In Associations, trends matter! Associations need to find value in trends that will make a difference to their members. Here are six trends to try:
Membership Surveys: Poll members about social responsibility to identify their top needs. Such surveys are often the foundation for short- and long-term strategies.
Education: Offer members and staff education via webinars, meeting tracks, keynote addresses, publications, websites, brown-bag staff lunches, and even entire conferences. A major threat to membership organizations is that there are so many new/other ways for people to spend their diminishing discretionary time.
Awards: Try adding awards with members. Recognizing social responsibility initiatives among members. Universally, most membership organizations have problems in developing leadership. Showing growth amongst members will create an interest in taking on leadership in organizations.
Partnership: Work closely with business partners to track down budget-appropriate products, identify practices that could be improved. Helping with Disaster Relief Funds also shows an Associations social responsibility. Volunteers are more inclined to respond to a cause than to join an organization.
Involvement: Create subgroups to initiate involvement. Long-standing organizations have the advantage of name recognition but may have the disadvantage of a perception that is incorrect or possibly outdated.
E-Social: Social media, websites and mobile accessibility is a “must-have”. Associations continue to focus on social media to engage current members and find new ones. Forward thinking associations are leveraging their entire staff and multiple social media properties to extend their marketing efforts and boost their word of mouth advertising. Mobile internet usage is expected to surpass desktop internet use in 2014. That means more of your members will access your content on the go. If your association’s website still offers the same information as it did when you launched it, it’s time for a change. Your association’s website must serve as an up-to-date resource for your members and your target audience.
You probably feel like you’ll be left behind if you don’t try out everything. Some days it may feel like you run a website or a technology operation instead of an association. Keeping up with new trends can seem like a full-time job for an association professional. At first, try implementing three out of the six trends we suggested. Throughout the next month slowly start trying out the remaining three trends. In no time, you will be right on target with todays top trends for associations.
