As a professional at a small staff association you undoubtedly have lots of balls in the air at any given time. You are charged with increasing member engagement, running meetings and events, collaborating with the board, developing strategic plans, managing publications, creating meaningful learning content for your members, and so much more.
Community Brands set out to understand more about the challenges small organizations face on a daily basis in the new Benchmark Report: Small-Staff Associations. Some of the questions we aimed to answer in this study include:
- What are the top priorities for small staffs?
- Are these associations expecting growth?
- How are they preparing for the future?
We received responses from more than 350 association professionals between January and February 2019. A small staff association has 10 or fewer employees.
Of the respondents:
- Most are in a leadership position at their association
- About 70 percent of their associations have annual revenue of $1 million or less
- Most of the associations represented have 5,000 or fewer members
- About half of the associations’ revenue comes from membership dues
Oftentimes our reports uncover a disconnect between an organization’s stated priorities and how they are actually prioritizing their initiatives on a day-to-day. The report uncovered that increasing non-dues revenue is an important strategic priority over the next 12 months, yet few small associations are leveraging technology to accomplish this goal or prioritizing upgrading or integrating new technology. In fact, most small association professionals do not feel technologically prepared to meet member needs today or in the future.
To hear more on the results of the report and how to use this data to more effectively meet your strategic priorities and grow your organization watch YourMembership’s on-demand webinar, Ins and Outs of Small-Staff Associations.