Education, advocacy and software integrations seen as key trends to watch for associations

• Published date: 01 March 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30289
• Date: 01 March 2017

MARCH 2017

5

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Industry News

Education, advocacy and software integrations

seen as key trends to watch for associations

Membership-based associations will see several

key trends continue in 2017—and a few new ones as

well—according to nonprot software rm Abila.

As in past years, the Austin-based company rang

in the new year with a series of predictions it sees

coming down the line for the association sector over

the next year. The rm’s 2017 predictions include:

• Education will be a key focal point. The sector

is seeing the emergence of the chief learning ofcer

as a strategic role in associations, placing a greater

emphasis on continuing education across the entire

organization, Abila said. The importance of on-

demand, online and mobile learning options—and

the value of professional certications—is becoming

clear, the company said, and educational offerings

for members and the public at-large will be a big

revenue driver for associations.

According to Abila, most associations have a

wealth of content and knowledge at their disposal

that their members are looking to access. This

presents a great opportunity for organizations to

re-evaluate their approaches to online learning, cre-

ate opportunities to introduce relevant certications

and training, and explore new technologies that can

package and deliver this content in a variety of ways,

the company said. These efforts will help increase

member satisfaction, promote deeper engagement

with the association and grow a new revenue stream

for the organization.

• Advocacy will emerge as a powerful tool. Ac-

cording to Abila, as the political landscape changes,

association professionals will see an opportunity to

have their voices heard and perspectives shared in

ways that will benet their organizations and mem-

bers. As political and regulatory agendas are shaped,

many associations will see 2017 as a great time to

engage in advocacy campaigns, the company said.

In light of this, the company said, organizations

should revisit their advocacy strategies by identify-

ing key issues that could impact them and their sec-

tor more broadly—positively or negatively—given

the recent change in political leadership.

• Integrations of software and data will be essential.

The free ow of data between software solutions

continues to gain importance across associations

of all sizes, Abila said, and the core functionality

of association management systems will shift from

being the database of record to providing new levels

of actionable insight into membership. In addition,

the company said, there will be a greater emphasis

on application programming interfaces and function-

specic applications that work together in a platform-

driven ecosystem.

According to Abila, this means it is a great time

to inventory your existing technology, including

applications made available via the web, as well

as those installed locally on individual computers.

Key questions to ask include: Are your disparate

software packages able to communicate with each

other? Can you easily share important and relevant

information between your systems to make your job

more efcient and successful? and Are you getting

what you need from your vendor(s)?

• National and chapter relations will grow in

importance. The company expects tighter collabo-

ration between national chapters and component

societies to facilitate a more seamless, consistent

and transparent member experience. According to

Abila, this will create a greater sense of value around

membership.

To capitalize on this, Abila said, national associa-

tions and their chapters should look for opportunities

to collaborate on programs, including membership,

events and online learning. They should also share

information about their members to build more com-

plete membership proles.

• There will be a rise in foundations. More and

more, association leaders will look at establishing a

501(c)(3) charitable foundation to broaden the reach

of their organization, the company said. There will

be an acceleration of this in 2017, as organizations

look for new revenue and engagement opportuni-

ties, Abila said.

(See TRENDS on page 8)