3 Critical Member Engagement Questions

October 22, 2013

Member Engagement questions3 Critical Member Engagement Questions. While CEOs and senior managers define member engagement differently, they all agree it’s an important component of their future strategy. With ongoing Washington, DC gridlock and a low growth economy, Associations and Societies see member engagement as an opportunity to best connect members to their organizations.

Have You asked the 3 Critical Questions?

Peter Drucker notes “My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.” When it comes to Member Engagement, knowing the right questions to ask is mission critical to accelerating participation and growing revenue:

  1. Has your Association surfaced linkages between its member engagement practices and its business model?
  2. Does your organization track contribution and collaboration behaviors that are predictive of even stronger levels of future engagement?
  3. From a member perspective, does your Association bring together constituencies creating new solutions; driving member value that shapes both industries and professions?

Answers to these three questions could provide key data that could better link organizations with their market place. However, knowing what the broader Association community is applying effectively would also be useful.

3 Critical Member Engagement Questions

member engagement questionsThe recent Federal Government shutdown is a reminder on how complex the Association marketplace is nowadays. Asking the right questions and having survey data will provide clarity as senior managers prepare and finalize their 2014 budget proposals.

 

For a free copy of the “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” eBook, request your copy at www.potomaccore.com.

 

Member Engagement: Call to Action

October 15, 2013

Member Engagement Member Engagement: Call to Action. Three organizations, Potomac Core Consulting, Vertical Leap Consulting and icimo are joining forces to conduct a Member Engagement Strategies Survey. Unlike any other to date, the survey focuses on Member Engagement as a game-changing growth strategy. The primary objective of the survey is to identify innovations and leading-edge practices in member engagement.

Define Future Member Engagement Levels

Potomac Core President & CEO Daniel A. Varroney notes “we’ll surface linkages between member engagement practices and an association’s business model.” Vertical Leap President  Steve Lane adds “we’ll also discover examples where associations are tracking contribution and collaboration behaviors that are predictive of even stronger levels of future engagement.”

Member Engagement: Call to Action

The online survey is being conducted during October and sent electronically to more than 5,000 Association and Society Executives around the United States.

Bryce Gartner, CEO of icimo notes: “The survey is built around core principles.  At the heart of these principles is the Association’s value premise.  Associations are positioned to bring together constituencies creating new solutions; driving member value that shapes both industries and professions.”

Potomac Core – Association Consulting, www.potomaccore.com, is a Washington, DC area custom focused one stop shop delivering highest quality growth strategies and solutions to U.S., National, and International Associations and Professional Societies. We help your Association surface actionable, market-based data. Then we create discussions about your member’s business outcomes to align your Association with their business outcomes.

Vertical Leap Consulting, www.verticalleapconsutling.com, is all about growth and positioning strategies for associations and healthcare organizations. Founded in 2002, we are headquartered in the Montgomery County, Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C.  We assist executives and boards who face tough challenges and compelling reasons to enhance their organization’s impact.

icimo, www.icimo.com, headquartered in the North Carolina Triangle Area offers software and services that gets any size organization using their data quickly.  Our tools combined with training and best practices give clients a jump-start to being data driven, transforming “big data” from buzzword into successful real world strategies for driving results by turning insights into action.  

For a free copy of the “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” eBook, request your copy at www.potomaccore.com.

Change Culture, Deliver Value and Grow Associations

April 4, 2013

Change Culture, Deliver Value and Grow Associations

 Every Association needs to add more member value, and, they want to grow revenues.  However, they first need to change their culture. Why?  Culture is the predominant determining factor that sets the stage for Association growth. If the Association’s culture doesn’t buy the change in focus, it won’t happen.

Culture is the Leverage Point at an Association

 Change Culture, Deliver Value and Grow Associations

If a CEO want to shake things up and make some changes, success will be governed by the Association’s culture. In other words, culture is a shared set of beliefs, values, and assumptions that drive how people in organizations behave – because the people in the Association have come to believe that is what works.

Over the years, I have witnessed or participated in many attempts to change Association cultures. The only approach I have seen that works consistently is when the senior management team changes the underlying system of management, and then supports that action by modeling a new set of behaviors.

Implement a Management System at Associations

“Management system” is a new idea, and it is not something often taught to leaders or even a term many use. A change in the management system is enabled by a conscious shift in behaviors by senior management.

An Association’s management system includes all the processes, routines and roles associated with:

  •  Setting direction
  • Defining accountability
  • Getting work done
  • Checking in on progress and results
  • Adjusting resources and actions in response to results
  • Solving problems
  • Acknowledging success

Make It An Association Growth Management System

An effective Association growth management system makes clear how things work, what is expected of people, and what actions are taken when things get off track.

Accountability and transparency are the foundations of great management, but these values come to life when surrounded with functional expectations rather than lofty ideals.

Change Culture, Deliver Value and Grow Associations

If Associations want to make significant shifts in culture, they must first change their management system. And CEO’s and Senior Managers have to model the way to an Association where delivering value and driving growth define the culture.

About the Author:  John M. Bernard. Passionate about employee engagement and the elimination of fear. Author of BUSINESS AT THE SPEED OF NOW and Contributor at Potomac Core Consulting’s Blog www.potomaccore.com.

 

Path to Association Growth

February 21, 2013

Path to Association Growth. We’ve created this  blog to provide Association CEO’s and senior managers with a toolkit of strategies and new ideas that lead to growth. My objective is to help you grow your Associations.

Fierce Competition Hampers Growth

You face increasing competition, your members demand value, and your board leaders demand strong financial performance and advocacy results. In real time, this Blog is your new go to resource. Stop by often.

I will include: tips on how to leverage data driven strategies,  and why core connections drive retention and growth and how member engagement is crucial to Association Growth.

Real Time Help

We:

  1. Post web interviews with Association CEO’s that have best practices. You can view them at any time.
  2. Share content breaking ground and helping you grow your Association. We post weekly.
  3. Invite your participation, share your concerns and will work with you to provide solutions.

Path to Association Growth

Your path to growth is more certain when you:

  • Contact us about how Potomac Core Consulting can help your Association grow: phone 703.878.8786, Skype-daniel.varroney, E Mail dan@potomaccore.com.
  • Follow me on Twitter @Dan_Vee
  • Like Potomac Core Consulting on Facebook http://facebook.com/potomaccore

Welcome to the new Association Growth Community.

What are the two major obstacles to growth at your  Association? 

Much more on Association Revenue Growth at www.potomaccore.com