Association Management: How Outsourced Teams Can Build a Stronger Association Brand

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Some are charitable while others exist to promote a certain kind of business or profession. Some cover tight geographic areas – others have a wider reach. Despite all the diversity in intent and outcomes, associations across the board tend to share similar challenges.

First and foremost, administration is a continual headache for most organizations. Putting reports together, recording and delivering meeting minutes, and regular member outreach can all be tedious tasks – especially when the board of directors is volunteer-based.

Coupled with these tasks come the marketing and communications efforts designed to facilitate growth. This can be another particularly challenging task when resources are limited.

For associations like these, engaging an association management company may be the ticket! When associations and boards can lean on a team of professionals to handle not only the administrative tasks but also help them put together a growth strategy, they can be confident that every member can better focus on mission-driven priorities.

From event planning and promotional initiatives to legal and financial oversight, an outsourced association management company can be a valuable investment for associations with limited resources.

Event Planning

Many associations are driven by their events and are all familiar with the challenges that come with planning and executing one. Booking the venue, developing invitations, coordinating food and drinks, developing presentations, and organizing logistics are just some of the activities involved in planning a top-tier event.

Does your association hold an annual gala? Does your association host professional seminars? What about fundraising initiatives?

There are associations that have events all throughout the year, which means there’s never really an “offseason” when it comes to planning them. Sometimes the smallest oversight can result in big damage to the brand as a whole. Imagine having a professional team that takes care of everything for you.

Marketing & Outreach

Associations often find recruiting new members and promoting the benefits they provide to be a challenge. This is not surprising. Typically, those who are in leadership positions at associations aren’t well-versed in marketing. And why should they be? They know their discipline and have valuable leadership skills to bring to their role, but marketing is not always something that they’re experts in. An association management team can help here, too!

Strategic Planning

Of course, a well-run association needs a proven, scalable model to advance its mission. And that begins with an objective, structured framework. From discovery and stakeholder input to goal setting and implementation, outsourced partners can bring a neutral perspective to the strategic planning process, helping steer board members and staff toward consensus when drafting and executing plans, proposals, and budgets.

When it comes to the strategy and growth of your association, where are the watering holes in your industry? Where do potential members communicate and congregate? How do we reach them? How refined is our online presence? What does the potential member’s journey look like?

These are all questions that a professional team will be thinking about regularly and consistently to support the growth of your organization.

Are you part of an association that could benefit from an outsourced association management team to drive growth? Reach out to us and we can talk about how we may be able to help.

Learn more about Black Twig’s Association Management Services.