expectations for transparency grow, relying on outdated methods can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and compliance risks.

System

Association Leaders

AUGUST 5, 2014

'I believe that a team reflects its leader. By that I mean if a leader is compassionate, his team will be compassionate. If a leader is grateful, his team will be grateful. If a leader is a hard worker, his team will work hard. Identifying and practicing the traits you want your team to possess is an important practice for successful leaders. I read an interesting article today that addresses this.

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Leadership Team Association Management 174

Wild Apricot

AUGUST 26, 2014

'Summer is almost over and school is back in session - with 24 free non-profit webinars scheduled for September.

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Spark Consulting

AUGUST 7, 2014

'I had the opportunity to present Membership Marketing on a Shoestring Budget for the National Association of Home Builders’ Association Leadership Institute earlier this week. As usual, when I deliver this session, I solicit great inexpensive marketing ideas from the participants as well. Here’s what the chapter leader smarties at NAHB came up with: Barter!

Marketing 262

Marketing Newsletter Discount Education 262

Reid All About it

AUGUST 7, 2014

'I always have high hopes of getting to a lot of breweries when I’m at a conference, but it rarely happens. If you have more free time than I do, I hope you can hoist one for me. Or just grab me and make me come with you! Downtown breweries. Czanns (no website, Facebook , Twitter ). Pronounced “Zahnz”, they specialize in “easy to drink beers that don’t try to blow your head off with hops.

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Nashville Tennessee Raleigh Kentucky 189

YourMembership

AUGUST 29, 2014

I just returned from the 2014 ASAE conference in Nashville, TN and I was thinking about how rewarding going to conferences can be. So many interesting people to meet. So much valuable information to absorb. So many new trends, cutting edge strategies and best practices. Unfortunately, all too often we return to our offices full of excitement and optimism with a sense of changing the world for our co-workers and our members, and we are greeted with indifference.

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Conference How To Nashville Proposal 150

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Association Leaders

AUGUST 25, 2014

'We explore a lot about leadership in this blog. Most of the discussions revolve around `characteristics of great leaders’, or `values of great leaders’, even `behaviors’ of great leaders. We haven’t talked yet about when a great leader decides to step down from his leadership role. Frankly, I haven’t thought about it much.

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Leadership Course Association Management Organization 163

Optimist Consulting

AUGUST 28, 2014

'As we approach September, midway through the financial year for lots of membership organisations, I am sure your thoughts are turning to reviewing income targets. So here are five quick membership recruitment wins: 1. Chase up lapsed memberships. An obvious point, but lapsed memberships can simply be because members have forgotten to renew. In my experience just contacting these people and highlighting that they are no longer a member can be enough to prompt some to re-join.

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Recruitment Recruiting Discount Cost 143

Wild Apricot

AUGUST 12, 2014

'Is your organization looking for non-dues revenue streams? Here are some highlights from our Small Membership Survey Report that might offer some ideas.

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Revenue Survey Report Organization 281

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 27, 2014

'Quick list – there’s been lots of good stuff lately, but I’m sharing most of it via my Twitter feed these days. Great post from John Haydon about the human factors that influence email open rates (hint: it should be all about THEM, not all about YOU). I’m usually not a fan of “10 tips to be more productive” articles, mostly because those lists tend to be comprised of SERIOUSLY OBVIOUS stuff, but this one isn’t and it’s quite good.

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Products Tips Marketing 228

Speaker: Dave Sackett

Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.

Cost

Reid All About it

AUGUST 8, 2014

'It’s time for#ASAE14! A bunch of my friends are already there but Im not arriving until late Saturday afternoon. Heres the last in my series of post about Nashville dining. I covered downtown restaurants in Part 1 and restaurants in Germantown, Midtown and Music Row as well as Nashvilles hot chicken restaurants in Part 2. If you decide to play hooky on Sunday morning and go out for brunch, the Nashville Guru and Visit Music City each have a list of their picks..

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Nashville Alabama North Carolina Memphis 179

YourMembership

AUGUST 21, 2014

One of the great things about attending the ASAE Annual Conference is that for a few days you get the opportunity to be totally immersed in all things associations, and this year was no exception. From the trade show to the education tracks, to the networking opportunities (rain or shine!) it lived up to its billing as the “not to be missed” event of the year.

Leadership 150

Leadership Team Nashville Austin 150

Association Leaders

AUGUST 14, 2014

'Leaders tend to travel frequently – I know I do. If you are a road warrior, you probably have developed a routine of things you do to make your travel more convenient and as pleasurable as possible. Here’s an article I recently came across about the rituals of a road warrior. While I don’t think I’ll ever bring my own candles and light them in my hotel room, I do see a few good ideas: keeping an extra key in my briefcase, removing the bedspread and taking a key with yo

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Tips Leadership 163

Aaron Wolowiec

AUGUST 19, 2014

'A friend of mine was lamenting the other day that soon she’ll have fewer health care benefits. Looking to cut costs, her employer switched health care plans and decided to eliminate some “frills.” But the kicker: She’ll be paying more. Unfortunately, as businesses continue to recover from the recent economic downturn, and now with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, this scenario will probably become more common.

Discount 142

Discount Social Media Revenue Cost 142

Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand

Do you really know your donors? Not just what they give, but who they are? 👥 In this interactive session, we’ll break down how nonprofits can use behavioral indicators (affinity, recency, frequency, and monetary value) to build prospecting segments that go beyond wealth screening and actually align with donor identity. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to move beyond basic demographics and cultivate supporters based on how they already engage with you!

Analysis

Wild Apricot

AUGUST 5, 2014

'Here are highlights of the 2014 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report.

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Marketing Report 258

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 25, 2014

'image source This post is part of a series in which I''m analyzing the efforts of my organization to define and embrace core values through the six rules for doing so defined by Francois Nader, CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals. For the series introduction, go here. For my comments on the first rule, go here. + + + Here''s Nader second rule, along with what he says about it in his HBR blog post : Don’t post plaques on the wall declaring the values.

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Examples Project Organization Team 133

Reid All About it

AUGUST 6, 2014

'You say you don’t like country music? Yup, been there, I understand. Even though I grew up listening to Southern rock and went to a few bluegrass shows, I didn’t think country was for me. But, about a year ago while working, I got bored with what I was listening to, turned on the radio, hit Seek and ended up on a country station. By the end of the week I was singing along.

Nashville 176

Nashville Video Conference Marketing 176

YourMembership

AUGUST 15, 2014

Whenever I hear that phrase, I feel my blood pressure start to rise! Of course it’s personal – it always has been. The whole notion that business isn’t personal simply provides justification for treating people poorly in the workplace and within organizations. It works to diminish human interaction and the results are almost always counter-productive.

Revenue 150

Revenue Technology Communications Course 150

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Jamie Notter

AUGUST 19, 2014

'I attended a good session at the ASAE conference about pricing. It was not a ton of new information, but it did provide a good reminder about the importance of value-based pricing. That is, consider what alternatives your customer has, and then compare the value they get from those alternatives with the value they get from your offering. That will help you set pricing.

Discount 133

Discount Price Strategy Cost 133

Optimist Consulting

AUGUST 28, 2014

'Some sectors experience awards fatigue – I often see ‘Extended deadline’ and feel bad for the people organising the event, whilst other sectors can be overwhelmed with entries. Whatever the case at your membership organisation, it does make sense to make sure the process of entering is as simple and clear as it can be. Award entries take time, so you do need to be creative about how you encourage people to get involved. .

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Process Strategy Marketing How To 126

Wild Apricot

AUGUST 18, 2014

'Want to join our Small Membership Advisory Community? Here are details on our conference call series and community forum.

Conference 256

Conference 256

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 18, 2014

'image source This post is part of a series in which I''m analyzing the efforts of my organization to define and embrace core values through the rules for doing so defined by Francois Nader, CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals. For the full introduction, go here. + + + Here''s Nader''s first rule again, along with what he says about it in his HBR blog post : Define the values in simple, sixth-grade language.

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Leadership Analysis Examples Organization 133

Speaker: Jennifer Hill

Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.

Certificate

Reid All About it

AUGUST 7, 2014

'When I went to Nashville in May for the digitalNow conference, I expected to be wowed by Nashville’s music scene, but I was blown away by the art that surrounded me everywhere I went. I wasn’t expecting that. I can think of no better way to recharge your brain than to spend some time enjoying art. Any kind of art will do but all you have to do to feast your eyes on some visual art is to stroll through the halls of the Music City Center or cross the street and wander through the Omni.

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Nashville Tennessee Library Conference 169

YourMembership

AUGUST 7, 2014

I came across an article recently that was making the case for the undeniable value of the age old new member packet for today’s association. It mentioned how new members are most always engaged members, and that the trusty packet can help those members stay engaged beyond the first exciting months of membership. Interesting thought, but I don’t think a new member packet on its own comes close to getting the job done.

Member Engagement 150

Member Engagement Nashville Software Recruiting 150

Jamie Notter

AUGUST 18, 2014

'At the recent ASAE Annual Meeting, I had the pleasure of presenting with Sandra Giarde and Mark Alcorn on the subject of dealing with “turbo bullies” on your Board of Directors. Sandra is a CEO and Mark is legal counsel, and they both have had first-hand experience with volunteer leaders in associations who have been pretty horrible. I am not talking about failing to read their board books ahead of time or getting a little too drunk at the annual meeting.

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