“Hey, I hear you got a new job…congrats! With whom and what are you doing?”
For most American professionals and practitioners, this is an easy question to answer.
Yet, for association management professionals (especially initial entrants), this question has historically been one of the hardest…particularly if the intent is to offer an accurate response.
Why?
No other for-profit or nonprofit organization has the capacity to achieve what an association representing a profession, trade, or personal avocation (unions excepted) can.
For starters, just consider this:
“Everything you see, touch, taste, smell, feel, and hear around you
has in some way been influenced by an association.”
Just think: Of the millions of for-profits and nonprofits that exist in America, only approximately 100,000-150,000 of them (i.e., associations) play a highly integral role not just in shaping their members’ fields of endeavor, but also in shaping and advancing our society.
In a moment, I’ll explain why.
For now, be advised that if you hold a position in an association of this kind, you have become part of
a profession that is one of the most complex and consequential in America.
And yet, like most of your predecessors and current colleagues, odds are that you’re unaware of the full breadth and depth of the role your association is inherently meant to play…and can only play in a functioning democracy.
Read on only if you’re eager not just to learn just how distinctive associations are, but also just how extraordinary the association management profession is.
What Makes Associations and Association Management Unique
While a few associations were established just after our nation’s founding, their presence in our society only became noteworthy after World War II. Most associations were founded and managed for years by volunteer leaders; many only begrudgingly employed someone when ongoing growing administrative demands prohibited them from doing so. In 1920, executives managing trade associations founded what appeared to be the first association representing associations (i.e., American Trade Association Executives). It was expanded in 1956 to support colleagues managing associations representing professions and personal avocations; changing its name accordingly (i.e., American Society of Association Executives).
So, as professions go, association management has had a rather short tenure…and for one unimaginable outstanding reason it is still considered an occupation and not a profession by scholars. But, because of its impact on advancing social change in our society, it’s essential that we view and treat it as a legitimate profession.
The simplest ways to explain why associations (representing the practice settings listed above) are inherently different is to share two key discoveries made by James R. Hudson, Ph.D., urban sociologist, during his research on their emergence, formation, development, and operations.
First:
“Members produce what they consume.”
Ask yourself: How many customers or clients involved with other institutions possess the core content that their for-profit or nonprofit organizations need to function?
While those organizations may seek input from their constituents to ensure they are meeting expectations, they are not dependent on their information, knowledge, experiences, expertise, and social connections to develop their programs, products, or services. Or, tap any or all of what they have to offer to ensure their long-term sustainability.
Associations, by contrast and design, are wholly dependent on their members to contribute in this way. This can only be accomplished if the professional staff understand how to establish and maintain mean- ingful working relationships not just with their members directly, but also foster the same between and among members themselves.
The other is:
Members will always possess far more core content
specific to their respective practice setting
than the associations representing them.
Associations cannot operate, never mind survive, without tapping into members’ insights and perspectives…and having them do so freely! Further, gaining access to many of these members to contribute is often temporary; their participation and tenure often dictated by the associations’ governing documents. This necessitates an unending search for replacements from within the membership.
What other kind of organization, requires its leaders to focus their attention in both a vertical (i.e., between association and member) and horizontal (i.e., between member and member) way?
This suggests that the professional staff must develop a range of organizational and interpersonal competencies not required in other settings. And yet, most everyone who has assumed a paid position within an association has done so with no prior or formal education specific to association management. In fact, for decades, their only recourse has been to learn the job…on the job.
These two findings only begin to illustrate why it’s difficult to explain the profession to others.
It’s a profession like no other.
It’s no wonder most have opted – again for decades – to explain their career choice by describing other professional roles (from for-profit or nonprofit settings) that appear similar. In some ways, doing this has also contributed to the notion that associations are like businesses.
That’s a pity.
Conveying such an impression has deprived both associations and the association management profession from securing the familiarity, respect, and legitimacy both so richly deserve from scholars, nonprofit professionals, journalists, policymakers, and others within the society-at-large.
Dr. Hudson’s research further concluded that:
Association management professionals are specialists
in advancing positive social change
within a unique social system (i.e., associations)
It’s not clear why it took an urban sociologist to clarify the role that association management professionals play. Yet, the findings generated from associations’ published histories are indisputable.
Each, regardless of their assigned role, plays an important role helping their members identify, define, compile, analyze, and shape their bodies of knowledge for their practice settings. That information and knowledge is then integrated into a wide range of programs, products and services designed to strengthen their members’ competencies and capacities as well as generate innovations that improve
the quality of life for all Americans.
While this may be a novel way to think about associations, it is consistent with the findings from the published histories of organizations founded from the late 1700s to the present day.
Why is it so important to make this distinction?
Dr. Hudson ultimately concluded that:
Associations representing professions, trades, and personal avocations
can only operate effectively in functioning democracies.
This means that associations’ ability to advance positive social change for their members, their members’ practice settings, and the larger society will be permanently undermined if key freedoms (i.e., speech and assembly) become highly restricted, or worse yet, eliminated.
And right now, members – representing nearly every practice setting – are currently facing great threats…not just from any external player, but instead from their own government.
It’s Not Too Late
Regardless of the way associations are currently perceived, they cannot ignore the kinds of threats and challenges that are being imposed upon their members. Further, volunteer and staff leaders are realizing that many of the strategies (i.e., lobbying, political action, and litigation) that historically worked to overcome key problems can no longer be relied on to generate lasting solutions.
And, associations that expect that operating like a business will ensure their protection need only reference the way in which the private sector has been reacting to similar pressures.
What’s the alternative?
Association management professionals have an opportunity to restore the role – as change agents – that they and their associations have always and inherently been designed to play. To do so, however, requires the willingness to suspend current assumptions and be open to the kind of new information that will ensure these organizations can successfully overcome these threats and challenges so they can operate well into the 21st century and beyond.
In essence, it’s time to recognize associations’ effectiveness depends on adapting the current trans- action-based management approach to one that is relation-centered; designed specifically to support their unique purpose, scope, focus, and goals.
Why disrupt the status quo?
Associations were founded to fulfill
what America’s Founding Fathers
envisioned and documented
in our Declaration of Independence.
An Extraordinary Alignment with One of Our Nation’s Founding Principles
In preparation for the release of his recent documentary on the American Revolution, Ken Burns, noted filmmaker and historian, shared some key insights from his research of this time in our history. His findings were a reminder of just how audacious a concept that people possessed “inherent potential” was in the late 1700s. Or that Thomas Jefferson (and his fellow Founding Fathers) actually believed that allowing Americans to pursue and achieve this would create “riches of talent for the nation.”
Burns found evidence that our nation’s Founders understood that for this to be accomplished, people needed the freedom to engage in activities that – at a minimum – supported their “physical, mental and moral well-being,” noting:
“…the pursuit of happiness did not mean
the acquisition of things in a marketplace of objects.
It was a lifelong learning in a market place of ideas.
All the founders would say that…”
How does this relate to associations? Just consider why most were established:
To identify, shape, and advance the body of knowledge
of their members’ respective practice settings…
as a strategy to secure the acceptance, legitimacy, and respect
from their colleagues and others in the larger society
Need further evidence?
In 1743, Benjamin Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society – the first association in America – charged with the sole “purpose of promoting useful knowledge.”
Every association that followed – with a few exceptions – was established for this very same reason.
This suggests that associations exist
to support lifelong learning
throughout their members’ careers…
throughout most of their adulthood!
Coincidence? Hardly.
It does, however, remind us that associations’ exist to accomplish something far different from for-profit and other nonprofit organizations.
In fact, decades before Burns’ discovery, Dr. Hudson’s groundbreaking research revealed that:
Associations were inherently established in America
– often by the pioneers and innovators in their emergent fields –
to be the architects and arbiters of the bodies of knowledge
for their members’ practice settings.
That’s what your association was founded to do…empower members (i.e., through lifelong learning) to achieve and advance positive social change on a number of dimensions.
While Dr. Hudson’s analysis of 400+ published histories of associations did not reveal every insight made by their founders, it was clear that most did not fully understand or appreciate that they had created an organization unique to all others in their purpose, scope, focus, and goals. He concluded that these organizations were so distinctive that they deserved to be viewed and treated as a unique population of organizations; be referred to as membership-based organizations (MBOs) and defined thusly:
MBOs represent a population of individuals and/or organizations that voluntarily join together (i.e., excluding unions) to promote and protect their mutual interest by advancing their respective bodies of knowledge through a high degree of member engagement; often with the support of a professional staff.
Their effectiveness is built on a network of relationships where members participate and contribute as citizens. Volunteer and staff leaders, working as partners, create opportunities for their members to gain access to the kinds of information, knowledge tools, and connections that empower them to address their individual and collective needs, interests, goals, and aspirations.
The consequence of increasing and strengthening their members’ competencies advances the quality of life for others within the larger society.
If every MBO has the capacity to serve as a conduit to help their members enjoy “the pursuit of happiness” as America’s Founding Fathers envisioned, then in what ways do you help yours do so?
Five Ways in Which You and Your MBO Advance Positive Social Change
As you read on, ask yourself:
What other for-profit or nonprofit institution could I work for that has the capacity to advance positive social change on so many dimensions and for every practice setting in America?
As an association management professional, regardless of the role you play, you have a direct impact in five ways:
1. Developer of Human Capital
MBOs design and deliver lifelong learning opportunities that empower members to address their immediate needs and interests as well as advance their goals and aspirations…for the duration of their career. Their efforts, often serendipitously, do something more. They create opportunities for members
to learn from one another.
How essential is this? Consider its impact on one member:
“I have learned invaluable information – growing a business, helping me keep track of files,
helping me with a tax situation – just by sitting next to a fellow member at a luncheon.”
Volunteer Leader, California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA)
Thousands of stories like this exist. Most remain anecdotal…appreciated but rarely documented and too soon forgotten. Regardless, MBOs create settings – be they in person or in digital space – that enable members to find others who not only share similar experiences, but are also willing to support one another.
Knowingly or unknowingly, your efforts enable these transformative connections and interactions to happen. It’s often done without a full appreciation of its impact.
Consider the consequences your MBO would face in developing human potential if your members could no longer assemble or feared harsh consequences if they spoke freely with one another.
2. Architect and Arbiter of Your Members’ Bodies of Knowledge
We take for granted the notion that most professions, trades, and personal avocations are legitimate because they are widely-accepted in our society. It wasn’t always this way. Many were initially viewed with suspicion during their emergent stages. Those most determined to seek respect and legitimacy for their work recognized they had to define and shape their practice settings by:
- establishing its framework;
- defining new words, terms, and phrases; and
- identifying acceptable standards and best practices.
These first volunteer leaders also recognized their MBO had to survive long past their involvement. Of all the options available to them, they chose a framework that operated a micro-democracy; a representative form of governance where members were considered citizens endowed with rights and privileges as well as responsible to fulfill duties and obligations…the greatest of all was to freely and willingly contribute to the centralized body of knowledge within their MBOs.
What’s the ultimate impact to your members’ body of knowledge and practice setting if they are no longer viewed, treated, or encouraged to be core contributors?
3. Provider of Formal and Informal Lifelong Learning
MBOs’ founders realized their first priority was for their members to become competent in their work. But they also realized that their members represented a vast talent pool…and would always possess more information and insights than their MBOs. They would be their greatest resource.
Thus, members needed to play a pivotal role in the learning process.
Conferences – where members “shared and exchanged” information – became the first member service. Most volunteer leaders believed doing this helped establish the mutual trust necessary for members to extend mutual support to one another. It’s why, Dr. Hudson found, the conferences, for the first several years, had an equal amount of time scheduled for social activities as formal sessions.
Finally, realizing that many members would be unable to attend, conference proceedings were created
to disseminate the information and knowledge more widely.
What’s the impact if your MBO redefines the learning process to depend less on members’ contributions (i.e., information, knowledge, experiences, expertise and social connections) and more on other external subject matter experts?
4. Facilitator of Shared Leadership
MBOs were volunteer-dependent at first. As noted before, volunteer leaders were quite hesitant to employ even the first staff person; acquiescing only when they could no longer manage the workload. What most do not realize is the unintentional shift and impact that occurs when this happens. Or, the unintentional negative assumptions that sometimes arise.
As staff assumed more administrative responsibility, they developed a process expertise (i.e., policies, processes, and practices to generate desired outcomes). Volunteer leaders retained the content expertise (i.e., information, knowledge, experiences, expertise, and connections) they initially possessed as members. This kind of shared leadership does not exist elsewhere, even in other nonprofit organizations.
As distinctive as this has been, only a small percentage of volunteer and staff leadership teams have developed a process for establishing, developing and implementing this kind of shared leadership within their MBOs. But those who have been successful have proven that extraordinary outcomes can be achieved when both commit to establishing mutual respect and trust within these often short-term interdependent relationships.
Those who have done so have discovered the value of establishing similar relationships in other personal and professional settings.
What does your MBO – and your members’ practice settings – lose if efforts are pursued to limit opportunities that require volunteer and staff leaders to work as partners?
5. Catalyst for Innovation
America’s has long-held the reputation of being the land of opportunity; a place where new ideas and innovations flourish. One of the few in-depth studies ever done proving this was conducted by Lyn Spillman, Ph.D. In her 2012 book: Solidarity in Strategy: Making Business Meaningful in American Trade Associations. Her findings demonstrated MBOs’ ability to encourage the kind of collegiality and information-exchange between and among those who operated in competition with one another. She believed that MBOs played a key role in enabling capitalism to thrive.
Dr. Hudson’s research was another. In his 2013 book, Special Interest Society: How Membership- based Organizations Shape America, he instead discovered several innovative contributions that MBOs made – because of their members determination to work together – that not only supported their members’ practice settings, but also advanced the quality of life for the larger society.
These outcomes were only possible because MBOs (i.e., professional staff) provided the settings that enabled their members not just to participate for their own benefit, but also to develop relationships with one another. Many of these connections evolved into meaningful relationships where mutual trust led to the kind of mutual support where those involved created initiatives that ultimately produced innovations.
To what degree will your members be inspired to collectively create or validate member-discovered innovations if those in your MBO who plan these events do not fully understand or appreciate the need to include relation-centered strategies that: enable them to:
- establish mutual trust and support, and;
- engage in meaningful and purposeful dialog?
Association Management: An Extraordinary Profession that Ensures MBOs’ Sustainability
After analyzing data from 400+ published histories of MBOs, Dr. Hudson made one final conclusion:
“No modern democratic society can function without associations (i.e., MBOs).
Individually and collectively, they play an unparalleled role in shaping America.”
Research more recently conducted by the Melos Institute has found that:
The ability of 21st-century MBOs
to fulfill their inherent purpose, scope, focus, and goals
will be contingent on their professional staffs’ willingness to replace
traditional transaction-based management strategies
with those that are more relation-centered.
That shift requires association management professionals to suspend many of the wide-popular assumptions that have persisted and shaped the current body of knowledge for association management. It’s time they stop undermining MBOs’ planning and program development efforts.
For example, assumptions including but not limited to:
- Associations are like businesses.
- Members are like customers.
- Most members are too busy to engage.
- Today’s members are busier than their predecessors.
- Members expect a tangible return on their dues investment.
- Most members are not interested in serving in volunteer or volunteer leadership roles.
- Members do not take their volunteer leadership roles seriously.
As noted earlier, it also requires MBO CEOs to recognize that public policy has never been and is not the primary strategy to promote and protect their members’ practice setting; traditional strategies no longer can be guaranteed to generate lasting or permanent change.
Lasting positive social change within a practice setting can only be achieved by getting members to realize their inherent potential through lifelong learning; to willingly change their behaviors and actions. MBOs can also look to their members to help overcome misinformation and disinformation being spread about their practice settings by leveraging the respect and legitimacy they have established in their local communities. In addition to contacting key public policy officials, MBOs can give members the tools needed to communicate accurate and truthful information within their local social networks.
No other institution in America is designed to operate this way or achieve such outcomes.
It’s why we, at the Melos Institute, believe association management professionals – regardless of job title – are specialists in advancing positive social change. To be effective in this role, each must develop the qualities and characteristics associated with change agency or change management. Yet, unlike in business, these professionals must adapt the current literature (i.e., from transaction-based to relation-centered) to support a distinctive social system; one that embodies an organization and an actual (albeit portable) specially-defined membership community.
Don’t fret. If you’re having difficulty finding relevant literature on the subject, explore the documents listed below.
You don’t have to change your formal title as that identifies your role within your MBO. But to be an effective association management professional, you do need to develop an expertise in relation-centered change process.
Now that you are better informed of the role that MBOs are meant to play in a representative democracy, ask yourself:
How prepared am I as a professional to support my MBO, my volunteer leaders, and my members to achieve and advance positive and lasting social change?
Am I willing to embrace and adopt the assumptions, concepts, and strategies that will make my MBO
far more effective in advancing its purpose, scope, focus, and goals?
While much of what you have learned thus far during your career as an association management professional has generated results, they’ve never fully resolved the most pressing challenges like membership development, member engagement, volunteer recruitment, and volunteer leadership development. Much of that is because the strategies used thus far are designed for use in a for-profit setting.
The Institute’s research has proven that adapting these strategies to be more relation-centered gets better and more lasting results.
If ever there was a time to finally acknowledge why MBOs exist and what they are inherently designed to accomplish…it’s now.
It’s time to accept the fact that:
Association management is one
of the most complex and consequential professions in America.
It’s time to accept that MBOs’ success is dependent on employing strategies uniquely designed for these institutions. Why? Because relation-centered strategies are designed to ensure that those members who actively engage in their MBOs will experience a direct, immediate and transformative impact in their lives; addressing their specific needs, interests, goals, and aspirations.
You may not have consciously chosen this profession…few of us ever have. But now that you are here, you have the opportunity to shape its future.
More importantly, you have the opportunity to help your members shape theirs as well.
You, and you alone, have the power to decide your MBO’s fate. Is it going to maintain the status quo…and hope for the best?
Or, is it willing to explore the kind of adjustments that will chart a better way forward for your members; one that delivers meaningful and purposeful experiences to them…and empowers them to advance their practice settings?
The latter ensures that you will be part of shaping and protect American democracy in the process.
Products That Explain Why MBOs Exist and What Makes Association Management So Consequential
Available on Amazon:
Available for immediate download via the Institute’s website/free of charge:
For Volunteer/Staff Leaders
Using Power and Influence to Achieve Positive Social Change
https://bit.ly/PowerModel
For Members
Making the Most of Your Membership
https://bit.ly/MemOrient
