04/10/2017

First Steps for Strategic Expansion

When considering expanding membership categories, plan accordingly

Adding a new membership category can increase your lobbying power and add a revenue stream. But it’s not a move to be taken lightly, and a patient strategic discussion can reveal whether it’s necessary.

From career-changers to expats to people heading back to school, the world is full of people who’ve decided to shift their conception of who they are. That urge is similar at institutions, which are obligated to respond to changes in market forces for the sake of their survival. After all, we wouldn’t have an IBM to talk about today if IBM insisted that it needed to stick with mainframe computers.

Associations have the same concerns, of course. In the latest issue of Associations Now, I spoke with leaders at a handful of associations that have invited whole new classes of members into the fold. The Authors Guild, long an association for established writers, has opened its doors to aspiring writers seeking their first publication; the Petroleum Services Association of Canada, a trade association long focused on oil and gas companies, recently decided to welcome members from the alternative-energy industry; the Association for Legal Administrators created a category for consultants; and a regional Realtors association invited office administrators to join.

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.