Do Your Members Feel Wanted?

Many articles and books have been written on membership.

One concept I buy into in membership is we need to make our members feel wanted.

It’s a simple concept!

Think about it, don’t we all want to be wanted?

That’s what relationships are all about.  And as chamber execs we are in the relationship business.

Speaking of relationships, that’s the other key point I took away from the book titled, The End of Membership as We Know It.

There is no question we are in the relationship business.

Not only the relationship with the member but the relationships we have with:

• Elected officials - if you’re in the advocacy business;
• The planning committee - if you’re in the economic development business; and
• Your leadership program - which is building relationships throughout the community with the next generation of leaders (high school or young professionals) in your community.

Treat your members the way you want to be treated – wanted!

You take care of them, they’ll take care of you.

Program Based Budgeting

As chamber leaders it’s important for us to fully understand our budgets and the budgeting process.

What is program based budgeting?

Simply put, it loads all the costs (i.e., food and beverage, marketing, rent and most importantly staffing) into the equation.

That way you get a true sense of whether a program/event is making money or losing money.

Don’t get caught in the trap of running programs and events that lose money and call it a member benefit.  Don’t laugh, we all do it!

There’s only one exception to this rule that I can think of and it’s your government relations (GR) budget.  That is a direct expense and it is a direct benefit to your members.

One could argue that may be the only reason a number of your member’s join. Chamber’s need to represent their members before elected officials to protect them from onerous regulations.

It’s the monthly luncheons, webinars, annual meeting programs that need to be fully loaded with costs for a proper cost analysis to determine their value, not only to your members but also for the financial stability of your organization.

If it’s not making money, it’s time to sunset the program!

For a program based budget builder from the Wallace Foundation go HERE.

Does Your Chamber Have a Story To Tell?

Competition is everywhere!

The Internet, the chamber in the next town, even some of your members could be providing similar programs to your members.

What’s a chamber to do?

The key is you need to be able to tell your story to your members, your nonmembers and your community.

What is your chamber doing that is unique and a story you can tell to your members, nonmembers and your community?

Tell that story!  And tell it again, again and again.

I was at a conference recently and the following example was given to illustrate the story of this blog post:  An association for landscaping companies cleans up Arlington National Cemetery every year.

Who would not want to be part of that deal?

What a story, and it was suggested that many members of the association join just to be a part of that experience.

What story do you want to tell about your chamber?

Professional Certifications

Do you have any initials after your name?

Are they worth it? Absolutely!

Certifications are not recognitions or a certificate of completion of some course you took online.

No, certification is everything it implies, time in the profession, recognized leader, and oh by the way, yes, you must pass a test just like a lawyer or accountant.

Well in the chamber and association management field we have three:

• CCE - Certified Chamber Executive
• CAE - Certified Association Executive
• CEcD - Certified Economic Developer

And yes, they are worth your time and effort.

It basically makes the statement that you believe in the industry you work in and you have made the commitment to obtain the highest honor your professional society places on that sector.

Like anything worth doing, you need to take the time and effort to go through the process.

For more details on these certifications from the three professional societies that administer the programs:

• For more information on the CCE go HERE.
• For more information on the CAE go HERE.
• For more information on the CEcD go HERE. 

To borrow a tagline from Nike, Just Do It!

Chamber Board and Staff Communications

It’s important that board members and the chief staff executive communicate on a regular basis.

Only you know what works best for your organization.

Here are a few examples that have worked for successful chamber executives over the years with their volunteers:

• Weekly call
• Weekly or monthly president’s letter
• Monthly or quarterly board meeting
• Annual Report

The list could go on.  The key is that you’ve set-up a mechanism that allows for an open dialogue between the board, the members and the staff.

In order to do that, I think communication and transparency are the key elements for you to be successful.

If all three are on the same page, the chamber and the community will be the beneficiaries.

And you’ll be seen as a leader in the community.  Put another way, that’s job security!

For resources on board and staff communications go HERE and HERE.

Leader vs. Manager in Chamber Management

The official definition according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:

• Leader - something that leads
• Manager - one that manages

I like to think of it as vision vs. tactics!

We need both leaders and managers to be successful organizations and our chambers are structured that way.

Do you have both?

This post isn’t about becoming one or the other. It’s about recognizing the difference and playing to the strengths of each.

Allow me to draw an analogy we are familiar with – The Strategic Plan.

Pull out your strategic plan. I bet it starts with your mission statement and a vision for what you want to be. But under that you have a objectives and tactics laid out in a bullet format to achieve that vision.

The leaders create the vision (your board), the managers execute the strategy and tactics (chamber staff).

In my 20+ years in the association management field, it’s critical to understand the difference for your chamber to be successful.

Once board and staff understands their role, the opportunities are endless!

Developing a Competitive Workforce

In my last post HERE, I talked about how a strong workforce is a key to a community and the chambers economic development initiatives.

Let’s dig a little deeper into your community’s workforce.

Is your chamber working with the local school system helping to identify the needs of your community’s workforce?

A strong public school system and a post-secondary option is key.

Also, don’t forget the vocations.  Yes, we need doctors, engineers, etc., but we also need electricians, plumbers and carpenters.

Businesses can’t thrive unless they have the employees.

How many books have we all read on leadership, management and to quote Jim Collins, “getting the right people on the bus,” from his breakout book Good to Great?

That’s just another way of saying you need all types of workers to develop a competitive workforce for your community.

Click HERE for resources on building a competitive workforce!