One of the top three complaints I hear from association executives is a lack of resources. But is it true? Often what is needed is refocusing or restructuring. It is easy to get stuck in the weeds and lose sight of the big picture. Day to day tasks take priority and you and your team…
Professional organizations engage in stakeholder relations to achieve their strategic objectives. Stakeholders include members, corporate supporters, donors, government and the general public. Stakeholder relations involve sales and fundraising efforts, awareness, advocacy efforts and issues management. Successful relationship management is a key component of an organization’s member value proposition and requires an approach that builds trust…
These are provided by Paul Tellier – a corporate director and the former president and CEO of Canadian National. A few years ago he spoke to an audience of well-nourished diners at the Conference Board in Montreal and he delivered 10 zingers. These are 10 flaws that he has observed in corporate boards in Canada.…
I had a great question today from one of my favourite clients. They are a membership organization of about 1,000 members. They are in the fortunate position of being well-endowed with cash and their finance committee is trying to decide how much to set aside in reserves. Here’s what the CEO told me. “The committee…
I was talking to one of my favourite clients the other day and he raised this question. It’s always puzzled me, too, but until he pointed it out I never thought to try and explain it. So I went back to my old friend, General Henry M. Robert. Roberts Rules dictates that the “auditor’s report”…
This annual survey of membership organizations was conducted in January of 2011. Membership organizations are not-for-profit entities who have dues-paying members and whose primary activity is providing services to those members. There is very little data available for the membership organization niche. The purpose of this survey is to help to fill that void. The…