With all due respect, I suspect that even American Association of Psychics and Healers’ members might not have fully anticipated or envisioned the kinds of threats, challenges, and changes that have been imposed on our country this year.
Even news reporters found themselves struggling to find new words to replace those (e.g., chaotic, unparalleled, shocking, etc.) that lost their meaning from perpetual overuse.
For many younger Americans, the impact of this year’s events represents a new experience. For most Baby Boomers, it’s a disappointing reminder of an earlier era…but one in which concerted efforts to block unwelcome changes thankfully resulted in expanded civil rights, greater equality, and a sustained democracy.
Yet, it’s important to remember that even back then, such outcomes weren’t certain or guaranteed.
Our nation advanced because enough Americans, in many different ways, refused to accept anything less than the promise embedded in our nation’s founding: that everyone in this country possessed the right to develop their inherent potential. Thus, the protests persisted until steps were taken within our civil society to ensure that promise transformed into a reality. And while those efforts did not fully achieve the desired outcomes, the progress made was notable; lasting decades.
Unfortunately, when people fail to remain vigilant, history has a habit of repeating itself.
And, so here we are.
You may wonder what all this has to do with associations’ intended purpose and pathway.
Associations’ Emergence as a Consequential Voice
While associations have existed since the founding of our Republic, their presence as a population of organizations have only become consequential post-World War II. Before then, historical records suggest only approximately 5,000 existed…nowhere near the over 100,000-150,000 that are believed to exist today.
Additionally, it wasn’t until the early 1970s that scholars began earnestly studying nonprofit organizations; characterizing them as the Third Sector. Even the few, who discovered and reported on their extraordinary role in American society, soon after refocused their attention on other nonprofit issues, thereby abandoning further study.
To this day, associations representing professions, trades, and personal avocations (i.e., practice settings) continue to be characterized and categorized like many other nonprofits; as organizations with members.
It’s hard to confirm the role that associations might have played during the late 1960s, early 1970s. Any efforts or actions taken now remain hidden in their published histories. But, it’s evident in the American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE’s) published history (1987) that volunteer and staff leaders focused their attention on building relationships with the very government officials who were opposed to advancing basic human rights for all Americans.
Maybe back then, those leading the association management community believed that any effort to mobilize members to support these social changes might generate other unanticipated and unwelcome adverse outcomes. Or, because their presence as a unique population of organizations was only beginning to grow and expand, they lacked sufficient legitimacy and influence to make a difference.
Today, that no longer is the case as an association exists for nearly every segment, sector, and specialty within our society. And, findings from research efforts, conducted by the Melos Institute, have proven just how consequential they have been and can be in shaping democracy in America.
More importantly, recognizing and accepting the degree to which the association management profession has the capacity to advance positive social change could not come at a more opportune time.
Association Management: A Consequential Profession
What is there to say about a profession – that has existed for over 100 years – that still offers no preparatory training…where its entrants must learn their jobs…on the job? How effective can a profession be if it has no formal, standard, or widely-accepted definition? To what degree do those involved truly understand the purpose, scope, focus, and goals of the institutions they manage…of the members they serve?
My wish for the coming year is that more and more association management professionals
not only ask these questions, but also pursue the kind of learning opportunities
that widen their awareness and deepen their appreciation of this field of endeavor.
For those who do, what would they discover?
The most profound revelation is the degree to which their profession
influences and impacts everything Americans “see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and feel.”
How do we know this?
James R. Hudson, Ph.D.’s groundbreaking research on associations proved that these organizations are inherently designed to advance positive social change. His findings, based on an analysis of over 400 published histories, were shared in his 2013 book: Special Interest Society: How Membership-based Organizations Shape America.
This discovery suggests then that those who work within them are tasked to do the same.
How so?
The association management profession exists to help members
representing a wide range other professions, trades, and personal avocations
not just to transform their lives,
but also advance their respective practice settings.
That’s not all.
In helping their members do this, they play a contributing role
in improving the quality of life for all Americans.
There’s more.
Thus, the association management profession plays
a consequential role in advancing democracy.
Lastly.
Associations can only operate effectively
in functioning democracies.
My guess is that this might come as a surprise…possibly a shock. Because, for decades there’s been a concerted effort to convince volunteer and staff leaders’ alike that these organizations should be viewed and treated as businesses…and their members as customers.
Yet, hidden in many associations’ published histories are incidences where they mobilized their members to support all kinds of positive social changes not just for their respective practice settings, but also for the larger society. I say hidden because many of these achievements have become so much a part of our culture that we don’t question their origin.
Their histories report that they also often took steps to combat what their members believed to be unwanted and unwarranted threats and challenges. They often succeeded by using strategies (i.e., lobbying, political action, litigation) designed to work within functioning democracies. And, because the issues were specific to their members’ practice settings, they did so often alone or in concert with those immediately affected or impacted.
Unfortunately, the days of only segments or sectors of our society facing threats and challenges has ended. This past year, we’ve experienced a determined effort to redefine and reshape American society as a whole; thus, impacting every profession, trade, and personal avocation.
Since this time the challenges and threats affect everyone…and every profession, trade, and personal avocation…how will associations respond…collectively?
This time, associations exist in far greater numbers than decades ago. And, they possess one vastly under-appreciated asset: their members.
But to maximize and leverage this asset, volunteer and staff leaders need to recognize, accept, and appreciate the power that rests in their hands.
They can only do this if association management professionals lead the way.
Let me explain.
Restoring an Intended Purpose and Pathway
Dr. Hudson’s analysis of associations’ published histories revealed that their founders were primarily driven to establish these organizations to secure the respect and legitimacy of their respective profession, trade, or personal avocation. They recognized the only way to do that was to improve the competencies and capacities of those involved. They also understood that, because, at the time most of their practice settings were emergent, a standard body of knowledge was not only needed, but had to also be continuously updated.
Every effort from that point on was focused on ways to identify, compile, analyze, convert, and then disseminate information, knowledge, and tools to their members…and others in their practice settings.
These institutions were inherently designed to advance human development.
Along the way (too detailed for this posting), a well-intentioned effort was made to convince all involved that these organizations existed primarily to promote and protect their members’ practice settings; primarily in the public policy arena…advancing members’ competencies and capacities became secondary.
And, as often happens, volunteer and staff leaders found themselves focusing on organizational sustainability more than helping their members address their needs, interests, goals, and aspirations. We now know this wasn’t a failure on their part, but a natural phenomenon of organizational development.
At that time, absent a full understanding and appreciation of why associations existed and what they had the capacity to achieve, volunteer and staff leaders sought what they believed to be the best solution: adopt sound business management practices; many of which seemed to align with their operations. And, because many strategies generated outcomes, they didn’t see the need to determine if their continued use would have any deleterious consequences.
Recent research, conducted by the Melos Institute, has afforded us that long-overdue insight.
While using sound management strategies made eminent sense, adopting those that were designed to be transaction-based did have unintentional and undesired consequences. It encouraged association management professionals to develop their members’ programs, products, and services as product lines designed to generate the income needed to ensure their associations’ long-term sustainability.
Likewise, the use of those traditional business management strategies had unintentionally trained members to behave primarily as customers. Members no longer viewed themselves as citizens of specially-defined membership communities; where being a member afforded them specific rights and privileges as well as expected them to fulfill specific duties and obligations. Because of this, far too many of these communities failed to generate the social cohesion necessary to ensure a high-degree of member engagement.
Surprisingly, that same research has also proven that associations have the capacity to rebound…and quickly!
And, the need to do so couldn’t come at a better time.
Organizational Resiliency
Scholars have proven that organizations have the capacity to continually evolve; often in response to internal or external factors. It’s what enables them to remain sustainable over long periods of time.
Associations are no different.
Association management professionals who are willing to accept their organizations’ inherent purpose and pathway will develop a greater appreciation of the impact and consequence of their efforts. That they are not simply developing commodities to sell, but instead providing the kind of meaningful and purposeful guidance and support that transforms their members’ lives, advances their respective practice setting, and improves the quality of life in the larger society.
But, as expected, the greatest worry often is what will it take to do so?
Many feel that if getting to that outcome requires taking radical changes, then no deal.
Good news. It does not.
It merely requires making relevant relation-centered adjustments to existing strategies…as appropriate and over time.
Where to begin? Is it worth it?
Ask yourself, am I willing to temporarily suspend what I’ve been taught…
in order to consider something different?
And then, to what degree am I willing to pilot test these currently unfamiliar concepts?
Three Relation-centered Concepts
As you read on, please keep your association’s mission uppermost in your mind.
Relation-centered Concept #1
Your association is so much more than a business…it’s an institution inherently designed to achieve positive social change on individual, collective, and societal levels.
Your association’s mission statement, no doubt, suggests the organization exists to further some degree of positive social change…at minimum for your members…at most for society at large.
This suggests that associations – collectively – are distinctive in their purpose, scope, focus, and goals from other for-profit and nonprofit organizations. So much so that they should be categorized uniquely as membership-based organizations (MBOs) with their own specially defined body of knowledge.
To generate better and more lasting outcomes, MBOs, like yours, don’t need to abandon sound management strategies. They just need to adjust them to be less transaction-focused and more relation-centered; meaning to provide the kind of guidance and support that helps all members to navigate their associations in ways that matter most to them.
Relation-centered Concept #2
Your association is also more than an institution with members. Because your membership is based on very specific eligibility requirements, your organization has created an actual community; not just one that is online, but one that is also specially-defined and portable.
While for-profit organizations do create target audiences, they do not possess the responsibility for helping them advance their needs, interests, goals, and aspirations. While nonprofits exist to overcome, support, and advance awareness of social problems and key causes, they do so to hopefully mitigate or fully resolve the phenomenon.
For MBOs, their mission exists as long as the practice setting exists; as new entrants keep
entering into it.
What’s been missing from the association management literature, since the profession’s body of knowledge has been defined, has been any guidance and support related to building and sustaining social cohesion between and among members…as well as the dynamics and dimensions of community development; especially for communities that are unique and unusual in nature (i.e., specially-defined and portable).
Fortunately, the Institute’s research findings have revealed that associations’ current infrastructure provides almost everything needed to build, foster, and maintain healthy and vibrant specially-defined membership communities.
The only missing link is either introducing a few new or adjusting existing strategies to be less transaction-based and more relation-centered.
Relation-centered Concept #3
Your members are busy AND want to engage…but in ways that matter most to them.
Research, conducted by the Institute, has proven that most members don’t fully understand or appreciate what it means to be a member or how to engage in ways that fulfill their needs, interests, goals, and aspirations.
This can be easily resolved by adjusting membership marketing materials to be more membership development-oriented; meaning replacing transaction-focused language with that which is relation-centered.
Doing so has proven to have an immediate impact on generating a higher degree of the kind of social cohesion needed to build and maintain highly-engaged specially-defined membership communities.
Association management professionals who have replaced existing assumptions, even if temporarily, with these first three have reported an important revelation:
A membership that is a rich asset and resource…
one replete with members who are willing to share
their information, knowledge, experiences, expertise, and connections
not just with their MBOs, but also with fellow members.
That’s the game changer needed now; not just to protect all members’ practice settings, but to protect democracy as well.
How so?
Primary Benefit of Restoring Associations’ Inherent Purpose
For any organization to consider a change of any kind, it’s the responsibility of the chief executive officer to ask,
“How will this change impact the bottom line…both short- and long-term?”
It’s a reasonable concern.
What we’ve learned thus far, from pilot testing multiple strategies within MBOs is that the most obvious impact is twofold:
- time needed to understand and interpret the shift from transaction-based to relation centered, and;
- time to make the adjustment within the identified strategies.
What we’ve also learned is the degree to which members respond.
In most cases, their responses, from just employing the first adjustments, were immediate and enthusiastic. One can only imagine what they might be once relation-centered strategies are institutionalized into and normalized within a MBOs’ culture.
Just imagine what having a more highly-engaged membership can mean using existing measures:
- Expanded participation at events, increased product sales, and a higher degree of involvement in special services.
- Increased retention rates as well as increased new member acquisitions (as satisfied members not only renew, but also encourage others to join).
- Increased income and net income numbers (as fewer resources are required to convince members to engage).
- Increased number of members seeking to contribute as volunteers and serve as volunteer leaders.
- Improved retention of professional staff (as more experience the meaningful nature of the work).
Now let’s imagine one that has not been fully imagined or realized – one that is sorely needed now if this country is to maintain its functioning democracy:
- Members, representing every profession, trade, and personal avocation, because they live in every city, town, village, hamlet, and more, have the capacity to disseminate accurate information and knowledge to places far wider and deeper than their associations can.
They can because every member possesses a wide range of social/civic networks, has established mutual trust with fellow citizens, and has secured respect for the role that he, she, or they have played in their practice settings.
As such, they serve as a voice and a vehicle not only for their MBOs, but also for their practice settings. More importantly, they do so at a time when misinformation and disinformation about who they are and the meaningful work that they do is being perpetuated as fact.
Members, who have established themselves within their local communities, have the capacity to replace these intentional lies with truths…and thus, restore the framework (i.e., agreed-upon facts) necessary for civil society to exist and thrive.
Membership-based organizations (MBOs) – collectively – have the capacity to play a consequential role in advancing our society and protecting our democracy. But this can only be done when volunteer and staff leaders are willing and ready to replace a host of popular assumptions about associations – that they’ve depended on for far too long – with relation-centered premises that have been proven to be accurate.
Where does one go to find out more about the ways in which relation-centered management concepts have been and can be integrated into existing strategies?
Click on the References and Resources box on our homepage.
Or if you’d rather, contact us directly to review a wide range of the information and training tools available for your immediate download and review with our compliments.
For those willing to explore using relation-centered concepts to generate a new and better outcomes:
May the New Year afford you an opportunity to deliver
more meaningful, purposeful, and transformative experiences to your members.
And may they, in turn, assume roles
that assist you in advancing your MBO’s in ways you have yet to imagine.
Happy New Year!
