Client Spotlight: American Society of Civil Engineers- Wisconsin Section

The new year is here and we are spending some time reflecting on the clients who make up Impact. Today’s client spotlight focuses on the Wisconsin Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE-WI). ASCE is one of the largest professional civil engineering networks in the world. The organization provides members with networking opportunities, learning resources, and communication. ASCE welcomes licensed engineers, students, affiliates, and associates. Everyone that is connected to the world of Civil Engineering has something to gain from this association. The organization keeps members up to date on trends and technology in the industry, provides membership discounts, and career development.

ASCE-Wisconsin Section is also heavily involved in the community. Membership dues go towards advocating for improved infrastructure, improving STEM opportunities for students, and providing resources to improve public health, safety, and welfare.

Impact’s Executive Administrator, Heather, provides support for ASCE-WI. Heather aides in managing the organization’s email, providing board support, social media management, conference planning, and more. The collaboration that goes on between Impact and ASCE is something our team appreciates. The open lines of communication allow everything to run as smoothly as possible and keep the partnership growing in the right direction.

To learn more about this organization, visit: http://sections.asce.org/wisconsin-section/home

Balancing Life as a Board Member

Associations and nonprofits are typically run by volunteers. This means that those volunteers have full lives outside of their duties within the association including their own career. Juggling both a full-time career and a position on an association’s board can be challenging. Here are a few things to remember when navigating this tricky balance. 

Membership is not all on you. The push for new members and member recruitment is a constant goal of associations. Taking on the task of recruiting new members and pushing for current members to stay is a part of being on the board. This job, however, does not fall solely on one person. It is each person’s responsibility as a part of the association to recruit and retain. Doing this, keeps the organization running and allows the organization to fulfill its mission. It is important, however, to be mindful of your interactions with current and potential members. Each interaction could be the deciding factor on whether that member joins or stays in the association. Maintaining a positive attitude and friendly demeanor could be your organization’s selling point.  

Build Relationships. Understanding your members, potential members, and community will set the groundwork for your association’s success. Building these relationships will ensure a sense of trust and will provide you with a set of resources. Connect with people on social media, reach out personally if you have built a strong enough relationship, and maintain the relationship even if it seems like it is no longer beneficial to you. 

Keep learning. As a board member, it is essential to keep learning everything you can about the industry as well as the role you are in. Learning more about the association is only going to make you more knowledgeable and successful. This allows you to run the association efficiently and the ability to teach others more about the industry as well. Keeping up on industry news or advice on how to better your association will better you as a leader. 

Reaching a Larger Audience through Blogs

Blogs are becoming more and more relevant in today’s culture. Companies and associations are using blogs as a form of marketing. By providing useful information on blogs, the target audience is interested in the material and will be more likely to find use out of the organization. If your company or association already has a blog, here are a few ways to increase your blog’s following. 

1. Use key words. In your blog title, try to include key words that will attract the people you are targeting. It is important to keep it short and possibly even indicate that the blog is short by stating something like, “3 Tips on Networking.” People will be more likely to read the blog if they feel it is something they can quickly glance over and retain. 

2. Repurpose your blogs. If your blogs have important or useful content, do not be afraid to reuse them on other platforms. Some options would be to include the information in a newsletter, social media posts, handouts, and back-linking. Reiterating the content will drive the point home, however, it is important to make sure this is not overdone. New content is necessary to keep people coming back for more. 

3. Submit your blog to industry related websites. Larger websites related to industry news produce new content regularly. By submitting your blog, you are lessening the work on their end and handing them a piece that is useful and interesting to their target audience as well as yours. 

Growing your following is an important step in growing your audience’s awareness of your organization. With that being said, hop on the blog train and reach as many people as you can! 

Capturing our Experience: Personify Connections

A couple of weeks ago, one of our team members had the opportunity to attend Personify Connections. This event was hosted by Wild Apricot and Personify in Chicago. The event included a half day lunch and learn sessions with a primary focus on Personify. Two of the learning sessions stuck out to our team member, “Talkin’ about my Generation” and “5 Habits of Highly Engaging Organizations- Membership Expert, Joy Duling.” Here are a few tidbits learned from those sessions. 

“Talkin’ bout my Generation” 

This was a useful session that took the time to break down the generations, giving an overview of how they like to learn and where their loyalties fall.  

Boomers: (1946-1964): This generations is known as the “I’m in it for me Boomers”. They put themselves first and want to know what they are going to get out of a situation. The Boomers top 3 donations go towards local social, worship, and health.  

GenX: (1965-1980): GenX is defined as the lost generation or the slackers. They are the first generation of latch key kids and divorce. They are also responsible for 45% of technology start ups. They are currently in their prime earning years. GenX top 3 donations go towards health, local social, and animal. 

Millennials: (1981-1996): Millennials experienced the major shift in technology. They are immune to traditional marketing due to growing up with cable, internet, and social media. They also tend to be less brand loyal. Millennials also appear to be the most willing to give back. 46% of Millennials would prefer a donation over a birthday gift. Their top 3 donations go towards worship, children, and local social. This generation of giving back is the perfect one to target for associations. 

GenZ: (1997-2012): GenZ is more creative and open minded. They have never known a world without internet and tend to show signs of depression or withdrawal if their phones are taken away. Many were not alive during the country’s cultural shift on 9/11.  This generation’s top 3 donations go towards children, animal, and health. 

“5 Habitats of Highly Engaging Organizations-Membership Expert, Joy Duling” 

The next session focused more on engaging members. It provided a clear break down of how to reach those members and keep them involved in the organization. 

1. Always listening. It is important to actively listen to what members want. Question how and how often you build listening opportunities? What happens afterwards? How is that put into practice? Evaluating this, can lead to a more open line of communication. 

2. Continuously see possibility. See a better future ahead for your members and share your vision with members. Keeping members focused on that future, encourages them to get involved in making that future a reality. 

3. Show up. Include hosts, announcers, researchers, and agents in your events and meetings for members. This will provide them value for their membership and keep them interested what the association is working towards. 

4. Intentional activity. Make sure the activities provided for members are useful and engaging events. This could be done through subcommittees, interest groups, personalized emails, or event experience. Create different tracks for different types of members to keep them all engaged. 

5. Connect. Meaningful connections online and offline are great ways to keep members involved. Prioritize, plan, and pursue 

Overall, this event was extremely informative and helpful in understanding the different age groups and how to engage those groups in your association. Our team will definitely be attending this event again!

Client Spotlight: The American Society of Interior Designers

This week’s client spotlight is a unique one. On this blog, we are taking a closer look at not one, but two chapters that we support. The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) promote the value of interior design through education and advocacy in order to promote the profession of interior design and spread the word of their passion. 

At Impact, we support the ASID California North and ASID Wisconsin chapters. These chapters are unique yet working towards a common goal. ASID’s mission to advance profession and communicate the impact of interior design to enhance the human experience guides their efforts and hard work. It is evident that each chapter is working towards this vision by providing resource centers full of information on the industry, awards and honors that shine light on distinguished individuals, a voice on behalf of designers with the government, and networking events. The opportunities provided by ASID to their members are endless. 

Learning about the interior design world has been a fun ride for Impact and our team is excited to continue to help these chapters grow. Our team supports ASID California North and ASID Wisconsin through email management, financials, meetings and events, social media, and website management. Being a part of making such an outstanding organization expand is a privilege. We are eager to learn more and more about these organizations, as well as to see what 2019 holds for them.