Succession Planning = Successful Planning

Every organization (or at least we hope) has conversations regarding what’s next. What’s next for membership? What will the next conference look like? What can we post on social media next month? These are all important “nexts” but not as important as what is next for leadership. Without succession planning, the other plans may not happen or they may not be what members need. Associations often fail to develop leadership while they still have strong leaders. 

1. Search for the leaders. As a board or committee chair, you know what other members are regularly volunteering and showing interest in the organization. Keep an eye on those members and get a pulse for how involved they would like to become. Having a roster of potential leaders will make the process much easier.

2. Warm up the new leaders. Find ways for potential or next in line leaders to get a feel for their future role. Whether it is serving on a co-chair of a committee or president-elect, practice makes perfect. This is a time for the current leader to train the volunteer for their role. It allows for questions to be asked before the transition occurs.

3. Weed out the “bad.” Not to say that someone who is volunteering their time can be bad, but there are most certainly volunteers who are not as passionate or dedicated as they once were. Be able to recognize this when it happens and take action. It is okay to have an honest conversation with the volunteer while recognizing the commitment they have had in the past.

4. Make it protocol. To make those conversations easier or unnecessary, set term limits. Ensure that your bylaws clearly state how long members should serve on a board or committee. This will allow new talent to continuously flow through the association and eliminate the inevitable burnout. 

Succession planning allows for new ideas and new perspectives to be brought to the table. It creates conversations that might have otherwise never been had. You might enjoy your role as a leader, but you can’t do it forever. If you have a passion for the organization, make sure it will have a successful future.

Impact Association Management Welcomes MPI WestField

[Madison,WI]: Impact Association Management announced a new partnership with MPI WestField. This partnership will allow MPI Westfield to achieve their goals and grow their organization.

“In a time of uncertainty, it is great to see that associations still understand the need for an AMC. After being a part of our local MPI chapter and managing MPI Connecticut River Valley, we have learned so much about this association. We look forward to applying that knowledge along with our expertise on managing all associations to help move MPI WestField forward,” says Jodi Fisher, CEO at Impact Association Management.

“The MPI WestField Chapter is delighted to partner with Impact Association Management on our Administrative Support.  While searching for a new support organization we received glowing compliments and praise from a nearby MPI chapter.  We were impressed to the professionalism and commitment to high standards and instantly felt comfortable working with Jodi Fisher and the team at Impact,” says Mark Speranza, President of MPI WestField.

About Impact Association Management: Impact Association Management was founded in 2006 by Jodi Fisher, and since then they have successfully supported many Associations in growing and increasing profits and memberships. Now expanded into a robust team in both Madison, WI and Nashville, TN, Impact consists of Social Media experts, Non-Profit Administrators and Executive Administrative Assistants with impressive backgrounds in Association support, small business operations and international corporations.  Their mission is to provide customized, efficient, and forward-thinking association management services to small and medium sized Associations with a highly skilled, dedicated team of Executive Administrators. 

Contact:

Impact Association Management

608.210.3120 

info@ImpactAMC.com 

http://www.impactamc.com/

About MPI WestField: Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the largest meeting and event industry association worldwide. Chartered in 1989, MPI WestField provides education, networking opportunities and a forum for individual success for meeting professionals located in Westchester County, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut. When members join MPI WestField, they become part of an organization dedicated to personal and career success. Members will be connected with innovative learning, passionate people and big ideas that will empower them to become an agent of change and reinvent the world.

Contact:

MPI Westfield

Mark Speranza and Lisa Swartz

speranzanyc@gmail.com, msos@optonline.net

 www.mpi.org/chapters/westfield

Optimizing your Association's Website for Search Engines

We have all heard the term search engine optimization or SEO but the thought of implementing it often seems daunting. We are here to tell you, it is not as hard as it sounds AND can bring big results when it comes to your organization’s membership, event attendance, and more! Search engine optimization is simply making sure your content provides the answers that members are looking for, at the moment they are looking for them.

Knowledge and Education are the most important values that associations offer their members. (Omnipress) When people are seeking that education, it is important to ensure your website is set up to optimize their chances of coming across your content. Here are a few of the most overlooked steps to improve SEO that Omnipress shared with our team!

1. Web page optimization: Optimizing your web page increases the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic searches. In order to set yourself up for success, make sure that everything from links to images are properly titled. For example, if you have a session at your upcoming event on what to expect when starting your nursing career, make sure the link to that session includes the title. (www.nurseassociation/event/what-to-expect-when-starting-your-nursingcareer) This type of description is also important when it comes to images that are uploaded to the website. Ensure your images are responsive and tagged with (alt=) on the backend of your site. This will allow them to appear in Google image searches.

2. Document optimization: When uploading a document to your website, take the time to fill out any keywords, titles, and descriptions. This will allow it to appear higher on a  search engine.

3. Public-facing content: If you have a membership portal with members-only content, make sure there is a description of what users can find in that portal on the public-facing site. This will allow visitors to have full knowledge of what benefits your association offers, allowing them to then decide if they want to join the association. It will also allow the content to show up in a search that it otherwise would not have shown up in.

These quick changes can significantly increase the amount of traffic your website is seeing each month. Sites like Wild Apricot make this process incredibly easy by providing a sidebar when you edit the page, allowing you to edit the suggested areas for optimization. Take the time to learn more about SEO and implement it within your association and you won’t regret it.

The Keys to Member Onboarding

A board’s focus often leans towards membership recruitment rather than the steps that follow. Although it is important to recruit new members to grow your organization, it is equally important to make those new members feel welcomed. Creating a welcoming environment will increase member retention and could in turn help to recruit new members. New member retention increases 10% when a new member onboarding plan is implemented. (Memberclicks)

This plan, as simple or complex as you make it, is the key to growing and retaining your membership. There are a few things to keep in mind as you start to formulate a strategy.

1. Set goals. Why are you doing a member onboarding plan? This is an important question to ask yourself as you begin the process. Setting clear and measurable goals will allow you to look back and see if the work was worth it, if the plan is working, or if things should be tweaked.

2. Get started ASAP! In a world of instant gratification, you can never be too quick to reach out to your new members. Even if the first message they receive is automated, you are moving in the right direction. Verify that you received their application or membership and welcome them to the organization.

3. Add some variety. We all know what it is like to receive email after email from companies and organizations. Find creative ways to reach your new members. Consider starting with a welcome email, then sending a direct mail letter, or a phone call from one peer to another. Mixing up who the messaging is coming from is also a great way to introduce the member to a variety of contacts within the organization.

4. Make it personal. There is nothing less enticing than an email that clearly went to everyone. Including the member’s name is one way to increase their chance of reading the message. If it feels like an automated message, it will get thrown in the trash very quickly.

5. Take personal to another level. Aside from personalizing messages with specific names, understand the different groups within your audience. Create buckets for members such as first years, young professionals, large companies, etc. Personalizing the messages to these buckets will help to ensure members are actually getting what they need out of the organization rather than everything it has to offer.

Start looking into what you onboarding plan currently consists of and work from there. The sooner you can get something in place, the more members you will retain in the long run.

Never Stop Innovating

Members join associations to fill a need or desire. These needs and desires are likely to change over time and your association should be open and ready for change. “81% of associations with membership increases in the past five years, and 82% with an increase in overall new members, are significantly more likely – by margins of at least fifteen points – to indicate that their organization has a culture that supports innovation.”(Marketing General Incorporated) The opposite can be said for associations that do not support innovation. These organizations saw a dip in membership numbers. You may be asking, how do I effectively implement innovation within the board and association? Good question.

Start with self-reflection. Within your board, evaluate what has changed and what has remained the same for years. Just because something has been done the same way for years does not always make it the best way for it to be done. How can you improve that for membership? What do members need out of it? Work from there!

If you work with an AMC, ask for their advice! They have seen many different ways of doing things and can be a great resource when it comes to implementing change. They can also provide an outside perspective on how things look, what seems to be working, and what is not.

You may be overwhelmed by the amount of tasks and processes to review. Try walking through the member experience from start to finish.

Review membership models. Are there enough options? Are there too many options? Are the prices fair?

Review benefits. Are members given what they are promised? Do they still want the same benefits? Ask them! A simple survey can answer these questions. This will keep you from wasting time and money on things they may not be interested in while allowing you to focus on things they do want.

From there, review anything else involved with being a member including events, communication, etc. Once you have wrapped up the review process, do not lose momentum. Now is the time to brainstorm and implement change. This is the only way to grow your organization over time. Members will age out or fall off and innovation will allow you to slow this down while growing new demographics. “Associations with increases in one-year and five-year membership numbers are more likely to have higher percentages of Millennials and Generation X members (23% and 31%, respectively). One way these groups are achieving this is through growth in participation with their young professional programs.” (Marketing General Incorporated) Growing these younger generations and allowing them opportunities within the organization is crucial to staying relevant. Without an openness to innovation, your association will stay stagnant or see a decline in membership. Get ahead of this and watch your association prosper.