Technology for Associations: A Case Study on Association...
Transcript of Technology for Associations: A Case Study on Association...
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Technology for Associations: A Case Study on Association Management Systems
2012 National Congress on Science Education
Friday, July 13, 2012, Albuquerque, NM
Kelly Price, GSTA Executive Director &Teshia Birts, CAE, NSTA Senior Manager, Chapter and Associated Group Relations
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Technology is the making, usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or serve some purpose.
Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
“It’s too hard” VS. “Whew, that’s a breeze”
Or what’s the purpose of the presentation?
• We want you working smarter, not harder. That time-savings helps you:• Focus on organization’s mission and
vision• Look at ways to improve (operations,
programming, etc.)• Provide sure footing for future leaders
• BE STRATEGIC!
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Why?
More polished, professional image
Make it easy for members and other stakeholders to
join and be engaged in your organization
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Why? (Driving the point home…)
If leaders are completely
focused on all of the
administrative duties…
…You won’t have time to focus on:
Strategic planning for your organizationDeveloping strategies for member acquisition and retentionDeveloping superior content-rich PDDeveloping effective leadersMentoring future leaders
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
This presentation will cover three major areas:
Association Management/Member Management Systems – Case Study with
GSTA
Share-a-thon of other Systems
Social Media and Associations
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Three quick surveys…
Number of members in your organization?• 0-100?• 101-500?• 501-1500?• 1501+
Who manages “day-to-day” functions?• Executive Director (with
staff)• Executive Director/Paid
Staff (one person)• Main Association Contact
(Volunteer leader or member and may receive stipend) – supported by other leaders
• “Managed by committee”; leaders sharing the load
• Other
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
• Accepting printed applications/hardcopy filing system
• Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 or similar spreadsheet application
• Access, FoxPro or similar relational database system
• NetForum/Avectra, Memberclicks or similar web-based association management system
What type of system is
your organization
using?
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Association Management/Member Management Systems
Benefits of using a management system as part of your operations
Even the cheapest management systems (with some training for leaders or staff) will:
Make it easier for members to join, renew and update
contact information
Ease the meeting registration process for attendees
Allow leaders and/or staff to
track information and
demographics
Pull data/reports to use for strategic
decision-making
All of this housed within one system that is web-based!
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Association Management/Member Management Systems
Okay, so what types of practices are out there in managing
member data?
• Poor: Printed application/filing system• Fair: Spreadsheet application (such as
Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Apple Numbers)• Good/Moderate: Relational database
management systems (Access, FoxPro, SQL Server, etc.)
• Best Practice: Association Management System which include membership, event, donor management as well as interface to web (with a Content Management System); electronic communications
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
GSTA Member Management Transformation
What caused our push to look for new resources? Spring/Summer 2011• A focused vision for 2011-2012 GSTA activities;
Website, newsletter and conference; Using the mantra “Better before Bigger”
• Instead of driving membership for membership’s sake, work on our products and getting better and providing more
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
GSTA Member Management Transformation
• Website committee reviewed our current site and determined that a complete redesign was needed; further analysis revealed that this would cost a minimum of $6,000 through the webmaster company used at the time.
• Then we remembered the NCSE 2011 presentations about web presence and member management….and our change to Wild Apricot began.
• www.georgiascienceteacher.org
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
GSTA Member Management TransformationOver a period of roughly 2-4 weeks, GSTA virtual presence
is transformedGSTA Prior to Aug 2011 GSTA since Aug 2011
Spreadsheet management of 1000+ members info
Seamless membership management with invoicing and renewal reminders built in that interfaces with conference registration
Website managed by a really good webmaster that GSTA paid $2500 annually for services; basic updates, creation of online registration templates
A completely brand new webpage with the GSTA owned URL; We can post in seconds and do not have to wait on anyone else; no contracted services; $1,000 annual costEvent Registration is included with the services and all registrations were handled through the new platform including onsite registrations; total conf attendance in Feb 2012 was 1300
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
GSTA Member Management Transformation
Lessons we still have to learn: • Credit card processing, looking at paypal instead
of activate.net and a separate processing contract; consider mobile plug in card readers (i.e. paypal, square, pay anywhere)
• Continue to learn the nuances of the new platform and train more association leaders on it
• Keeping records up to date and building membership only resources
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Issues to consider when researching association/membership management systems
Operating budget: That goes without saying.
Consider costs associated with:
• Start-up or set-up fees (if applicable)
• Consultants and training (if necessary)
• Hidden charges associated with software updates
• Regular increase in fees (research!)
Total number of records:
• Members and non-members, but also contacts, meeting attendees, subscribers and the largest number of members you could have.
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Issues to consider when researching association/membership management systems
Regular updates: Ask
how often software updates
are made (on average) and how operations might
be impacted
Set-up fees: General rule of thumb – systems with
set-up fees will coordinate data import, data clean-up,
etc. for you• Systems with no set-up fee? You will
have to do all of the start up on your own.
Training: Whether training is included; most
systems have free resources
(webinars, online documents and support portal)
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Questions
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Technology Share-a-thonWhat systems are you organization using?
ADD MORE Logos
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Other Useful Software Systemsfor Associations
E-marketing systems:• Examples – Constant Contact, iContact, MailChimp, Real
Magnet, Informz• Any others? • Pros vs. Cons? Other Feedback
Surveys/Forms:• Survey Examples – SurveyMonkey, Informz, Formsite,
Poll Daddy, Zoomerang• Some systems allow integration to online merchant
accounts (PayPal, Authorize, Google Checkout, etc.• Pros vs. Cons? Other Feedback?
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Other Useful Software Systemsfor Associations
Merchant Accounts systems:• Examples – PayPal, Authorize.net, Intuit, Google
Checkout• Any others? • Pros vs. Cons? Other Feedback
Event registration systes:• Examples – EventBrite, Regonline, Cvent, Thriva,
Eventzilla (new)• Any others? • Pros vs. Cons? Other Feedback
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
More Information Sharing
What other systems are organizations using? What’s worked? What hasn’t?
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
What organizations are using social media for what purpose?
Public platforms:• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• Foursquare• Newer systems (Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.)• Photosharing platforms (Flicker,
Other engagement/networking channels:• Listservs• Online communities (behind Members’ firewall)• Blogs
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Questions
Promoting Excellence and Innovation in Science Teaching and Learning for All
Kelly PriceGeorgia Science Teachers Association, Executive Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Teshia Birts, CAENSTA Senior Manager, Chapter & Associated Group Relations
Phone: 703-312-9275E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/teshiabbTwitter: @teshiabirts