Mapping Out Your Goals

I'm in the middle of preparations for a strategic planning meeting with our board of directors in September. Strange as it may sound, this is my favorite part of working with an association. I love to be part of the big-picture planning, to feel the energy that our volunteer leaders exude when we start discussing what we want to accomplish in the short term and the long term.

So first I took a look at our vision and mission. They're strong, solid, and will stand the test of time. But as I moved on to the goals, I quickly noticed that they weren't goals at all. They weren't statements of what the organization would accomplish, but strategic approaches to implementing tactics. So my priority for this strategic planning meeting is helping this board define goals the SMART way - specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. I think in defining these SMART goals, the board of directors will also identify issues that are pressing not only to them as an organization, but to the industry they serve. And their goals, then, will focus on addressing these issues.

To some, this line of thought may seem like splitting hairs. Goals, strategies, tactics - they're all related somehow, so if you have one, you can get by without the rest. And that, I believe, is simply not the case. Think of it as taking a road trip: your goals are your map, strategies are the roads, and tactics are your destinations. Certainly all are related, but each one has a definitive role in completing your road trip.

Setting goals will give everyone involved in the organization a glimpse of the big picture - where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. Strategies will outline the approach or route you will take, and tactics are the things that you will actually DO. When all three are defined well, they will intertwine, and become a very effective plan for your organization to follow.

So first things first, we'll work on goals and map out our course of action. For those of you preparing for a strategic planning session, a great online resource is http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/str_plan/str_plan.htm. It provides step-by-step definitions and actions to lead a strategic planning session, but is quick to point out that there isn't just one way to do it. Just like there's not one map, one route or one destination that's right for all of us.

New contributors added to DrakeCo Blog

Several Drake & Company employees will now be regular contributors to the DrakeCo Blog. We will aim to publish twice weekly.

Nicole Fischer, Program Coordinator: 1st Tuesday
Look for her posts about Trees for Troops, Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, social media, grant writing and fund raising.

Brian Reuwee, Director of Marketing: 1st Thursday
I will be posting on topics ranging from marketing and communications to nonprofit operational management. Using social media and technology to engage your membership is another favorite topic of mine.

Becka Hadley, Program Coordinator: 2nd Tuesday
Becka is quickly becoming one of our social media gurus. She's an avid Tweeter and involved in various projects for the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare

Aly Hall, Program Coordinator: 2nd Thursday
Aly is DrakeCo's slash master. She's multitasking on multiple clients and will blog about her experiences as a multi-account coordinator.

Becky Rasmussen, Assistant Director: 3rd Tuesday
Becky is the editor of the American Christmas Tree Journal and a veteran association communicator.

Rick Dungey, Account Executive: 3rd Thursday
Look for Rick to post about public relations, crisis communications, media relations and new client transition.

Nancy Soucek, Editorial Specialist: 4th Tuesday
Her first post: "Building relationships with Sponsors and Advertisers" is already up on the blog. She manages many of our client-advertiser relationships and has done an outstanding job as an editor and communicator.

Cindy Hackmann, Account Executive: 4th Thursday
Cindy is the newest member of the DrakeCo team. She serves as the Executive Director of the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association, and comes to us via an advertising and communications agency.

Posts by Steve Drake will also appear frequently, if irregularly, and guest bloggers from our meetings, finance and membership departments will also post on occasion.

Enjoy.

Building Relationships with Sponsors and Advertisers

When I googled "building relationships with sponsors" yesterday, there were more than 900,000 sites listed. So it is pretty obvious that Drake & Company, an AMC Institute-accredited association management company, is on the right track to place an emphasis on the importance of establishing mutually beneficial relationships and lines of communication between our associations that we manage and their sponsors and advertisers.

This requires a real investment in time and lots of hard work. In this era of rapid growth of social media, associations and their management staffs must strive to keep the lines of communication open. Whether by Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or just a phone call, we at Drake & Company work with confidence to build an effective relationship, based on honesty and trust, between the associations we represent and their sponsors and advertisers.

Sponsors and advertisers of the associations know that we will provide them with successful ways to reach our members and others in the industries and areas that they represent. We make certain that they receive everything that was promised to them when they agreed to be sponsors or advertisers. Each sponsor or advertisers has distinctive objectives and measurements they want to achieve - and it's our job to help them reach those while also providing our association clients with the best possible outcomes. I think they appreciate our professionalism in dealing promptly (everyone is busy these days) and proactively with any requests they may have.

I feel confident that Drake & Company's staff is on the right track in working for long-term relationships between our associations and their sponsors and advertisers.

DrakeCo Blog changes tone

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• Planning successful meeting and event in 2010
• How to juggle multiple priorities for multiple clients
• Generating content (and buzz) for your association
• Using online and e-mail surveys to learn more about members
• Tapping into corporate sponsorship for small associations
• Importance of belonging to your industry association(s)
• What will associations look like in three, five, ten years?
• Your association’s killer app
• Marketing associations to Generation Y
• Marketing associations to Generation X
• Marketing associations to Boomers
• Working with Boomers and Pre-Boomers
• Working with Gen X and Gen Y
• Utilizing interns for your nonprofit
• Highlights from ASAE Conference
  
• Highlights from AMC Conference
• Highlights from client conferences
• Twitter trends, topics, searches you’re interested in
• Importance of mission and vision statements for associations and nonprofits
• How to write a mission/vision statement for your association
• Simplifying your membership
• How to recruit new members
• How to retain members
• Commentary on another blog post from another site
• Form 990 questions answered
• How to field questions from your treasurer
• How to interpret a nonprofit financial statement
• Identifying the proper site for your next conference
• How to build a volunteer base
• How to recruit new board members and volunteer leaders

Man on Moon -- 40th Annivesary

For people who are Boomers or older, the "Where were you when" question often surfaces.

July 20th is one of those days. The day that Neil Armstrong first stepped on the Moon.

Where were you?

I had a unique perspective on the Moon Walk ... as a young reporter for The Associated Press, I drew the assignment to cover Neil's parents (Stephen & Viola Armstrong).

Reporters from all over the world gathered in his hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Because Time-Life had a exclusive contract with NASA for news coverage, the other news reporters and I covered the event from a makeshift news room in Armstrong's garage. We interviewed townspeople, community leaders and, when they came out for a news conference, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong.

During this historic eight days -- starting with blastoff on July 16 and ending with splashdown on July 24 -- we reported on the movements and comments of the family and community.

It was a big story for such a young reporter. The words I wrote appeared in newspapers around the world.

I was blessed to be partnered with The AP's Gene Herrick -- one of the best news photographers I've met -- and a 29-year veteran of The AP. He had covered major news events around the world. As a real pro, he shared valuable pieces of wisdom on covering a major event.

Some, I've never forgotten:
* Never stopping digging for the story.
* Always have an escape route ... so you know how to exit the scene you are covering. He learned this from covering floods and major disasters.
* Always eat a huge breakfast because you never know when you will eat again.
* Never checkout of your hotel until you are on your way out of town.

The first piece of advice was valuable when we were in Wapakoneta for an "advance story" about the town and the Armstrongs. During our visit, we were reminded that the Armstrong parents was off limits. With Gene in the lead, we located Neil's grandmother at the home farm south of Wapakoneta. When we arrived, we discovered that Mrs. Armstrong was there. While I got an "unofficial" quote from Mrs. Armstrong, Gene snapped a photo of she and her mother. And, viola, we had a quote and photo that no other news outlet had.

Knowing the location of the farm became valuable at the end of the coverage.

This last piece of advice came in to play in our news coverage from Wapakoneta. The morning of splashdown, I checked out of the hotel as we were told we could return to Columbus. Gene -- based on his long experience -- did not checkout. And, sure enough, sometime that afternoon, we received a call from The AP office that we needed to stay another night because the governor was flying to Wapakoneta to make remarks and meet Neil's parents. I sheepishly spent the night in Gene's hotel room!

While a reporter, I experienced the big rivalry between The AP and United Press International (UPI). We constantly strived to get breaking news on The AP wire before UPI reported.

When Governor Rhodes arrived at the Wapakoneta airport, he made a few comments. I grabbed enough for a story and ran to the other pay phone booth at the small airport. I called the story in and then, stayed on the line because the UPI reporter was waiting to call her story in. I kept waiting until the Governor's party departed ... and the UPI reporter followed. The next stop was the Armstrong farm. Since I knew where it was, I didn't worry about following the Governor's motorcade. And, as a result The AP had a two hour advantage on the story.

Gene's advice was at work once again!

So, while Neil was making history, I was learning lessons for a lifetime.

It was an exciting time.

Steve

Association Management is Easy, the Internet Said So

There's a video floating around on the Internet called: "Running an Association is an Easy Home Business to Start with No Money and Little Skill."

Ok, I may be a bit off on the title, but the gist of the video is that anybody with basic office and computer skills can run an association (or multiple associations) from home with little or no experience, clients will flock to their services and money will roll in with ease.

Although there are many skilled professionals operating associations of all types out of their home, "easy" is a term they probably would not use to describe association management.

It takes a broad skill set that one person is unlikely to poses solely, or if he or she says he or she does, it's unlikely he or she is great at any one or even good at all of those skills. Yet, associations, foundations and nonprofits need these services, and more, from their management regardless of whether it's one person or a company.

Skills needed to run an association

• Marketing and Communications
• Financial Management (Bookkeeping)
  
• Database Management
• Fund raising (renewing and retaining members is fund raising)
• Meeting planning
• Strategic planning
• Volunteer management
• Technology (Web site development, database development, social media, content management)
• Public and media relations
• Corporate development

These are not easy tasks that require minimal skills. To do them well you need experience, talented staff and a creative management zeal. One person may do one or two of these functions well, but to do them all well, your association needs a staff. Unfortunately, for many nonprofit organizations, hiring a staff, renting an office, buying computer equipment and office furniture is unrealistic, which is where an association management company steps in.

Drake & Company, an AMC Institute-accredited association management company, was born through experience, hard work, relationship building and a desire to help associations reach their full potential by creating a partnership for growth.

Unlike the perception presented on the Internet by a misinformed small business coach, associations aren't likely to choose you as managment just because you put your shingle in the window. DrakeCo didn't pop up overnight by printing business cards and putting an ad in the Yellow Pages or by launching a Web site. And I doubt that is the success formula for any association management company.

Building on a base of public relations and event planning services, DrakeCo added specialized professional staff focused on services such as accounting, membership management and meeting planning. This division of labor and specialized staff allow DrakeCo to be good at all of the professional services we offer and great at offerings such as public relations, cause marketing and communication.

Nonprofit leaders should consider what their organizations needs are from a manager. Is an individual executive director pull in 1,000 different directions trying to manage functions from bookkeeping to conference marketing the right solution? Or is a specialized staff utilizing skilled professionals in financial management, event planning, marketing and communication the answer?

Reinventing Associations: Part II

In Part I, I talked about the transformational change in the speed, size and cost of news, information and knowledge and noted the impact of the change on "legacy media." I then posed the question as to what this means for trade associations and professional societies.

Today's associations face challenges similar to those of newspapers and other media. What was once restricted to subscribers/members is now free to all.

The explosion in technology (Web, Web 2.0, Google, Bing, etc.) has opened information to members and potential members. They don't have to join. They just Google it. And, Bing, it's available. Usually for free.

Associations need to focus on answers to three specific areas as the communications revolution continues a relentless march forward:

1) What does it mean to be a member?
If anyone can get anything, why will people join organizations who focus mainly on providing information (content) to members?

2) Can associations adjust?
As "centers of knowledge" for professions and industries, associations face moving from "publisher" to "content provider" in the "age of free." It won't be an easy transition. It is a new business model. It goes against all we have learned throughout our careers.

3) What is the revenue model of the future?
If we "give away" content to anyone, what is the value proposition for members? And, if we give it away, how do we generate revenue to sustain the organization? Premium content?

So, what do associations to do?

1) No matter how you answer the questions, you need to go to every identifiable social media site and register your association name and trademarks as user-IDs. These are first-come, first-served functions as were Web domain names. So, even if your association does not plan to use social media tools, you still should protect your name on all sites.

2) Consider a content management strategy.
Adding value to your community is a major strategy for consideration. Content management is a major tool. Creating content that "everyone reads" matters. A couple of key areas to consider:
• Think of current programming (conferences, seminars, Web site, newsletters) and social media tools (Webinars, YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook, LinkedIn) as "platforms" for delivering content / knowledge.
• Integrate content on various platforms and find ways to efficiently repurpose and repackage content to increase value to your members.
• Help members handle the ballooning volume of content by collecting, digesting and repackaging it. If done well, it could serve as a valuable "member only" benefit for your organization.
• Monitor and follow discussions in your association’s content area.

3) Re-evaluate your membership model
In the age of free content, develop new strategies about membership and member services. Determine which content will be available to anyone and which – if any – will be restricted to members. For example, two of our clients are now e-mailing Tips of the Week to members and non-members. The Tips also go to various industry blogs as well as some traditional media that post them for their readers/listeners. This delivery helps establish the credibility of the association and enhance perceptions of the value of the organization within its industry. The new relationships allow the association to invite the nonmember to become members and invite all recipients to enroll in Webinars and/or the annual conference. I’ve seen other organizations who provide lots of free content but "reserve" some of the "premium" content for members. Others create enough "eyeballs" with its free content that they are able to generate revenue from sponsors and/or advertisers.

The important point is that trade associations and professional societies should step back, review the status and impact of social media changes and thoughtfully consider how it can take advantage of the opportunities presented – even if it means changing your membership model – before they become a threat to the future of the organization.

Reinventing Associations: Part I

We are witnessing (and helping create) a transformation change in the availability and transfer of information and knowledge. It is a chance not seen since we moved from an agrarian society to the industrial society (which Putnam defines as the "Gilded Age" and "Progressive Era").

The "poster child" for this transformation? The decline in influence and profitability of "legacy news media" (newspapers, radio and television). So far this year:

105 newspapers have been shuttered.

10,000 newspaper jobs have been lost.

Print ad sales fell 30% in Q1 '09.

23 of the top 25 newspapers reported circulation declines between 7% and 20%.

Up front disclosure: This blog post has been influenced by several excellent sources I’ve read over the last 12 months. Key among them are:
Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody
Chris Anderson's The Long Tail and (soon to be released) FREE: The Future of a Radical Price
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's Groundswell
Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone
Joe Pulizzi’s content marketing blogs at Junta42
Seth Godin's daily blog FeedBlitz
Joe Water's blog Selfish Giving

Three key elements highlight the transformation:

1) Anyone can be a "publisher."
We have moved from an era where news and information came to us from a "publisher" who owned the printing press or broadcast tower. Because of cost, the rest of us couldn’t afford to be "publishers." The internet, Web sites, blogs and social media tools (such as Twitter) have changed the definition and speed of news and information. Anyone with access to the Internet (wired, wifi or mobile) can be a publisher. Recent examples: A plane crashes in the Hudson. Someone on a nearby ferry snaps a photo and links it to the world (and legacy media) via TwitPic. Tweets, YouTube videos and Facebook photos from a rally for freedom in Iran sparks worldwide interest despite the government’s restrictions on "foreign journalists."

2) Everyone can find everything.
Wherever information is (Websites, blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter or print), Google, Bing and other search engines mean that we can discover nearly anything ever published, posted, photographed or videoed. And, we can find it fast. We create it. We share it. We own it. As a result, we are no long totally dependent on a "publisher" with exclusive control of information and knowledge.

3) It’s FREE!
We can access almost all of this information and knowledge at no cost (other than our time). The search engines are free. The software is free. And, it is changing the business model of all who were able to sell information and knowledge. Craigslist’s free services have assumed classified and want ads that were once a huge profit center of newspapers. eHarmony "stole" the personal ads, another money maker. And, Free blogs and "e-letters" from individuals and companies are replacing newspapers and professional journals.

Some manifestations of the change: The American Newspaper Editors Association has changed its named, dropping "paper" and now is the American News Editors Association. The Christian Science Monitor drops its printed editions. The Detroit News/Free Press drops home delivery two days a week. A CBS radio station ends a news report saying "for more details, see our Twitter feed on our web site." News out of Iran’s election projects flooded the world even through the traditional media was shut off. Tweets announced the death of Michael Jackson 37 minutes before CNN announced it. Valuable information from MarketingProfs.com that used to be exclusive information for members of the American Marketing Association.

As an association professional, I am both excited and worried about the impact of the transformation on trade associations, professional societies and charitable foundations.

Why?

Because our model resembles that of publishers/owners of legacy media.

For more than 100 years, trade associations and professional societies have been knowledge centers exclusive for their members. Since we controlled the information and delivery mechanisms, we could restrict it to those who paid member dues to belong. The association’s printed newspaper and/or magazine and/or journal and/or convention served as a major benefit of joining your trade association or professional society.

The high cost of "publishing" content made it virtually impossible for others to provide knowledge reduced the chance of competition. The result drove membership and permitted associations and societies to charge dues (subscriptions) for the content and knowledge.

As the news media establishment has discovered, that model has changed.

Today’s members and potential members can find "our" information fast and free from a multitude of sources.

What's an association to do?

That’s the subject of Part II.