Top Tips for Managing & Maximizing Association Resources

Effective resource management is the cornerstone of a thriving association. Whether those resources are technological assets or educational materials, you can enhance members’ learning experiences and boost your impact by making the most of the resources available to you.

Leveraging every asset to its fullest potential empowers your association to not just sustain your operations, but grow. Let’s explore the top association resource management tips you can follow to strategically allocate and optimize your resources. 

Invest in Intuitive Software

It’s no mystery that software has the power to streamline and automate many tasks within your association. Using the right solution can increase organizational efficiency and improve decision-making to support your association’s growth and expansion.

Research the best association management software (AMS) to identify and invest in the perfect tool for your organization. The exact features and capabilities you should look for depend on your organization’s size and needs, but most comprehensive solutions offer tools that manage:

• ‍Membership: Lean on membership management tools to evaluate members’ activities, engagement, and potential for growth. If you choose a Salesforce-native solution, you can easily integrate existing member data from your CRM to keep all your information organized. ‍
• Events: From live-streaming to registration, your AMS should make hosting a successful event simple and streamlined. Having access to member data alongside your event management tools can also consolidate the process of planning events around members’ preferences.‍
• Communication: Connect with members through text, email, and other channels via the communication features of your software. An interactive platform can also make it easy for you to spark conversations between members using online communities. 

While the right AMS can revitalize your administrative processes, it may also provide worthwhile benefits to members, such as:
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• Smoother, streamlined interactions
• Easier access to association resources
• Less duplicate field-filling

To find a solution that benefits both your association and its members, determine the goals of each and find the areas where they intersect. For example, let’s say your association aims to raise funds through continuing education courses, and members are excited to upskill and further their professional development. In this case, a learning management system can meet both goals by facilitating your association’s learning opportunities.

Leverage Data and Analytics

Data is a valuable resource that’s already at your association’s fingertips. Extracting powerful insights from your data involves analyzing the information you already have and obtaining more data where possible to have ample context for informed decision-making. 

Use your CRM to collect and organize data. If you notice incomplete or erroneous information, append your data to add new details and correct existing data points. Starting with clean, quality data will help you reach the right people and grow your membership.

To optimize your association’s resources, from marketing materials to budgetary assets, analyze the following types of data:

• ‍Member engagement metrics: Study member acquisition and retention rates to gauge your association’s overall membership health. This could also include communication metrics, such as email open and clickthrough rates or social media likes and comments. Such data points provide valuable insights into the engagement methods that are most effective and how you can adjust them as needed.‍
• Event success: Track attendance numbers, participant engagement levels, attendee feedback, and event revenue to determine whether your events reach their goals. This can help you make the most of your events by determining which ones to host again and how you can improve them for maximum member satisfaction. ‍
• Financial data: Your association’s revenue streams, expenses, and other financial trends can indicate budgeting successes and failures that may help guide your future strategic planning. Then, you can plan effective association fundraising and properly allocate your financial resources to ensure each area of your association is appropriately funded. 

Your AMS is a valuable source for finding and organizing this data. For example, Fonteva’s membership software allows users to set customized KPIs, access real-time reports, and even build collaborative dashboards. 

Implement Effective Marketing Strategies

Another resource your association can easily tap into is its vast collection of marketing channels. Effective marketing reaches individuals at every stage of the membership lifecycle. It’s the key to attracting new members and building your following. Also, the right strategies can help you engage with existing members by targeting their interests. 

To maximize the impact of your marketing efforts, map out the journey that members take to become involved in your association. Getting Attention’s membership marketing guide describes this journey as a funnel, which outlines the following stages of a member’s engagement:

• ‍Capture: Introduce prospective members to your mission and prompt them to learn more about your association.‍
• Nurture: Follow up with prospects through various channels, such as email, to encourage them to continue researching your organization.‍
• Convert: Convince prospects to become full-time members and access various membership benefits.‍
• Retain and re-engage: Reach existing members through consistent marketing efforts to ensure they stay engaged with your association. Make members feel valued by offering personalized experiences and opportunities to give feedback.

Create a marketing plan across various channels to guide your audience through each stage. Digital marketing in particular is a resource that your association can’t afford to neglect. These channels, such as social media, email, and your website, offer a high ROI because they often require less budget than traditional marketing methods.Develop Strategic PartnershipsFrom networking to continuing education opportunities, your association needs valuable connections to provide the resources members need. By collaborating with other organizations, your association can offer more comprehensive benefits to members without significantly increasing its resource expenditures.

Follow these steps to identify potential partners and cultivate mutually beneficial relationships:

1. ‍Define your objectives: Determine what resources your association lacks that a partner could provide, and clearly define what you hope to achieve through the partnership.‍
2. Identify potential partners: Use your existing network and industry events to find organizations, businesses, or individuals whose values align with yours. Ensure your association and the potential partner have the same goals and can work together to achieve them. ‍
3. Reach out: Arrange a meeting to discuss the potential collaboration with the partners you’ve identified. Afterward, prepare a concise proposal that outlines the expectations of the partnership and the benefits that both parties could gain. ‍
4. Develop a partnership agreement: Write a partnership agreement that includes each party’s responsibilities and how the arrangement’s success will be measured. Be sure to reach out to a nonprofit legal expert to create a solid agreement if any money or items will be exchanged.

Once you’ve identified and secured partnerships, plan how you’ll facilitate their involvement over time. This might include choosing an AMS that tracks members’ certifications and accreditation goals. With this data, you can understand members’ interests and engagement with your partner’s resources and gauge the effectiveness of the partnership. 

At the end of the day, the most valuable resource your association has at its disposal is the support of its members. As you work to manage your association’s data, financial assets, and other resources, remember to keep your efforts member-centric. When you foster these relationships by showing your appreciation for members’ involvement, you’ll strengthen the greatest resource of all: your association’s community.

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About the Author

Erin Lemons, Senior Director of Marketing at Fonteva 

Erin Lemons joins Togetherwork Association Solutions with over 15 years serving as a marketing director, event producer, and project manager creating robust marketing campaigns and initiatives that focus on the growing and ever-changing technology needs of the association industry. She leads the marketing teams and strategy at Fonteva and Protech.