“Selfie” Generation Wants to See Your Stories
Wild Apricot
MAY 8, 2014
'Are you showing rather than telling your story? Here are some ideas for reaching the "selfie" generation.
May, 2014
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Turning Ideas into Reality
Spark Consulting
MAY 16, 2014
'Also known as “the hard part.” I’ve been working with an association lately where the focus of the engagement is on transforming the organization. I’m specifically working with them on a membership transformation, but a piece of that is looking at transforming programs, products, and services. So we’ve been talking a lot about innovation.
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Good Leaders Know How to Get People off the Bus
Association Leaders
MAY 6, 2014
'Probably every business leader today has read Jim Collins’ best selling business book Good to Great. The book explains a study that Collins and several of his business school students did on the attributes of successful companies – not just marginally successful, but industry leading companies who sustained their success over long periods of time.
The Connection Factor
Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 27, 2014
'Elsbeth Russell, senior editor, Naylor, LLC. This month’s guest blog post is by Elsbeth Russell, senior editor at Naylor, LLC , who works with association executive clients to produce content-targeted print and online publications. Contact Russell at erussell@naylor.com. As an editor who works exclusively with societies of association executives, much of the content that crosses my desk each day involves different theories and trends based on the same core areas.
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 As funding requirements become more complex and stakeholder expectations for transparency grow, relying on outdated methods can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and compliance risks.
The Three “I”s of Successful Tech Associations
Virtual
MAY 1, 2014
'As someone who’s worked around technology associations for a long time, I often get asked: “So what are the secret traits of the groups that are the most successful?” Quite honestly, these secrets traits aren’t really so secret. In fact, I like to call them the three “I”s. All of the better-performing organizations I have worked with have had at least one of these traits; some of the great ones have had all three.
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Wild Apricot Software: Roadmap Beyond Version 5
Wild Apricot
MAY 29, 2014
'This month in Software News, we look beyond Version 5 to see what''s ahead on our product Roadmap.
ISO Your Membership and Marketing Materials
Spark Consulting
MAY 27, 2014
'I’m presenting a session at ASAE’s upcoming Marketing, Membership, and Communications Conference, to help you create rockin’ marketing materials. I totally stole the idea from Lowell Apelbaum , who facilitated a similar session at last year’s summer CESSE conference that everybody really enjoyed and had fun with. The concept is that I’ll open the session with 10 quick tips to use in evaluating marketing materials, and then participants will have the chance to go ar
Do You Energize Your Team?
Association Leaders
MAY 27, 2014
'I read several business related blogs. One of them is called Leadership Freak, written by Dan Rockwell. Today Leadership Freak had an interesting post about what leaders do to energize (and sometimes de-energize) their teams. Read the post here. The theory behind the post is that everyone has energy inside them. A leader’s job is to exploit that energy and build on it.
Hard time getting new members? Maybe you’re in their way.
YourMembership
MAY 29, 2014
It is the age-old challenge for all associations – how do I successfully recruit new members and keep the ones I have? Value and relevance lead to recruitment and retention. That seems to be the equation we are working from today. However, generational changes are requiring organizations to reexamine how they accomplish these tasks. Special campaigns and marketing gimmicks may not be getting you the results you are expecting, or needing.
Find New Non-Dues Revenue Streams for Your Organization with This Free Guide
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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
Winning Lessons from the World of Sports
Virtual
MAY 14, 2014
'In Boston sports, these are “the good old days.” With the Sox winning championships, the Bruins contending for the Cup and Tom Brady slinging passes, it’s pretty fun to be a sports fan here. In honor of Boston sports, here’s what our four teams can teach associations: From the Red Sox: “Know your role.” When a ball is hit up the middle in baseball, you never see the shortstop and second basemen collide as they both go for it.
Volunteers Give. and keep on giving
Mariner
MAY 23, 2014
'I’ve spent lots of time this week with many different groups of volunteers and close the week with a sense of contentment. It''s been brought on by.
20 Free Non-profit Webinars for June 2014
Wild Apricot
MAY 23, 2014
'We''ve rounded up 20 free non-profit webinars for June 2014. Topics include: Smarter Email Marketing; the Future; Getting Your Donors to Fall In Love With You; and much more.
Let Your Member Data Show You the Way
Spark Consulting
MAY 5, 2014
'Last week, Associations Now did a story on my awesome client NICSA and the new membership model project we worked on together last summer. They’ve graciously given me permission to reprint it below: By Joe Rominiecki / Apr 30, 2014 . How one association unbundled some of its benefits and packaged them around “clusters of behavior” in its member engagement data.
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.
Fact or Opinion?
Association Leaders
MAY 19, 2014
'Great leaders seem to always have a set of values upon which they rely when making decisions. These values are a barometer for them – If I make decision A, my company will be more profitable but we will violate one or more of our key values in doing so. I believe great leaders don’t abandon their values, even when they require more work, less profit or more stress.
Hard time getting new members? Maybe you’re in their way.
YourMembership
MAY 29, 2014
It is the age-old challenge for all associations – how do I successfully recruit new members and keep the ones I have? Value and relevance lead to recruitment and retention. That seems to be the equation we are working from today. However, generational changes are requiring organizations to reexamine how they accomplish these tasks. Special campaigns and marketing gimmicks may not be getting you the results you are expecting, or needing.
Back to basics: Education programs
Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 6, 2014
'I recently facilitated two sessions on meeting planning and professional development for the Michigan Society of Association Executive’s (MSAE) Academy of Association Management. It’s again a reminder of the important intersection and relationship between learning and logistics, particularly as it relates to association education programs. The course content primarily focuses on two chapters of Professional Practices in Association Management, Second Edition : Chapter 26 on education programs a
Why I like the Market Research Society’s (MRS) successful membership change project
Optimist Consulting
MAY 22, 2014
'I know from working with my clients on membership change projects that there are two essential elements to any change process that affect members: Ensuring you use a long-term communications campaign that is consistent. Taking your members along with you. So it was interesting to read about The Market Research Society’s recent changes to their membership criteria and grading structure, which were voted through by members at the start of March.
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!
Nonprofit Blog Carnival: Share Your Posts on Inspiration and Innovation
Wild Apricot
MAY 28, 2014
'We''re hosting the Nonprofit Blog Carnival for June and we want your submissions on nonprofit inspiration and innovation!
Friday Top 5
Spark Consulting
MAY 30, 2014
'It’s the return of the Friday Top 5! I was at the annual digitalNOW conference last week – and seriously, if you’re at all interested in tech in associations (and if you work in associations, no matter what you do, you really should be), you need to figure out a way to get there next year – and these are my top five takeaways: “Speak the language of who you want to become.” – Adam Braun , Pencils of Promise.
Healthy Leaders are Happy Leaders
Association Leaders
MAY 13, 2014
'Three months ago my wife came to me and said – ‘We aren’t healthy anymore. We are overweight; our clothes don’t fit right; we are tired all the time; as a result, we aren’t happy’ I of course reacted by acknowledging the truthfulness of her statements but took no accountability – ‘You’re right but what can we do about it?
Time to get in the game. There’s a game being played?
YourMembership
MAY 22, 2014
Last week we hosted our monthly Thought Leadership Webinar , featuring a whitepaper published by Association Laboratory entitled Looking Forward 2014: An Environmental Scanning Whitepaper for the Association Industry. I recently shared some thoughts on the whitepaper, focusing on the statistic that 78 percent of the association leaders participating in the study identified managing the volume of information they receive as a major concern of their members.
2025 Association Survey Results Report
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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
Developing a Culture of Innovation
Jamie Notter
MAY 20, 2014
'Guest post, by Amanda Kaiser. Kodak, a once a $10 billion dollar company, failed. Just when they needed to innovate the most, they focused on optimization instead. Innovation and optimization are at either ends of the spectrum. It’s hard to do both. The most innovative organizations don’t optimize well, and the most optimized organizations don’t innovate well.
The Case for Sharing Information
Eric Lanke
MAY 19, 2014
'image source Two weeks ago, in Leading By Example , I wrote about my latest experiment in trying to make the values and behaviors described in my association''s values statement a more active part of the day-to-day interactions of me and my staff. Having asked everyone to make a commitment to more mindfully manifest a chosen behavior in the office--and having communicated that performance evaluations would, in part, be based on their willingness and ability to do so--I decided to lead by exampl
The Low Down On Donor Loyalty
Wild Apricot
MAY 15, 2014
'My recent holiday offered up some lessons about loyalty - the canine as well as donor kind.
Learning More About Evidence-Based Decision Making
Spark Consulting
MAY 2, 2014
'Final day of whitepaper release week! Co-author Peter Houstle and I did a sneak peek webinar with the Association Resource Center last week, and the recording is now available. So if this week’s blog posts haven’t been enough for you, you can hear what Peter and I had to say about Getting to the “Good Stuff”: Evidence-Based Decision Making for Associations directly.
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.
What can be learned from the Woodland Trust’s postcode modelling campaign?
Optimist Consulting
MAY 22, 2014
'I recently delivered a presentation about retention at the ‘Managing Membership’ event organised by Adapta Consulting and The I Am Group. It was a really good event. I enjoyed the presentation by the Woodland Trust about an acquisition campaign they recently undertook, so I thought I’d share what they did as I think it could provide inspiration to other membership organisations.
How to Create Emotional Connections with Event Attendees
YourMembership
MAY 15, 2014
Take a moment and think about the last event that you attended that you really loved. Now think about why you loved that event. What was it that made that emotional connection with you? Was it good content or great educational materials and courses? Or was it something else, maybe something you can’t quite put your finger on. What made it an experience and not just another forgettable event?
Take Away the Fear and Watch What Happens
Jamie Notter
MAY 5, 2014
'Last week, Maddie and I visited Menlo Innovations , a software company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You may remember my book review a couple of months ago of Joy, Inc., written by Rich Sheridan, the founder and CEO of Menlo. Menlo has been covered fairly extensively in the business press for their unorthodox (and highly successful) methods, including having everyone work together in pairs (literally two people per one computer).
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