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PLaybook

PLAYBOOK

for Game-Changing Association Management

Email paulh@ewald.com to subscribe to Ewald

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An Affinity for Success or Failure

4

New Thoughts on the Old 80/20 Rule

Contents

24
26
28
2

Starting a Strategic Planning Process

6

20 Ways to Enhance Your Meeting Experiences

8

Technology on Purpose: Data, Design and Content

10 Building Your Association Community:
From a Blueprint to a Home
11

Proofread Like a Pro

12 A Successful Year Starts with a
Solid Budget
14 Creating Results with
Social Media
16 Creating Effective and
Engaged Boards
18 Guaranteed Investment Winner
Your Association Dues

19 Using Stakeholder Analysis to Boost

Your Membership
20
22
23

Lets Move On! Working with Action-Oriented Volunteers

9 Marketing Ideas for Your Organization

Three Ways to Stronger Volunteer Engagement

A Holistic Approach to Membership Recruitment

The Dataing Game

What Can Ewald Consulting Do for You?

PLaybook
An Affinity for Success or Failure
by David Ewald, CAE and Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP
Non-dues revenue has steadily become more essential
as associations aim to balance their budgets through
diversified income streams. Membership dues are
no longer the leading revenue source for many
associations. The search for new sources of non-dues
revenue often includes consideration of potential
affinity programs. Done well, an affinity program
can be a way to reinforce the associations value
proposition to individual and corporate members.
Done poorly, it can become a catch-all discount
program that dilutes the message to members and
distracts staff and volunteer energy away from work
that is central to the associations mission without
adding substantial value. Perhaps your association is
considering an affinity program of its own. If so, here
are a few quick steps may to get you started.
It is important that any affinity program meet three tests:
1. Exclusivity of Access. The program must provide a
real benefit to members that is not easily available
to them through other means or off the street
through hard bargaining.
2. Benefit to the Association. The program must
include a significant benefit to the Association from
the providing entity. This benefit must be more
than you will get more members because of this
affinity program. In other words, there should be
a financial incentive or free in-kind service to the
association in exchange for endorsing or adopting
the program. It should also align to the associations
mission.
3. Provider Marketing. There must be willingness and
intention by the providing entity to actively market
the program.
In addition to these three tests, affinity programs are
most likely to be successful if they address an industryspecific need of the members. The American Society
of Association Executives and Center for Association
Leadership has published a variety of articles that

discuss affinity programs and affirm this point. It is

important to prioritize what you are going after for
the member. Bear in mind that those you approach
about an affinity program must see something in it for
themselves as well.
How to begin
1. Prioritize a list of up to 10 different programs that
could best meet the criteria discussed above.
2. Survey members regarding their preferences and
collect data from them regarding the potential
market size so that can be leveraged when
approaching potential providers. Also, review
your current data on your members to develop a
profile of your membership. Dont underestimate
the value that your members bring to the table if
theres a good match between the affinity program
and your membership. If theres real interest, the
program will succeed and add real value to the
member value proposition. It must be win-win for
both the member and the affinity program and a
real partnership where both parties are vested in the
success of the program.
3. Selectively approach vendors to implement a few
programs at a time so the association can gauge
interest and success. These results can be leveraged
if the association decides to approach additional
vendors in the future.
It is essential to keep in mind that implementing these
activities can be very time-consuming so they really
must accomplish something that makes it worthwhile
for both the Association and the member. If it adds
real value, it will be worth the effort to put time
and resources to the activity. In addition, it must be
integrated in the marketing plan for the association as
we need to remind our members of the value of their
membership throughout the year as well as expand the
membership base by providing a compelling value
proposition.

New Thoughts on an Old Rule

by David Ewald, CAE
Most of us are familiar with the 80/20 Rule, also
known as the Pareto Law. The basic premise of the rule
is that a minority of causes, inputs or effort usually
leads to a majority of results, outputs or rewards. In
our daily life, this may mean that 20% of our effort
leads to 80% of the results, that 80% of our profits
come from 20% of our customers or that 80% of crime
is caused by 20% of all criminals. In his book The
80/20 Principle, author Richard Koch identifies these
and other phenomena to explain the concept of the
imbalance between effort and reward and why its
useful.
The main idea behind the principle is that there is a
powerful relationship between where we place our
attention and the outcomes derived. Steven Coveys
books, First Things First or The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People, and many other books
on personal effectiveness focus on prioritizing how
we spend our precious time in order to make the
most of our lives. This is just another way of saying
that concentrating effort in the fewer but important
areas (the 20%) can create the most important (80%)
outcomes. The relationship of 80/20 is not meant to
be exact. There are an infinite number of relationships
that can range from 51/49 to 99/1 all of which
demonstrate the usefulness of placing more of our
attention in limited areas in order to achieve better
results. Where do your customers or members derive
value from the products, programs or services within
your organization? Most likely there are a few areas
that provide a disproportionate share of
the profit and benefit. Maybe it is 80/20
or 70/30. What does this imply for the
70% of your offering that contributes only
30%?
How about your staff? A senior
executive at one of the countrys largest
retailers told me that there is only one
personnel decision that employers ever
need to make: whether or not to hire
a person. If they make that decision

correctly, he said, the rest is easy. That is certainly

an oversimplification, but the implications are clear:
most likely the majority of the personnel-related issues
confronting your organization come from a minority of
the employees. Focus on changing that dynamic and
reap disproportionate results.
The implications for personal productivity and
satisfaction are immense. Covey students are familiar
with the grid detailing the differences between
important/not important and urgent/not urgent
activities. According to Covey, we want to spend
most of our time working on the important but not
urgent activities and avoid busying ourselves with the
non-important/non-urgent and non-important/urgent
activities. How much more satisfying can we make our
existence by focusing on those few areas where we can
truly make the biggest impact?
While not infallible, I find rules like this useful in
analyzing challenges facing an organization. Its easy to
make the mistake of thinking that all areas are equally
important and merit equal attention. This is most often
not the case. Take a new look at a problem you are
confronting and see if the 80/20 rule helps to provide
a course of action. Most likely you will find that
concentrating your energy on the areas that can provide
disproportionate returns will provide a significant
improvement in results.

PLaybook
STARTING A STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
by Eric Ewald, CAE
What do you want to accomplish?
Take some time as a group to consider, then articulate,
your objective for the planning process. Some questions
to think about:
Are you facing a particular organizational crisis that
must be addressed?
Do you need to consider changes to your
organizations mission and vision, or are these still
largely relevant?
Are you looking to develop some long range focus
for the organization? How far out?
Do you want the planning process to have
significant orientation or team building
components?
When is the best time for your organizations
planning?
Organizations often time their planning processes
to coincide with calendar and fiscal year starts,
board cycles and calendars or special events.
Sometimes these considerations yield the most logical
and convenient time to go through the planning
process. Other times it is simply a matter of gauging
participants opinion about the best time of year to
invest the time and attention. Find a time that makes
the most sense for your organization and is convenient
for your participants.
Who should be involved to achieve the best possible
outcome?
Think carefully about who can best help you
accomplish the objective of the planning process. In
addition to the board of directors, consider involving
people whose input would be beneficial including
volunteers and staff with experience that could help
shape good strategy. Involving others becomes even
more important when developing specific actions
to take to pursue your strategies, because many of
these people will be responsible for implementation.
They will also have good experience-based insights

into effective strategies and actions and you will be

better able to generate their buy-in to the action steps
developed if they are a part of the process.
What kind of process should you follow?
There are many ways to do strategic planning. Many
different approaches have been developed by various
planners, consultants and educators. Some common
elements in most approaches include: re-assessing who
you are, what you do and how you do it; examining
your history to date; considering your current and
future environments; visioning; goal setting and action
planning. Talk through the options with your group and
session leader to establish the process that will be best
for your participants given an articulated objective for
the process.
Should an outside facilitator be engaged?
Good facilitators are experts in process and bring
neutrality and important facilitation skills to the
table. They also carry a cost. Be mindful of choosing
a facilitator who is a good fit. In the balance, it is
best to have a facilitator who can free all key board
members and staff to fully participate in the process
and to recommend and manage good process. Decide
what will be most effective for your planning given the
objectives you have for the planning process.

20 WAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR MEETING EXPERIENCES

by Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP
Its never been a more exciting, daunting, challenging
and chaotic time in association management. The
economy, failing sectors, technology, generations,
social and cultural diversity all impact the business of
associations.
With our limited resources, we usually go with the safe,
it worked before solution in our member offerings,
in particular with our meetings. We fall into the trap
of complacency with getting our direction from the
same members on the planning committee, the same
speakers and topics and repeating the same meeting
format from year to year. We do evaluations and file
them away, never using the insights and feedback to
guide the next offering, especially if it makes us change
the tried and true format.
Our speakers get us content last-minute and many
times they tell us that what they are going to deliver
in their program is completely different, resulting in a
disconnect between our promise to our participants
and what we actually deliver. The result: unsatisfied
participants who not only might not come back next
year, they might not rejoin and they certainly wont
be our raving fans. Its time to re-think and re-do our
meetings to remain relevant.
20 Ways to Enhance Your Meeting Experiences
1. Have a mission for the meeting and communicate
it to all of the stakeholders association leadership,
members/nonmembers, sponsors, exhibitors,
speakers, public, etc.
2. Research: Know the profile of your attendees/
audience demographics, learning styles and
preferences, social interaction preferences.
3. Take the time to define meeting objectives and
measurable outcomes.
4. Define learner outcomes: performance, condition,
proficiency, and business impact such as time
savings, greater productivity, reduce costs,
increased sales
5. Understand the characteristics of adult learners:
self-directed, multiple life experiences; problemsolving orientation.

6. Apply Knowles Adult Learning Principles: need

to Learn; need for ownership; importance of
relevance.
7. Add new people to conference committee and get
new insights through focus groups, surveys, phone
interviews.
8. Focus on content, content, content.
9. Mix up the delivery with experiential learning, new
formats, interactive tools, book signings, speed
networking, ice breakers.
10. Create a marketing plan that includes web, email,
direct mail, social media, testimonials, and cool
design to get attention. Be consistent with brand,
segment your attendees, use public relations tactics.
11. Communicate content and relevance consistently
and creatively.
12. Be innovative: Try something new and dont be
afraid to fail. Stop repeating the same conference
from year to year.
13. Create a memorable experience with everything
from ease of registration to how people are greeted,
to content and every seemingly little aspect of the
event excellent meetings are in the details.
14. Connect members during the year through the
website and social media tools.
15. Start looking for strategic alliances.
16. Dont do evaluations unless youre going to use
them ask the right questions and listen!
17. Increase vendor and sponsor value by using online
links year round, including on-floor demos in your
program, hoisting banners, offering how to sell
without selling tips for exhibitors, and creating a
real value exchange.
18. Use your website to draw attention (white
papers, content from conference, speaker forum
discussions, quick polls, enhanced member-only
sections, networking tips PowerPoint during a
networking reception).
19. Continue the conversations past the conference
through forums, blogs, listservs, LinkedIn, and/or
Facebook.
20. Collect lessons learned before, during and after;
evaluate and make changes for your next meeting.

PLaybook
Rethinking Meetings Format to Deliver a More
Engaging Experience
Pecha Kucha: Each speaker presents a maximum
of 20 slides and comments on each slide no more
than 20 seconds each presentation is less than
7 minutes, allowing time for discussion. Speakers
shouldnt read slides to the audience. These sessions
usually involve several speakers, and are used to
inspire people to think at a higher level. www.
pecha-kucha.org.
Twebinars: Combining webinar with Twitter. Utilize
the instant-messaging capabilities of Twitter to
replace the standard Q & A period, so participants
can comment before, during and after the webinar.
Keeps the webinar alive.
Second Life: Virtual world/virtual meetings and
tradeshows.
Project-Based Events: Instead of a lecture about how
to build a budget, you build a budget in the session.
Its a collaborative, unconference, open space where
topics arent defined until people arrive onsite.
World Caf: Roundtable-style format that taps
into the collective wisdom of the group. Clusters
of five people sit in rounds and discuss issues
surrounding the theme of the meeting for 20-30
minutes. Conversations are repeated three times as
participants switch tables to interact with others. At
the end, a group discussion is facilitated to identify
key insights and ideas. Ask the right questions
engage people in a meaningful dialogue. www.
theworldcafe.com
The five market segments of association annual meeting
attendees include Knowledge Seekers, Value-Based
attendees, Social Networkers, Convenience Drive
attendees, and Creatures of Habit.
Knowledge Seekers (22 percent of those polled)
are frequent attendees who seek to expand their
involvement with their industry, both in terms
of education and interaction with colleagues, at
conference.
Value Based attendees (17 percent) are more
sensitive to the costs involved in participating
in such a meeting. They want to get useful
information and ideas that they can put to work for
their investment. Overall, these are the youngest
registrants.

Social Networkers (26 percent) enjoy the social

aspects of the convention and like to combine
business and leisure travel. However, they also
attend to learn about their industry and to network.
Convenience Driven attendees (17 percent) are
infrequent attendees, most likely due to busy
schedules. They also experience time constraints at
the annual meeting, making it difficult for them to
accomplish all their goals.
Creatures of Habit (18 percent) attend the most
annual meetings, but they have less interest in
furthering their industry knowledge than other
attendees.
Using Your Website Effectively for Your Meetings
Pre-Event
Collect Speaker proposals using an online form
Promote the event with podcasts, email blasts,
conference archives
Promote volunteer engagement in your registration
form
Email confirmations to attendees
Include a speaker page on website
Set up an Exhibitor registration form
Provide an Exhibitor booth map with links to
exhibitors; this adds value for exhibitors
Give people a reason to want to come to the
destination feature CVB website and resources
During event
Set up a photo gallery
Email daily evaluations to participants
Provide conference updates, perhaps daily
Use quick polls
Create recordings (audio and/or video)
Encourage attendees to use Twitter or Facebook to
post photos or share their insights
After event
Send overall event evaluations
Post speaker presentations online
Post a save the date message for the next year
Provide ongoing sponsor and exhibitor recognition
Continue to connect virtually through the year
Webcasts, LinkedIn

TECHNOLOGY ON PURPOSE
by Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP,
Create Lasting Relevance by Integrating Data, Design
and Content
With the speed and sheer volume of information
and tools available, associations need to strategically
implement and integrate technology to create and
enhance our relationship with our members. As our
technology options continue to increase, our attention
and capacity are decreasing. We have a natural
tendency to respond to the increasing level of choices
by doing more and more, instead of going deeper to
create relevant offerings. More choices mean we need
to be more discriminating in what we choose and to
not let the tools dilute but rather enhance the message.
We need to focus on quality and quantity, relationship
and transaction. Adding one more meeting, one more
social media tool, one more benefit to make up for a
declining membership is not a sustainable strategy if
its not based on our members needs and expectations.
We need to simultaneously operate efficiently
while engaging our members in conversation and
collaboration.
While its important to benchmark to other associations
technology practices for ideas, our members are
not comparing us with other associations. They are
comparing us with their experiences with Amazon,
Apple, Google, LinkedIn and Facebook. While we dont
have Amazon budgets, we can assimilate the concepts
used by these successful companies and apply them
on our scale. Simply stated, successful companies (and
associations) understand their customers through the
effective use of data, design and content.
An associations website platform is a hub, providing
both transactional and relational functions. Invest in
a merged content management system and database
website platform that integrates key functionality
including: open API (Application Programming
Interface) which allows for third party software
integration; secure payment processing; receipts and
invoices; searchable directories; an integrated email
program to merge data fields, allowing personalized
communications; a member portal with purchase and
participation history; continuing education certificates
8

and tracking; a members-only section with content by

subject matter experts (our members); and responsive
code so the website will resize to different devices
larger screens, mobile phones and tablets.
Data
We get to know our members by collecting both
qualitative and quantitative data. Find out their
interests, expertise, demographics, specialties, talents,
industry vertical, company size, birth year, number of
years in profession, volunteer interests, challenges and
expectations. With these data points, we can connect
members to each other, engage them in the association
and match our offerings to their needs.
We should only collect data that we intend to use. How
many membership and event surveys have we sent,
collecting data and feedback that was simply ignored?
Create and execute a touch point plan for first-year
members, long-term members, varying levels of
experience, members who have participated and
members who have not participated. Dont just invite
them to meetings recognize and thank them for
their involvement. Give them ways to contribute based
on their talents and specialties. Offer virtual volunteer
opportunities by getting members to post to Twitter,
Facebook and LinkedIn to drive conversations, or send
them your list of new members for the month and ask
them to email a personal welcome.
We increase the value of data collection by giving the
data back to members:
Send personalized emails with merged fields that
show our members we understand them;
Provide searchable directories that connect
members to members and the public to members;
Identify patterns in the data to deliver new offerings
(i.e., a large contingent in health care that would
benefit from a special interest group, a missing
segment to target, or a hot topic that could be the
subject for a webinar);
Use surveys and polls to identify trends and
opportunities;

PLaybook
Conduct focus groups to understand our members
perspective and narrative;
Offer a mentorship program that matches newer
or younger members with those who have more
experience.
Design
Good design gains and keeps readers attention by
merging art and science, engaging both the right and
left sides of our brains. When done well, it visually
leads, informs, guides and organizes.
Use color to organize content;
Merge design and data into visuals and
infographics;
Provide tabbed content areas that organize content
like file folders;
Engage readers with descriptive headlines and
concise copy that leads to more in-depth content;
Make information easy to scan with bullets and
carefully organized chunks of information;
Use photos that humanize the organization and tell
a story;
Take time to explain your site with instructions and
demos for users;
Help users understand the value of using the tools
you integrate.

variety of formats (white papers, case studies, tip sheets,

templates or simply a testimonial on the associations
value to their career).
Associations are in the relationship business.
The technology tools we have available give us a
tremendous opportunity to serve our members better
through data, design and content that facilitate
connections, conversations and community.
Favorite Resources
Cool Infographics: www.coolinfographics.com
Content Marketing Institute: www.
contentmarketinginstitute.com/
Smashing Magazine: www.smashingmagazine.com/
Lynda: www.lynda.com
Marketing Sherpa: www.marketingsherpa.com/
Mashable: www.mashable.com
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies:
http://c4lpt.co.uk/0

Content
Associations have always been about
connecting people with common
interests. The technology tools we
choose should be about connection,
collaboration, knowledge exchange
and professional growth at all career
stages energetic young professionals,
mid-career members who are looking
for leadership opportunities, and
experienced thought leaders. Our
members are subject matter experts
and we need to tap that expertise in a

BUILDING YOUR ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY: FROM A BLUEPRINT TO A HOME

by Kathie Pugaczewski, CMP, CAE
Today, information is free. Just about anything an
individual desires to know can be found with the right
Google search. In a world of free information, there
is a sense of anxiety among association professionals
who have believed that a portion of their associations
value proposition was based on serving as the exclusive
gateway to industry data. What theyve missed is
that associations are not in the business of providing
raw data. Rather, a strong association transforms
information into knowledge and insight by harnessing
the collective expertise of thought leaders to create
value and outcomes that shape professions, impact
societies and drive the economy.

be sustainable. Following are key factors to consider in

building the foundation of an online community:

Since their inception, associations have been a forum

for connection, community and collaboration. Prior
to the rapid expansion of technology over the past
20 years, the primary way associations facilitated this
forum for connection was through in-person meetings.
Increasing accessibility of affordable technology
platforms and social media tools creates opportunity
for associations to establish and grow online
communities for members to feel connected between
in-person meetings. Done well, these communities can
strengthen member retention, growth and engagement.
The convergence of websites, databases, social media
and private communities gives associations a strategic
advantage to build and deepen the relationship among
members by customizing offerings to their interests and
needs.

Be specific: File libraries and forum discussion groups

must be focused on defined topics. General content
wont generate much interest. Get topic ideas from
members that drive peer-to-peer connection and
conversation.

There are a lot of tools to choose from; even if an

association selects the right tool, there is still a critical
resource requirement of knowledge and experience
using the tool in order for the association to be
successful. Just because you give someone a hammer
doesnt mean they can build a house. Sticking with
the metaphor, staff professionals need to draft the
blueprints, build the house and transform it into a home
by engaging our members to foster and facilitate online
community and collaboration.
When an association first launches a new online
community and/or collaboration tool, it is building a
new structure a foundation for the house. Like social
media, online communities must be member-driven to
10

Provide instructions and models: Members are busy

and unless they see the value of using the tools, they
wont. Build website how to pages and 2-3 minute
webinars demonstrating how to use the tools.
Create a member central page on the website:
Help members to easily find the online tools they want
by providing a member portal page. This page also
provides a teaser for nonmembers to see what they
could access online if they join.

Facilitate the process: Take a test drive with new

tools and work with volunteers to brainstorm topics,
questions and ideas that generate ongoing value.
Like social media, private communities need to be
facilitated by staff but must be member-driven to be
sustainable.
One example of an association that has had success
establishing a new online community is the Academy
of Human Resource Development (AHRD). AHRD
launched new file libraries and forum discussion
groups with specific topics based on the interests of its
members. The file library names include topics such as
Conference Presenters and Attendees, Articles Worth
Reading, Emerging Scholars, Practitioner Resources,
and Webcast Library.
The forum discussion called Conversations has
two layers, with broad categories and specific topics
beneath. Categories include Water Cooler, Career
Development and The Field of HRD. Under each broad
topic, specific subtopics help to direct the conversation,
like Off the record, with a focus on non-career/
academic topics a great way for members to connect
on interests outside of their profession. Three other
topics for each primary member segment include In

PLaybook
Proofread like a pro
by Laurie Pumper, CAE
the field to focus on academics; In the
classroom for students; and Practitioners
for the scholar-practitioner community.
AHRDs Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are
now set up as online groups. The association
will provide training to show the SIG chairs
how to use the tools to add value to their
community including a group directory,
messaging members, file libraries, shared
calendar and forum discussion. These new
features will start conversations and add value
to SIG membership. The association is forming
a SIG Leaders Group to share best practices.
The Qualitative Research Consultants
Association (QRCA) is effectively utilizing
forum discussion groups and file libraries for
its board, committees and SIGs. The tools
can complement each other. QRCA has a
very active LinkedIn Group (which is open
to nonmembers) and a members-only forum
discussion group. By cross-promoting content
of both social media and private online
communities, the value increases in both
platforms.
The Association of Image Consultants
International (AICI) has a virtual chapter
structure that empowers chapter leaders to
have real-time access to chapter member
information as they join and choose their
chapter in the online database. The description
of the chapter is public, but members of the
chapter need to log in to access the online
tools.
In a world of free information, associations
need not panic that they are losing relevance.
Associations need to communicate the value
of member-based community and access to
thought leadership that converts information
into insight and action. The tools and blueprint
are essential to building the house, but it takes
member input, experience, and know-how to
turn a house into a home worth visiting again
and again.

Want to feel like a kid again? Specifically, want to relive those

awkward feelings of junior high, when almost everything
was cause for embarrassment? Then send something to print
without proofreading it. Errors in typography, layout and fact
can all conspire to lower your credibility among your readers.
Here are some tips to help you avoid those embarrassing
moments.
Try to avoid proofreading on a computer screen. Its hard
on your eyes. Because of a computers flickering screen,
youre also more likely to miss errors. Whenever possible,
print out a copy of the document and make your edits on
the paper copy.
Try to get at least one other person to review your work.
If youve already rehashed and revised a piece, your brain
just wont recognize some errors (dropped text at the end
of an article, for instance). If you must proof your own
work, let the piece rest for a few hours or (better) a few
days. Give yourself a chance to forget what you wrote.
When you come back to the project, youre more likely to
see those big, embarrassing errors!
Use a spell-check program but dont rely too heavily
on it. Spellcheckers dont catch it when you use a likesounding word in the wrong place (i.e. there instead of
theyre or their). It would be even more embarrassing if
you accidentally left out the l from public (its still a real
word, so your spell-checker probably wouldnt flag it).
Check names and titles, even if it means calling someone
to make sure youve got it right. Also look carefully at
phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and web
addresses for accuracy.
If you need to compare edited text to the original material,
it helps to set the two documents side by side. Use a
ruler or a blank sheet of paper to help keep your place.
It can also help your accuracy if you start at the end of
the document and move backward through the text. Your
brain is less likely to fill in the blanks, and youll catch
dropped or duplicate words.
When proofreading a magazine or newsletter, double
check the table of contents and story jumps to make sure
the page numbers agree.
For e-newsletters, make sure that you try all the links if you
direct readers to web pages, email addresses or to other
sections of the newsletter.
Take frequent breaks. If youre trying to proofread
something when youre tired, you will miss errors.

11

A SUCCESSFUL YEAR STARTS WITH A SOLID BUDGET

by Bill Monn
A solid budget is the confluence of science and art
that serves as the compass for the financial oversight
of successful organizations. A budget built on your
organizations track record provides timely and
accurate guidance and a solid base to build your plan
for the future.

The simple trending graph below suggests that revenues

for the coming year will fall between $109 and $122.
If you budget higher or lower, it should be with
accompanying rationale.

Conversely, the old saying that a failure to plan

is a plan to fail continues to ring true. Those
organizations that expend little effort in building
a solid budget run a high risk of missing
trends that could be harmful or not seeing
opportunities to build on.
Getting started
The three major metrics you should consider
are revenues, expenses and margin. Start your
budget planning by thoroughly understanding
where you are. Where are your revenues,
expenses and margin relative to what you
planned for in the current year? Look at them
together as well as individually. A spike in expenses
is not necessarily a bad thing if there has been a
corresponding spike equal or greater in revenues.
Review variances from your budget. If attendance is
lower than projected for monthly events, understand
why. Is it program content? Cost? Location? Time of
day?
Once you have a good feeling of where you are, take
the time to understand where youve been. Two points
on a chart are a direction, three are a trend. Go back
at least three years four is better and graph your
revenues, expenses and margin. You can do this for
every event or every element of your organization,
but at the very least roll up the overall numbers.
Look at the variances on the chart and they will show
maximum and minimum boundaries for budgeting
purposes. In the absence of any major changes (adding
or eliminating an event, for example) the science of
budgeting tells you that next years budget should be
within this range. The art of budgeting will guide you
on projecting in a more aggressive or conservative vein.

12

Its a group activity

Building a budget should not be left solely to one or
two people. The members who elected you to the board
are banking on you being fully engaged and involved
in how the organization is spending its members
money. Good healthy discussion is beneficial. Vibrant
organizations often have more ideas than can actually
fit in the budget.
Weve observed a number of pitfalls to watch out for
during the budgeting process. Be alert to these.
Cutting and pasting last years budget into the
new year. This approach often misses trends or
fails to capitalize on opportunities. If attendance
at monthly events was down 50 percent in the
first half of the year and up 50 percent in the
second half of the year, then just rolling over last
years budget numbers into the new year could
miss a big opportunity. Even worse is a trend
where attendance is falling. Or, if your numbers
are significantly underperforming in your current
budget, why would you roll those numbers over
into the new year?

PLaybook
Calculating where the organization will likely finish
the current year and projecting those numbers into
the new year. Although this is less risky than rolling
over the previous years budget as described above,
it also runs the risk of not appreciating trends and
doesnt draw on the trending analysis of the past
three (we still like four) years.
Saying that budgeting is not the job of the whole
board. On the contrary it is the job of everyone
on the board to invest the time and effort to build
a budget that brings value to the organizations
members. Leaving the budget process entirely up to
the president or a treasurer is not good governance.
Organizations should involve their committees.
Some of the best structures ask committee chairs
to come forward with a budget for the board to
review. Who will know better why attendance at
monthly meetings was down 50 percent in the first
half of the year but up 50 percent in the second
half of the year than the chair of the education
programming committee?
What about reserves?
A topic deserving an entire a column on its own, we
recommend that our clients maintain cash reserves
equal to 1-2 years of operational expenses as the sweet

spot for most organizations. If your organization has

well established programs that are producing consistent
results (the trend band referenced above is narrow)
then less reserves are required to accurately project
a budget. If an organization has more variables in its
budget (a major revenue source is grants, for example)
then a hedge toward greater reserves is recommended.
Closing thought
Your budget should not be a once-a-year exercise that
you do in the fall and then tuck away for the year. Said
another way: Do you know everything thats going
to happen in the next 12 months when you adopt
a budget? A monthly review of your organizations
financials is terrific discipline to gauge how you are
performing compared to your plan. High performing
organizations do periodic reviews and reallocate as
appropriate. So if your monthly meetings are drawing
50 percent more attendance in the first half of the year
than projected, your organization has the opportunity
to capture those excess funds in real time and fund
a program or initiative in the second half of the year
rather than just letting the extra money sit until the end
of the year. You dont have to spend it but you can.

13

CREATING RESULTS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

by Darrin Hubbard, CAE, and Laurie Pumper, CAE
Social media use and the types of media available
continue to explode. The Pew Research Center
reports that 72% of adults who are online use social
networking sites.1 How can an association stay on
top of the rapidly shifting landscape? Taking a team
approach helped bring results quickly for clients of
Ewald Consulting. The makeup of our social media
team has changed since it was originally created in
2008, but the inclusion of people from across job
functions was useful as we brainstormed ways that
various clients could use social media.
Engaging volunteers through Facebook
Facebook is currently the largest social media platform
in use, with more than 1 billion registered users as of
December 2012.2 Upworthy, a company that shares
content on Facebook and other social media platforms
says about Facebook, If you arent there, you lose.
Although the demographics are changing, Facebook
continues to be popular among younger generations.
As part of its strategy to engage students, the Minnesota
Pharmacists Association (MPhA) posts photos from
events and informs fans about what is happening with
legislative and policy issues, among other information.
Less than two years after implementing the strategy
and regularly posting updates, MPhA has more than
doubled the number of people who like its page.
When information about events is posted on Facebook
with a link MPhA normally gets at least a small boost in
registration as a result.
Recognition Professionals International (RPI) began
using its Facebook page in advance of its 2012 annual
conference. Before and during the 2012 event, content
on the Facebook page was driven by staff members.
In advance of the 2013 annual conference, the RPI
executive director encouraged members of the board of
directors and the planning committee to post content
on the RPI page. The volunteers followed through,
resulting in a broader range of photos and broader
engagement (through comments and likes) by the
membership at large.
With the recent addition of hashtags, searching

14

Facebook posts for relevant content has become

easier (as long as your members agree upon and use
those hashtags). Upworthy notes that photo posts on
Facebook have three to four times the engagement of
text-only posts and that links on photo posts to your
content can mean an increase in clicks of 10 to 30%.3
Many organizations have concerns about privacy
issues with the use of Facebook. It may not be the right
tool for every association, and it is wise to develop a
policy for use of the site and to ensure that staff and
members know about and understand the policy. An
attorney or association management company may be
able to help your organization craft a policy. Staff and
members should be able to allow the personality of
the organization shine through in Facebook posts that
represent the organization; you want to be yourself
but you want to be your best self online.
Boosting awareness among non-members with
LinkedIn
The Qualitative Research Consultants Association
(QRCA) is an international association of qualitative
researchers who conduct focus groups, online research,
ethnographies, and other forms of qualitative research.
This organization is constantly seeking out new ways to
network with other professionals, vendors, and clients.
Several years ago, QRCA saw an opportunity to expand
awareness of the organization and developed a QRCA
group on LinkedIn. LinkedIn was selected because
users of that platform span hundreds of industries from
more than 200 countries around the world. At first,
the group was restricted to current members of the
association; within the first few months of existence,
more than 300 members joined.
One benefit of this group is that as people look at
profiles and participate on discussion boards, a QRCA
logo is visible in the profiles of members. The original
members only group got enough attention from
non-members that an additional public group was
created. The QRCA Board of Directors approved the
creation of a public discussion group where current
members and the public could interact. In less than one
month the group had 470 members; in August 2013,

PLaybook
group membership stood at more than 6,100. New
discussions are started on a variety of topics almost
every day. A volunteer moderator checks these posts to
ensure they are related to qualitative research and/or
market research.
Because LinkedIn is more professional in nature than
some other social media sites, many associations have
used it to create discussion groups. A newer feature is
the ability to create a company page for an association;
QRCA is currently building such a page in an effort to
leverage its brand recognition even more effectively.
LinkedIn has at least 200 million users across the
globe.2
Building a strategy team
These are just a few examples of the ways that Ewald
Consulting clients are using social media. In 2008,
recognizing the need to bring our staff members up to
speed on what was happening with new media and
to help our clients use a variety of media effectively,
our company organized a strategy team to work on
the issue. Our Vice President for Communication
& Technology headed the team. While three of the
original team members represented the Communication
& Technology Department, we also involved two staff
members from Member Services, one from our Public
Affairs/Government Relations Department, and one of
our account executives. The cross-department nature
of the team allowed us to consider a broader range of
ideas and concerns than may have been possible with a
team comprised solely of a single department.
Our first few meetings were devoted to brainstorming
ways that various clients, departments and the company
as a whole might use social media to good advantage.
We looked at examples of what other non-profit
organizations and for-profit companies were doing
already, and thought about how they could translate
to our situations. Team members were assigned tasks
between meetings. We developed model policies,
then picked several projects that could easily be
accomplished. If a project met with success with one
organization, it was often easy to replicate it for another
association; LinkedIn is a good case in point. LinkedIn

groups are very easy to set up, and provide a good way
for members and nonmembers to network.
Another relatively easy project was developing RSS
feeds for many of our websites. A few staff members
were assigned to research sources of information that
would apply to various organizations. For instance,
members of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA)
are interested in extending broadband internet service
to all corners of Minnesota and in the use of smart
phones, VoIP, and news about telecommunication
companies. Using Yahoo Pipes (an open source tool),
MTA has a section on the home page (www.mnta.org)
where headlines from a variety of news sources can be
accessed. This strategy has been implemented for many
of our clients.
We continue to use (and experiment with) other social
media platforms. Our Government Relations team has
used Twitter as a tool to keep members informed of
action at legislative hearings and other meetings; for
those members who use Twitter, it is a quick way for us
to communicate with them.
As the initial implementation of strategies was
completed, our internal team evolved. We now have
a smaller staff team, but more of our clients have
committees that integrate social media into their
work plans. If more than one committee within an
association uses social media as part of its strategy, its
important that someone (whether volunteer or staff)
can coordinate among the committees to avoid silos
of information or volunteers working at conflicting
purposes. Our staff social media team continues to
explore newer social media platforms, evaluating how
each might be used to best advantage with a particular
client.
Measuring results
Most social media platforms provide ways to measure
your impact. Beyond simple likes, Facebook can
show how many people saw your post. LinkedIn
provides useful demographics about members of a
discussion group. When we post a message on one
of these platforms about an event, its easy to check

15

CREATING EFFECTIVE AND ENGAGED

BOARDS
by Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP

our registration report to see what the impact has

been. If a Facebook post goes up one day, a LinkedIn
announcement goes out a few days later, and an
email to members is sent a few days after that, how
does each impact registration? If your website allows
you to send different messages to samples of your
audience, test how a particular audience responds to
different headlines. Or perhaps use different promo
codes to test how people respond to your messages
on different platforms. Based on what you know about
the demographics of users on various types of social
media, experiment with different images or text to see
what resonates best; you may need to use a slightly
different message on Facebook than on Twitter (even
though it is very easy to post the same message on
both platforms at the same time).
Key take-away points
Use a cross-department, cross-function team to
research and recommend social media use for
your association; it helps to promote healthy
discussion and to develop a plan that has buy-in
from all parts of the staff.
Have a member of top management involved. That
team member can help to champion the work of
the team with other staff and key volunteers.
Set a date when the team will complete its work
(and steps along the way). Its often easier to
recruit team members when they know the scope
of the work is limited.
Once youve established that a particular tool
might be useful for your association, work with
volunteers through the appropriate committees to
implement the project. Its essential that volunteers
are on board with new projects/features, and they
may expand on an idea or provide concerns that
staff hadnt considered.
Assign someone to measure use of the new tool
to determine how it is being used, and whether
modifications are needed. Assign someone to
maintain the project, if needed.
16

At Ewald Consulting, we provide support for a

wide variety of professions including economic
developers, property managers, cardiologists,
researchers, publishers, child care providers, and
training and development professionals.
One factor that all of these professions have in
common is the desire for an effective association.
This starts with an effective board leading the
association, and effective and productive board
meetings.
Quick exercise: At your next board meeting, have
your board members individually list the top
three issues facing members. Are these issues the
same as those the organization has identified in
its vision and mission? Are they truly in sync with
the membership? If you get different answers from
board members, chances are members will also
have different answers. Make sure that you all have
the same elevator pitch for your organization to
communicate better and stay focused.
With more than 40 clients, weve identified
common attributes of effective boards:
Directors have passion for the organizations
mission;
Directors come to every meeting prepared
theyve read materials in advance;
All understand role of staff and board;
Board members respect each other and keep
each other accountable;
The board stays focused on strategy and out
of the day-to-day details;
Board members focus on relevant issues.
We all have to deal with the following realities in
the business environment:
Time people are busy with multiple priorities.
Attention economy the rapid growth of
information causes scarcity of attention;
Technology mobile devices, blogs, Twitter,
Facebook, instant messaging, LinkedInWhats
next?

PLaybook
Given these realities, association leaders need to
Plan effectively and efficiently;
Make the most of in-person meetings and connect
between meetings;
Be accountable dont over-commit;
Develop future leaders through mentorship;
Identify generational differences in style.
We need to develop our future leaders and work
with younger generations in a way that connects. The
strength of our board and association will come from
engaged members of all generations who contribute
to the organization in their own ways, ultimately
creating an energy and vibrancy in our association.
This community of involved members will drive the
organization and draw potential members to belong.
Ways to engage generations on the board and in the
association:

Weve all experienced one if not several of these items

at meetings. Make sure they dont happen in your board
meeting. Before your meeting starts, set the following
ground rules to ensure an effective board meeting:
Attend meetings and be on time.
ACTIVELY listen to and show respect for the
opinions of others.
Follow the agenda stay on track.
Ask questions; the only stupid question is the one
that isnt asked.
Ensure that credit is given where it is due.
Avoid disruptive side conversations.
Turn off cell phones, tablets, and other devices.
Creating effective and engaging boards that truly
serve the membership is the first step to creating an
engaged membership and a mission and purpose
that will transcend time and generations.

Start a mentoring program. Boomers can help with

mentoring.
Invite Gen X and Gen Y to be on the
board even if they havent put in their
time.
Start a Young Professionals Group.
Keep meetings short and focused.
Share information.
Learn from one another.
Create buy-in.
In the context of all of us being meetinged out, we need to make sure our board
meetings are meaningful and productive.
According to the article The Seven Sins of
Deadly Meetings by Eric Matson, the key
things to avoid in your meetings are:

People who arrive late and leave early;

Meetings that are too long;
Discussion that goes off-topic;
Poor follow-through;
Diluted opinion sharing;
Insufficient preparation;
Stagnant/stale content.

17

GUARANTEED INVESTMENT WINNER YOUR ASSOCIATION DUES

by David Ewald, CAE
A finance professor in 1986 taught me an important
lesson that I have applied to my work with associations.
I, along with most of my classmates, squirmed in our
seats counting the moments till the end of a three hour
lecture on present and future value calculationshard
stuff, at least for me it was. We groaned when he went
over his allotted time for the course. How could he
do that? Then came the lesson. Stopping the FV/PV
lecture, he said Ill bet the education field is the only
one where the customer wants to pay full price to a
vendor and receive less product than the vendor is
willing to give. Good food for thought, professor. We
left. The professors idea applies well to the association
world. Many members of associations pay their dues
and then neglect to collect the fullor morevalue by
failing to lead or participate in the many opportunities
the association offers for little or no cost.
A favorite question I like to ask board member is
this: If you could be convinced to pay 10 times your
current dues to this association, what would it do to
your (your companys) participation? The response is
always the same. That member would become much
more invested in the association because he would
need to make sure his company saw a good return on
its investment. If that is the case at 10 times the dues,
then why not get an even quicker return by investing
now at a lower price? Here are some ways to get more
out of your membership:
Serve on a committee or board
Participating in the work of a committee or board will
help you or your staff members develop leadership
skills that will serve well in your work. You will be
networking and in the know regarding what is going
on in the industry. You will become appreciated as a
leader. That can set you up for future growth in the
associationor other leadership opportunities.
Sponsor or host something
Associations are usually looking for sponsors of
meetings, events and publications to help keep costs
low for members. Kicking in a few dollars to sponsor a
breakfast will get recognition for your company and a
lot of appreciation. Host a tour of your company and
have a roundtable discussion about issues you and
18

others face. Theyll appreciate it and you and your staff

will enjoy showing off what you do.
Attend training events
Association-sponsored events are usually one of the
best deals going in continuing education. Usually
they are run to make (at most) a small profit. Programs
provide great networking opportunities for you and
your staff and are another way to become visible in the
industry.
Get your staff involved
Would you like to magnify the value of your
membership? Get more staff members involved. The
value of your membership is limited only to you if other
staffers dont hear about training events or participate in
leadership opportunities. When you get staff involved
they grow in their careers and they learn about their
(your) industry. Importantly, attendance at association
events can be an affordable perk to give your staff
that will leave them recharged when they return to
work.
Share an idea
Afraid your competitor will learn what you are doing
and use it to capture the market? After 18 years in
the field, Ive never heard of it. In my opinion, many
industries are more likely to be put out of business by
their work being out- sourced to another country or
by a competitor that isnt yet in the business than by
a current competitor down the street. Share what you
know, learn from them and get better together! Share
the ideas by writing newsletter articles, teaching a
course or participating in roundtables.
Many saw portfolios shrink beginning with the crash in
2000. Through that time, associations have continued
to provide one of the best returns on investment.
Like the stock market, a member cant just invest her
money in an association and hope for great returns. The
good news is that unlike the market, investing in your
association pays dividends no matter what the state
of the economy as long as you decide to take an
interest in it. Pay closer attention in 2005 to the strength
of your association commitment and Im sure you see
the rewards.

PLaybook
USING STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS TO BOOST YOUR MEMBERSHIP
by Paul Hanscom, CAE
Does your organization have trouble identifying
new sources of membership? What does your widget
makers association do after you have contacted every
widget maker in your area to become a member? One
option is to perform a stakeholder analysis of your
organization.
Stakeholder analysis is a tool used to:
Identify groups that have a potential interest in your
organizations activities;
Distinguish the particular incentives for different
stakeholders in your industry;
Assess the strength of stakeholder support (or
opposition) to your organizations agenda; and
Target ways to match the needs of your stakeholders
with the benefits you offer members.
The process begins by developing a list of all
individuals and organizations that have a linkage to
the services you offer. Using the example of a teachers
association, this list would include not only the
teachers themselves but also suppliers of educational
products, youth program leaders, representatives
from the department of education, and community
education staff. Remember that stakeholders can

include any entity with an interest in what your

organization does and who your organization serves.
The next step is developing a list of interests for each of
the stakeholders in your list. Why would this individual
or organization benefit from membership? Do these
stakeholders have interests that you are not meeting but
that are consistent with your organizations mission?
How do the operations of your organization (events,
publications, etc.) affect these stakeholders positively or
negatively?
Now that you have identified the stakeholders in your
industry and the reasons they have a vested interest
in your organization, you are able to assess which of
these stakeholders is critical to your success. Is there
one stakeholder who is strongly opposed to a particular
initiative your organization is taking? How significant is
this stakeholders involvement in your industry and your
organization specifically? Which stakeholders hold the
greatest influence over others?
The last stage of the stakeholder analysis is to review
how the services you provide to members match up to
the stakeholder interests you have identified. Are there
disincentives to membership that your organization can
actively reduce? Are there services you offer
to members that do not match stakeholder
interests? What can your organization offer
to this stakeholder that provides membership
incentive?
What service do you perform for the industry
that your stakeholders cannot go without?
A complete stakeholder analysis can provide
you with both a targeted list of prospective
members and a thorough understanding of
the important role that your organization
plays in the industry. You will be able to
recruit and retain members more effectively
when you know exactly whom to target and
when you can clearly articulate the value
that membership adds to their business or
career. There are more potential members
out there. Stakeholder analysis can help you
find them.
19

LETS MOVE ON! WORKING WITH ACTION-ORIENTED VOLUNTEERS

by David Ewald, CAE
Many have served on boards that were immersed
in a deep debate about an important topic when a
member of the board impatiently declared, lets
move on!, signifying that as far as he or she was
concerned, enough had been said to make a decision.
Action oriented and decisive volunteers are drawn to
associations, especially if they find value in the time
they spend and view the organization as an appropriate
outlet for their energy, enthusiasm and competitiveness.
They can be great and decisive leaders that help
move organizations to make difficult decisions. They
help bring speed and vitality to organizations. At the
opposite end, their impatience and competitiveness
may alienate or marginalize others, pushing less
forceful participants to the side as the organization is
rushed into a decision supported by few.
Where the detail oriented volunteer discussed
in another article is interested in careful debate
and using data to make a decision, action oriented
volunteers may rely on instinct or at least will require
less data to be satisfied that they are making the
right decision. They pride themselves on having a
business-like approach, decisive manner and being
focused on results. Often strong-willed and purposeful,
they frequently are given leadership positions in
organizations not only because they wanted them, but
because others see their decisiveness as an attribute
needed by the organization. As with other personalities,
the best traits of the action oriented individual are
highly useful to an association. Here are some thoughts
on how to work best with them:
Identify Them
The action oriented individual is usually easy to spot.
They will make statements like, lets move on, or
lets make a decision, signifying that they have heard
enough and think that the rest of the board should
have as well. These are often people who will identify
themselves as type A. Whether or not they have read
them, these individuals are often the ones making the
motion to approve the minutes immediately at the
beginning of the meeting!

20

Appreciate and Involve Them

These decisive leaders can be very useful when
difficult matters face an organization. Where others
may become mired in endless debates, data gathering
and indecisiveness, action oriented leaders will help
cut to the chase and make a decision even if it is a
painful and difficult one that others are afraid to make.
As presidents, they often come into office with specific
things in mind that they wish to accomplish. As long
as these are in the best interest of the organization,
one can be assured that those items are likely to be
accomplished.
Adopt the Best of Their Skills
If this is not your natural style, what can you learn
from the action oriented, decisive leader? There is
usually a happy medium between snap decisions
made impulsively and slow, or no, decisions reached
after endless discussion. Author Malcolm Gladwell,
writing in Blink, discusses the idea of thin slicing:
the act of making a decision after reviewing only
limited information. He shows that often decisions
made by thin slicing are at least as good as those made
after more extensive data gathering. Action oriented
volunteers are the masters of thin slicing!
Confrontations May Be Difficult
This type of individual is often viewed as competitive
and aggressive. When in a situation where
disagreement exists, he or she may forcefully argue
a position and focus more on the outcome to be
achieved than the feelings of others involved in the
discussion. These individuals do not like to be told why
something cannot be done, because in general, they
have made careers out of finding ways to accomplish
the ends they desire, even if it is at the expense of the
feelings of others.
Communicate in Their Style
Once you identify this person, the best way to work
with them is to communicate in their style. They are

PLaybook
not interested in lengthy discussions of data, drawn-out
stories or endless debate. When it appears their interest
in making decisions is contrary to the best result, point
out that others need more information. To satisfy their
interests in decision-making, set limits on the amount
of data to be gathered and develop time frames. Then
stick to them.
Make Sure Others Get to Participate
Forceful and decisive leaders may participate in
discussions in a way that leads others to silence
and non-participation. This is detrimental to the
organization, especially when those not speaking have
wise points to make that they keep to themselves.
When debate or discussion is moving along too
quickly, ask for the comments or thoughts of others,
especially those who havent spoken.

Successful associations embrace the best parts of the

personalities of their leaders. Clear and decisive actions
help move organizations toward the fulfillment of their
missions. Organizations that identify and work with
action oriented leaders, using the best of their traits,
will help to make significant progress toward identified
outcomes. It is important to work with them in the
style that they prefer: quick, business-like and outcome
oriented. The challenge lies in making sure that the
outcomes that the action oriented leader helps achieve
are consistent with the mission of the association.

21

MARKETING IDEAS FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION

by Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP

1. Develop an annual marketing plan that ties directly

to your organizations financial goals.
Many organizations are so busy with the daily operation
of business that they put off marketing until they think
they will have time. Schedule what you will do on a
daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis with clear
and realistic measurements of success. The plan doesnt
have to be complicated it just needs to be complete,
followed, and measured for effectiveness.

6. Brand your company through consistent

communication and a clear message.
Be specific with your message and say it often. Forrester
Research found that overly vague or generalized
statements frustrated prospects. You are not only
competing with others in your profession or industry,
you are competing with the 2,000 to 5,000 commercial
messages that hit us everyday. Focus on clarity,
consistency, and repetition.

2. Provide consistent customer service.

Build strong relationships with your customers through
consistent customer service and make sure that all
your employees do the same. Think of the last time you
experienced excellent customer service. These days,
those experiences are few and far between. This is
where you can excel over the rest of the pack.

7. You may be a small or medium-si zed company, but

think BIG.
Watch what other big companies are doing and see
if some of their practices can fit your company. The
only way you will grow is by providing fantastic ideas,
services and/or products, making sure that your target
market(s) know about it, and most important, making
sure they buy it. Look for opportunities to cross-market
your product or service to other markets.

3. Ask for customer referrals.

Dont assume that you will automatically get referrals.
Ask your customers, colleagues, family and friends
for referrals and make sure to thank and reward those
who give you referrals. The little things, consistently
followed, make the big things happen.
4. Stay in contact with current and potential
customers.
Update your customers on new services that you offer
or share ideas that have worked for other customers.
One way to communicate with your customers is
through a newsletter. If you are considering a newsletter,
commit to it for at least one year. Publish it no less than
quarterly and keep it focused on information that your
customers are interested in.
5. Thank your current customers and ask them for
feedback.
This seems so obvious, but many organizations do not
do this. Dont forget the value of your current customers
and the impact that they can have on future sales
through referrals and word-of-mouth. Take the time to
send a hand-written thank-you note to your customers.

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8. Watch for trends and apply them to your business

and marketing plans.
In What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your
Business, Harry Beckwith identifies four significant
trends: Option and information overload; the decline
of trust; the growing importance of invisibles and
intangibles; and a fundamental wish to connect with
other people.
9. Think in terms of getting your customers attention
first.
In the book Attention Economy by Thomas H.
Davenport and John C. Beck, the authors note, In
post-industrial societies, attention has become a more
valuable currency than the kind you store in bank
accounts. The vast majority of products have become
cheaper and more abundant as the sum total of human
wealth increases. The problems for business people lie
on both sides of the attention equation: how to get and
hold the attention of consumers, stockholders, potential
employees, and the like, and how to parcel out their
own attention in the face of overwhelming options.
People and companies that do this, succeed. The rest
fail. Understanding and managing attention is now the
single most important determinant of business success.
Welcome to the attention economy.

PLaybook
THREE WAYS TO STRONGER VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT
by Paul Hanscom, CAE
Dedicated, passionate volunteers are the lifeblood
of your organization. They perform countless roles to
assure vital work is accomplished and your mission is
put into action every day. To achieve the best results,
volunteers need the tools and training to be effective
from day one and regular affirmation that they are a
valued part of the organization. Following are three
ways to strengthen your volunteer management
program:
1. Be an Organization Where People Want to Volunteer
Define the Volunteer Experience: Provide a
volunteer job description in writing. Make sure it
clearly identifies volunteer duties, responsibilities,
and expectations. Establish reporting mechanisms
and a single point of contact.
Recruit Early and Often: Volunteer recruiting should
be an ongoing process. Dont just recruit when you
need volunteers.
Identify Volunteer Ambitions: Why does the
individual want to volunteer? What does the
volunteer hope to gain from the experience? What
would make this an especially great volunteer
opportunity?
Demonstrate Value: Communicate the importance
of the volunteer work to other activities of the
organization and the overall mission.
2. Start New Volunteers on the Right Track
Prepare in Advance: Know what resources are
required for volunteers to serve effectively. Prepare
a work plan to make the most of your volunteers
time.
Make Volunteers Feel Welcome: when new
volunteers start, be sure to introduce them to staff,
give them a tour of the office, and be available for
their questions.
Orient & Train New Volunteers: New volunteers are
excited to serve. Show them how to convert their
enthusiasm for your mission into successful results
in their position.
Convey Ground Rules: Volunteers frequently serve
as a point of contact between your organization
and the public it serves. They must represent your
organization accurately with clear understanding of
applicable policies and procedures when interacting

with the public. Make sure you relate important

rules before your volunteers get started. How should
they respond to inquiries for sensitive information?
To whom should they refer inquiries they are not
comfortable handling on their own?
Establish Realistic Time Requirements: Determine
the time commitment that is realistically necessary
to fulfill the volunteer position and communicate it
openly. Specify if the position is ongoing or a timebound project. Set a date when you can evaluate
the volunteer experience and assess whether to
recommit, change/increase responsibilities or
conclude the experience.
3. Support the Volunteers Who Support You
Establish Clear Expectations & Get Feedback: Even
if there is a negative volunteer experience you may
extort value from an exit interview to learn what
went wrong and what changes you can make to
improve the volunteer process at your institution.
Was the objective of the volunteer assignment
successful? Did the volunteer have a fulfilling
experience? Would the volunteer serve your
organization again? What was most rewarding?
What was most disappointing?
Keep Volunteers Informed: If there are changes in
your organization that affect volunteer positions, let
them know immediately. Describe why the changes
are occurring and what the impact is on volunteer
roles and responsibilities.
Recognize and Reward: The number one reason
volunteers discontinue their service is because
they feel their contribution/time is not appreciated.
Remember that the volunteer position at your
organization is only one of many responsibilities
that your volunteer must fulfill on a regular basis.
For individuals who have been with you for years and
spent untold hours serving your organization, a special
token of appreciation is in order. For some, a plaque
is appropriate. Some volunteers appreciate public
affirmation while others prefer a charitable contribution
be made in their honor. Be aware of social and cultural
differences among your volunteers. Find out how your
volunteers prefer to be thanked and recognize them
appropriately.
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A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT

by Darrin Hubbard, CAE
If membership is the lifeblood of an organization, then
significant resources need to be devoted to maintain
the health of the organization. Say you have 500
members and have an excellent membership retention
rate of 95%. Without supplementing your organization
with new members, after three years your membership
will be 429. Membership recruitment needs to be a
priority in any membership campaign. Use this article
as a resource to add new strategies to your membership
toolkit.
Approach
Your approach to recruiting new members will only
be as effective as the priority that it is given. Can your
staff articulate the keys benefits of joining? Can your
volunteers? Can you? Carve out some time at staff
and board meetings to brainstorm opportunities and
strategies for recruiting members. Keep the topic top of
mind and it will pay dividends. Lead by example. Take
some initiative and volunteer to personally be involved
in recruitment activities and people will be more
inclined to join you.
If a personal touch is more impactful than a faceless
email, common sense would tell us to focus on
those efforts. Each activity during the fiscal year is an
opportunity to recruit new members are you taking
advantage of it?
Events
Many organizations use key events during the year to
recruit new members. This is a common strategy, as
the difference in registration fees between member and
non-member rates at large events can sometimes cover
the membership alone. Are you pricing your events so
that non-members might consider joining and attending
as a member?
At the events, clearly identify members and
nonmembers. Give members a ribbon or print the name
badges for non-members on a different color paper so it
is easy to differentiate. During the announcements, ask
that the members help welcome non-members to the
event.
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Provide opportunities to join at the event. Consider

special pricing, giveaways or putting the difference in
non-member registration fees toward membership if
someone decides to join.
Data-Driven Strategies
Take advantage of specialized programming, legislative
news, newsletter content and other activities by
tailoring your recruitment activities to prospective
members. Consider sending an abstract of a relevant
newsletter article to new professionals in the field as an
example of the kind of high-quality content members
receive. Share a legislative alert with non-members in
a specific district, let them know what the organization
is doing to protect the interests of the membership and
invite them to join the coalition. Demonstrate the value
of what belonging to your organization means and then
ask them to be a part of the community.
Messaging
People expect personalized communication. Todays
technology allows us to send emailed membership
information addressed to a specific person, not a group
or entity. Focus your communication on a particular
aspect of membership that will provide value to a
potential member avoid sending a laundry list
of benefits. You can include a link to a full list of
membership benefits but attention spans are short,
so use your limited space to explain why a member
should join by focusing on a specific benefit.
Utilize Multimedia
A large budget for professionally developed and edited
material is not necessary to integrate multimedia into
your approach. Average-quality video tells a more
compelling story than words on a page. Record videos
about how current members have benefitted from
belonging to your organization. Start with your board
members, but also approach event attendees and
committee members. Is networking a key benefit of
membership? Have members created a unique culture?
Show footage of a reception, committee meeting or
roundtable discussion and bring those intangible
benefits to life. Dont tell your story; show your story.

PLaybook
Prospecting
Potential members can come from many sources.
Consider them all, but prioritize your efforts on warm
(rather than cold) leads:
Current Members: Consider a member recruitment
campaign where members who refer new members
to the organization are entered into a drawing.
Make it easy by developing an email that can be
forwarded to non-member contacts. Ask board
members to identify industry leaders who should be
members of your organization.
Non-member event attendees: These people have
already experienced your organization firsthand.
Set aside 10 minutes each day to make a phone
call and send a follow-up email personally inviting
them to join. The personal touch will often make
the difference.
Former members: Send a brief exit survey and find
out the reasons why they are no longer members.
Identify themes and work to address the gap
between your offerings and their expectation.
Follow up with them and tell them what has been
done to accommodate their needs.
Non-members connected with LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, etc.: If you are being followed by
nonmembers, obviously there is interest in your
offerings. Use social media to ask them to consider
joining. Demonstrate your ability to communicate
with them through several channels.
Purchased lists: Many health and human services
organizations have lists that can be purchased or
acquired at no charge from government or other
regulatory agencies. Use these lists to welcome
new licensees to the field, or invite them to a meetand-greet reception with current volunteers.

a scarce resource, make their job as easy as possible.

Rely on your systems and processes for welcome
emails and renewal reminders. Use volunteers as
greeters at events, to make welcome phone calls to
new members or chasing down late renewals. To the
extent possible, allow volunteers to take charge of the
aspects of the processes that allow for meaningful peerto-peer conversations.

Utilizing Limited Resources

The membership committee sometimes seems to be
the most difficult entity to find volunteers for, yet the
work they do is among of the most important to your
organization. If you have an engaged membership
committee, consider yourself lucky. Because time is

25

Associations are in the relationship business. Members join to learn, connect, contribute and
grow. Effectively using data will strengthen and deepen our relationships with our members.

Retention

Growth

Engagement

Content
Development

RULES OF THE GAME

Relevance

Loyalty

Community

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Take inventory
Collect only what will be used
Go deeper, not wider
Use both qualitative and
quantitative data
Connect the dots
Let members tell the story
Put insights into action
Measure

Attendance

Sponsorship
Development

Usability

Conversation

Connection

PLaybook
PRIMARY DATA SOURCES

Key Data Fields:

Gender
Birth Year
Education Level
Area of Study (open)
Experience (open)
Position (open)
Job Function
Year Started in Profession
Business/Industry
Specialties
Areas of Expertise
Skills
Honors/Awards
Other Organizations Belong to

Give Data back to members:

Send personalized emails with merged fields
Create searchable directories that connect the
member community and members to the public
Identify patterns, trends, opportunities, gaps in the
data to deliver new value
Use surveys and polls
Conduct focus groups to understand the members
perspectives and perceptions
Create a matchmaker program to connect current
members with new members
Design volunteer opportunities based on member
interests and attributes
Ensure that special interest groups, webinars and
conference content are driven by data
27

Your team at Ewald Consulting works every day to make being

a part of your organization an experience thats...

We offer fresh ideas that get results:

Volunteer/member engagement
Generational membership
marketing
Social media
Podcasts and webinars
Sponsorship development
Member value initiatives and
member growth
Providing event experiences
and cutting-edge content
delivery
Creativity also means staying current
with new technologies and trends
in organizational management
to maximize your organizations
impact for members. There are
several ways that Ewald Consulting
can help your organization address
member needs, including:
Tactical-level volunteering
Online communities with
integrated/live data points
Data-driven organization
Establish and expand specialty
communities
Experiential learning

A partnership with Ewald

Consulting ensures that your
organization benefits from
professionals who are experienced
and qualified. This includes:
Association management and
public affairs firm experience
back to 1982
60+ employees, Certified
Association Executives (CAE),
Certified Meeting Planners
(CMP)
One of only 14 association
management companies that is
charter accredited by ASAE and
the AMC Institute
Among the top 5% of
association management
companies world-wide
Team Approach
Ewald Consulting attributes the
effectiveness of its operations to
three things: the departmental
model upon which its built, the
team approach it takes to mobilize
departmental resources, and the
robust project management systems
that enable efficient, accurate
strategic plan implementation.

Organizations that transition

to Ewald Consulting regularly
comment on the immediate
improvements they experience
in the essential performance
of organizational management
functions and the sense of finding,
the AMC that is truly the right
match for our membership
community.
We value the relationships we
have held for decades with
many volunteer leaders and we
are enthusiastic about starting
relationships with your volunteer
leaders and members that will last
for decades to come.
Let us take care of your
organizations technical operations
so you can focus on strategy,
growth and the things that make
your member community a fun
place to be.

Contact Us
Ewald Consulting is available for a free consultation with your association.
Contact our office if you want to discuss the services we provide.
Phone: (651) 290-6260 Email: info@ewald.com
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