Until a few years ago many of us barely knew how to spell technology, let alone the importance it would play in our day-to-day lives. As the saying goes: the future is now! Katie Bascuas wrote an interesting article in ASAE’s Associations Now magazine about the importance technology should play in discussions at the highest level within an organization, and its role in supporting an association's overall strategy.
In the book Race for Relevance, Coerver and Meyers clearly articulate that in order for associations to remain relevant to their members, each organization should be investing, at minimum, 8 percent of their total revenue in technology. In addition, there has been a loud cry within the association community about how to attract and engage younger members. Cleary the answer is right in front of us — intelligent use of technology
For the past several years, our company’s strategic plan included research data and discussion on what we need to do to ensure our client partners were accessing and using technology that was appropriate to their members. In addition, we also wanted to ensure that we were providing our staff with the appropriate tools to deliver the outstanding service we are known for in the association management community.
Technology is a major pillar in our current plan. Understanding our client partners’ needs and being flexible in providing the appropriate technology is key to our management role. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach and, with the plentitude of current solutions available, there is no need to have only one option.
Hitting a moving target that is trying to use the “latest and greatest” technology can drive an organization crazy. The key is to collect data and understand how your members need/want to access your organization. Once you have data to work from determining which piece of technology is the best fit becomes an easier task.
Many of our client partners are using advanced technology, while others are beefing up their websites with the vision of rolling out more advanced tools as the members become fluent with the use of technology.
No one will argue that the use of technology — both hardware and software — will continue to play an important part in the ways that associations serve their members. The key in making this happen is to ensure that there are discussions about technology with the Board of Directors, supported by strong member data indicating how best to build a technology plan into a strategic plan.
Bob Waller, CAE is President and CEO of Association Headquarters.
