Are Associations in a Race for Relevance?

That’s the premise of a new book getting some buzz in the nonprofit community. According to Race for Relevance, “Today’s association is in a race for relevance. The track is fast and associations are at risk of falling seriously behind. Worse yet, some are likely to drop out of contention altogether.”

A bold premise? Yes, but one we’ve supported for some time. About a third of this book’s recommendations are old news, as least as far as how REM manages its clients, and another third is pertinent only to very large associations with equally large boards and staffs. The rest of it offers some interesting data that doubting board members should see and recommendations worth considering—seriously considering right now. That’s why I’m offering this longer-than-usual post, because these are serious issues to consider.

One of the best sections of the books is the collection of the six marketplace realities that did not exist 25 years ago that have irreversibly changed the playing field for membership organizations:

• time (board members and members have too little of it and members who say they don’t have time for an association’s programs are really saying “I’ve got better things to do with my time.”),
• value expectations (members demand more or they won’t renew),
• market structure (more stuff does not necessarily equal more membership value),
• generational differences (for the first time in history there are five living generations in American and four of them are working together in the workplace and exist as association members and volunteers),
• competition (not just for time, but for membership dollars as specialized associations keep springing up), and
• technology (we need more of it and better technology).

So, what to do in the face of these realities? The authors offer these recommendations:

Overhaul the Governance Model

The authors suggest creating a small, competency-based board with no more than five members and recognize that this would be a radical and unwelcome change in many nonprofits. However, they believe too many nonprofits waste too much money on, and time in, meetings where there are too many unqualified, noncontributing, and distracted board members.

Overhaul Committees

The authors suggest we need fewer committees with fewer members following explicit mission statements. Their research suggests that one or two people on most committees do most of the work. That’s an oversimplification among our clients, but is true in some cases. They suggest giving most committee assignments to the paid staff to handle. (If only there was enough money in the budget for that to happen.)

 Empower the CEO and Enhance Staff

Instead of expecting part-time volunteers to possess the necessary skill and expertise the nonprofit needs, smart leaders will increasingly look to staff. Well, that’s exactly why many nonprofits are choosing the AMC model—because we offer a ready-made staff of skilled professionals. In this section the authors emphasize the extreme significance of a three-year strategic plan—and we’ve been preaching this at REM for some time.

Rationalize the Member Market

Not all members are worth having. To help determine the members on whom the group should focus, the authors list several questions boards and staff must be able to answer. They include knowing about key industry trends, market segmentation in the industry/profession served, retention rates for each key membership area, and those membership segments that give the association low satisfaction rates in member surveys (and why).

Rationalize Programs, Services and Activities

Following the premise in the previous section, not all association programs are worth creating or maintaining. The authers note the 80/20 rule nonprofit leaders have known about for years: 80% of member value comes from 20% of the benefits offered. In short, stop running programs that few members want or need and focus your precious time and dollars on the programs that matter most. And if some member don’t renew because of these changes, let them go.

Bridge the Technology Gap and Build a Framework for the Future

This is perhaps the best section from my perspective because at REM we believe so strongly in the same ideas presented. And this is not a section touting the importance of social media. The authors say that more and more membership connections will be based on technology, so without a good technology framework, associations will lose their dwindling connections to their members. Associations must know exactly how much of their budget they spend on technology and then seriously consider increasing it—by a lot.

That’s a summary of this intriguing book. If you’d like to include a discussion of its recommendations at a future board meeting, request one using the comment box at the end of this post. If you’d like to read the details, I encourage you to buy a copy. The exact title if Race for Relevance; 5 Radical Changes for Associations, by Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE.

Use the form below to send me a private comment on this post or to request that this book and be put on a future board meeting agenda.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Comment(required)

Another Tool for Connecting Association Members

If you haven’t heard about the Google+ Project, it’s something of a combination of Facebook and Meetup. Google+ is an online tool for connecting groups of friends, family members, colleagues, or all of those. It might be a useful tool for some associations, especially when groups of members want to get together at, say, the annual conference.

For more information, here’s an online demo: http://www.google.com/+/demo/

Updated “Social Media Revolution” Video Shows Social Media Is Bigger than Ever

Some time ago I encouraged our client board members to view an amazing video on YouTube, “Social Media Revolution.” It was the first presentation that convincingly demonstrated how social media tools (like this blog, for example) were being adopted by millions worldwide.  The video, by Erik Qualman, has just been updated.

Here are some of the more significant statistics included in his updated presentation:

• Social media is important because it is effective in part because over 50% of the world’s population that is under 30 years old.
• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the US.
• One in five couples meet online.
• One in five divorces are blamed on Facebook.
• Kindergartens are now learning on iPads, not chalkboards.
• If Facebook were a country, it’d be the world’s third largest.
• A new member joins LinkedIn every second.
• If Wikipedia were made into a book, it would be 2.25 million pages long.
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

Wondering why YouTube is considered a search engine? Because many people don’t want to have to read; they want to see a presentation, and if possible, be entertained.

The other significant issue Qualman notes is that traditional media is increasingly considered irrelevant and untrustworthy. Peer-to-peer recommendations (such as those found on LinkedIn) are considered more credible. This observation should inform any marketing plan designed to recruit new members, donors, and conference registrants.

Does this mean every nonprofit should jump into social media? Absolutely not. Social media is a tactic–at times a very effective one, but just a tactic. It is not an objective. Its value in reaching those over age 30 is, at times, questionable. Social media can support strategic objectives, but every social media tool is not right for every nonprofit.

And here’s the dirty little secret about social media: It’s easy to create, but extremely time-consuming to maintain (read: expensive). And do you have the content needed to keep it fresh? Because if it’s not fresh, it’s not worth the effort.

We’ll gladly talk with you and your board about social media. I now have more than 70 hours of training in social media and have delivered numerous presentations on the topic. Let us help you find out which social media tool might be right for you.

To see this impressive, informative video, click here.

Social media will eventually be important for every nonprofit. Whether it’s what you need–and can afford–now, is another matter.

Have a thought on this topic? Please leave a comment by clicking on the button below. That’s one of the benefits of this social media tool.

Can You Tell Me Your Mission Statement?

Here’s a simple exercise for any organization writing a new strategic plan or revising an existing one, or for anyone recruiting members/donors to a nonprofit: Tell me your mission statement–without looking at a document or website. If you cannot recite it, or a general summary of it, you’ve got a problem.

You might not remember your mission statement simply because you haven’t looked at it in a while. That’s easily corrected. But you might not remember it because it’s too long, to convoluted, or just a muddy mix of meaningless words assembled by a large committee.

Whatever the reason, if you cannot tell someone know your mission statement, you’ve got a mission statement that needs to change.

This is hardly a memory exercise. Your mission statement must be an integral part of the elevator speech you give to anyone who’s a prospect for membership in your nonprofit, or a candidate for its leadership. It must be readily understood in conversation, such as in answer to the “What do you do?” question. Here’s why.

My colleague Ira Koretsky, known as the Chief Storyteller, explains in his excellent presentations that it is critical to your continued success to unify and consistently use the right messages, images, and sounds throughout your communications materials. In the absence of memorable messages, your target audiences will forget you or make up their own stories. (Ira has a great newsletter on this issue, available for free from his website. It’s excellent reading for how to improve your for-profit business’ messaging and mission statement, too.)

So, what’s your mission statement? If it’s not easy to remember, what will you do about it?

The Economy’s Effect on Associations–Were The Experts Right?

Most of you know that I am a member and part of the leadership of the AMC Institute, the trade association for companies like REM, and of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).  At last year’s winter meeting participants heard a very interesting presentation by ASAE’s Greg Melia, who is ASAE’s liaison to the AMC community and to the AMC Institute.

Greg’s excellent presentation offered some revealing statistics regarding the issues associations faced last January because of the economic downturn. The data he presented from three separate surveys accurately predicted the experience of most of our clients in 2010. I’m revisiting this presentation because the research he reviewed also offers valuable insights that we should consider when planning for 2011 and beyond.

Here are some highlights of this presentation:

• Revenue for in-person training is down, but revenue from online programming will increase.
• Association members’ collectively expected the economy would rebound in 2010, clearly foreshadowing the rise in the stock market. (As Greg noted, this may say more about the fact that successful people are more likely to join and actively participate in associations.)
• Many companies that support employees’ association membership dues have curtailed the amount of funds dedicated to association participation. The result often is that companies have reduced the total number of associations in which they have memberships.
• Members want their associations to help them network in a down economy and demand resources and clearly identifiable value–especially when the employer pays part of the association dues.
• Four in 10 employers cut support for conference attendance. (For REM’s clients, this may explain why all but one experienced lower attendance in 2010, a trend that could continue in 2011.)
• Longer conferences are increasingly challenging, both in terms of cost and time away from the office.
• Conference attendance is very dependent on the value of the content at that year’s event. One bad year may mean the registrant won’t be back the next year.
• Social networking websites, such as LinkedIn groups, can help attract members and prospects–as members and conference registrants, or both.

For nonprofit boards reviewing or writing a strategic plan (including trade associations, professional societies, and foundations), this presentation offers some important data I encourage you to read. To view the entire presentation, click here. And don’t miss Glenn Tecker’s tips. (My favorite: Associations should be  a  source  of  things  members  can’t  otherwise  afford.)