February, 2013

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Can associations bridge the skills-gap for their members?

YourMembership

The following is a guest blog post by Jack McGrath, President and Creative Director for Digitec Interactive. Since 1991, Jack has worked in eLearning as an instructional designer, producer and developer for eLearning titles for The Walt Disney Company, YUM Brand Restaurants, FINRA, and Chase Manhattan, among others. Jack is the inventor of Knowledge Direct ® - a robust learning management system (LMS) used by dozens of trade associations and professional societies including the Emergency Nurses

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Tips for a Long and Happy Donor Marriage

Wild Apricot

Here are some tips for keeping your donor's love alive so they keep coming back.

Tips 287
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Reads of the Week: February 8, 2013

Reid All About it

Do you have a person in mind when you write marketing or social media copy? Geoff Drake, senior web writer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium (what a cool job!), writes for his imaginary friend Sue. “Get personal with your persona,” he says. “We have a kind of pact, Sue and I. She needs a vicarious experience, and I want to foster a connection with the Aquarium, and our oceans.

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Dump Your Committees

Thanks For Playing

Volunteerism is changing. I know I'm not the first person to think - or write - about this. Hell, Peggy Hoffman and Cynthia D'Amour have built their businesses on working with new volunteer models. But recent events have conspired to bring it top of mind for me. The thing about standing committees is that they're standing. Think about that for a moment.

Committee 207
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A New Look At Running Grants & Programs: Why Use A System When You Have Excel?

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 As funding requirements become more complex and stakeholder expectations for transparency grow, relying on outdated methods can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and compliance risks.

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How Technology is Transforming Strategy

Principled Innovation

This post originally appeared last Wednesday on the ResultsDirect AssociationCentric Blog. Remarkable…simply remarkable. I find it remarkable that it is February 2013, and I am still reading magazine articles advising associations to create strategic plans every five or six years, and encouraging leaders to review those plans just once a year. Do association leaders still believe we live in that world?

Strategy 207

More Trending

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Gamification and Your Private Online Community

YourMembership

This week YourMembership.com launched gamification. The features are incorporated into our private online community and are free to all YM clients. Gamification is a topic that has interested me since I first started researching it about two years ago. Gamification benefits both you and your members. It allows you to give weight to the activities within your organization that you deem important.

Discount 240
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Event Planning - A New Normal

Wild Apricot

Technology and social media are changing events and creating a "new normal" in terms of how we "market, consume and measure events." Here are some thoughts and tips to help small organizations update their events.

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Strategic Planning v. Strategic Thinking

Spark Consulting

Lots of chatter about strategy and strategic planning on the ASAE Collaborate groups recently, with lots of people throwing around lots of VERY IMPORTANT sounding terms. Me, I like simplicity. To quote the Eaglet from Alice in Wonderland : “I don’t know the meaning of half those long words, and, what’s more, I don’t believe you do either!

Analysis 197
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Strategic Planning v. Strategic Thinking

Thanks For Playing

Lots of chatter about strategy and strategic planning on the ASAE Collaborate groups recently, with lots of people throwing around lots of VERY IMPORTANT sounding terms. Me, I like simplicity. To quote the Eaglet from Alice in Wonderland : "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!" What do we mean when we talk about strategy?

Analysis 197
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Find New Non-Dues Revenue Streams for Your Organization with This Free Guide

Struggling to generate revenue beyond membership dues? You're not alone. Our free guide, The Ultimate Guide to Non-Dues Revenue for Associations , offers practical strategies to help your organization boost financial health. Inside, you'll explore creative ways to generate income, including: Educational offerings tailored to your audience Event-based revenue opportunities Job boards that drive engagement and income Corporate sponsorship ideas A checklist to evaluate and strengthen your current a

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The key to successful CSM/planner collaboration is communication

Aaron Wolowiec

Kelly Van Dyke, CMP. This post is authored by guest blogger Kelly Van Dyke, CMP. Kelly is a convention service manager at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Email: kvandyke@amwaygrand.com. Your venue CSM should be your number one go-to person, your number one collaborator, your biggest fan, maybe even your best friend (even if only for a short period of time).

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Announcing Association Summer Jam 2013

Association Subculture

So hey all you Association Subculture blog readers.in the immortal words of Jeff Spicoli - hey bud, let's party ! On Saturday, June 15th some friends and I are starting the Association Summer Jam and here is how it works (it's TOTALLY simple) -. We'd like to find ten party hosts to throw a bash at their house on June 15, 2013. Could be a pizza party, dinner party, Beer and BBQ, potluck, pool party, low key yoga party - whatever floats your boats.

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The Power of the Crowd: Using Crowdsourcing as an Association Event Planner

YourMembership

One of the savviest trends event planners are experimenting more with this year is crowdsourcing. Mashable defines crowdsourcing as distributed problem solving. By distributing tasks to a large group of people, you are able to mine collective intelligence, assess quality and process work in parallel. Daily Crowdsource event, Crowdopolis , describes crowdsourcing as getting a crowd of people to help you with a task that used to take one person.

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Wild Apricot Is The #1 Most Popular Membership Management Software!

Wild Apricot

Here are the highlights of Capterra's recently released Top 20 Most Popular Membership Management Software Solutions, in which Wild Apricot ranked #1!

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Forecasting Failures Are Costly: Heres How To Fix Them

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.

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Reads of the Week: February 22, 2013

Reid All About it

Last night I went to Ignite Raleigh where the speakers, including a few of my friends, delivered a mix of inspiration, entertainment and education. Even better, the nonprofit partner for the evening was one of my favorite organizations: the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. One of the original founders of the Triangle’s Ignite movement is Jeff Cohen.

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Great Leaders Know How to Utilize Their Team’s Talents

Association Leaders

Common sense tells us that great leaders innately know how to make the best use of their employees. They recognize hidden talents others don’t see and harness those talents to the benefit of the team. Then again, common sense isn’t so common. So, here is an article I recently read that gives a few ideas for identifying and harnessing the hidden talents of your team.

How To 163
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What I’m Reading

Spark Consulting

What you can – and can’t – learn from A/B testing. Another fantastic, challenging post from Joe Gerstandt on actor-observer bias and the myth of reverse discrimination. Fear = lunch. No really, stick with Jeff Haden here. The insights that define innovators. Hearing “we already tried that and it didn’t work” DRIVES ME CRAZY.

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What I'm Reading

Thanks For Playing

What you can - and can't - learn from A/B testing. Another fantastic, challenging post from Joe Gerstandt on actor-observer bias and the myth of reverse discrimination. Fear = lunch. No really, stick with Jeff Haden here. The insights that define innovators. Hearing "we already tried that and it didn't work" DRIVES ME CRAZY. Eric Lanke asks: why are we so afraid to talk to our members ?

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The Everyday Donor: Unlocking Prospecting Segments Through Behavior Analysis

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!

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Ten Things to Know about St. Pete, Florida (Welcome AMCI members)

YourMembership

We’re so happy to welcome you to our beautiful city. If this is your first time in St. Pete, we’d like to give you some advice. Below are 10 must knows about the Sunshine City: 1. We like nicknames. Hipsters call St. Pete “the ‘burg.” However, you’re not in the “‘burg” at the annual meeting. You’re at the beach. 2. We like food.

Florida 214
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Passing The Social Media Baton

Wild Apricot

Do you have a process in place to manage transitions of staff or volunteers responsible for your social media?

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Reads of the Week: February 1, 2013

Reid All About it

Steven Rosenbaum says, “ Stop knocking curation.” I agree. There’s a big difference between aggregation and curation. I can do without the daily paper.li aggregations. I rarely read them, even if one of my tweets is featured as a “top story.” Too many of them don’t have the human (or curator’s) touch. However, as Rosenbaum says, “Information overload drives content consumers to look for human-filtered, journalist-vetted, intellectually-related material.

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What is the Association Value Proposition?

Eric Lanke

Lego Value Meal Another subject we tackled at the dinner I mentioned in a previous post was the much-reported sickness of the association value proposition. We had both association executives and consultants to the association community present at this dinner, and I couldn't help but notice that the battle line seemed to be drawn between those two camps and the perspectives they each brought to the table.

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2025 Association Survey Results Report

GrowthZone’s 11th annual survey highlights trends, challenges, and strategies shaping the membership industry through insights from U.S. and Canadian association professionals. Get your copy of the 2025 Association Survey Results Report to see how your organization measures up: The biggest challenges associations are facing Membership retention trends and non-renewal insights Strategies for automatic renewals and reinstatements Shifts in member engagement tactics Why members are joining (and sta

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Friday Top 5

Spark Consulting

I was honored to be selected to judge ASAE’s Gold Circle awards this year in the website category. After having reviewed all 21 entries twice, I’m entering my actual scores today. And I’ve learned (or remembered) a few things from the process: Associations are making progress. Every single site has some sort of social technologies connection, and every association was at least on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Review 150
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Friday Top 5

Thanks For Playing

I was honored to be selected to judge ASAE's Gold Circle awards this year in the website category. After having reviewed all 21 entries twice, I'm entering my actual scores today. And I've learned (or remembered) a few things from the process: Associations are making progress. Every single site has some sort of social technologies connection, and every association was at least on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Review 150
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Association Weekly Wrap-Up for February 22nd!

YourMembership

Happy Friday and Welcome to the Weekly Wrap Up brought to you by the team at YourMembership.com! The weekly wrap-ups are a great resource to find industry provoking articles, blog posts, upcoming events, fun facts, and provide up-to-date news and tips found throughout the association and workforce space each week. Please feel free to leave a comment, ask a question or just enjoy the week’s top ten picks!

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How Small Nonprofits Approach Communications Differently: More Emphasis on Events

Wild Apricot

In this guest post, Kivi Leroux Miller reviews her 2013 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report findings to see how the results from the smallest nonprofits compare to the report’s findings overall.

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Navigating Payroll Compliance: Future-Proofing Payroll in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape

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.

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Reads of the Week: February 15, 2013

Reid All About it

Everyone (well, most everyone) knows the benefits of content marketing. But you can’t just say to your staff, “Yeah, good idea, start doing social media.” Valeria Maltoni says, “There are three crucial challenges to overcome if you want to implement a successful content strategy ” – resource allocation, workflow planning and governance. Over at Copyblogger, Barry Feldman shares nine ways you might be losing your audience’s trust without even realizing you’re doing it.

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Don't Talk to the Members

Eric Lanke

image source I had an animated conversation with colleagues over dinner last night, during which we discussed why some association staff people consciously avoid contact with their own members. Perhaps you know some of these people. Call a member? Oh, I can't do that. They're busy. I shouldn't disturb them. Maybe I'll just send another email. Why do some people act this way?

Industry 136
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In Praise of Small Ideas

Spark Consulting

Yet another outstanding find on Slideshare, this one on little “i” innovation, from the mind of Guthrie Dolan of Odopod. Little “i” Innovation: Why Small Ideas Matter as much as Big Ones from Guthrie Dolin. My favorites? Place little bets and double down on what’s working. Justin Timberlake as prototypical small “i” innovator (really).