Have you read Carol-Anne Moutinho’s Playing the Not-for-Profit Prophet?
Association predictions and trends.
Canadian association professionals have been weighing in on what they think nonprofit associations will look like in five to six years from now.
Bud Crouch, a speaker for an upcoming CSAE 2009 Governance Summit, shared his thoughts. Carol-Anne, the great association oracle that she is, follows with her six predictions for nonprofits: Customized Membership; New Revenue Models; Flatter, Less Hierarchal Structures; Evolution of Volunteerism and Engagement; Transparency No Longer An Option; and the Great Age Divide.
Being one that enjoys forward thinking forecasts, I thought I’d join the soothsayers and make a few predictions myself. Here’s what I added to Carole-Anne’s list.
Customized co-created, stellar content for member-only consumption
I think nonprofits will have to begin to provide exceptional, unique, provocative content for its members. Not something members have to pay extra dollars to consume but something that is exclusive to membership only. Members already pay a membership fee and they want tangible returns from it. (Not just discounts to meetings, events, webinars or a free magazine!)
That content must be beyond the typical 101 and 201 levels of instruction. The free content distributed to all can be at the 101 or 201 levels but in order to keep members and show value, the association will have to provide deep, high-quality content. And they’ll have to provide many opportunities for members to engage in analysis, debate, and co-creation of knowledge with that content.
Unique Face-To-Face and Digital Experiences
Every touch point with a member will have to be viewed under the lens of “Is this adding value to our membership community experience or detracting from it?”
For example, members won’t put up with a barrage of ongoing emails asking for donations or marketing for fee-based Webinars. They’ll want emails and social interaction that provides unique experiences all year long. And nonprofits that can frame those experiences with the thought of building and maintaining rich relationships will succeed. It’s time to return to basics and view all of the nonprofit’s annual experiences as an opportunity to engage a community with a mission.
A New Breed Of Members With Limited Dollar Mindsets
While many claim the Great Recession is over, I believe that nonprofits will feel its impact for another 12-18 months as they are traditionally laggards behind the economy. I also believe the Great Recession has created some consumer habits that will stick for a long time such as steadfast frugalists, penny-pinchers and pragmatic spenders.
Micro-Volunteerism
Those that choose to become members will be looking for ways they can contribute to the organization and the mission. Due to the demands on their time and money, they’ll look for short-bursts of volunteer opportunities–micro-volunteering if you will. They’ll take a half day off work to assist with stuffing envelopes or building a house—but they want those opportunities to feel like unique experiences–not grunt work the staff refuses to do. And, they don’t want to commit to a full year’s of meetings or long-term projects.
Bonus Prediction That’s Pretty Obvious
I also think we’ll see the rise of mergers and acquisitions of many nonprofits as well as those that close their doors because they’re unable to be nimble, change on a dime and find alternative revenue streams.
What predictions do you have nonprofit association professionals? Add to the list.
Jeff, interesting topic! There’s no question that with the increasing amount of free online social communities and content, an association’s value proposition is more at risk today than ever before. Here’s a few more predictions:
Partnership & Co-Location – Before going down the M&A marriage road, associations will start dating, and maybe even get engaged, with other associations and/or for profit publication/shows.
Focus on Core – There are still quite a few associations out there that need to revisit why they exist and what business they are in. Associations that built proprietary software, will realize that it is now more of a liability than an asset. There will be more outsourcing of services that don’t directly touch their members. There will be a much more narrow focus, so they are working on the right things that will have the greatest impact to the majority of the members.
Ala Carte Membership – Membership value deviates by person. More associations will price their membership based on the selections chosen by the member.
Membership growth – More associations will tweak their membership model from individual or professional to unlimited or bundled company models.
Volunteerism builds loyalty – Dealing with volunteers is a pain. It takes longer. It’s easier and more efficient to just do it yourself. I used to have this mindset, until I realized that without the volunteer you lose your sense of pride and your biggest fans and evangelists. If you have active and engaged volunteers, you win!
Certification – More associations will look to expand their certification and certification maintenance to add credibility and stickiness…the golden handcuffs.
The next 60 months will certainly be interesting times for associations.
Dave Lutz – @velchain
Velvet Chainsaw Consulting
@VelChain
Great additions to nonprofit predictions. As a nonprofit employee, we’ve discussed each of these as well. I think your prediction of “Focus on Core” is happening now with many associatons reevaluating their programs and services in light of their mission statement. They’re asking tough questions preparing to change either the direction of the association or change the programs and services to align more with their core. These will be interesting times indeed for associations.
@jeff – thanks for continuing the conversation on your blog and thanks for the compliment – you made my day!
@VelChain – you also make a lot of very valid points. In particular, I agree with your comments related to volunteerism building loyalty. I am a bit of a broken record on the idea of putting members in the drivers seat, and getting them to ‘roll up their sleeves’ as a key to turning an association into something truly unique.
A colleague challenged me on this the other day however, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on what he had to say: I have to admit that I usually am talking about the strategic level and not the operational level of an association when I talk about engagement – he pointed this out to me and suggested that while members are great for providing the input to set the direction and priorities of the association that it is much more of a challenge to get them engaged in the implementation – the stuffing the envelopes, answering phones and sweeping the floor – that is necessary to help the association achieve its goals.
What are your experiences with this? Is it true? If so, should members (where possible) be involved more at the strategic input level and less at the implementation level? I’d love to hear what you think!
Carol-Anne, you definitely want the volunteers involved beyond the strategy setting. Probably the best way to do this is to have them be connection ambassadors. I think that attendance at annual meetings and continuation of membership increases when each attendee or member feels part of your community.
Many old time members (and staff) tend to travel in packs. If you are able to get them to engage with the newcomers and work as connectors (introducing them to as many people as possible), I think you have a greater chance of delivering long term value and loyalty. Attendees need to feel a sense of belonging.
Make sense?
Dave Lutz – @velchain
Hi Dave – I have seen some associations use this approach with Board members but not as much at the member level – great idea and I absolutely agree about this helping to meet the essential need for members to feel part of the group. Thanks for sharing that.
I still have a question, though, about some of the less directly rewarding things that many smaller organizations depend on volunteers to accomplish. It can be hard for a volunteer to see how their stuffing envelopes impacts the the overall vision and mission of the organization – I know there are not-for-profits out there who make miracles happen, all with volunteers: I’d love to hear how they do it. Hmmm….this may be yet another blog post in the making…
Carol-Anne, I think the associations that are most successful at getting volunteers for the dirty work, do these things;
1. They make it Fun!
2. They provide decent Food & Beverage or other reward. 3. They make sure that their willing to get their own hands dirty. Model the Way.
4. They don’t waste the volunteers time by not having an advance plan of attack.
5.They recognize their contribution both publicly and privately.
I know I make it sound easier than it is, but hey, that’s what consultants are good at, right?
Dave Lutz – @velchain