Impact’s Director of Operations, Kirsten Reader, attended ASAE’s Technology Exploration Conference this month. Staying up to date on the latest trends, ways to use data, and platforms is something that Impact has always prioritized. If there is a more efficient way of doing something, why not save some time to focus on other goals? This is the mindset association boards should have when making decisions for 2021 as well. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that people can adapt and learn!
Bonin Bough, the conference’s Keynote speaker touched on the obstacles we often see with accepting change and technology. He emphasized that innovation exists and comes to us, but we are often stopped by the processes we’re used to which is holding us back. This may sound a little vague but I think we can all think of an example within an association we work with. Let’s take membership renewals for example, your board might have a process that should be followed for these. Let’s say some reminders go out to membership, checks are sent in, the data is stored in multiple locations, and then follow up calls or emails are sent to those that renewed thanking them and reminders to those that did not. If your association is not already using a membership database, there is step one in revamping the system. A database can often have emails to automatically go out at renewal time, can store all the information in one place, allows members to pay online and send those follow up emails. This saves volunteers and staff time and money and only takes approval and change.
Bough made the point that we need to challenge the status quo! We need to reinvent the process of everything we do regularly to continue to bring value to our members and community. When you are ready to tackle one of the processes you currently use, ask the team, what does the program actually revolve on? What is the purpose? What value can you drive from small changes? Think differently, create these conversations and engage your board for feedback.
The conference dove into more specifics during the From Insight to Action: How Understanding Member Engagement is Different in 2020 session. Speaker, Yousif Hassan, displayed the typical funnel for membership which is awareness> consideration> evaluation> conversion> loyalty> advocacy. The issue with this funnel, however, is that there are many channels of communication and you need context as to what you are working with. It can be helpful to ask new members how they heard about the association.
To figure out what is working for who, you must turn to the data. Your membership database can again help with this. Update your membership application to ask more questions that better categorize your members. Once this is done, you can provide members with a more personal experience with your association through member-based marketing approaches, having a holistic view of the member, and sending the right message to the right person at the right time.
These data driven decisions, should happen fast because the facts are laid out for you. Do not spend an hour of your board meeting debating something, make the decision based on the numbers. This allows for a timelier interaction with members.
The conference closed out with Keynote speaker, John Linkner. Linkner took everything learned over the various sessions and tied a bow on them. His session focused on How Creative Problem-Solving Can Solve Challenges. It is a myth that creativity is a gift you are born with or you are not. It can be developed and developing it amongst your team, is a way to push your organization forward. If your board is struggling with this concept, there are a few things you can do to get the juices flowing. Breaking it to fix it, is a good place to start. Break down the systems and figure out what you can “break” and make even better. Another approach would be to flip everything you are doing to the complete opposite. Think about what the process would look like if everything was flipped. It might not be exactly where you land but it is a method to get you where you are headed.
Lastly, start before you are ready. We spend a lot of time on calls talking about future plans and ideas adding them all to lists of some days. If you have an idea, you might only be on the board for a limited time. Make that idea a reality and soak in the results.