August, 2016

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The Perfect Storm

Spark Consulting

I’d like to share some sobering statistics about higher education and employment: In the United States, students graduate from college with an average debt load of nearly $29,000. Total student debt in the U.S. is $1.23 trillion and rising. 47% of college-educated workers under 25 work in jobs. that do not require a college degree. Worldwide, 73.3 million people under the age of 25 are unemployed, representing 36.7% of total global unemployment.

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Pokémon, Bacon & an Integrated AMS: All in a Day’s Work

YourMembership

It was a busy couple of days at the ASAE 2016 in Salt Lake City. Here’s a quick recap of topics, conversations and fun stuff that happened at YourMembership’s booth #605 and the event. For more insights, observations updates, go to @jpguilbault and @yourmembership on Twitter! At the booth. Pokémon Go and bacon! What a combination, and what more could you ask for?

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36 Free Nonprofit Webinars for September 2016

Wild Apricot

If your organization is struggling to engage millennials, one of the things you’ll learn from this month’s webinars are 3 rules that will turn a new millennial member into a raving fan.

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The 3 C’s of Social Learning for Associations

WBT Systems

The 3 C’s of social learning for associations will help you decide what approach works best for your association members when incorporating social learning into the design of education programs. What is Social Learning? Like many individuals and organizations in modern society, associations maintain social media profiles for sharing content of interest to their members.

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Improve Email Strategy with Proven Email Marketing Tips

Struggling to get members to open or engage with your emails? You're not alone. Our free Best Practices for Email Marketing guide offers practical tips to strengthen your email strategy and improve engagement. Inside, you'll learn how to: Write subject lines that increase open rates Build scannable, mobile-friendly designs Choose send times that fit your audience Personalize content with Smart Newsletter Use Message Report data to refine strategy This guide helps associations and chambers create

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NAASF Crowdsources Customer Support and Advocacy with Online Community

Higher Logic

The North American Association of Subway® Franchisees (NAASF) uses online community to advocate for members and solve industry problems for fast food franchises. Franchisees want to communicate with each other and share resources and best practices, but they don't always want franchisors steering those conversations. NAASF recognized a communication challenge and set out to develop a better system for its franchisees to gather and share knowledge.

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More Trending

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Bridging the Education to Employment Gap: Where Can I Learn More?

Spark Consulting

Now that you’ve had a chance to learn a little bit about the disruption affecting education, the changes in the employment market (both in the US and world-wide), the “wicked” problem that perfect storm has created, and how Shelly Alcorn and I think associations are uniquely positioned to respond, what if you’d like to learn more?

Education 204
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Alright stop: collaborate + listen, part 1.

YourMembership

Private online association communities + making members feel exclusive. Editor’s note: This is the first in a four-part series looking at member engagement for associations and the importance of implementing a social networking platform equipped with the right tools to ensure early adoption and consistent engagement. In today’s highly-connected and content-saturated world, associations must offer their members online resources for content creation and collaborative discussion.

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20 Free Nonprofit Webinars for August 2016

Wild Apricot

If you're organization is struggling to recruit volunteers, have you considered using social media to do the work for you? In one of this month's free nonprofit webinars, you'll learn how to recruit volunteers right from Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube.

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Why Digital Badges are the Future of Association Education

WBT Systems

Why are Digital Badges the future of Association Education? The way we learn is constantly evolving. Association members use their professional social networks, curated feeds, and a myriad of other digital channels to enhance their professional skills. At the same time, the means whereby learning/training is recognized, accredited and validated is also changing.

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Stop Budget Burnout: A Better Way to Grow Your Nonprofit in 2026

Speaker: Sean Yoder

Nonprofits are under more pressure than ever to demonstrate financial accountability while continuing to expand their impact. Traditional budgeting models often fall short, reinforcing silos, limiting flexibility, and stalling growth. Enter collaborative budgeting: a dynamic, team-driven process that enables smarter resource allocation and builds financial resilience at scale.

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2017 Member Engagement Strategy

Potomac Core

Market uncertainty and the pace of change will continue to impact membership decisions at professional societies and trade associations. Looming external factors will play a significant role in how membership decisions will be made. The outcome of the U.S. Presidential and Congressional Elections, economic performance inside and outside the United States, mergers and acquisitions, baby boomer retirements , terror threats, and technology disruptions will influence whether or not professionals

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Bonus content – Event Garde e-news – September edition

Aaron Wolowiec

Bob Thomas, Michigan Chamber Foundation. Q & A with Bob Thomas , senior director of operations and executive director, Michigan Chamber Foundation at Michigan Chamber of Commerce. Learn: Q: What’s one subject you’d like to learn more about? A: I’d love to learn more about macroeconomics. The more I grow in my career, the more these concepts seem to creep in.

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What Should Associations Do to Bridge the Education to Employment Gap?

Spark Consulting

If you’ve been persuaded by the information I’ve shared about The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm the past few days that we do have a large-scale problem that associations are uniquely equipped to address (and I hope you have), the next question is: where do we start? (fourth post of The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm release week).

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I’m Already a Member; Don’t You Know That?

YourMembership

I recently requested information for an upcoming conference from an association that I’ve been a member of for a few years. As expected, I received a confirmation email thanking me for the request and the approximate time I’d receive the brochure. But, I also received an email that stated I just created a new account to access all of their websites and tips about how to get started. as a new member.

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Interactive Webinar: Recurring Giving Events That Keep on Giving

Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Community Engagement

There’s more than one way to end the year with impact—and we’re letting you decide the direction. In this "choose your own adventure" community-led webinar, attendees will vote in real time to pick one of three year-end event strategies to explore in depth: Volunteer Appreciation Events 🧡 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns 🌈 Mission/Program Celebrations 🎉 Once the path is chosen, we’ll dive into a step-by-step engagement workflow plan tailored to that format, showing how

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August Update: Software News

Wild Apricot

If you'd like to know about our latest software developments, you'll be happy to know that we released a major update just last week: Wild Apricot Version 5.8. Find out about the four major features in this release.

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WBT Systems Enhances Social Learning for Professionals with New TopClass LMS Release

WBT Systems

Major update to TopClass learning management system offers enhanced social learning capability for association, continuing education, and corporate training programs, with more rewarding and diverse learning experiences that increase engagement. ( TRAININGPRESSRELEASES.COM ) – With the latest release of the TopClass Learning Management System, WBT Systems expands the social learning capabilities of their comprehensive and flexible learning platform for associations, training organizations and ex

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Association Brain Food Weekly: 8.22.16

Reid All About it

“ I’ve got the sweetest hangover, I don’t want to get over… ”. Not that kind of hangover. I’ve got the post-ASAE Annual buzz. This is the emotion you want to trigger when marketing your conference—that warm, happy, inspired, charged-up feeling of belonging to a tribe who gets what you do and loves what you love. It’s that buzz you get from discovering and developing new ideas with people sitting across the room or around the table.

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Associations play an important role in higher education

Aaron Wolowiec

When I graduated college 16 years ago, times were different. I had a job before graduation and I never questioned the value of my degree. While I had an internship, the focus then on skills (vs. education) wasn’t nearly as strong. Today, students need internships before entering the workforce. And then comes the price tag. My son is a freshman this year and soon, we’ll be looking at colleges.

Education 180
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How to Make the Case for a New AMS (and Win)

Is your current AMS is creating more problems than it solves? You can lead the change. This eBook shares a customizable letter designed to help you clearly communicate your organization’s challenges, highlight the benefits of a modern system, and make a strong case for exploring a new AMS. Whether it’s outdated reporting, clunky workflows, or member frustration, this resource will help you start the conversation with clarity and position yourself as the advocate your organization needs.

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Disruption in Education

Spark Consulting

What are some of the forces impacting education in 2016? (second post of The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm release week). Incorporating technological advances in the classroom. Decreasing public funding. Increasing class sizes. High-stakes testing in K-12. Exploding student debt. Decreasing on-time college and university graduation rates.

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Why Building Community Online is Important When Attracting and Engaging Millennials

Socious

71% of American adults think that millennials are selfish. That’s according to a recent public opinion survey from Reason-Rupe , and it gives valuable insight into how society views one of the largest generations in history. People look at millennials on their smartphones and tablets and say they’re focused on themselves, lacking engagement with other people.

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Hype Your Community Launch

Higher Logic

Launching your new community is a big deal. A lot of work went into it and everyone has high expectations for the community. Since community spaces are new, you can’t necessarily expect mass adoption from everyone the second you open the doors. But you can expect people to be interested and excited to see what the community is all about when you launch.

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How to Make the Most of ASAE Annual Expo 2016

WBT Systems

With less than two weeks to the ASAE Annual Meeting and Expo 2016 , the largest event for Associations each year, we are putting in place our final preparations to exhibit at Booth #515. As we pack and ship our materials, arrange meetings with partners, clients and interested associations, and put the finishing touches on our demos, we started thinking about all the opportunities that the ASAE Annual Expo 2016 provides.

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A Data Revolution: Why Your AMS/CRM Needs a Native Data Warehouse

Unlock the Power of Historical Data A Data Revolution: Why Your AMS/CRM Needs a Native Data Warehouse Today’s association leaders need more than real-time snapshots—they need the full story. MemberSuite: A Data Revolution reveals how a native data warehouse transforms your AMS into a strategic decision-making engine. In this free eBook, you’ll discover: The difference between a database and a data warehouse—and why it matters How to gain historical visibility into membership, engagement, events,

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Association Brain Food Weekly: 8.26.16

Reid All About it

Birthday weeks always put me in a reflective mood. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about…. …what I accomplished, or didn’t, this past year, and what I hope to achieve in the coming year. …what habits I’ve developed, broken, and want to develop. …how I’ve been spending my time, and how I rather spend my time. …how I can help others because, well, it’s not all about me.

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Associations play an important role in higher education

Aaron Wolowiec

When I graduated college 16 years ago, times were different. I had a job before graduation and I never questioned the value of my degree. While I had an internship, the focus then on skills (vs. education) wasn’t nearly as strong. Today, students need internships before entering the workforce. And then comes the price tag. My son is a freshman this year and soon, we’ll be looking at colleges.

Education 180
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What REALLY Drives Success for Your Association?

Spark Consulting

Information overload – we all experience it personally, every day, with our emails and social media feeds and online media and print media and broadcast media, and that’s hard enough to manage. But in 2016, our associations ALSO struggle with information overload. We have many rich sources of data about our members, our other audiences, and our operations that we can mine in a dizzying variety of ways, so many, in fact, that it can be almost impossible to separate the signal from the

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5 Myths About Measuring Member Engagement

Socious

How can associations build loyalty and convince members to renew? According to research by Association Metrics , members who regularly engage by visiting the association’s website, attending conventions, and volunteering are more likely to remain loyal.

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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 to Talk About Bad News on Your Community

Higher Logic

When the news shakes our perception of the world, what are you supposed to do as a community manager? On the one hand, your community is for a specific purpose and may not need to weigh in on every happening. On the other hand, you’re a community where people care for each other and support one another on a human level. No matter what your community is for or who is in it, your members -- and you -- are affected by the news every day.

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Enhance eLearning Assessment to Maintain Learner Engagement

WBT Systems

One way to improve the learner experience is to aim to improve engagement in our eLearning assessment by addressing the variety and format of the questions and answers we use. We tend to spend the bulk of our time in creating engaging content with varying fonts, graphics, colors, calls to action, multimedia and considerable instructional design investment, before often presenting a bland final assessment which leaves our learners with a less than ideal impression of the amount of effort we put i

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Getting Social(Link) at ASAE 2106

YourMembership

This past week, ASAE 2016 in Salt Lake City was a first for YourMembership’s all-new SocialLink. The response to the unveiling of SocialLink was overwhelming. At first glance, prospects and clients alike were thrilled with the design of the game-changing platform. They quickly understood the real power of the solution when we offered fully-functional demos at our event booth.