Membership|Save the Associations
Ghosts & Legends: Overcoming Fears and Focusing on the Good
As humans, we all have fears that prevent us from trying new things. In the same way, organizations can be held back by their fears of failure, negative experiences, and fixations on past mistakes. However, it is essential to understand that failure is part of the learning process and should not stop us from achieving our full potential. This is particularly true for associations, which rely on the emotional commitment of their members. In the most recent episode of Membership IQ, I share a little bit about my first snorkeling experience. I’ll be honest — I panicked. I could not relax and enjoy the experience at all. But by the third time I gave it a try, I had the absolute time of my life swimming alongside sea turtles. The moral of the story is that, sometimes, it takes time and practice to overcome our fears and focus on the positive. As an association, it is essential to identify what is holding you back from reaching your full potential. This is where the “Ghosts and Legends” exercise comes in handy. The ghosts are negative experiences or fears that prevent an organization from moving forward. Associations need to acknowledge their ghosts, face them, and overcome them. It is only by doing so that they can learn from their failures and move on. The legends, on the other hand, are the things that associations are proud of. They are achievements, successes, and positive experiences that bring joy and pride to members. Sometimes, associations are so focused on the day-to-day tasks that they forget to talk about their legends. It is crucial to bring these legendary stories to the forefront and celebrate them. It is only by focusing on the good that associations can inspire their members and build a strong community. Membership is an emotional commitment. It is a relationship between the members and the organization, its mission, and the community. Associations need to understand this and be…
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Pins and Ribbons and Certificates, Oh My!: Creating a Culture of Recognition
I received a pin in the mail the other day from an association that I belong to. It came with a note that said “Congratulations on your 10th anniversary of membership.” and suggested that I share it on social media. While well-intentioned, this left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I have spent a lot of money on this organization and they have not taken the time to establish a relationship with me, much less recognition. The idea of wearing a pin to show the world that you are part of that organization is outdated. We’re thinking about membership in very different ways so the pin doesn’t really “stick the landing.” I recently worked with an organization who wanted to create a culture of recognition. So we did some research and found that there are not many organizations who are focused on recognition. The vast majority of associations are focused on things like pins, ribbons, certificates and awards, and even these are for those who have been in the industry or organization for many, many years. Your members don’t want to be recognized for just paying dues. They want to feel that they are a part of the community. They want to be thanked, recognized, and gifted. They don’t want a pin. That era is over. People want recognition that is genuine and authentic. Recognize someone who’s done something amazing early in their career, a trendsetter, a trailblazer. It doesn’t have to be all about legacies anymore. Members want to receive little gifts and recognition throughout the year. What would your association look like if it was truly fostering a culture of recognition? If it was focused on recognition throughout the year? Recognize your members, not just achievements within the association or profession or industry, but recognize other attributes and ways that people are successful, committed, dedicated, and making a difference.
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Embrace Change! …or Be Left Behind.
There’s a lot of sameness in our products and our purchases. For manufacturing purposes, we want things to look and be the same. But we… you and me? We’re not the same. Every single person on the face of this planet is different. And yet, we try to pretend that everyone is the same. Like a pack of gum (listen to the podcast to understand this reference 😛). We try to put practices and processes into our organizations and predict what human behavior will be like. And we expect it to continue to be the same. Our brains crave predictability. Our organizations are structured for predictability. And the older we get, the more we crave that social conservation—the desire for things to be more of the same; to follow certain patterns and paths and traditions. During the postwar era when Baby Boomers were being born, society was trying to establish organizations, and we borrowed management principles from the military. In the military, every soldier is intended to follow the same rules—do the same things over and over again. Predictability. Process. Hierarchy. Tradition. And we took these models and we put them into our work forces and membership organizations. We decided that everything needed to be very organized and predictable. Everything is going to be the same. And by doing the same thing over and over again, we’re going to get the same results over and over again. And people are going to respond the same way over and over again. But FULL STOP. All of a sudden, we are faced with rapid change in our society. In this era of change, nothing has stayed (or will stay) the same. Everything about the way we live, work, and do business is changing. But we still crave that predictability. We still expect people to react the same way, make the same decisions, go about life interacting and communicating with our organizations the same way. We expect engagement and…
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Gen X Marks the Spot!
For more than three decades, Baby Boomers were the workforce majority, and this generation remains the largest percentage of members in associations, as well. Then, in 2015, the Millennial generation became the workforce majority, and as the largest generation in history, they became the most studied generation. But what about X? Generation X is the sandwiched-in-the-middle, smaller generation that is often overlooked and remains one of the most difficult-to-engage generations. Their arrival marked the end of membership as we know it, becoming the first generation to question the relevance of associations and ask, ‘what’s in it for me?’ Raised to be self-sufficient, Xers didn’t have the same influences as Boomers and Millennials — two generations raised with community-building and networking influences, experiences, and mindsets. As a result, the way Xers engage as members differs from Boomers and Millennials. They are more likely to need direct outreach to engage, to want short-term volunteer opportunities, and need to clearly understand how membership benefits and fits into their lives. For too long, associations have assumed Xers are exactly like Boomers and will follow suit and join associations. This hasn’t been the case, and as the generation now moving into leadership roles, associations need to seriously consider how to engage X.
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Forecasting for the Future: How to Prepare for (and Embrace!) Change
Some of us don’t like cold weather – myself included. I’ll take a hot, sunny day any day over snow! We can’t change the weather or the many other forces outside our control, but we can adjust our attitudes toward change. Research shows the most successful organizations (reporting high levels of productivity, profitability, and engagement) are accepting of change. This means they are both accepting of new ideas and new people. Conversely, organizations struggling to engage their teams report higher levels of resistance to change. It sounds simple enough — to shift our attitudes toward change — but if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and every membership organization would be reporting high levels of productivity, profitability, and engagement. The fact is, change is difficult. Our brains resist change (that’s a scientific fact), and most of our organizations were founded many decades ago. We’ve held on to traditions and irrelevant models simply because they are known and familiar. But in a world fueled by innovation and disruption, we have to warm up to the idea of change to stay relevant, competitive, and community-centric. In this episode of the Membership IQ podcast, I use the weather as a metaphor for change and remind association leaders how their responses to change and a culture of resistance to change can create significant problems within the organization. I could sit on the sidelines and whine about snow or even stomp my feet and complain about it. But would that do any good? No. There is absolutely no benefit to resisting change, but there are benefits to be realized when we accept it.
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Messaging That Matters to Your Members
Shakespeare said it best: “All the world’s a stage.” Whether you are on the board or staff, a chapter leader, or a volunteer – what you say and how you say it influences organizational culture as well as the decision to join or renew membership. In my early career as a journalist, I realized there were two kinds of people: people who were great under pressure and people who fell apart under pressure. When you are conducting a media interview, how a person communicates with you tells you a story in and of itself. Is the person stumbling over their words? Defensive and placing blame? Or confident and polite? A journalist is trained to ‘sniff out the story’ depending on what is said, but also what is unsaid. We all, to some degree, do the same assessment of people in our everyday interactions, and we decide whether we trust and feel safe with someone and the organization that person represents. Like it or not, people are drawing conclusions about what it’s like to be a member of your association based on what leaders say and how they say it. I’ve observed there is an overall lack of media training, branding, and messaging awareness in membership associations. As a result, many associations experience member disengagement and decline – sometimes not even realizing it’s happening as a result of negative messaging. In this episode of the Membership IQ, I share some examples of messages that have a tendency to backfire and usher up a reminder to staff and volunteers – you are always on stage representing the association’s membership and brand.
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Old MacDonald Had a Farm…E-I-E-I-O….U?
Many people who meet me are surprised to hear that I’m originally from Iowa. Those who know me closely can tell you that I’m…more of a city mouse than a country mouse. It’s true though! I was born and raised in Iowa, a state known for its rolling plains and cornfields. It’s also known for its farming industry, and as the leading producer of corn in the U.S., there is a lot of farmland. Growing up, we learned the nursery rhyme “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” early on, and like many other families, it has been passed down to each generation. As the lyrics go: Old MacDonald Had a Farm E-I-E-I-O Regardless of whether you grew up surrounded by farmland, you likely were taught this song too and how could you forget it? The lyrics are very easy to commit to memory. I’m not about to sing you a nursery rhyme, but when it comes to membership, those letters E, I, and O are actually very important. For my version of things, I’m also adapting it a bit by adding the letter “U.” The EIOU acronym is one that I have developed after years of organizational and generational research. When working with associations, I use it to teach the four pillars of a successful, relevant, organization. Just like we memorized the nursery rhyme as children, I want you, as a leader, to commit this initialism to memory! E: Exclusive As we start to return back to in-person events, I’m hearing from several associations that program attendance is high. This is great news, but when I ask them about how membership is faring, I’m usually met with a pregnant pause. Many confess that membership is either stagnant or declining, and are at a loss as to why. I’ve discovered that one of the reasons this happens is because the boundaries have been blurred between what services and benefits members and non-members receive. In other words, their exclusivity…
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Dialing Into Your Member-Centric Mission
Have you ever stopped and thought about how remarkable cell phones are? With so many new models emerging on the market, it’s easy to take for granted how much of an impact they’ve had on our lives. With this small, powerful tool, we have unlimited access to networks, information, and relationships – all in the palm of our hand. Technology continues to shape much of who we are as a society today, and your association is no exception. In the late 1990s, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were two Ph.D. students at Stanford, who began collaborating (in their garage!) on a new piece of technology after it appeared to Page in a dream. When they started telling others about their revolutionary idea for a “search engine,” they were mocked and often disregarded by corporate investors. Despite the lack of faith and support, they persevered. Three fundamental beliefs would drive Page and Brin as they began to expand their company: People want to do meaningful work. They want knowledge about what is happening in their environment. They want the opportunity to shape that environment. For those of you familiar with this story, you know that Larry Page and Sergey Brin went on to found Google, pioneering the field of search engine optimization. Their invention would have a resounding impact on the workforce and pave the way for other tech companies. Today, Google is widely considered to be one of the happiest (and most productive) workplaces in the world. Following Google’s launch, corporate giants followed Google’s model, vowing to put their employees first. When we look back on these models today, they make sense, but we have struggled to adapt many of the practices to our membership organizations. Many associations like to think that they put people first, but in actuality, they have lost sight of their membership mission. It’s time to ask yourself: is your organization truly member-focused? To answer this question, you may be searching for…
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Take A Chance On Your Members!
My family loves board games. They are a great way to bring our family together and energize our competitive spirits. One of our frequent go-to’s is Monopoly, where strategy is key and the objective is to outsmart your opponents by acquiring the most valuable assets and properties. After years of playing Monopoly, I’ve come to the realization that there is a lot about this classic board game that applies to membership associations. You may not realize this, but associations actually used to be considered monopolies. They dominated the marketplace and didn’t have much competition, making it easy to attract and retain members. Back then, the value of being in an association was, well, being in the association. Belonging to a membership organization was a societal expectation, and for a while, that was sustainable. Over time, however, economic shifts and demographic changes began to negatively impact these organizations, causing membership to flatline. Much like in the game of Monopoly, it began to feel as though they were rolling bad dice – but it wasn’t because of luck or chance. It is not just a series of bad events that are plaguing associations – many have simply lost sight of their value proposition and relevance in today’s world. A value proposition is a targeted and concise promise or statement to your members and a cornerstone of your organization. The purposes of this message are threefold: It should clearly explain what your association will deliver. It should communicate why members should join. It should describe what your members will experience or receive as a result of their membership (this is also referred to as their ROI or return on investment). For centuries (yes, centuries!), organizations offered the same simple value proposition: you will have access to our community by joining our association. Members could attend meetings, conferences, and exclusive events as part of their dues – and that was enough. Today, the rules of the game have changed, and…
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Hats Off to a Member-Focused Mission!
As an organizational leader, you are likely wearing way too many hats. One minute you are attending a board meeting, the next, you’re reviewing bylaws and approving event proposals. It’s a reality many association executives face – being pulled in multiple directions because there is always something demanding attention. The role of executive extends far beyond “leader” and includes responsibilities such as committees, community initiatives, campaigns, conferences, etc. – the list goes on! But what if there was a way to take off a few hats and get back to the mission at hand? Oftentimes, associations are doing so much that they lose sight of their mission and end up going down paths that don’t impact the growth of the organization. You wouldn’t expect to walk into a hospital and learn that they know nothing about medicine, or walk into a bank and discover they know nothing about finances. The same goes for your organization – you don’t want prospective members learning that your association doesn’t truly know its member base and their interests. That would surely be a quick way to deter them from joining your ranks. Prioritizing members should be the central focus of your organization. We all have an innate drive to do something bigger and better, but success is really in the small details…in finding the hat with the perfect fit. If you are consumed by tasks or initiatives that don’t serve members and instead are focusing on things that dilute your value proposition, you are putting your organization at risk. And we all know that membership growth and retention directly correlate to our organization’s success. What does finding the hat with the perfect fit mean? …Realizing that big-picture and unfocused ideas can be distracting …Narrowing your focus toward membership value (that ties back to your mission!) …Recognizing you might be engaging in antiquated programs and initiatives that need to be revamped, or even abandoned. They might have been around forever but can…
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