Applied Research & Analysis
Membership-based organizations’ purpose, scope, focus, and goals make them inherently different from for-profit and other nonprofit organizations. Their future success and sustainability depend on the association management community identifying, defining, developing, and shaping a body of knowledge that supports their distinctive nature.
Why Do We Only Study Membership-based Organizations?
Voluntary associations have existed in America for over two hundred years. More recently, scholars have been viewing and analyzing their governance and management practices as a singular population of nonprofit organizations. By doing so, they have unintentionally, overlooked the fact that organizations representing professions, trades, and personal avocations (i.e., membership-based organizations/MBOs) operate differently.
MBOs represent nearly every segment and sector of our society. Established voluntarily by individuals, MBOs seek to advance their members’ respective professions, trades, and personal avocations. Their efforts – while vastly unappreciated – have played and continue to play a consequential role in shaping America.
The Melos Institute has chosen to isolate and study these organizations because of the widespread impact that they have made, can make and should make for their members, their members’ respective practice settings, and the larger society. Having discovered the value of adjusting existing management strategies to reflect a relation-centered approach, the Institute is dedicated to expanding its applied research agenda to continue assessing the accuracy of other popular assumptions as well as identifying new strategies that will finally resolve longstanding challenges within MBOs.
Our success in finding new and better solutions is due, in large part, to the willingness of MBO volunteers and staff leaders to share their information, knowledge, experiences, and expertise. Those seeking to find new and better ways to deliver meaningful and purposeful experiences to their members can do so by reaching out to let us know of your interest.
What Makes Applied Research Distinctive?
Membership-based organizations’ purpose, scope, focus, and goals make them inherently different from for-profit and other nonprofit organizations. Their future success and sustainability depend on the association management community identifying, defining, developing, and shaping a body of knowledge that supports their distinctive nature.
This requires the willingness to suspend existing assumptions and concepts in order to discover those that complement and augment their theoretical and organizational frameworks. Traditional research methodologies, often used by MBOs, do not usually provide the opportunity for those involved to engage in the kind of examination, analysis, and deliberation needed to generate and explore novel and unconventional concepts.
While recognizing the value of traditional research methodologies, the Melos Institute uses Socratic and inductive methodologies to examine and explore key issues. We collect data in this way to identify the kinds of patterns that can form new theories or hypotheses. After testing and confirming their veracity, we use these findings to affirm, adjust, or refute existing assumptions, concepts, theories, and processes used to govern and manage MBOs.
In essence, our applied research initiatives examine the benefits of integrating theory with practice. Working with MBOs, as research partners, we have found that helping volunteer and staff leaders with these key concepts has empowered them to be more effective in developing the kinds of strategies and actions that are more relation-centered than transactional. Doing so has helped them increase and expand member engagement on a number of dimensions.
How Can My Organization Benefit?
Having been involved in MBOs as volunteer and staff leaders, we understand the challenges and risks of introducing new concepts in an already resource-limited environment. Volunteer and staff leaders, who are serious about delivering meaningful, purposeful, and transformative experiences to their members, have the opportunity to work with the Institute as Research Partners.
Doing so allows your organization to work directly with the Melos Institute – with no financial commitment – to pilot test a relation-centered idea, concept, or strategy focused on a specific issue, including but not limited to: membership development, member engagement, leadership development, communication and more.
Your only obligation is twofold: 1) share agreed-upon relevant data and information, and; 2) allow the Institute to report and share the findings within the association management community.
How Might I Participate as an Individual?
The Institute invites association management professionals, volunteer leaders, subject matter experts, and scholars to contribute their knowledge, experience, and expertise in one or both of our Creative Development or Creative Review Teams. Many not only find them interesting, but also worthwhile because they focus on new and novel ways of thinking about various aspects of association management. They also appreciate that the roles they are asked to play are thoughtfully designed to be sensitive to their personal and professional demands.
Contact the Institute for more information.
Current Applied Research Initiatives
Applications for MBOs to serve as research partners for the Institute’s Summer (July-August) and Fall 2024 (September-October) applied research initiative term are now available. Selected applicants are notified within 30 days of application.
Professionals interested in participating in our Creative Development or Creative Review Teams are invited to contact us at any time.
Member Engagement
Past research efforts have confirmed that the primary reason most members fail to engage is not due to their availability but instead their familiarity of how to make the most of their membership.
Current efforts are focusing greater attention on how MBOs can better socialize and communicate with them.
Leadership Development
Members who serve in voluntary roles are often expected to operate effectively within their MBOs’ governance setting. While most are highly competent in their respective practice settings, our past research has discovered that but a few have developed the kinds of personal leadership skills that engage in a shared leadership setting.
Current efforts are focusing on ways to:
Strategic Planning
MBOs exist to advance their members’ practice settings. This requires a clear and consistent plan of action; one that does not change annually to satisfy incoming volunteer leaders’ preferences. Strategic planning, initially viewed as a way to overcome this, has more recently lost favor among volunteer and staff leaders as an effective tool.
Current efforts have initially discovered that the problem may not be process itself, but instead its application in a distinctively different setting…without appropriate adjustment. Continued research is focusing on the degree to which relation-centered adaptations improve desired outcomes; ultimately restoring confidence of this valuable planning process.
Community Development
While getting and keeping members is a challenge…it’s not the greatest one. It’s creating a membership community that truly reflects the diversity of the members’ practice setting. The inability of volunteer and staff leaders to accomplish this has led to the formation of MBOs representing similar practice settings but for specific racial, ethnic, religious, sexual preference, and/or economic groups.
Current efforts are seeking to evaluate the degree to which the adoption of relation-centered community development practices can help MBOs attract and keep a more inclusive and diverse membership.