Championing Professional and Trade Associations

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Many changes happen successfully at the national level, through lobbying, conferences, and webinars. However, there are many changes and improvements that can happen easier and have a greater impact when they take place at the chapter level.

Keeping Your Chapters Aligned

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020  |  Categories: National Perspective, Inconsistent Branding  

Associations with chapters rely heavily on those chapters to drive their mission, through their local and regional presence and support and their on-the-ground member and community engagement.

Chapter Expansions

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

A strong chapter presence is essential to the success of your organization. A clear, documented strategy helps ensure expansions go as planned and provide consistency from one new chapter to the next.

Location. Location. Location

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Selecting the right location can play a significant role in the outcome of your chapters’ meetings. National can guide its chapters in selecting locations that are both in line with the missions of the association and meet the needs of the chapter.

Take a Listening Tour of your Chapters

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020  |  Categories: National Perspective, Lack of Insight into Chapter Performance  

As a national association, the success of your chapters is the success of the association as a whole. How chapter leaders are trained and fulfill their duties is a direct reflection on the national. This comes together in the assurance of value to members

Chapters – Are They Worth the Cost?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Are your chapters worth your time and money? Yes, yes they are. Many member needs can be addressed well at the national level, online and through conferences, but some can be addressed more effectively at the local level through chapters.

Doing Nothing: How’s that Working for your Chapters?

Updated: Feb. 22, 2019  |  Categories: National Perspective  

As a result of limited staff, small budgets and the reliance on volunteers, many chapters make minimal or no changes to what they offer in areas like membership, engagement and technology usage. This approach, while safe and easy, it is also limiting.

Want all your chapters to be successful? Consider a regional chapter management strategy

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Many associations use the same management structure for all their chapters, around the country. Considering the fast pace of business and the differing norms and needs of individuals, a single management direction puts many at a disadvantage.

Is keeping your chapter management technology in house the right direction for your chapters?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

When an organization uses technology effectively, members react as expected. They attend events, they renew their memberships, and they bring new members with them. But, when it doesn’t work, they look elsewhere for their educational and networking needs.

Which Membership Benefits Are Local Chapters Best Suited to Deliver and Which Should They Leave to National?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Why Do Some Chapters Do So Well While Others Struggle?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Overall chapter success is at the forefront of every organization’s goals for growth and positive impact on their community. There are a couple of main areas where chapters struggle.

Use Competition to Boost Membership, Revenue, and Attendance

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Creating competition between chapters of the same organization is an effective way to increase engagement, boost loyalty, and spark creativity.

How to Help Your Local Chapters Increase Membership in 3 Easy Steps

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

In association marketing, accurate tracking, information gathering, and analysis are key to validating the efforts a chapter makes to gain new members. It’s crucial to recognize the lifetime value of one new member.

How to Assess the Health of Local Chapters

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020  |  Categories: National Perspective, Lack of Insight into Chapter Performance  

The ability of local chapters to meet the needs of their members and grow their industry depends on many factors.

Are you ready for the GDPR?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

The EU is making changes to their data protection rules, and these changes will affect some US or Canadian-based organizations.

Four Reasons Why Chapters Fail

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

The first thing to keep in mind when analyzing the success of the local chapters of your association is that they are run by volunteers. There is a delicate balance between providing motivational goals and overtaxing volunteers.

4 Website Mistakes Your Chapters Are Making

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Depending on your association’s approach to chapter autonomy you may allow your chapters to source their own website solutions. This can increase the likelihood of these website mistakes.

Getting the Data From Chapters

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020  |  Categories: National Perspective, Lack of Insight into Chapter Performance  

What type of data do you get from your chapters? Prospect data, bank balances, meeting info? Not much at all? How often does this data come back to national? How accurate is it? Can it be trusted to base important decisions on?

How Are Your Chapters Doing? (Really)

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

It’s the end of the month, and you’re in the office crunching the latest numbers for your national association. A few chapters are struggling with membership and it makes you wonder what’s going on. The easiest way to evaluate chapter health...

Solving the Chapter Technology Puzzle

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

Local chapters have a lot to manage. National can help, but locally there is much to do to keep the chapter running smoothly. From a technology standpoint, the basic need would be a website, a way to email members and prospective members.

Membership Portability is Essential to Growing your Association

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018  |  Categories: National Perspective  

As associations aim to remain agile many types of memberships have emerged to meet ever-changing member needs. While corporate membership still has a place, the structure should be reevaluated.