Chapter Insights

Do you know the real reasons people attend your events? If you’re not giving them what they want, they may go somewhere else to get it.

Relying on dues for revenue can be short-sighted. Adding the right sponsorship program can help your chapter remain solvent for the long-term.

To ensure your chapter’s continued survival, you need to know your SPoFs. You also need a plan to avoid single points of failure and to decrease the stress brought on by the departure of an individual critical team member.

How many systems do you use to manage your chapter? If it’s more than one, how well do they function together? A change in technology could help you better serve your chapter and your members.

It’s time for a last look at this year’s membership numbers. Before you start thinking about changes for the upcoming year, focus on the now; you still have time to bring in new members this year.

When messaging and context are appropriate, email can improve open rates while moving the reader to act. However, the wrong email can cause the reader to look elsewhere. Organizations need to be aware of the distinction.

Dues alone won’t keep your chapter financially sound. How long could your chapter survive if you had no dues revenue? Learn how to increase your chapter’s financial stability.

Take steps to protect your chapter from email spoofing and develop a plan for dealing with a spoofing attack, to secure your email program and the integrity of your communications.

Are you satisfied with the size of your membership? Focusing on the members you have isn’t enough. Learn proven strategies to increase the number of individuals who join your chapter.

A successful meeting requires preparation and planning – before, during and after – to fully engage attendees and deliver its intended message. Keep these 10 steps in mind when you plan your next meeting.

Right after new members join your chapter, you’ll find many asking themselves some of the same questions they asked before they joined. Organizations with engagement plans answer these questions early on and better engaging these members.

An Association Management System (AMS) allows you to update and streamline your chapter’s processes while decreasing the amount of manual work involved, the number of people required, and the time you spend.

These relaxed, open forums allow for easy interactions between your volunteers and your general member base while giving you the chance to talk easily about the different chapter volunteer opportunities and drum up more interest in your programs.

We’re continuing along our back to board basics series with a concentrated look at four key strategic areas to include in your summer review: board continuity, your membership structure, finances, and special programming.

The Do’s & Don’ts of crafting the perfect subject line to ensure that your members are receiving important information regarding your events, educational opportunities, or advocacy efforts.

Many changes happen successfully at the national level, through lobbying, conferences, and webinars. However, there are many changes and improvements that can happen easier and have a greater impact when they take place at the chapter level.

Associations with chapters rely heavily on those chapters to drive their mission, through their local and regional presence and support and their on-the-ground member and community engagement.

Summer. A time known for fun in the sun and vacations. While we definitely encourage having some fun over the summer, we also recommend making time to prepare to get back to the board basics to set your chapter up for fall success.

How your email looks is as important as what it says to successfully communicate with your membership.

Curating a robust calendar is a surefire way to drive traffic to your chapter website and add value for your members

A strong chapter presence is essential to the success of your organization. A clear, documented strategy helps ensure expansions go as planned and provide consistency from one new chapter to the next.

Selecting the right location can play a significant role in the outcome of your chapters’ meetings. National can guide its chapters in selecting locations that are both in line with the missions of the association and meet the needs of the chapter.

As a national association, the success of your chapters is the success of the association as a whole. How chapter leaders are trained and fulfill their duties is a direct reflection on the national. This comes together in the assurance of value to members

Are your chapters worth your time and money? Yes, yes they are. Many member needs can be addressed well at the national level, online and through conferences, but some can be addressed more effectively at the local level through chapters.

Here are 15 steps to revenue-building success to improve your chapter’s ability to provide more value through sponsors.

Struggling to get volunteers? Here are 6 ways to counteract this and move one step closer to chapter success.

The value of association membership realized in its benefits to industry and members has become more important than ever as the employment landscape has shifted.

As a result of limited staff, small budgets and the reliance on volunteers, many chapters make minimal or no changes to what they offer in areas like membership, engagement and technology usage. This approach, while safe and easy, it is also limiting.

Many associations use the same management structure for all their chapters, around the country. Considering the fast pace of business and the differing norms and needs of individuals, a single management direction puts many at a disadvantage.

When an organization uses technology effectively, members react as expected. They attend events, they renew their memberships, and they bring new members with them. But, when it doesn’t work, they look elsewhere for their educational and networking needs.

We are advocates for getting feedback from your members frequently, but how much is too much feedback? We have outlined 5 steps to take to limit your chapter’s chances of survey fatigue and negatively impacting your membership.

Managing your Membership Roster & Prospect List as it relates to Communication

3 considerations for the successful transition of your chapter’s next healthy board.

Overall chapter success is at the forefront of every organization’s goals for growth and positive impact on their community. There are a couple of main areas where chapters struggle.

5 ways to attract Millennials to grow membership and achieve future success.

Team dynamics are key to the success of your board. We’ve outlined 3 things that could be causing disconnect and how to get your chapter back on track.

Creating competition between chapters of the same organization is an effective way to increase engagement, boost loyalty, and spark creativity.

Morning, Noon, or Night? It is not as simple as that but, if you ask these 3 questions before choosing the time to hold your next meeting you'll increase attendance.

Why a bookkeeper or accountant is essential to the health of your chapter.

The third of three lessons in Advanced SEO, focusing on title development and the use of meta-data for keyword searches.

In association marketing, accurate tracking, information gathering, and analysis are key to validating the efforts a chapter makes to gain new members. It’s crucial to recognize the lifetime value of one new member.

The ability of local chapters to meet the needs of their members and grow their industry depends on many factors.

The EU is making changes to their data protection rules, and these changes will affect some US or Canadian-based organizations.

The second of three lessons in Advanced SEO. This one focusing on adhering to the 80/20 rule of marketing.

How to Avoid the Member Check-out

Why networking is so important to your chapter’s success and how to find balance.

The first thing to keep in mind when analyzing the success of the local chapters of your association is that they are run by volunteers. There is a delicate balance between providing motivational goals and overtaxing volunteers.

12 ideas for monthly meeting topics aimed at engagement & enjoyment for your chapter.

5 ways to engage your members in growing your chapter.