By Allison Brown
Click here to read on communitywealth.com.
With changes in technology and demographics, traditional nonprofit associations must evolve to stay relevant. Many associations are wrestling with tough questions like, how do we grow our membership, especially with younger professionals? And how do we make sure we’re providing the most value to our base, especially with changes in how people get information?
As Community Wealth Partners has helped associations reckon with these questions and develop strategic plans to pivot with new market realities, they’ve uncovered three key ways that associations are adapting to stay relevant to their members.
1. They’re curating regular, bite-sized content to provide relevant, helpful information for busy members on-the-go.
Historically, members joined associations in large part for access to industry-specific trainings and conferences, where they could learn and connect with each other. Now, online learning and social media platforms give people other venues to learn and connect. Some associations are expanding beyond multi-day intensive experiences by providing “just-in-time knowledge,” which futurist Jim Carroll defines in an NPR article as “the right knowledge at the right time for the right purpose for the right strategy.” Imagine, for example, that your members woke up this morning to a push notification on their phones (one that they opted into) from your association. The notification provided a tip or brief summary of new research and policies relevant to their job that they could digest in five to 10 minutes during their morning routine. That could be the thing that keeps your association top-of-mind and relevant to them, and it could also drive them to sign up for the bigger, in-person trainings and events you might be promoting. As associations set up the data and technology to drive this type of engagement, keep in mind that you should make sure members can hit the pause button whenever they want. (more…)