Save the Associations
Answering Your Membership Questions #1
🎤 Engagement, value propositions, decline, oh my! I’m receiving more questions than ever about #membership so I’ve started doing something new—a live Q&A! For 30 minutes each month, I’ll answer as many Q’s as possible. During our first conversation, we received 48 questions, so I decided to also respond to a few of them on my blog this month. Let me know what you think about the Live Q&A’s and blogs, and if you like them, I’ll keep doing them! What can we do to better communicate membership value? It’s important to know exactly how your organization brings value to your members. Who better to articulate that than members themselves? Ask them to describe how being a member makes a difference in their lives. This is, by far, the most powerful marketing and program development tool you can utilize. By inviting your members to share their stories, you’ll know precisely how your organization brings value to your members. Further, there should always be a list of benefits that’s exclusive to members only. Members want an incredibly personalized service experience. They don’t want to feel like a number, they want to feel like they’re a person who is valued by your organization. Members crave a secure relationship—feeling cared for, appreciated, and respected. Members with an emotional connection to an association are considerably more likely to renew, to volunteer, and to refer your association to others. It’s critical you take the time and effort to build those relationships. How do we improve membership engagement? We all know this isn’t a one-size-fits all world anymore. Claiming a niche is imperative to your organization’s future success in today’s competitive and distracting marketplace. Shifting your approach to become meaningful to someone – not everyone – is the key to growing your membership right now and will support creating long-term sustainable membership growth. Further, if it’s not contributing to your association’s growth or delivering value to your members, quit doing it. When…
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Flip Your Perspective to Achieve Greater Success
Reporting live from Australia, Sarah Sladek invites associations to flip their perspectives to reverse membership decline and disengagement. This five-part video series explores key challenges associations are facing and provides tips to help them successfully transition and ‘flip’ their perspectives.  Part 1 – Flip Your Perspective – Australia 2018  Part 2 – Flip Your Perspective – Plan for the Future  Part 3 – Flip Your Perspective – Membership Value  Part 4 – Flip Your Perspective – Commit to Change  Part 5 – Flip Your Perspective – Leaders of Tomorrow https://vimeo.com/307507194 Â
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XYZ U eBook Shares 5 Turn-around Strategies for Associations to Grow into the Future
Membership associations represent millions of employees, industry interests in both government and education, and have the power to create real, meaningful change. However, 62% of associations are reporting flat or declining membership. XYZ U believes helping associations engage, compete, grow, and serve creates a better future for us all. As a result, the Save the Associations campaign was launched in 2018, profiling 12 associations doing exceptional work to grow into the future. The STA campaign is still alive today and its shows can be streamed here! We are thrilled to announce the release of “Save the Associations: A collection of insights from associations making radical changes to stay relevant and engage future generations.” Download the eBook to learn 5 turn-around strategies driving association success. [qodef_button size=”” type=”” text=”Download” custom_class=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” fa_icon=”” link=”https://xyzuniversity.com/5-turn-around-strategies-for-associations-to-grow-into-the-future/” target=”_self” color=”” hover_color=”” background_color=”” hover_background_color=”” border_color=”” hover_border_color=”” font_size=”” font_weight=”” margin=””] XYZ University is grateful to these 12 associations who shared their stories and who are making sincere efforts to reinvent themselves, change focus, forge new alliances, reach new audiences, and revamp traditions to stay relevant, valuable, and competitive: Air Traffic Control Association American Traffic Safety Services Association American Water Works Association Association for Corporate Growth Associated General Contractors Associated General Contractors of Washington Florida Institute of CPAs Mechanical Contractors Associations of Chicago Minnesota Optometric Association Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers National Watermelon Association Ohio Society of CPAs Thank you for your dedication to the future! What will your association do today to prepare for tomorrow? Let us know how we can help; XYZ University exists to help save the associations! If your organization is struggling, now is the time for action. Register for our newly developed courses specifically designed to help membership organizations more effectively engage and retain members.Â
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Empowering Association Chapters: A strategy to energize younger generations
Associated General Contractors of America – Save the Associations Vol. 11 In the Summer of 2018, we explored what it means for an association to empower young professionals with the Associated General Contractors of Washington. We also spoke to their national counterpart – the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) – about what it means to empower association chapters. National Issues, Local Solutions “Like many industries, the construction industry is very much affected by a shortage of skilled workers,” shared Christi Beatty, Vice President of Chapter Support Services at AGC. “We are not expecting that to change anytime soon.” Starting over 20 years ago, AGC committed to attracting and retaining young talent through a variety of efforts. Their most successful initiative was empowering their chapters to be creative and take risks when designing events and programs for young professionals. “Our chapters are doing a lot of the meaningful groundwork for change,” said Beatty. “By creating events and networking opportunities that appeal to young professionals, our chapters have energized the younger generation, and they’re getting involved in the work of the chapters.” We saw how this empowerment led to the Washington chapter’s success in engaging young professionals on task forces, committees, and at annual events. Beatty shared examples of two other chapters that are thinking outside the box to recruit young talent. The Colorado Chapter of AGC received a government grant for technical education programs after they brought to light the reality of the workforce shortage. The Nevada Chapter of AGC is helping build a magnet school for middle school students interested in the trades. The chapter is helping with the physical building and providing support to the program. Similarities Across Chapters While each chapter has its own programming and events, Beatty shared that many of the young professional programs across the country are focused on similar ideas. Networking – Young professionals want to network with each other and with senior members at the association. Soft Skills…
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The Importance of Empowering Young Professionals
Associated General Contractors of Washington – Save the Associations Vol. 8 With more than 600 member companies, the Associated General Contractors of Washington (AGC of Washington) has a deep understanding of what challenges are occurring in the workforce. “Our members are struggling to attract and retain young employees,” shared David D’Hondt, Executive Vice President of AGC of Washington. While at the same time, “It is very obvious the workforce is getting younger.” To help overcome this struggle, the AGC of Washington created a future leaders program – the Construction Leadership Council (CLC). Construction Leadership Council In order to get the attention of the younger generations and show that construction is a good career, AGC of Washington is listening to the younger generations and is incorporating a wide variety of opportunities into the CLC based on what they are hearing. CLC members can choose from an assortment of professional development and leadership classes. This carries significant value to the membership at large. AGC of Washington member companies “appreciate the leadership opportunities we give to the younger generations because the skills learned are reflected well in the workforce,” said D’Hondt. AGC of Washington also believes that when given the opportunity, the younger generations will engage and contribute. As an example, the Tech Task Force was created, allowing the association to tap into the technological advice of the CLC. “If we talk about social media strategies, devices, etc., we use them as a resource to find out where we need to go,” shared D’Hondt. The most beloved CLC project is the annual challenge to create an event that everyone on the council members’ email/social media lists would want to attend. Given $50,000 and tasked to lead and create an event to attract new people to the industry, this initiative gives CLC members valuable leadership experience. However, “we can’t leave them on an island,” said D’Hondt. To guide the initiative, association leadership stays plugged in, further fostering relationships between CLC…
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Being Future-Focused: Generational consideration with every foundational change
National Watermelon Association – Save the Associations Vol. 7 The National Watermelon Association is the oldest single fruit commodity association in the U.S., and for nearly a century it was run solely by volunteers. In 2005, the association realized that to overcome stagnant membership and the impending workforce crisis, it had to bring in professional staff. That year, Bob Morrissey joined as Executive Director and has not only created new programs for the younger generations, but he has been considering those generations with every foundational change that has been made. Future Watermelon Farm Leaders “I started by reading as much on Gen X and Gen Y as possible,” shared Morrissey. He first read Sarah Sladek’s book titled The End of Membership As We Know It. “The topic launched us to focus on the near future, and how we could transform an association with four generations involved into something renewed that would be viable, sustainable, and growing into the next couple of decades,” stated Morrissey. He didn’t want to be too aggressive as he didn’t want to scare people off, but he also knew the association needed to evolve fairly quickly. One result of this effort was the creation of the Future Watermelon Farm Leaders  (FWFL) program. This young professional program is focused on giving members the opportunities they crave to further their careers and their industry. These future leaders speak and work at the national convention, take part in the association’s varied committees, and network with industry professionals. “They are the future and they are engaged,” said Morrissey. The program has been well received, which is why it is about to enter into a new phase. Recognizing farming’s crucial role in feeding the world, Morrissey shared that “with the average age of farmers today [being] over 58 years old, it is vital for us to embrace the younger generations to continue that respected trade and to lead our association.” In the new version of the FWFL,…
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