Posts filed under 'Volunteer Strategy'
What Social Media Means to Associations – Beyond Mere Facebook Pages and Twitter Accounts
I’ve recently had the wonderful opportunity to deliver presentations to a variety of individuals and organisations regarding how social media is already transforming the future of associations. Through these experiences, I’ve listened carefully to fears, perceptions and admirable admissions of a lack of functional understanding relating to what social media means to associations.
I also hear allot about Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, as if that is somehow enough to leverage the potential of the social web. The reality is social media is more than a communication channel, rather it is a one-to-one and one-to-many conversation and relationship-building tool. The same types of conversations and relationships we have been engaging in with current and prospective members for years. It’s also a business strategy, just like other vital aspects of organizational operations provided it is already acceptable for staff to answer the phone and handle attendee questions at conferences.
Simply put:
The social web is an opportunity to expand your association sphere by listening, connecting, engaging and building vital relationships which expands your association sphere.
Why is this important? Because conversations and relationships are what led to the creation of associations in the first place. Further, social cohesion is the glue which holds together and propels our organizations.
A member’s commitment to an association is measured by the extent to which they feel a connected part of the organization. The way members connect to an association is through some form of engagement or participation. Before the social web, it required a greater sacrifice and investment to participate (planes, trains and automobiles), but today the social web provides an inexhaustible opportunity to connect and participate.
As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same. The social web is simply a smarter tool with which we can adapt and greatly expand our mission. With the right organizational foundation, we can all be ready when Facebook inevitably becomes tomorrow’s MySpace. While the platforms will continue to change, the “rules” will always remain the same.
I designed the cluster symbol above to demonstrate the way in which a like-minded group of people bond together to form an association. Clusters form within associations to initiate new projects and components. Today, new clusters are forming outside the walls of your association, in almost every case not to replace you but to give rise to issues and concerns facing a trade or profession. As associations, our goal is to reach out and create new bonds with individuals and groups working in support of our interests. This symbol is also the official symbol of my new consulting practice, Social Frequency Media, which I started out of a deep desire to help associations transform their futures and leverage the potential of social media. I hope you will find the above information and other postings here at Association 2020 useful. SM
3 comments December 7, 2009
FTC Guides Suggest Social Media Policies and Procedures Might Reduce Liability Risks
At the onset of this post, I want to be very clear that I am not intending to send fear coursing through the veins of senior management nor should this be construed as a “let’s all find another reason to fear social media”.
Quite conversely, part of leveraging a strong social media business strategy is ensuring the appropriate operational controls are in place. Policies, standardized practices and process are a responsible part of any business strategy and the business strategy of social media should be no exception.
This week, potential liability regarding the use of social media hit home as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. Essentially, the new guides will work to ensure a higher level of honesty and transparency in the use of the social web for the purpose of marketing in terms of “pay to say” disclosure and factual representations.
Though I am not a lawyer (nor have I ever played one on TV) and always encourage consultation with legal counsel, I did read through the 81 page FTC document yesterday and came across an important consideration which I don’t believe has been adequately highlighted. That consideration is the liability an employer faces for the actions of employees engaging in social media activities either within or outside the scope of their work responsibilities. The FTC addresses this scenario in response to a question which appears to have arisen during an open comment period relating to employer liability. Below is a verbatim excerpt from the FTC’s response:
“…although the Commission has brought law enforcement actions against companies whose failure to establish or maintain appropriate internal procedures resulted in consumer injury, it is not aware of any instance in which an enforcement action was brought against a company for the actions of a single “rogue” employee who violated established company policy that adequately covered the conduct in question… The Commission does not believe, however, that it needs to spell out the procedures that companies should put in place to monitor compliance with the principles set forth in the Guides; these are appropriate subjects for advertisers to determine for themselves, because they have the best knowledge of their business practices, and thus of the processes that would best fulfill their responsibilities.” see page 48 of the complete FTC document for full text
What this means is it is time to create social media policies and practices within your organization which carefully balance innovative business uses of social media with clear lines drawn on unacceptable practices.
While it is my intention to use my Association 2020 blog to add value to our community rather than endlessly promote my consulting practice, Social Frequency Media Communications, this is one instance where I want everyone to know that social media internal policy and procedure development is a core part of my services. Click here to learn more about Social Frequency Media Communications or feel free to contact me directly at stuart@socialfrequency.net.
Add comment October 9, 2009
My Thanks to SCSAE Annual Meeting Attendees and Leadership
I want to send out a special hello and expression of gratitude to the attendees of the 2009 South Carolina Society of Association Executives (SCSAE) Annual Conference as well as the leadership and staff of SCSAE, especially Executive Director Keely Yates. It was truly an honor to be in the presence of such a talented and devoted group of association professionals.
I also want to commend the Isle of Palms Wild Dunes Resort just outside of Charleston, South Carolina for providing such a wonderful and vibrant environment for SCSAE’s Annual Conference.
During this week’s conference, I had the opportunity to co-present a general session and CEO breakout session covering the development of volunteer and participation strategies, building upon key findings from ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership’s Decision to Volunteer study.
I also want to personally thank my experienced and knowledgeable co-presenter, Ron McNally, CAE, ASAE and the Center’s Chief Community & Volunteer Relations Officer.
In addition to the covering the key findings and implications of Decision to Volunteer, we also explored a framework for how to institutionalize a volunteer and participation strategy, focusing on volunteer activity audits, volunteer profiling/data management, recruitment techniques, volunteer placement, recognition and establishing a leadership pipeline.
We also discussed how “Social Media is Like Volunteerism on Steroids” emphasizing the importance of participant engagement, conversations, relationship-building and understanding that it’s okay to “lose control” with the proper goals and “rules of engagement”. To SCSAE Immediate Past President David Herndon’s delight, we also considered how the science of chemistry provides an analogy for how social media will strengthen our association’s sphere.
To the attendees reading this post, I invite you to comment below or follow-up with me directly if you have any more questions or observations to share. Beyond that, I truly hope our paths will cross again as we continue to build a strong future for associations.
Add comment June 16, 2009
The Role of the Emotional Value Proposition in Cultivating Member Loyalty and Activism
If there was one thing an association marketing team must do is put the general principles of behavioral economics into practice at all levels of strategy, tactics and relationships.Satisfy a member’s intellectual need and they may hang on for a little longer. Cultivate a humanizing emotional connection between the member and your association and you might have them as a loyal member and promoter for life… or as long as they still like what they do for a living.
To me, great marketing is about making a human connection at a personal level which results in a sense of belonging. Doing so can be achieved through direct interactions or by indirect emotive multi-sensory storytelling. An example of the first would include traditional one-to-one networking or the considerable opportunities presented by online networking-based social media. An example of the second would be a powerful story told via a fusion of messaging, sight and/or sound, such as a documentary video.
At a primitive level, member loyalty is rooted in a two-way sense of caring, I care about the association because I perceive through my experiences that the association cares about me, not just as a professional but most importantly as a human being.
As human beings, when we care about something we also tend to become protective of its interest. For associations, this translates into voluntary activist behavior which serves to either promote the association or defend it against detractors. Keep thinking the value and potential of making personalized human connections via social media and suddenly Twitter will start to make allot of sense.
Don’t think any of this is true? Try the following questions during your next focus group or one-on-one interview, sit forward and listen carefully to the responses:
- How does it “feel” to be a member of this profession?
- How does it “feel” when you are practicing this profession on any given day?
- How does it “feel” to be a member of this association?
- How does it “feel” to be at this conference?
- When you interact with members, how does it make you “feel”?
- When you interact with association staff, how does it make you “feel”?
- When you interact with leaders of this association, how does it make you “feel”?
- How does it “feel”… you get the idea.
One additional bonus note, behavioral economics not only applies to the role of emotional psychology in the decision-making process of members but also the actions of board leaders, senior management, internal departments, colleagues, direct reports, indirect reports, external stakeholders, media, the general public, neighbors, relatives, husbands, wives, children and even the DMV. In other words, any member of the human race.
In closing, here are two of my favorite guiding quotes when it comes to the emotional complexity of human decision making as it relates to marketing or any endeavor:
“I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.” Unknown
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Add comment May 7, 2009
Social Media’s Impact on the Lifetime Value of Non-Members and Lapsed Members
For years, associations have been contemplating and calculating the lifetime value of a member. In other words, the measure of the tangible value of a member who maintains her membership over a period of time minus the cost of servicing that membership.
As we continue to move rapidly through the not-so-new frontier of the social web, we need to also look at another important lifetime value measure… that is the lifetime value of non-members and lapsed members. The truth is we should have been looking at this particular measure even before the arrival of the social web years ago.
Why you might ask? First, because word-of-mouth marketing has been around since the dawn of spoken language. An individual need not be a paying member, or customer, to create or detract value from your association.
If favorable impressions about your association resides within the hearts and minds of non-members and lapsed members alike, there is always a higher likelihood that they would have favorable perspectives to share with their friends and colleagues that may influence tangible behavior. Likewise, if unfavorable thoughts about your association occupy that expanse between the skull and the chest cavity of lapsed members and non-members, then there is an even higher likelihood that word-of-mouth communication will take place… the brand of communication that keeps association executives up at night.
Enter, stage right, the social web. Given the expansive reach of communication and interaction offered to virtually anyone with a computer and Internet connection, the sphere of influence impacting our association’s subject-matter has grown well beyond the walls of membership. As such, the traditional notions of value creation has moved well beyond the tangible contributions of loyal members into the intangible, yet influential sphere of the social web.
Members are no longer the only game in town when it comes to value creation and influence. While members are the cherished core of our associations, we must expand our perspective and reach and engage the many influencers and, yes, detractors that are out there talking either directly or indirectly about our associations. Remember, legitimate detractors most often complain because they care enough to participate and want to be heard. With that said, be careful to not confuse reasonable detractors with incoherent crazies.
There is also the layer of lurking participants who may not be out there creating content, but are certainly tuning in.
Your association’s social media strategy should factor in the tangible and intangible value of those lapsed members and non-members who are both visible and active out on the social web. Even more, if you make the right connection you stand to gain even more than the value-generating relationship, conversation and content… you might actually win them back or bring them on board for the very first time as members as well as their followers.
By now, I’m sure some of you have already asked the inevitable question… “Sounds great, but how do you measure the lifetime value of lapsed members and non-members?”. The answer depends on your association’s defined measures for success relating to social media strategy. It’s not always immediate dollars as social media is relationship and conversation-based marketing by its very nature. Put another way, it’s like planting seeds to fertile soil which you nurture and cultivate.
However, there are measures including:
- Web analytics, links, demographics, ratings, Technorati ranking of content sources, qualitative comment analysis, content timing and more..
COMPARED to:
- Membership growth, inbound web traffic, conference registration, product sales and much more.
Another way to measure offline value creation would be to develop benchmark snapshots of membership and customer geography (city, county, state, region, country) and track increasing/decreasing trends over time. While the social web is universal, we all have a geographic point of origin which is our physical social sphere.
Don’t forget that you can actively track re-captured members. Further, you can create “customer” records in your AMS for key social web influencers/participants and run periodic anlaysis to see who has joined.
There’s still the good old-fashioned means of asking new members and customers how they first learned about your association. Beyond the generic social media sources (such as Twitter, Facebook, etc) to specific blogs or other social communities run by key influencers.
The most important consideration is to be creative, experimental and open-minded as you fight off the temptation to become paralyzed by the illusion of perfection.
Add comment May 5, 2009
Responding to Challenges in Volunteer Management
Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to co-present a program for Association Forum entitled, Essentials of Volunteer Management, with Monica Love from AMTA. To our participants reading this post, thank you again for your valuable participation.
First off, let us all celebrate the motivation and contributions of volunteer association leaders across the country and all over the world. We are able to enjoy our rewarding careers in association management mainly because volunteer leaders have stepped forward throughout time to form… well… associations.
At the onset of our session, Monica and I recorded a number of questions from our audience of professionals pertaining to particular volunteer-related challenges they were facing in their own organization. Judging from the questions, I think by some stroke of irony we may all work for the same association. In reality, none of us are alone when it comes to these familiar challenges.
To mine and Monica’s astonishment, the dialogue was so wonderful that we actually ran out of time after the 3-hour session. Nonetheless, I promised our attendees that I would address some of the questions here on Association 2020. So, without further ado:
Q1: What do you do with a volunteer who won’t let go?
First, we should all be thankful to a certain degree for the volunteer who won’t let go. The challenge arises when volunteers attempt to dominate a particular role leaving little opportunity for new volunteers.
From a policy standpoint, I have to say that after years in both politics and association work, I am a strong believer in term limits. When I say “term limits” that should not be construed to mean “term breaks”. Once a volunteer leader has reached the limit of her term, she should move on to other opportunities to serve the organization rather than recycle back after time. To realize the full impact and benefit of volunteer engagement, we must afford as many opportunities as possible for members, and even non-members, to become involved.
So what happens when a volunteer reaches their term limit? Work to identify the individual volunteer’s core strengths/interest and find another area of the association which will be mutually beneficial to both parties. Remember, volunteers are not simply volunteers, they are loyal promoters and ambassadors of your association… they are attendees at your conferences. To many, volunteering is a valuable member benefit, after all it is their association. The more connected volunteers feel, the greater their association evangelism. If necessary, identify a need and create new roles for your veteran volunteers.
Q2: How do you overcome disruptions in organizational continuity during leadership transitions?
Be proactive. If you approach your leadership about updating your strategic plan and they tell you its not necessary because it was just update five years ago you have two options. Option 1, polish your resume and run for the hills. Option 2, the preferred option, is seek to understand your leaders perspectives regarding strategic planning as well as points of shared vision within their group.
A multi-year approach to strategic planning should be a regular ongoing function of association boards and staff. A commitment to a comprehensive strategic planning process will enable your association to:
- Be objective in identifying the present and future needs of members and their profession/trade on a regular basis.
- Factor environmental/industry trends and developments into the decision-making process.
- Create alignment between governance and operations.
- and, yes, instill a sense of institutional continuity between years and leadership transitions.
Beyond strategic planning, create a comprehensive leadership ladder which invests incoming leaders early on in the business of the association. The usual succession consists of a “Vice-…” or a “….-elect” or perhaps even a year as secretary/treasurer. But why not create additional levels of executive leadership or by-law requirements for certain areas of service in the overall qualifications for office. Wouldn’t it be terrific to have top leaders who had served as volunteer leaders over the core areas of your association’s business, such as conference chair, education chair, membership chair, etc.?
. . . . . . .
Stay tuned! I will be responding to more questions in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas via a comment below. SM
Add comment March 25, 2009
