Punchy title, interesting concept: what are associations doing to help those that are out of work or in tough times due to the economic malaise that the nation is going through? Should they be doing something for their members, especially those who who have or are actively involved or volunteering? Great questions and something for all Association Execs and staffers to consider. I wish I could take credit for coming up with it, but a response by the thoughtful Kiki L’Italien to my recent post ( Tag…I am it)Â really started me down the path of thinking about it. I think that in order to really answer the question there are a number of factors you have to consider.

First, what is the true purpose of your association – perhaps what is the true purpose of all associations? I’ve always believed that associations exsited to advocate for or advance a cause, idea or profession. With that in mind I though associations should provide their memberships the tools, knowledge and connetions to assist in that mission. An association should act as the fulcrum for all activity surrounding the area that it represents. If you want to know about the past, present and future of something you should be able to go to the association or associations that represent it. Want to learn and develop so you can advance in an area or topic, you should be able to go to the association. Likewise if you are looking to connect with/to people who share your interest in or passion for an area, you should be able to turn to the association.

Second, is retention or acquisition of members more important to your organization. I’ve always believe that acquisition without retention is a vicious cycle that gets you no where fast. In fact an aggressive acquisition campaign would probably cost you more in terms of time, money and effort and gives you little to show in return without some sort of retention campaign to support it. Granted, I know an association cannot stagnate and must continuous attract and engage new members but it also has to consider the members who got the association to where it is today. I don’t think one has to come at the expense at the other but I also believe that it has to be a well thought out plan on both sides or it will probably marginalize or alienate somebody. It’s worth considering the fact that if you can retain members and keep them happy and engaged they in turn will recruit new members. Never underestimate the WOM effect.

Third, what will the long-term impact of doing something be and can the association support it? Not all associations are created equally and therefore the associations health and well being have to be considered before doing anything. Will your balance sheet support it? Would doing something require a bylaw change or board approval? Are there already policies and procedures in place that have long been forgotten that could be investigated/implemented? This is a tough area that is full of a lot of pitfalls but if something is worth doing I firmly believe they are worth doing right. I guess how it goes in this area depends on whose idea it was in the first place and how it comes to broader attention.

Finally, how would doing something be perceived? Conversely, how would doing nothing be perceived? Let’s face it, perception is reality and for many how you respond in times of crisis generally show/tell more about an organization than under normal operating conditions. People will likely remember what you did or didn’t do. I guess the rule of thumb is how does the association want to be judged in the court of public opinion. I would suspect that most associations would want to be seen as stewards of an area as opposed to robber barons. That said, you have to walk the talk.

As someone who is technically out of work and doing what I can to stay afloat and seek re-entry into the association and/or educational world, I have some pretty distinct thoughts on the subject. I’ve always taken my membership in associations seriously but it wasn’t until I became a staffer that I realized how much more I could do. When I started at PMI my only experience with associations was a member and I quickly realized just how much I didn’t know. It didn’t take long until I was a card carrying member of ASAE and the Center because I needed access to knowledge and networking so I could continue to pursue and advance my career. I was fortunate that as a result of writing my blog and attending my first event I got connected to some of the best and brightest in the association world (you know who you are) and that precipitated my deeper interest, involvement and ultimately volunteering and thought leadership.

For me joining an association isn’t an end in itself it’s a mean to an end. I’ve yet to realize anything directly from my membership in and involvement with ASAE. In fact in many ways it’s cost me/my employer to belong and attend and volunteer. But I think that is just it…the overt benefits were never there but the indirect ones were there from the very beginning. I’ve met, worked with and maintain friendships and relationships with some of the most intelligent and thoughtful people that a person could know. I’ve learned and grown tremendously as a result of the resources that I have found, the events that I have attended and the sessions that I have presented at. I’ve had a chance to be both teacher and student. I’ve been able to shape the future of the assocation through my involvement. All of those reasons are why I was a proud member and also why I volunteered. I don’t think you can put a price or valuation on opportunity…

Association membership is a key that opens a door, but if you don’t use it you can’t complain that the key doesn’t work. It’s all about what you do with it.

A few closing notes. In the last sentence in the second to last paragraph, I said I “was” a proud member of ASAE and many associations. Unfortunately due to my own financial constraints and circumstances I have been unable to maintain my memberships. A sad reality in a very difficult time for many. As for what I would want from an association as a passionate member and volunteer…that’s not for me to say. I think each association has to do what makes sense based on the points I made above and based on who is negatively impacted. I hate to say it, but the answer is, and always will be: “It depends”. Depends on who the person is, depends on what they have done or may do in the future, it depends on a lot.

If you know of any associations out there looking for a few good men, or one good man, let me know. Comment below of DM me via Twitter @desabol.

Peggy Hoffman started a bit of a meme challenge regarding volunteerism to coincide with the Great Idea’s Conference. This isn’t just a “throw something against the wall and see if it sticks” concept because there was a caveat: the volunteer job can’t involve committee work, long-term commitments or “gobs of time”. As a result of Peggy’s post, I was pulled into the conversation by Kiki L’Italien who issued a challenge to me to build on the ideas and suggest my own.

I am not totally with Kiki on her post; I do actively seek out volunteer opportunities and have already served on ASAE’s Professional Development council and their Social Media Task Force since becomming a contributing member of ASAE. However, since my membership has lapsed due to my financial and employment circumstances I guess they count but only in a past-tense kind of way. Currently I am involved in the Open Source world and somehow found myself (ok I admit it, I stepped up) as the volunteer project manager for the Drupal Open Learning project. So I think I can draw some inspiration from the FOSS world largely from my Drupal and WordPress experience.

Why can’t volunteer opportunities be actually related to contribution as opposed to title? I have created WordPress themes and plugins and given them back to the community. If my countless hours of coding don’t amount to something I don’t know what does. I think association need to take a cue from that type of situation. How can members give their time to something without it being sanctioned by the association? How can they lower the bar to make it easy to contribute as opposed to a bureaucratic decision that requires sign-off and approval? When I worked for an association I continually heard about protecting the brand and legal liability. My thoughts? Get over it. Make it easy to contribute and people will. Put up barriers and people will contribute anyway…but they will want recognition and ownership of their contributions…Notice the problem?

Anyway, enough of my soapbox, I think the idea is that it has to be easy and open. With that in mind I would take Kiki’s idea’s – which are all really solid – and add my own:

1. Guest blogger – absolutely! Let’s call it a subect matter expert and then it transcends a single medium. Authority in a subject matter area is key – social media, training and development, component relations, marketing, etc. Let’s face it, as association execs you may know stuff, but your members probably know more.
2. Informal advisor – why not line up your best contributors and use them as formal/informal sounding boards. Again, you may have good ideas, but members who have been around a while may be able to shed a whole new light on why it may or may not work.
3. Item writer – granted this isn’t original but the one thing that I loved about my work at PMI was the fact that we gave our certified members the opportunity to help develop the certification exams of the future. They’d give a day of their time – generally coinciding with one of our events and in return they would gain recognition and some sort of non-monetary remuneration. Professionals love being involved in helping shape their field.
4. Twitter contributor. It seems like Twitter has gained a ton of traction in the association community. Why not acknowledge the contribution of members who are actively engaged in events by contributing to the Twitter-stream. Even better, establish a hastag(#) for your even then you know exactly who and how they are contributing. I believe that every little bit counts.
5. My last Great Idea is actually another simple one. Why not make all of the associations content easy to share (e.g. ShareThis, AddThis or something similar) and make it easy for members to share the content with their colleagues? Is it truly volunteerism? In my mind, if you aren’t getting paid to do something and it’s contributing to the betterment of something or someone else, you are volunteering your time. Going back to my original theme, make it easy for all members to get involved and I think you are going to be satisfied with the results – provided that you have content worth sharing.

There are plenty of ideas out there if you put some thought into it. Perhaps the ultimate ideas is not to overthink it and just go for it. I’d love to hear from some folks who I think have better ideas than I do:

Jeff Cobb – @missiontolearn
Jamie Notter – @jamienotter
Chris Busse – @busse
Frank Fortin
Rick Johnston – @rjohnston