Moving away from selling and testing satisfaction with Association “outputs” to engaging members in knowledge sharing and collaboration is crucial. The process begins with a highly engaged and strategically focused Board.
Association CEO Moves the Needle
Understanding the complexities and realities facing Associations Christopher E. Laxton, CAE, Executive Director, AMDA, www.amda.com,The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, uses a strategic board approach.
Driving Toward Member Outcomes
Associations really get into trouble when internal discussions infer “we know what’s best for our members.” When members don’t feel that they can impact something that they care about, they form their own coalitions, forums, and online communities outside of the association. Knowing these pitfalls; Laxton and other CEO’s utilize a strategic board focus to ground their organizations in member outcomes:
Focus on Members’ Success
Highly engaged and strategically focused Boards have a very high correlation to Association’s operating results. Organizations with upward trending 3 year operating results report strategic boards and their CEO’s have strategic conversations about the needs of average members.
Will Engagement Change the Association Conversation?
For Laxton, strategic member engagement is a potent resource that positions his Association for long term impact. Notably, the member outcome focus sets the stage for AMDA members to contribute and collaborate in developing new solutions to achieve their objectives.
Does Member Engagement drive the Association’s business model? Although just eighteen months in his tenure, Laxton reports 6 years of operating deficits were replaced with a 6 figure surplus.
The free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives upon request at www.potomaccore.com.
