Membership, Volunteers and Technology were the top three categories on Association Jam - a community forum for association, non-profit and membership managers, staff and volunteers - this month. Two posts in the Membership category tied for top spot this month, followed by a third membership piece and two great posts on Volunteers.
Check out the 12 posts that received the most votes on AssociationJam.org this month:
MEMBERSHIP:
Myths about Member Engagement
Anna Caraveli | TheDemandPerspective
In the a recent Harvard Business Review article, Rosabeth Moss Kanter writes that Great Companies Think Differently, largely because of their long-term, holistic views of customers. The same can be said about associations and their view of engagement. Effective engagement is a long-term, developmental process whose purpose is not only to keep members but to constantly deepen the association’ s relationships to them and its own capacities for market knowledge and innovation.
Five Steps to Building a Membership Recruitment Strategy
Tony Rossell | Membership Marketing Blog
What do you need to know in order to build a membership recruitment strategy for your organization? There are five key areas to evaluate in order to build a plan. Take a look to see if you have them covered for your membership recuitment program.
Seven Strategies for Growth in Tough Times
Kerry Stackpole | Wired 4 Leadership
Ever worry that you’ve used up all your ideas for recruiting new customers, retaining long-time clients, or filling up the seats at your seminars?
VOLUNTEERS:
10 Things Prospective Volunteers Worry About Before They Join
Tobi Johnson | Tobi's Nonprofit Management Blog
Volunteer recruitment involves more than just posting information about your job openings and waiting for responses. It also involves some complex psychological processes, believe it or not. No matter how friendly your organization or how powerful your mission, volunteers must overcome a few emotional barriers and worries before they will commit (or even answer your recruitment ad). Your recruitment materials must provide the critical information they need to calm their anxieties. Then, and only then, can you set the stage for success.
Improving the Volunteer Experience at the Nonprofit Blog Carnival
Lori Halley| Wild Apricot Blog
The October Nonprofit Blog Carnival – hosted by Wild Apricot – offers thought-provoking posts from a variety of bloggers who identify some challenges as well as offering solutions to improving the volunteer experience. This round-up offers insight into volunteer engagement from a volunteer’s as well as an organization's perspective.
TECHNOLOGY:
4 Technology Predictions That Will Affect Your Organization
Jeff Hurt | Velvet Chainsaw’s Midcourse Corrections
These Gartner predictions highlight the trends and disruptive events that will reshape the nature of business for the next four years.
They focus on changes in the role that technology plays in business performance, our personal and professional lives, and in the global economy.
LEADERSHIP:
Seven Questions to Move Things Forward
Jeffrey Cufaude | Idea Architects
If a picture is worth a thousand words, some words combine to create very valuable questions, ones that consistently help a group get unstuck and make decisions leading to better results.
While the seven I offer from my facilitation experience may not have the sheen of Peter Drucker's The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization, each one has proven invaluable time and time again in helping people accomplish more.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
How Non-Profits Are Using Social Media
Zoe Fox | Mashable
Craigslist founder turned philanthropist Craig Newmark set out to discover which U.S. non-profits were the most effective social media users. It turns out, there doesn’t appear to be a correlation between social media savvy and an organization’s net worth.
...It’s difficult to pinpoint social media savvy through numbers, although the study compares a variety of metrics. While most of the stats focus on Twitter use, the infographic also evaluates LinkedIn, YouTube and RSS feeds.
EVENTS:
Event Participant Retention: What is the average number of repeat event participants?
Jono Smith | Event360
It's Twitter question of the month time. Mandy O'Neill (@mandyoneill) of the Connected Nonprofit asks two questions: Is there an average benchmark for repeat event participants, and for event donors that convert to recurring donors. Two great questions.
FUNDRAISING:
Event-based Fundraising Grows
Philanthropy Journal
Runs, walks, long-distance cycling races and other event-based fundraising activities saw growth in 2010, both in terms of participants and dollars raised online, a new study says.
OTHER:
7 Tips to Building and Maintaining Your Media List
Nora Ferrell | NP Communicator
Pitching your story begins with a good media list. Taking the time and care to put together a media list that puts you in touch with the right reporter is a smart investment of resources that increases your chances of success.
Use these tips to create a media list that will help you place your story.
FUN:
4 Fictional Robots You Want on Your Marketing Team
Adam Singer | TheFutureBuzz
Naturally, I’m a fan of robots. And as fictional robots and marketing are both favorite subjects of mine, I was recently pondering how I’d like to combine them.
After all, having a sentient robot on your marketing team would provide the ultimate competitive advantage. We’re not far off from that day, but in the meantime it is a fun possibility to consider.
So, for your approval, following are 4 fictional robots you’d want on your marketing team (and why).
Do you have something to say to Associations?
If you’ve got a stand-out blog post, article, presentation, video, or other online resource to help associations and non-profits be more effective, we invite you to submit your links to AssociationJam.org and vote for your favorites. Follow @associationjam on Twitter to see which stories make it as #ajam front page news!