FACTS
A study conducted by the American Society of Association Executives or ASAE in Washington, DC a while back showed that people joined associations for the following reasons (slide 2)
1. Prestige – people want to be affiliated with a well known and respected association
2. Security – people grab on to that safe and secure feeling in groups
3. Pride – people are proud of their profession or hobby
4. Ethical obligation – people wanted to support their profession
5. Professional identity – people wanted an association that supported and promoted their
profession
Further research that I did with other associations showed the following reasons for individuals joining associations (slide 3)
1. Advocacy – associations represent members interests in business and industry and the
association is right there fighting for the members when needed
2. Benefits – all associations offer tangible benefits such as discounts on insurance,
travel, educational resources, etc. Everyone likes discounts
3. Convenience – associations are one-stop centers for advice, contacts, inspiration and
suggestions
4. Economy – when members have questions on how to save their company money or to
enhance office efficiency; an association has the answer on how other members have
done it
5. Friendship – members in an association have the same concerns and interests.
Chances are these members will exchange ideas and opportunities and become friends
along the way
6. Give and Take – associations provide members with the opportunity to discuss their
mutual problems and share and respectfully criticize each other’s thoughts
7. Happenings – associations sponsor a variety of educational and fun events and
activities like conventions, conferences and meetings
8. Ideas – associations offer members the opportunity to listen to each other and learn of
new methods and techniques – to find out what has worked for them and what hasn’t
worked
9. Know-How – associations’ staff can be invaluable to the members in answering
questions and offering direction and resources
10. Leadership – associations offer leadership training and opportunities that members
can utilize in their professional and personal lives
11. Management -- associations are the most cost-effective vehicle for managing industry-
wide concerns and activities. And associations can provide management assistance
and support to its members
12. Networking – we’re all familiar with that one. Meetings, conferences, online bulletin
boards and various communications means provide members with a way to stay
connected for information exchanges
13. Observation – associations provide members with research and trends of what’s
happening with the business industry for today and tomorrow
14. Profit – associations are in existence to help its members succeed. Via association
programs and training, members can profit and prosper
15. Publications -- many associations offer their own association magazine containing
pertinent information for the membership. Associations also develop brochures,
booklets, CD’s and even DVD’s of continuing education information
16. Quality – through association membership, members learn from their association
techniques, applications and procedures for doing things “right” in their profession and
work place
17. Seminars – we all know that associations hold seminars to assist with the continuing
education effort – the more you listen, the more you’ll learn
18. Unity – membership in an association gives people the chance to speak with one voice
on important matters in the industry
19. Vision – an association helps its members visualize future opportunities and to find and
utilize the tools necessary to partake in those opportunities
20. Warnings – associations provide its members with a “heads-up” when news is
potentially bad. These warnings can help ease and even head off problems in the
business world and
21. Zest – When all is said and done, association recognition for member
accomplishments is present, whether in IAAP it is attaining an award in the Recognition
Plus Awards Program or attaining the CPS or CAP certification rating, the association is
here to recognize its members for their accomplishments
These twenty-one A through Z reasons for joining an association are pretty awesome and
even though we recognize them, we’ve probably never really thought about them in these terms, have we? It’s amazing why we really join associations.
Well, today there are more than 150,000 associations in the U.S. representing nearly every industry. Of these 150,000 US associations 127,340 are local, state and regional associations; 20,285 are national associations; and 2,409 are international associations headquartered in the US – just like IAAP. And Americans are forming as many as 1,000 new associations each and every year.
Associations like IAAP: (slide 4)
fuel the local, national, and global prosperity
help its members and the members’ companies operate more efficiently and productively thereby generating more revenue
create hundreds of thousands of jobs
offer continuing education programs
provide information on new products and services
play a prominent role in setting performance and technical standards; ethical codes and professional certification programs
disseminate statistics on research and trends in the industry and
develop social networks
Professional Association respondents to the ASAE survey said that membership in an association: (slide 5)
enhanced their professional credibility
boosted their wages
helped them find job opportunities and
was vital to their career development
I wanted to give you a little background on association membership as a whole because
I believe that seeing the big picture helps us understand our own personal memberships in our associations and it helps us understand why our fellow members joined IAAP.
Speaking of membership in IAAP, who will tell me why you joined IAAP? Just stand up and say it loud enough for everyone to hear.
According to the IAAP Membership Profile Study done in August 2002, of the 3,000 IAAP members surveyed on reasons they joined IAAP: (slide 6)
Reasons for IAAP Membership
63% said they joined IAAP for the Networking opportunities
53% said they joined IAAP for Continuing Education
42% said they joined IAAP for Leadership Development
28% of those who had been in an office/administration position for less than 7 years said they joined IAAP for Skills Training
New members with less than a year of membership in IAAP responded that getting Career Assistance was an important reason for them joining
It’s pertinent to know and understand why individuals have joined IAAP. It helps the Board
of Directors and Staff know which areas and programs need to be focused upon to enhancing individuals to join.
When IAAP has conducted membership surveys in the past, our members have also give more than one reason for joining. We’ve mentioned networking, continuing education, getting a top quality magazine related to the profession, taking part in the certification programs, leadership opportunities all as reasons for joining IAAP, but what about friendship? What about wanting to be a part of something? What about getting a discount on travel or car rental? Or using IAAP’s name on a resume as clout? Or what about joining just to get a new job? Let’s face it, if I were to ask you to take out a piece of paper and list all of the reasons why you joined IAAP, you would probably list at least 3-5 if not more reasons. And as time evolved, these same reasons plus other reasons not mentioned would have helped you retain your membership in IAAP.
Why do you think members join and get involved in chapters? Believe it or not, for the same reasons that they joined IAAP: (slide 7)
Reasons for Chapter Involvement
54% said they joined a chapter for Networking opportunities
37% said they joined a chapter for Leadership Development
30% said they joined for Continuing Education
25% said they joined for Peer group support
In order to recruit new members into our chapters and to retain existing members in our chapters, this information is critical and is truly the focal point of our chapters’ existence.
Over the years we have seen the number of members in our chapters decrease and we’ve also lost many chapters over the years. Just alone in the last five years IAAP has lost 186 chapters -- that’s an average of losing 37 chapters a year for five years. The only good point that comes out of this is that most of the members, who are in a chapter that disbands, end up either joining another chapter or they maintain their membership as a Member-at-Large.
So what do we do to increase the membership in our chapters, and to retain those valuable chapter members? We simply tell new members of the numerous benefits of membership in IAAP – what they can gain and what their employers can gain; and we constantly remind our existing members of the benefits that they are already receiving.
An example of keeping the member benefits in front of our members is an insert that we do at Headquarters in each membership renewal sent out. This 2-color insert (slide 8) reminds our members What’s In it for Them. There is the:
Professional Education Conference each spring
Certification Seminar for CPS and CAP holders and candidates
OPTIONS Training Program
Opportunity to Earn Continuing Education Units (CEU)
Annual International Convention and Education Forum
Online Education Courses
Associate Degree Program
Annual Division Meetings
Chapter Meetings
Web Site Resources
OfficePRO Magazine
OfficePRO Express e-newsletter
Bits & Bytes online newsletter
Booklets and Self-Study Courses
Professional Certification – CPS and CAP ratings
Networking at the International, Division and Chapter level
Recognition through Administrative Professionals Day/Week
Recognition through the Recognition Plus Awards Program and the Presidential Growth Programs
Support through IAAP Vendors and sponsors, HQ Staff, International Board of Directors, District Directors, Division and Chapter officers, and their peers
One item not on this flyer is friendship. How many of you have developed friendships through your chapter membership?
Chapter members need to feel wanted and appreciated. Chapter officers can make
their chapter members feel needed by: (slide 9)
Conducting annual membership surveys or questionnaires – you could call them “Member Opinion Cards”. On this card you could ask the types of programs they’d like to hear – perhaps they know of a speaker they would like to recommend; ask them if they like the chapter meeting time, date, location and if not, what their suggestion would be; ask them if they like the format of chapter meetings and/or what they would suggest; ask them about the need for a chapter newsletter – would they consider it to be of value?; ask them for input on recruiting new members into the chapter – do they know of someone that may like membership in the chapter but yet they are hesitant about asking them to a meeting? Ask if they are interested in a leadership position or to chair a committee and if so, which one? The whole point is to help make the chapter what the members want it to be so that they will find value in their chapter and in their membership, and thereby renew their membership each year. If there is no value, then there is no interest, and thus no membership.
Support and recognize one another for accomplishments. Ask members to share their professional, personal and chapter accomplishments with the chapter president and encourage the members to share the accomplishments of others. These accomplishments need to be highly touted at chapter meetings and in the chapter newsletter. If a member recruits a new member, recognize that member for her/his support of the chapter in her/his recruitment efforts.
Ask each chapter officer to make a notebook of their duties month by month. This will greatly assist next years’ officers and will help encourage others to run for office, thus keeping your chapter alive.
Ask the chapter membership chairman or treasurer to review all month-end reports on the Web each and every month. After reviewing the Chapter Billing Detail Report, this person should call all chapter members monthly who have been sent membership renewals by HQ to make sure that they will be renewing their membership.
Let’s quickly talk about membership recruitment. Do you realize that the same reasons
for retaining your membership in IAAP are the same reasons to use for recruiting new members into IAAP? Just like with any association, people need a reason to join IAAP, just like you need a reason to maintain your membership in IAAP. Every benefit that I just mentioned for retaining your membership should be used in recruiting new members. Now I understand that many of you feel that you’re not sales people for IAAP – that you’re not comfortable in going out and recruiting new members. Let me ask you this, how many of you have actually talked to a non-member about your membership in IAAP and your chapter -- this may have been over a coffee-break with another admin in the office or perhaps with an acquaintance who does administrative tasks? Well if you have, whether you realized it or not, you were selling membership in IAAP.
Did you know that according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics that there are 9 million admins and people in office support positions in the U.S.? And that within seven years, the Bureau is estimating there will be 10 million. And only 27,000 of them are members in IAAP! We are barely scratching the surface in our recruitment efforts.
At the recent International Convention, the definition of an administrative professional was modified and now states: (slide 10) “Administrative Professionals shall be defined as individuals who are responsible for administrative tasks and coordination of information in support of an office related environment and who are dedicated to furthering their personal and professional growth in their chosen profession.”
Between modifying our name from PSI to IAAP and the expansion of this definition, the sky is the limit for recruitment opportunities.
(Slide 11 – Recruitment)
Recruitment
Invite your colleagues and friends to your chapter meetings. The professionally conducted chapter meeting and the members themselves should sell membership just on the professionalism alone
Every chapter should have a brochure marketing its programs. Hand this brochure to your colleagues and friends – the brochure is a great recruitment piece