The past couple of years have put many associations in a tight spot. Smaller staffs, shrinking budgets, and the disruption of traditional revenue streams have made events, programming, and engagement more elusive.
But through the upheaval lies optimism that the lessons of the early 2020s have coalesced into focused marching orders in 2023. Some of those ideas are found within Association Adviser’s 2022 Association Benchmarking Report, which could be a map forward in the new year, according to Sarah Sain, CAE, Naylor’s senior director of content services.
“This year’s report really highlighted for us how associations of all kinds are learning lessons from the last few years and evolving their engagement strategy to meet the pace of change,” she said.
With those takeaways in mind, here are some of the most important lessons from the report—and how you can apply them to your organization’s 2023 strategy.
1. Build Strategies to Strengthen Member Value
One of the starkest findings of the benchmarking report is that the ability to communicate member benefits effectively is associations’ biggest challenge, as cited by more than half of the associations surveyed.
A lack of internal resources is a heady obstacle here. But as Sain noted, there’s always value to be found in your member base.
“Members are an association’s most valuable—and often most underutilized—asset. An association’s members are where the expertise of an industry lives,” she said. Nurturing venues for members to interact and build relationships with one another—whether through member-to-member educational content, mentorship programs, or other means—leverages that expertise.
“Members are going to be more likely to be engaged if you are recognizing what they bring to the table and giving them opportunities to make a difference,” Sain added.