Serving Canadian associations since 2001
Serving Canadian associations since 2001
A membership organization is typically a not-for-profit organization that collects fees from its
members in return for services, and whose primary purpose is to serve its members.
The High-Performance Model maps back to the Sustainability Model for Membership
Organizations. The High-Performance Membership Organization is both sustainable and high
performing.
The Sustainability Model for Membership Organizations has five pillars:
We have observed that membership organizations that have all of these pillars in a healthy state
are invariably sustainable. In practice however, many organization are not able to provide all five
pillars. The appropriate focus for these organizations is to ensure that the available pillars are as strong as possible.
Zzeem’s proprietary High Performance Organization (HPO) Model for Membership Organization was influenced by a model of the same name developed for large corporations in the 1990s. This model was based on Rensis Likert’s causal model, Marvin Weisbord’s six-box model and McKinsey Company’s Seven S model, amongst others.
We’ve adapted the principles of the HPO Model and customized it specifically for membership
organizations. We’ve taken the theories and rolled them out into comprehensive action steps and processes that allow membership organizations at any level to close the gap between their performance and that of the high-performing organization.
There are 8 elements to the High-Performance Membership Organization:
These 8 elements consist of “frontstage” and “backstage” elements that tie back to the
Sustainability Model for membership organizations. Each of the eight elements plays a key
role in the success of the membership organization. These eight elements are described
below, along with the symptoms that become evident when there is room for improvement
in that area.
Back Stage
These are the internal systems and activities that support the outward-facing activities of
the organization. The backstage of the High-Performance Organization (“HPO”) is invisible
when it is working well and painfully visible when it is not.
Frontstage
These are the elements of the HPO that stakeholders see and interact with. They are highly
visible and they have a direct impact on the credibility and profile or the organization
Zzeem works with not-for-profit organizations of all types and sizes.
An AMC is a full-service partner that provides not-for-profit organizations, trade associations, and professional membership groups with the expertise and back-office support they need — without the cost of building an in-house team. Zzeem has been Canada’s AMC since 2001.
In Canada, a not-for-profit (non-profit) organization is organized and operated exclusively for social welfare, civic improvement, pleasure or recreation or for any other purpose except profit. Charities reside under the non-profit umbrella, but for the purposes of the CRA, not all non-profits are charities.
They are the same, but the CRA uses the term “Non-Profit Organization
A charity has unique status under the CRA and must be registered as such. A charity can provide tax receipts for donations whereas a non charity NFP cannot. It is an organization, whether or not incorporated, that is constituted and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. Charitable purposes include: relief of poverty; advancement of education or religion; and benefit of the community. Examples of entities that could fall under these purposes include food banks, research institutes, church missions, volunteer firefighters, animal shelters, etc.
Annual cost of living increases are a good way to keep up with rising costs without having a larger fee increase every few years.
Typically, association bylaws assign this task to the Secretary. In practice, however, this is usually done by the CEO and the Chair with input from other directors.
The mission is essentially the mandate of the association. The mission is what the organization does day to day . The vision is an aspirational statement defining where the association aspires to be in the future. The vision does not need to be attainable. It is intended to help the organization chart a course in that direction.
They are different, but they are often used interchangeably. Strategy is high-level and goal oriented. Tactics are specific actions used to implement strategy.
The mission is what the organization does on a day-to-day basis. The member value proposition answers the question from a member’s perspective: “What’s in it for me?” In other words, “Your mission sounds fine, but why should I care enough to become a member. How will it help me?”
