We've rounded up 30 of the most useful and interesting stories filed at AssociationJam.org in the past month, just a sample of the resources for associations you’ll find at the portal site. 

It was quite a challenge to pick out just 3 links in each category for Membership, Events, Board, Volunteers, Fundraising, and Technology — in fact, Social Media gets a double dose! The list is topped out with 3 articles on miscellanous other aspects of running a not-for-profit organization, and 3 more links that are frankly just for fun!

MEMBERSHIP

In a Recession, Everyone is in Marketing : Is your association experiencing a decline in revenue? New members? Decreased confidence? Roberta Matuson has five ways you can stop the tsunami from hitting your shoreline.

An assignment: How can the world be googlier? : How can associations be more like Google? Help Maddie Grant and Jeff De Cagna with ideas for their article on the topic.

Laws of Attraction : Are younger members harder to attract, or is your association just unattractive? Why do we always put our association at the center of the universe? Jamie Notter challenges our thinking on these points.

EVENTS

How to Present While People are Twittering : Want to learn how to present effectively while people are using Twitter in the audience? Olivia Mitchell, writing for the Pistachio Consulting blog, lets us know exactly how important it is to not dismiss the Tweeters in the audience.

The Sweet Spot Of Presentation Nirvana: Top Two Criteria For Choosing A Good Speaker : As a meeting and event professional, Jeff Hurt has hired more than 2,500 speakers in the past 10 years, and two criteria have risen to the top of his “must have” list for a good speaker.

5 Ways to Save Money on Conferences and Events : Professional events can be important for networking and learning, but expensive to attend. Stuart Foster has a few tips to help save your organization money and still get you to that next conference.

BOARD

Free Complete Toolkit for Boards : This remarkably comprehensive collection of articles about and for boards, written for the Free Management Library by Carter McNamara, applies equally to both for-profit and non-profit board management.

An Exit Strategy at the Start? : When is the best time for an association CEO to craft an exit strategy? At the moment they accept a new position, says Kerry Stackpole. But wait…

How to Plan Ahead To Recruit and Train Future Association Board Members : Long-term success for running a board of directors depends on both a clear direction and a continual focus on recruitment and training, Clifford A. Hockley explains in this case study.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteering for Non-profits as a Career Strategy : Volunteering is a great way to start a career in the non-profit field, especially in times when jobs are scarce. Julie Ann Erickson shares tips to help you get a competitive edge.

Too busy to volunteer? : David D’Silva discusses the 3 most common reasons why people don’t volunteer. Identifying the barriers and planning ways to overcome them is vital to a successful volunteer recruitment program.

Attracting Volunteers :  How can you attract new volunteer blood to your community? A positive environment and active recruiting is your best approach to attracting more volunteers, says Lana Rreynolds in this article from Association Times.

FUNDRAISING

Is Direct Mail Really Headed for the Exit? : In the next five years, money spent annually on direct mail will decline by as much as 40%, according to a new study by Borrell Associates. Allyson Kapin asks your opinion: Is direct mail headed quickly for the dustbin of history?

How much should be spent on overhead and fundraising costs? : Accountability and cost-effectiveness are concerns for all noprofits, but how do you evaluate overhead and fund-raising costs when there are no generally accepted standards for what levels are acceptable? Boardsource Q&A has suggestions.

Nonprofit storytelling — Beware of impact stories that don’t link to public policy :
Storytelling has become a hot topic in the nonprofit sector, but let’s make sure we’re telling them effectively. Don’t just aim at fundraising, Gayle Thorsen urges; think about pushing public policy action.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The 2 Paradoxes of Identity in a Digital Age : Maddie Grant reflects on John Palfrey and Urs Gasser’s book Born Digital, and how organizations need to think about what it means to have an online  presence.

Social Web, Social Change and the Return of Community : Slides and audio from a recent talk by Mark Kuznicki (Remarkk! Consulting) at the Ottawa Social Media Breakfast.

10 Types of Blog Posts That Associations Can Rock : Nothing draws blog readers and commenters like meaningful, engaging posts. Here are 10 ideas from Lindy Dreyer to get you thinking, plus 2 types of blog posts to avoid.

How easy is it to get to your employees? : Do you trust your employees to speak for your organization? Maddie Grant challenges association leaders “to empower your people to speak for you, because they probably will anyway.”

Swine Flu Outbreak: A Moment of Truth for Associations and Social Media : Frank Fortin describes how the Massachusetts Medical Society used their web site and social media to coordinate delivering information to their members and the public.

Top 10 Tools of the Social Media Swiss Army Knife : Michelle Tripp nails it with this analogy. “Just like the Swiss Army knife, social media packs a whallop. But it’s only effective when each tool is understood and used for its proper purpose.”

TECHNOLOGY

7 Ways To Fix Your Association’s Irrelevant Website Fast :  Mike Wiley shares Vanguard Technology’s presentation to associations on “quick fixes for their websites to keep their organization relevant in this web 2.0 world.”

How Useful Are Google Alerts? : Brad Shorr tapped his LinkedIn contacts for tips on how to make those “comprehensive” Google Alerts more relevant, and, well, more comprehensive.

Free tool of the week: Prezi rates a WOW! : Gayle Thorsen introduces Prezi, a free tool that “leaves PowerPoint in the dust” with suggestions for how nonprofits might use it in creating multimedia presentations.

OTHER

Leadership Top 3 Meme : Jamie Notter rounds up 13 thoughtful responses from association professionals on “the things people should do who want to be better leaders.” 

Radical Simplicity : The authors of We Have Always Done It That Way asked, what three things about your association can you radically simplify in the next three months?

Setting Standards for Online Content : As more associations begin using content management systems for their Web sites the pool of content authors grows. Sherry Budziak offers some basic standards you can use to ensure high quality content for your website.

FUN

What do you call a group of association professionals? : Groups of animals have special collective terms, e.g., a “pride of lions” — now Lisa Junker asks, What would be the perfect term for a group of association professionals?

Web 2.0-faced : An authentic, transparent, and passionate cartoon for online marketers! Rob Cottingham is the artist.

“Ham-a-Lot,” a Musical Rotary Fundraising Pitch : Inspired by the musical “Camelot,” Steve Goldberg sings an “over-the-top fundraising pitch” for the Downtown Madison Rotary Foundation in this YouTube video.

Get linked...

If you’ve got a stand-out blog post, article, presentation, video, or another online resource to help associations and non-profits be more effective, add your story links at AssociationJam.org. 

Check it out — sharing great resources just got easier, with a new badge you can copy-and-paste to let readers “vote up” your story right on your own web page!