In most communities, you can drive for miles before spotting a building with the name or logo of an association on it. Such is not the case in Old Town Alexandria (Virginia). You can’t go more than a few blocks before seeing one after another; feeling like you’ve dropped into the Twilight Zone! It’s no surprise that some might conclude that their presence, so close our nation’s Capitol, is strategic; affording them easy access to lobby government officials to protect their members’ “special interests.”
We don’t need a survey to validate this. Our lived experience, as association management professionals, has taught us that most Americans, even our members, view associations that represent professions, trades, and personal avocations as being singularly focused: to limit government intervention in their lives.
This view is unfortunate as those of us who have worked with members have learned first-hand that advocacy is only a part of what MBOs do for their members. And, it often pales in comparison to the other ways in which members benefit.
Yes, I said it…and here’s why.
History teaches us that legislation or regulation, of any kind, is an impermanent form of social change. It can be adjusted or repealed at any time; that which is approved today can be nullified tomorrow.
On the other hand, associations are inherently formed and designed to generate other kinds of social change which are much more permanent and consequential…not just for their members and their practice settings, but also for the larger society.
After analyzing data from over 400 published histories of associations, sociological scholar James R. Hudson, Ph.D. concluded:
“No modern democratic society can function without associations representing professions, trades, and personal avocations. Individually and collectively, they play an unparalleled role in shaping America.”
In those histories, the founders and their successors explained steps they took to advance their own competencies and those of their colleagues. They did so intentionally to ensure that their practice setting would be accepted as legitimate and thus be respected by others. They also understood that doing so would, in some way, advance the quality of life for the larger society.
Contributions like these are not as visible and generally do not capture the media spotlight. They take place in specially-planned settings over time. Despite being “hidden in plain sight,” MBOs generate the kind of change that members often describe as transformative because they have an immediate, direct, and lasting impact on their lives.
Dr. Hudson was convinced that these organizations were different from for-profits and other nonprofits in their purpose, scope, focus, and goals. As such, they needed to be viewed and treated as a unique population of organizations. He classified them as membership-based organizations with this definition:
Membership-based organizations (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 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.
He documented his findings regarding MBOs’ emergence, formation, development, and operations in Special Interest Society: How Membership-based Organizations Shape America.
But just defining MBOs wasn’t enough. He wanted to know “what they needed to do and how they needed to operate” to deliver meaningful, purposeful, and transformative experiences to their members. He invited me to join him in furthering this research.
Those efforts led us to realize that:
Association management is one
of the most complex and consequential professions in America.
Why?
Every history described a time when volunteer leaders, albeit begrudgingly, sought paid support. That one action entirely altered the way MBOs governed and managed their organizations; creating a leadership structure unlike any other (members as content experts and staff as process experts).
The extraordinary leadership partnership that resulted has enabled MBOs to produce lasting social change on at least three key dimensions. Consider just a few examples:
Individual: Members’ Lives
♦ Define members’ social identity
♦ Empower members to achieve their inherent potential
Collective: Members’ Practice Setting
♦ Monitor consequential patterns and trends
♦ Serve as a repository of information, knowledge, and tools
Civic: Society-at-large
♦ Restore public’s willingness to trust in their members’ expertise
♦ Reimagine 21st-century citizenry, collegiality, and change agency
Their capacity to do this is what makes MBOs not only unique, but also existential to American democracy.
No other institution in America is designed to achieve such outcomes. Likewise, none are as dependent on their members to do so as well. And, it’s something members can only do by working with a professionally-trained staff.
While many MBOs have, with their members achieved much, too many more are questioning this ability; convinced that a vast majority of their members have become “too busy” to engage. This prompted us to focus attention on how MBOs viewed and treated their members.
Interestingly, we found much of the current literature had, for decades, been urging staff professionals to regard members like customers. With what we had learned, from members specifically, we found that concept hard to accept. Delving further, we discovered the consequence of doing so was unexpectedly and unintentionally undermining MBOs’ efforts to get more of their members to engage.
That story is the focus of the next article.
For more detailed information about this novel research, check out: The Member Engagement Paradox: Overcoming 7 Obstacles to Build and Maintain Thriving Membership Communities.
Patricia A. Hudson, MPsSc is the founder and president of the Melos Institute.
