#Association Goals & Objectives [Infographic]

Associations Scramble to Do More with Less

For the second year in a row, research by Greenfield Services shows that Canadian associations are scrambling to build strong, effective organizations without the resources to do the job.

That means they’re living out an axiom that we forget at our peril:

Beyond a certain point, you don’t do more with less. You do less with less.

Greenfield’s 2013 Pulse Report painted a stark statistical picture of the day-to-day struggle facing too many organizations. The research showed that:

• The majority of associations with 2,000 or more members “were trying to deliver exceptional service on budgets of $5 million or less,” and one-third of them with 10 or fewer staff. 
• Two-thirds of associations with fewer than 250 members (67.7%) were operating with five or fewer staff, and more than four-fifths with 250 to 750 members (81.6%) had 10 or fewer staff.
• Between 2012 and 2013, difficulties meeting members’ specific needs and insufficient staffing became even more prominent as the biggest member engagement challenges facing Canadian associations. 
• Between 30% and 40% of respondents expressed concern about their associations’ lack of strategy, budget, or member-driven research to support broader member engagement.

It all adds up to “a necessary fiscal prudence that might still be starving organizations of the resources they would need to attract larger memberships,” the report stated.

The Cost of Saving Money

Every organization should operate as efficiently as it can. But after years of scraping by on the barest possible budgets, many Canadian associations are scraped raw. They’re so lean that they can’t afford to invest in the educational programming or member engagement strategies that will help them thrive, rather than just surviving.

And after a while, a bad habit becomes a vicious circle: substandard outreach erodes member engagement, so that retention rates drop or remain stagnant…just in time to drag down next year’s programming budget.
The cost of saving money is crystal clear in the responses to the Pulse Report survey. Two-thirds of associations see membership growth and retention as a top priority, and nearly half want to boost their revenue, visibility, and member participation. But fewer than half identified the ability to demonstrate member ROI as a top priority—indicating that they either lack the strategic focus to deliver on members’ needs, or just can’t afford to get the job done.

The ‘Insurmountable Dilemma’

For the second year in a row, a question about membership retention strategies showed that associations weren’t doing nearly enough to open year-round conversations with their members and make a strong case for them to renew.

“With traditional funding sources drying up and established membership models shifting, it’s no surprise to find Canadian associations in search of more revenue,” the Pulse Report noted. “But with the Internet creating multiple new opportunities for professional development, networking, recognition, and any of the other benefits that associations have traditionally offered, associations will only attract and retain members by offering superior levels of service and engagement.

“For many associations, this may create an insurmountable dilemma: as long as current resources are insufficient to fund quality programming, that programming will fail to draw enough member participation and revenues to support a more robust, responsive organization.”

Greenfield Services Inc. released the 2013 Pulse Report at the National Conference of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, September 18-20, 2013 in Winnipeg. Contact us today to receive your own copy by email.

A Dangerous Disconnect on Member Retention

You know it’s time for a new strategy when research points to a big, dangerous disconnect between standard practice and best practice.

That’s exactly what’s happening in one of the most important areas of association management. But despite two years of data pointing to gaps in most associations’ member retention strategies, there’s little sign of change on the horizon.

In its 2012 Pulse Report, Greenfield Services found that only 13.6% of Canadian associations scheduled seven or more member touchpoints as their renewal dates approached. In the 2013 Report, that total improved only marginally, to 15.4%:

Touchpoints for Membership Renewal, 2012–2013
	2012	2013
1-3	52.1%	45.2%
4-6	23.1%	32.3%
7-9	6.8%	7.3%
10+	6.8%	8.1%
None	5.1%	3.2%
Unsure	6.1%	4.0%

If only associations could hope to get the same member retention with a more modest outreach plan. But the message from established sales and marketing strategy is clear: it takes eight to 10 touchpoints to break through the clutter of competing media and priorities with a message that requires a decision and action.

The Hope and the Reality

It isn’t that associations aren’t keenly interested in member retention. On the contrary, two-thirds of the association executives who responded to the 2013 survey cited membership growth and retention as a top priority.

After two years, the problem is clear: the vast majority of associations lack the staff, budget, and strategy to run the strong, effective member retention programs they need and want. 

They’re reaching out too infrequently. And they’re starting too late. More than three-quarters of 2013 respondents said their organizations began renewal outreach no more than three months before a membership was set to expire, compared to 71% last year.

2013 Pulse Report respondents knew they had a problem: among their most serious member engagement challenges, they listed insufficient staff, lack of a strategy or plan, and lack of member-driven research. But many of them were also dealing with tough budget realities that had forced them into a continuous cycle of trying to do more with less. (More on that in next week’s blog.)

The Plan Your Retention Plan Can Be

A retention plan only works when members are satisfied with their association experience, so year-round engagement is the cornerstone of an effective outreach plan.

But here’s the good news: once the retention program begins, associations can use a variety of tools, techniques, and media to capture members’ attention. A single touchpoint might be an email, a phone call, a text message, a direct mail letter or post card, a survey, a contest, a magazine ad, or social media messaging.

With more outreach methods available to them than ever before, we've been encouraging our clients to review their marketing plans and vary their messaging between established and emerging marketing methods, rather than relying exclusively on familiar tools like email and direct mail. The tone of member renewal campaigns can and should evolve, as well, with more emphasis on “pulling” people into voluntary, enthusiastic participation in a thriving association community, rather than “pushing” them to buy their association membership as a product. 

Greenfield Services Inc. will release the 2013 Pulse Report at the National Conference of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, September 18-20, 2013 in Winnipeg. Contact us today to receive your own copy by email.

Going to the CSAE National Conference & Showcase this year?

The 2013 edition of the CSAE National Conference & Showcase is almost here, and Greenfield Services Inc. is proud to be attending for the third year in a row!

Keep an eye out for Meagan Rockett, Director of Client Solutions who will be exhibiting at the show.  Association executives attending the showcase are invited to stop by booth #9 to pick up complimentary new resources:

• Invest In Your Future – Tips & Best Practices for Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
• Executive Summary of the 2013 Pulse Report on Membership Marketing & Engagement Practices

Right after the showcase, she will be on a panel discussing “Blurring the Boundaries – Member Engagement and Non-Member Marketing (or is it the other way around)?” with Beckie MacDonald (Ontario Library Association), and Mike Brennan (Canadian Physiotherapy Association), with moderator Meredith Low (Meredith Low Consulting).

We will also have prize draws available at the booth – many reasons to stop by and say hello!  If you would like to set up a time to chat during the showcase, please email Meagan to schedule a time to discuss how Greenfield can assist you in achieving your marketing goals.

Safe travels to all attending, and we look forward to seeing you in Winnipeg!

Education or Networking? Members Drive for the Bottom Line

One of the most striking results of Greenfield Services’ 2013 Pulse Report was the declining importance of member education.

It’ll be interesting to see how this statistic develops over the next few years. But in 2013, the 173 respondents who completed the Pulse Report survey saw education and professional development declining as a reason for prospective members to join their associations.

And with that change, Canadians’ motivations fell more closely in line with the results of a similar association survey in the United States.

A Sharp Decline

Of all the questions from our 2012 Pulse Report that we repeated in 2013, this was the one that showed the most dramatic change.

Last year, our survey of association managers, leaders, and executives identified education as the single most important factor in members’ decision to join, with 24.4% citing it as a top reason. Networking placed third, at 16%.

A year later, education had plummeted to fifth rank, with only 7.4% of respondents listing it as a top motivator, while networking surged to the top of the list, at 24.3%.

Two years of data can paint an incomplete picture. But if this trend carries on through future editions of the Pulse Report, it will point to shifting member expectations that put more emphasis on business relationships and less on professional or personal growth.

Top Reasons to Join a Canadian Association, 2012–2013
	2012		2013
	Rank	%	Rank	%
Education	1	24.4%	5	7.4%
Access to specialized information	2	16.8%	2	19.1%
Networking	3	16.0%	1	24.3%
Advocacy	4	10.9%	3	14.7%
Affinity programs			4	8.8%

The Bigger Picture

With some of the questions we ask in the Pulse Report, it’s interesting to cross-check the results against the annual Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report by Marketing General Incorporated (MGI). And in the U.S., an emphasis on member networking is nothing new. For the second year in a row, the MGI report found that education took fourth spot, with only eight percent of U.S. respondents identifying it as a leading reason for their members to join.

Top Reasons to Join an Association, Canada and U.S., 2013
	Canada		U.S.
	Rank	%	Rank	%
Education	5	7.4%	4	8.0%
Access to specialized information	2	19.1%	2	12.0%
Networking	1	24.3%	1	22.0%
Advocacy	3	14.7%	3	12.0%
Affinity programs	4	8.8%

Interpreting the Results

There are a couple of possible conclusions to be drawn from the survey results.

Canadian association executives may be right that their members are putting their professional development on hold. Knowledge and education are still important—they may be more central to members’ performance and success than ever before. But it’s hard to maintain your business or professional standing if you don’t have a job, so networking might be the prime focus in a tough economy.

But there’s another possibility. If associations are listening to the tone of the times, rather than the needs of their members, and positioning themselves accordingly, they may be missing an opportunity to boost member engagement and retention. If their programs and marketing emphasize networking, when members are really interested in education, organizations could lose ground with their single most important audience: the people who pay membership dues and trust their associations to represent their best interests.

Time will tell, but there’s a way to find out without waiting for next year’s Pulse Report. If you’re not entirely certain of your members’ programming priorities, a focused, well-designed survey could be the best investment you make over the next year.

Greenfield Services Inc. will release the 2013 Pulse Report at the National Conference of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, September 18-20, 2013 in Winnipeg. Contact us today to receive your own copy by email.

Content Marketing: Reader Beware

This is the first page of the article.
We have withheld the author and
the publication name, but you get
the picture!

I was in for a disappointment when I received the latest issue of an industry publication geared to Canadian association executives.

Typically, this magazine provides well-written articles by industry experts, a healthy mix of executives and suppliers telling their stories, reporting on their experience and sharing their opinions. But one article in this issue raised serious questions for me.

The five-page piece summarized research that was positioned as a "benchmarking study".  It was easy to read, broken out in relevant sections, providing readers with simple bullet points and solid advice.

Sound good?  Yep. Then what am I complaining about? Buried in the story was a brief statement that the research was based on eight respondents.  Yes, only eight associations participated in this study.

So when the article concludes that “half of participants stated that…”, they are saying that the answer is shared by just FOUR association respondents. So what?  Does this really constitute a "benchmarking study"?

One might have thought this would be prefaced by an acknowledgement that only a few people participated, and that the conclusions may not be applicable to the rest of the field. There was no such disclaimer and the article outlines advice that would lead the reader to believe this applies to a much larger population.  Whether the advice was sound or not is irrelevant.  My question is should an industry association publish this as if it is meaningful research, rather than a very small snapshot of a diverse field?

This is at a time when associations need to find and share research that has relevance -- both in the conclusions drawn,and in the number of participants on which those conclusions are based.

I don't fault the author or her company for getting this published.  It's exposure; good for them.  But it makes me question whether the publisher was just trying to fill space? With content marketing and the proliferation of "thought leadership" magazine articles, blogs and other online sources, I encourage all readers to take a step back and not take everything at face value. Question what you are reading (yes, including this blog and any other Greenfield publication).

If you don’t think what you’re reading is relevant, or you have concerns about the methodology, raise your hand and say something. Your organization depends on your critical analysis, and your opinion matters!

Do you have any thoughts on the research being published in our industry? Share them with your peers and colleagues by submitting your feedback below.

Get Your Succession Plan Up To Speed

This is a guest post by Sarah Sladek, an expert on demographic shifts, talent turnover, and generation gaps. She is the founder of XYZ University and author of three ground-breaking books. She launched the nation’s first business conference focused on bridging talent and leaderships gaps in the workforce and became a sought-after speaker and consultant to organizations nationwide. Her goal is to help organizations remain relevant to future generations.

Succession planning is a lot like getting exercise. You don’t just do it once and call it done. It’s something that needs to be revisited regularly to keep you healthy. Succession planning, like exercise, also seems to fall into the category of something everyone knows they should do but no one actually does. But you want your organization to be healthy, so let’s get your succession plans up to speed. We say “speed” because it needs to move.

Make sure management cares

Succession planning isn’t a one off thing, it takes time to build and cultivate; the people at the top of your organization must care so resources can be allocated to it and programs put into place. If your CEO doesn’t seem to care about succession planning, remind them of some great transitions that were made because it was planned, or some failures because it wasn’t.

Hint: There are many more examples of succession planning done badly than succession planning done well. Make sure you don’t fall into the first category.

Succession planning should look different at every level

The CEO isn’t the only vital role in your organization. Mid-level employees keep your business running smoothly too. For each level, you need to have a different plan. Each role is different and having successors lined up for all levels is essential.

Mid-level employees

Mid-level employees need to be prepared to make lateral moves if employees leave in another area. At this level, a cross-training approach might work best. Identify employees who would do well in different areas and make sure they get the training they need to do multiple jobs within the organization.

Cross-training will help you build stronger employees and also keep younger employees in lower level jobs engaged and learning. Your Millennial employees want to be challenged. Cross-training will challenge Gen Y to build new skills, keep them engaged and make them more functional employees.

High performance track employees

High performance track employees aren’t in leadership roles but they are doing more technical or higher level work, think engineers or accountants. Your high performing employees are probably involved in a critical part of a business process that you don’t want disrupted if they leave. Again, it’s important to cross-train your high performers, but with this group, that may include job shadowing, outside training or mentorship programs.

Involving Gen Xers in these programs will help you hold on to your talent. If you have a high performance Gen Xer who isn’t on a leadership track, they may see leaving your company as the only way to advance or make more money. Including them in your succession planning program will show them you value them and there are ways to get ahead without leaving.

Leadership track employees

Leadership track employees, your current and future leaders probably need the most mentoring and coaching to grow into the leaders you need. This level requires a more formalized plan, should have an outside and internal coach and strong commitment from management to see that development is followed through on. Leadership track employees should be given responsibility gradually in managing projects and people. Give them a chance to fail and learn from their failures.

Remember, the purpose of a succession plan is more than just names on a piece of paper, it’s about developing careers so those people are ready to lead when the time comes. Making and polishing a plan is a great start, but don’t think that means you’re done. Action is the most important step, and when it comes to succession, those actions are ongoing.