About Us

A Profession Emerges

Associations have existed in the United States since before the founding of our nation’s Republic.

The American Philosophical Society was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin and several other colleagues. Some of its initial members included America’s founding fathers. It was established as a scholarly and learned society promoting information and knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through its ongoing research and then ultimately through its programs, products, and services to its members and the public.

While it may have been the first, it has certainly not been the only. Invariably, at least one would be established soon after the emergence of each new profession, trade, or personal avocation.

These organizations were founded to assist those working within these newly formed practice settings…to build and strengthen their competencies and capacities…and ultimately, to secure respect and legitimacy of their craft from their colleagues and the larger society.

Those who led these organizations recognized the need to build a body of knowledge – including key terms and definitions – to establish the boundaries and practices required to operate effectively as a professional or practitioner.

Despite the governance options available to them, the founders consciously chose to create organizations that operated and functioned as micro-democracies. They recognized the future of their field of endeavor was dependent on those involved contributing their information, knowledge, experiences, and expertise would help build and strengthen the bodies of knowledge that shaped it. They also viewed their members as citizens with whom they would extend rights and privileges. They also made it clear that members also needed to assume certain duties and obligations.

Most never anticipated when they founded these organizations that they were prompting the emergence of one of the most complex and consequential professions in America: association management.

Most staff professionals – when they accepted their first position in an association – were unaware of its history, purpose, structure, or the impact their efforts would have on their members’ lives and those of the larger society. Moreover, few, if any, began this journey with the kind of training needed to be effective in their roles.

To this day, nearly everyone who accepts a staff position within an MBO faces the daunting task of learning the job…on the job. 

And, since the early 1900s, organizations dedicated to support the association management profession have been established to provide opportunities for association management professionals to share and exchange information, knowledge, and best practices in publications as well as at special meetings and conferences.

Multiple efforts were undertaken by these organizations to define a body of knowledge to support association management. Those leading that endeavor had no choice but to adopt the only management paradigm available…the one specifically developed for the for-profit sector. 

At the time and for decades since, no one ever anticipated that doing so might generate a host of unintended consequences to their organizations and their members. Those that did emerge – like lack of member engagement – were not recognized as a result of these transaction-based management strategies but instead other external factors (e.g., members too busy, don’t perceive value of the membership, etc.).

Over the past several decades, many have taken steps to study associations to identify ways to resolve several core challenges that have persisted for far too long…appearing unresolvable. While some appeared to show promise, none proved sustainable over time. All this time, no initiative ever questioned or challenged volunteer and staff leaders’ adherence to the transaction-based business management model.

Why? 

The only possible reason is that because most association management professionals have to learn their jobs…on the job; meaning they don’t know what they don’t know…but need to know.

Before establishing the Melos Institute, the founders served as volunteer leaders and staff professionals. They recognized the challenges that they and others faced while serving in their key roles. While they initially couldn’t easily characterize what they were experiencing, they felt that the information that was being disseminated by individuals and groups was missing something…that something more was needed.

Finally, after conducting a rather unprecedented research initiative, they made a rather unexpected discovery. Associations were so different from for-profit and other nonprofit organizations that they needed to be viewed and treated as membership-based organizations (MBOs).

And, unlike most practice settings, association management had not as yet developed a theoretical framework (e.g., evidence-based theories, concepts, models, processes, etc.) to support its ever-growing and expanding body of knowledge.

Upon realizing this, the Melos Institute was founded to engage in the kind of applied research specifically designed to explore the dynamics and dimensions specific to association management.

Those efforts began by creating a special term and definition for associations representing professions, trades, and personal avocations. That definition helped create specific boundaries for the association management profession.

Membership-based Organizations (MBOs): Defined
MBOs represent a population of eligible individuals and/or organizations that voluntarily join together to promote and protect their mutual interests by advancing their respective bodies of knowledge through a high degree of member engagement; often with the support of the professional staff (thus, this excludes unions, churches, social clubs, HOAs, and the like). 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.

The Melos Institute’s Ongoing Efforts

The Institute began its efforts by establishing a research agenda designed to examine the emergence, formation, development, and operations of MBOs; one that sought to identify those theories, concepts, models and more which could help explain why and how certain practices generated better outcomes than others. By integrating theory with practice, the Institute gained insight into why many long-standing challenges went unresolved; despite the best efforts of MBOs’ volunteer and staff leaders.

These insights have led the Institute to identify a management approach (i.e., relation-centered management) uniquely and specifically designed for MBOs to deliver meaningful and purposeful experiences to their members.

It is currently in the process of investigating key relation-centered principles and practices – and after pilot testing them – integrating them into existing strategies, publications, and tools. More importantly, the ability of these adjustments and adaptations to generate better and more lasting outcomes is helping volunteer and staff leaders recognize the need to view and treat MBOs differently from for-profit and other nonprofit organizations.

Its research, thus far, on member engagement has revealed seven obstacles where MBOs can make simple adjustments to get better and more lasting outcomes…ultimately delivering more meaningful, purposeful, and transformative experiences to their members.

• how we view members
• how we view associations/MBOs
• management processes and practices we adopt
• what we believe members expect
• how we promote MBOs and membership
• how we communciate with members
• how we prepare volunteer leaders

The findings can be found in: The Member Engagement Paradox: Overcoming 7 Obstacles to Build and Maintain Thriving Membership Communities.

At present, because MBOs can only operate effectively in functioning democracies, the Melos Institute has decided to focus its applied research initiatives on those strategies and practices that can help generate the kind of member engagement that not only supports members’ needs, interests, goals, and aspirations, but also that which will directly promote and protect their respective fields of endeavor.

We are dedicated to learning what MBOs need to do and how they need to operate to deliver meaningful, purposeful, and transformative experiences to their members.

We do this by working with a multi-generational, multi-disciplinary group of individuals (i.e., association management professionals, volunteer leaders, scholars, and subject matter experts) who voluntarily contribute their information, knowledge, experiences, and expertise to defining a 21st-century relation-centered body of knowledge for association management.

Our applied research initiatives generate information, knowledge and tools for those who are interested in advancing their expertise in the field of association management.

Our applied research efforts examine the emergence, formation, development, and operations of membership-based organizations (MBOs) in America. More specifically, we focus on how adopting a relation-centered approach generates better outcomes for those organizations that represent professions, trades, and personal avocations.

We use the findings from our applied research efforts to establish a 21st-century relation-centered body of knowledge for the association management profession; one that is uniquely designed to support MBOs representing professions, trades, and personal avocations.

Opportunities for volunteer and staff leaders to benefit from highly-customized support from the Institute’s change process specialists – without having to make a financial obligation – on key issues like membership development, member engagement, leadership development, and more by agreeing to serve as research partners.

Findings from our initiatives form the foundation of an ever-expanding array of highly interactive, affordable digital and onsite learning opportunities.

Join our mailing list to be notified of upcoming online events on issues like relation-centered management, member engagement, leadership development, relation-centered communication, and more.

Individuals and MBOs play a pivotal role – serving as volunteers and research partners – in assisting the Melos Institute in examining how adopting a relation-centered approach generates better outcomes. Their contributions assist us in identifying, defining, developing, and shaping a 21st-century body of knowledge for the association management profession.

Findings from our initiatives help shape the development for developing a range of publications, templates, and tools. Concepts included in them have been pilot-tested in MBO settings to ensure their applicability and effectiveness. The Member Engagement Paradox, our ground-breaking book on MBOs, offers a fresh look at: 1) how distinctive these organizations are; 2) ways they can increase and expand member engagement, and; 3) their consequential role in shaping America.

We welcome everyone who is interested in identifying, defining, developing, and shaping a 21st-century body of knowledge for the association management profession. Regardless of your position or time limitations, we’ve got an opportunity for you to make a difference.