What if we didn’t have members?
It’s worth stopping for a second to think something through. Imagine, if you will, that we didn’t have members. What if our associations’ efforts were not entirely focused on those people who already pay their membership dues? I know. It sounds crazy – a membership association without members? How will we make money? Who will we serve? Won’t […]
Corporate Partnership Challenges and Solutions – Let me count the ways
My colleague Dan Kowitz and I have studied and advised hundreds of association corporate partnership programs over the past two decades, both as senior-level staff with associations and as consultants to associations. A lot has changed – and continues to change – in the world of corporate sponsorships and partnerships: the role of associations continues […]
Measuring Success: Why We Should Focus on Cause Before Effect
The measure of a project’s success tends to be in the quantifiable effects it produces. We might look to membership numbers or revenue, for example, to assess how successful our particular ventures have been at this level of effect. However, it is not always useful to focus on these final outcomes when implementing a project. Especially when […]
3 Ways to Boost Your Culture Playbook
Associations Catalyzing Entrepreneurship (ACE) is a group made up of association executives and stakeholders who think outside the association box about the future. We have conversations about an entrepreneurial approach to association leadership and implement the resulting great ideas in our jobs. In our most recent conversation live in DC, with a virtual component hosted […]
Before You Begin: 5 Co-Creation Tips
Co-creation happens when an association and its members work together to create something that is valuable for both the association and the members. Generally speaking, it is important for the association to maintain decision-making control over the use of resources in the co-creative project, whereas the participating members should be given control over design decisions. If […]
How to Lay the Foundation for Culture Change
Culture change is not rocket science. Conventional wisdom may say that it is hard, that it is undefinable, or that it takes many years to accomplish, but I disagree. People participate in culture change all the time—they just don’t realize that’s what they’re doing. My business partner, Maddie Grant, and I have been doing change work […]
Workshopping Innovation: How We Taught Design Thinking
It is one thing to commit to a pathway towards innovation. Bringing people along the road with you, however, can be an innovation project in itself. The process of teaching a new framework, or inspiring your team to embrace a different methodology, is its own opportunity to create and discover. Recently I had the chance to […]
How to Avoid Dissatisfied Corporate Partners
I have written before about the importance of listening to industry voices in order to develop mutually beneficial corporate partnerships. This is true when it comes to what your partners want, but it is equally significant in revealing what they don’t want. I recently heard three stories about interactions between associations and corporate partners that revealed dissatisfied partners. In […]
On the Power of Prototyping
Previous pieces of mine might have hinted at my commitment to the principles of Design Thinking (if you haven’t got that hint yet, I invite you to have a read). On top of the flexibility and open-mindedness of this methodology, there’s another reason why an empathetic, iterative process of discovery makes for an excellent problem-solving tool: not all […]
Hey Culture Change Fans, Got the Playbook?
Editor’s Note: Associations Catalyzing Entrepreneurship (ACE) is a group made up of association executives and stakeholders who think outside the association box about the future. They have conversations about an entrepreneurial approach to association leadership and implement the resulting great ideas in their jobs. This article is a culmination of takeaways from their most recent conversation live […]