Over the course of the next couple of posts, I’m going to write about several things I heard at ASAE’s Tech Conference last month. These will be in no particular order, but all of them arose from discussions I had with attendees at the conference. First item on the list is how and why to choose […]
Things I heard at ASAE Tech Conference – Why should I use a consultant? Read More »
Effective change requires leadership. Leadership from the top. Compare these two situations (true stories, clients of mine from the past): Association 1 has never had a centralized data management system. However, the CEO as well as key senior leadership understand the need for a centralized system, and together we work to select and implement a
According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “two reports…show a disconnect between what nonprofits provide to their workers and what employees say is essential to their job satisfaction.” The article goes on to state that “70% of workers in two surveys said their jobs were either disappointing or only somewhat fulfilling” and
I was recently helping a client of mine with an AMS system selection. After a thorough review of needs and potential systems, my client chose a vendor that she felt was their best match. The vendor was very pleased to hear that they had been selected. But rather than immediately signing a contract, the vendor
There’s a great discussion going on here about the pros and cons of Salesforce.com in the association market. Scroll down in the comments section to see what the different parties are saying. Click here to read more. And feel free to add your own thoughts to the debate.
I was meeting with an association executive recently to discuss how I might help them with the selection of a new AMS. During the course of the conversation, the executive director explained that when the board asked for certain sets of data about the membership, it might sometimes take two days of staff work to
An association recently contacted me to help them review some proposals they’ve received from some AMS vendors. The association is looking to replace their existing homegrown system with an off-the-shelf system (a wise choice). They’ve spent countless hours going through demos, reviewing proposals, making matrices of vendor comparisons, and narrowing down their decision. As I
Working with a client recently, I was surprised to learn that the association allows individuals who are currently registered for an upcoming event to cancel online. That is, the customer could go online, login, find their meeting registration, and cancel the meeting registration. Their process is then to review the cancellation and refund the registration
The current debt ceiling debate going on in Washington right now has me thinking about how associations manage their budgets. In the case of DC, it seems that the assumption is all current programs must be maintained, more or less. In other words, every program is somehow sacred to someone, and must thus be funded.
We all know that ROI = return on investment. When considering any investment, we should consider what the return on that investment will be. So if I’m going to spend $100,000 on a new database, for example, what kind of return can I expect on that $100,000? That’s a good exercise to run through. But
When calculating ROI, be sure to annualize the savings Read More »