Year-end planning often starts with next year’s priorities. But can your association’s people, processes, and systems support what you want to accomplish?

In a recent webinar available through ASAE, AH’s Kristy Cohen, AAiP, and Monica Evans-Lombe, CAE, Senior Vice Presidents of Client Services, explored four areas association leaders can assess before finalizing their plans for 2027. The session covered organizational health, decision-making, member value, and technology, with worksheets to help staff and boards put the discussion into practice.

• Watch the webinar through ASAE
• Download the 2027 Health Check worksheets

Can your team keep work moving?

Clear responsibilities, documented processes, reliable data, and useful technology all contribute to an association’s ability to deliver on its plans. Gaps often become apparent when someone leaves, a deadline slips, or a routine task depends on knowledge only one person holds.

The Organizational Health Check helps teams assess these foundations. Having staff and board leaders complete it separately can reveal different views of what’s working and where support is needed.

Does everyone know who decides?

When staff, committees, and board members contribute to the same initiative, uncertainty about decision-making can slow progress.

Kristy and Monica discussed using a decision-making matrix, also known as a RACI matrix, to identify who does the work, who owns the outcome, and who needs to be consulted or informed. Applying it to one current initiative can help explain why decisions keep returning to the same meeting agenda. It also supports continuity when a key staff member or volunteer leader is unavailable.

Can members explain why they belong?

A useful value proposition connects association activities to what members need. Education might help someone maintain a credential. Advocacy might help a business understand and respond to regulatory changes.

Those needs can differ across your membership. The Value Proposition Worksheet helps leaders examine their audiences, consider other sources of support available to them, and articulate the value their association provides. That work can inform both programming and membership communications.

Are your systems and data ready for what’s next?

Before adding automation or AI, associations need to understand how their existing systems and information are managed. Duplicate records, disconnected platforms, and inconsistent reporting deserve attention as part of that assessment.
The webinar explored practical starting points, including reviewing system connections, establishing data maintenance routines, and setting expectations for AI use and human review.

Give one priority a place on the agenda

Choose one area to discuss at an upcoming staff or board meeting. Use the corresponding worksheet to identify a specific action, assign an owner, and agree on when to revisit progress.

Watch the webinar through ASAE or download the 2027 Health Check worksheets to get started.

Questions as you dig in? Connect with Kristy Cohen or Monica Evans-Lombe on LinkedIn, or reach out to the Association Headquarters team. We'd love to hear how you put the toolkit to work.