Why use an association management company?

Professionalizing your association’s operations is a sure-fire way to set your association on the path to growth. If you’re still entirely volunteer-run, you’re not capitalizing on experts in membership marketing, event planning or governance. Plus, your volunteers have their real jobs - jobs they should be focused on instead of updating a website or registering members for a webinar.

Many associations professionalize by hiring either a full- or part-time Executive Director. While this takes the burden off of volunteer leadership, there is a better option that provides greater depth in talent and expertise: hiring an association management company (AMC) like Wright Holmes instead. 

An AMC has multiple staffers to attend to administration and governance, membership marketing and cultivation, event planning and chapter support, the website - everything that a growing association needs to get to that next level. It should also make your volunteers more efficient as Board members spend less time on day-to-day operations and more time setting direction: what a Board is supposed to do!

The way association management companies work is that they devote several staff members to cover the various roles an association typically has: Executive Director, Membership Services, Events, etc. Members should view each of them as they would employees. Ideally, the Board and members would continue to set policy or goals, offer direction and share expertise specific to their professional domain. The AMC would plan and manage events or projects. Members would still lead the subject matter.

Budget-wise, an association should expect to spend the same or even less than they would if they were to hire one person - especially if overhead and benefits were considered - except, it would be getting multiple people for that price.

Contact Wright Holmes to have a discussion on how management and marketing assistance can help your association.