People only contribute time, knowledge, and ideas when they perceive an opportunity to impact the outcomes they seek. Keeping and winning higher engagement levels happens when Associations create ongoing opportunities for their constituencies to contribute knowledge and collaborate with other members.

Assess your Association’s constituency segments within the following 4 level framework. For example:

1. Disconnected Observer. Lurking on website or on-line community, communications scanner, congressional staff, the general public
2. Appreciative Recipient. Event attendee, subscriber, product purchaser, ad/exhibit/sponsorship purchaser
3. Knowledge Contributor. Speaker, writer, availability as a knowledge expert, mentor. This can also be the constituent that translates or transfers knowledge between stakeholders
4. Solutions Collaborator. Board, committees, roundtables, special interest groups, legislative campaign

Steps To Keeping Members Engaged

The following steps will help keep members engaged:

• Understand the 4 levels of engagement & look for constituency segments that are primarily distinguished by one or two (of the 4) levels.
• Identify member behaviors that impact the industry or profession.
• Create opportunities for members to engage in the design of new solutions that drive member outcomes.
• Success is measured in member behaviors that motivate connectedness. Target high probability segments to move to higher levels of engagement.Differentiate the “experience” at the national level and understand which member segments are best served at the local level.

Keeping Members Engaged

Everyone is busier than ever, especially as associations emerge from the recession and continually shift their attention to growth strategies. As such, people will only contribute time, knowledge, and ideas when they perceive an opportunity to impact the outcomes they seek. Keeping members engaged begins with understanding the 4 levels of engagement.

Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com

Member Value Drivers? Too often an association’s internal discussions are about tweaking “outputs” and not creatively driving the “outcomes” that members really care about. This only fuels the “we/you” culture that exists in so many associations. Associations can get into trouble when internal discussions infer “we know what’s best for our members”. If members don’t feel that they can impact things that they care about, they form coalitions and on line communities outside of the association. (http://bit.ly/1qEaS3H)

Outcome Focus and Member Value Drivers

Members only care about “outcomes” that address their business and professional challenges and opportunities (See ROI TO R.O.M.E.  http://bit.ly/1nCFqiU). Change the conversation from selling and testing satisfaction with association outputs (conference, journal, etc.) to engaging members in ways that facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration with other members.

Up At Night Issues

Whether obtained via survey, focus groups, interviews, roundtables, online community dialogue, social media tracking or other mechanisms, it’s essential to understand how an your association is currently impacting member objectives. This requires securing actionable data about member perceptions of their environmental and operational challenges. If these issues aren’t surfaced, Associations may not be asking the right questions.

Member Impact Surveys

Associations should utilize impact surveys instead of satisfaction surveys as impact surveys are forward looking. They focus on the desired future outcomes that members seek to address their “up at night” issues.

Member Value Drivers?

Strategic member engagement begins with changing the conversation from “outputs” to “outcomes”. An “outcomes” focus drives member value and helps to accelerate competitive positioning and Association operating results. (http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2)

Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com, www.icimo.com, and www.verticalleapconsulting.com.

Knowledge Based Solutions. In today’s knowledge economy, an association’s competitive positioning requires a differentiating “experience” that treats each member as having a piece of the knowledge puzzle. Members are seeking knowledge based solutions which require both “push” and “pull” approaches.

“Push” and “Pull” Approaches

Most association executives recognize that the challenges their members face today require knowledge based solutions. However, the prevailing approach seeks out knowledge experts and “push” that person’s knowledge out to the membership through educational programs, newsletters and journals.

Today’s Leading edge associations view their role as the integrator, aggregator, curator, and enabler. This means they “pull” members together and facilitate the sharing of knowledge so that innovative solutions are created to address shared member challenges and opportunities. These associations view their constituencies as each member having a piece of the knowledge puzzle.

Knowledge based solutions are achieved through a proactive blend of “push” and “pull” information sharing mechanisms.

Competitive Edge Using Knowledge Based Solutions

Associations accelerate their competitive positioning when they address “up at night” issues by creating opportunities for members to share knowledge and create new solutions together. As such, the differentiator are the relationships members create as they work collaboratively to impact the solutions they collectively seek.

Members desire knowledge based solutions which include “push” and “pull” approaches where each member owns a piece of the knowledge puzzle.

These factors help associations create a differentiating experience that help improve their competitive positioning (see Knowledge Sharing And Engagement http://bit.ly/1rJamVJ).

Knowledge Based Solutions

When competing for mindshare, strategic member engagement ( http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2) can be a marketplace differentiator for Associations. The strategic challenge is to continually fill the pipeline with constituencies who seek a more powerful “experience” than they receive at competitor organizations.

Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com, www.icimo.com, and www.verticalleapconsulting.com.

Stimulating Connectedness. Many association executives still yearn for member “loyalty” and have traditionally sought to measure it by retention rates. What does membership loyalty mean? There are very few examples of one-stop shopping. In a knowledge economy, members proactively seek information from many sources.

People most value the things in which they personally participate. They feel more “connected” to those groups who value their personal contributions. Accelerating strategic member engagement (http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2) is about creating many opportunities and “experiences” to contribute and feel valued; something that members don’t find elsewhere.

Creating Solutions Together

Traditionally, associations focus on what they do for members. The real power of the association form of organization is facilitating the creation of new solutions to address evolving member objectives. To accelerate this, volunteer leaders and staff must create a culture of “we”.

The “We/You” Fallacy

Determining an Association’s alignment with member needs includes assessing the relationships between staff, volunteer leaders and other members. We find that most association executives view this interface through a lens of “we/you”. The evolving association model is all about “we”.

GCCA, www.gcca.org, the Global Cold Chain Alliance continues its transformation to a “we” focused organization notes President & CEO Corey Rosenbusch.

Strategic Member Engagement Framework©

Moving to “we” doesn’t happen overnight. It requires nurturing; “surprise and delight” if you will. Actually it is a 3-stage transition that goes from:

“We (staff & volunteer leaders)/They (outsiders)” to
“We/You” (as the member becomes a recipient of association offerings), and then strategically on to
“We” (highly engaged solution community)

Stimulating Connectedness

As members start to contribute and collaborate the relationship shifts toward “we create new solutions together”. However, if members are never effectively engaged, they remain in “we/you” relationships with the association.

Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com, www.icimo.com, and www.verticalleapconsulting.com.

Associations are the ideal organizational model to leverage a culture of “we”. But this requires a shift from today’s association structures and processes that are primarily built to push out offerings. Today, staff are reinforced for their efficiency, not for working innovatively with members to create better solutions. Strategic Member Engagement requires aligning infrastructure at organizations including its culture, and resources.

“Up At Night” Issues

Members expect “line of sight” connections between what you are providing and their most critical “up at night” issues. This means that all employees must view themselves as collaborative partners, who, together with members, continually seek insights and new solutions that enhance the community’s success.

Members can sense when staff are in the boat rowing with them, versus standing on the shoreline; handing them an oar and conveying best wishes. Working together as innovators, staff and connected members provide resource fluidity and responsiveness to address rapidly changing member business priorities.

Associations and “We Focus”

Thom Dammrich, President & CEO of Chicago, Illinois based NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association), fosters a collaborative and we focused culture which helps the organization in terms of aligning its infrastructure. Moreover, the Association though its performance management system keeps performance focused on strategic outcomes which support member advocacy and market expansion.

Aligning Infrastructure

The successful association of the future will view its role as the stimulator, integrator, aggregator, curator, and enabler/facilitator; engaging members in ways that share and capture knowledge. Association communities will create innovative solutions to address their challenges and opportunities.

For many associations this requires that staff enhance their skill set, competencies, and cultural mind-set. Performance development, recognition, and rewards will focus on achieving member outcomes, not pushing outputs out the door on time. Staff need to know that members value their efforts.

Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” for Association Executives available upon request at www.potomaccore.com