Your association exists because of the many members who engage with and contribute to the organization. However, the pandemic led to a decrease in membership and member engagement for many associations.

To attract new members and retain them year after year, you need to provide stand-out content that appeals to your association’s audience. Networking events and professional development opportunities are center stage when it comes to fostering the development of the future leaders in your group and maintaining their interest over time.

We’ve all sat through a boring training, class, or certification course. Maybe you used to fall asleep in college classes after staring at walls of text on a PowerPoint presentation, or you had a day-long volunteer training that felt like it lasted a year.

As an association, one of the most valuable benefits you provide to members is ongoing professional development opportunities. From networking events and conferences to certifications and multi-module courses, you provide a wide range of opportunities to create more value for your members.

Over the summer, my association, AAOE, embarked on the journey of selecting a new Learning Management System (LMS) – a road often fraught with seemingly-endless calls and demos (where you come to discover that the Request for Proposal you so carefully crafted may or may not have been reviewed or understood), proposals that test the limits of your budget (especially for a small staff like ours), and the ultimate, nail-biting decision that can feel like a giant leap of faith. Four months later, we are now in the process of onboarding and launching our new LMS, and while I can’t claim to be an LMS selection expert, I am sharing some of my lessons learned along the way.

Are webinars a part of your organization’s offerings? If so, how successful would you say they currently are? Are registrations and attendance high?

Technological advancements have radically change how we live our lives. With unprecedented advancements, we face continued rapid change in how we work and play. Organizations who look at outdated ideas and modes of learning are falling behind. The days where organizations can solely rely on a few large, lengthy (and often expensive) in-person training events as their professional development program are rapidly disappearing.  According to the Center for Association Leadership, associations would be best served by focusing on learning that is specific, competency-based, and interactive. Technology allows for a wide range of possibilities in these focus areas and can offer education paths that are tailored to the learners individual needs.