Times Are Tight and There Are Ways to Help Your Members
I’ve been mulling over a post by Kristin Clarke that I read on the ASAE blog, Acronym. The post is about some of the things financial-based associations are doing to help with the current economic crisis. In particular she talks about the American Staffing Association, the Financial Planning Association, and the American Bankers Association are doing to help the general public. The actions by these associations are interesting and good things to do, but don’t forget, even if your association is not a “financial” association you can still help.
All associations can look to helping and supporting their own members during these tough economic times. Of course what can be done can vary from association to association and membership to membership, but I think if you stop and think about it for a while, you can think of some things your association can do to help members. Some examples of what a professional association (the type of assocaition I am most familiar with at this point in time) can do include:
- Wave dues for members who are out of work
- Offer free, online seminars about job hunting or financial planning (if your association has an HR expert, maybe he or she could be the speaker)
- Create a job hunters blog, wiki, or message board for members to share information on job openings
While my list is made for professional associations, some trade associations probably could adopt these ideas as well. I would love to hear more ideas–for any kind of association.
Professional associations need to be there for our members now, when (to some) things might be as tough as it gets. After all, isn’t that the heart of a professional association to serve member needs?
Tags: Association Management, members
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