Volunteer Management

Volunteer management is not new.  In fact, I've written about it before HERE and HERE.

Some chambers have been around for over one hundred years.  Some close to two hundred years.

We are membership organizations and volunteer management is a key to a successful chamber.

I’d like to focus on three elements of successful organizations from my perspective:

• Transparency – in today’s age you must be transparent.  Be open.  You have nothing to hide.  Also, get that financial statement in your annual newsletter or report.  Show your numbers.  Your volunteers and members will appreciate you for that.

• Trust – many of us learned from our parents that if I can’t trust you, you have nothing.  That’s so true!  If you lose the trust of your board your days are probably numbered. So build that trust not only with your board but with all your members.

• Equal Partner – it has been stated that in the new association module equality is a critical step.  I totally agree.  You are an equal partner, not just a note-taker.  In addition, and I’ve said it before, make sure you are playing a role in the nominating process to build a strong board.

Remember, chambers have been around for a long time.  The one constant thing about our organizations are the volunteers.

While the CEO staff tenure is typically 3-5 years, shorter than the average tenure of a board member, it’s imperative to have a strong board of directors.

That’s what volunteer management is all about at the end of the day!

For a list of resources on volunteer management click HERE.

Most Trusted Marketing: Word of Mouth Marketing

Even with the ease of today's technology to reach prospective members, never forget that word of mouth marketing continues to be one of the most effective ways of getting your message out and heard.

Think about that!

How many times have you gone to a restaurant at the recommendation of a friend that you've never heard of before their recommendation?

In the old days we called those members "blue birds."  They just flew in, paid their dues and became members.

Don't take this concept too lightly.  It could be one of your most effective ways of recruiting new members.

In a previous position, I was responsible for membership at a major professional society, one half of all our new members each year were from member referrals, or what we called our member-get-a-member campaign.

And yes, we had a robust member-get-a-member campaign.  You should think about having one too!

That's right, it's just another name for word of mouth marketing.  Get your members to spread the word!

For more information on word of mouth marketing go HERE.  For two case studies written by Matt Knight go HERE.

And for Wikipedia's take on word of mouth marketing go HERE.

Social Media Training for Your Members

Do you know how many of your small business members are experts in social media or know nothing about social media?

There have been many articles on delivering value to our chamber members.

Delivering value is about solving problems!

Why not start a monthly training session on social media that addresses:

• The pro's and con's of the different platforms chambers are using today (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Blog, YouTube, etc.);
• How to get online and create a content calendar (a previous blog post on Content Rules and be found HERE;
• Measuring outcomes with the likes of Google Analytics, etc.; and
• Share successes and failures of other businesses who have played in the social media sandbox.

These monthly sessions should be great to not only get those members online that are not currently online, but improve the techniques of those already on the Internet to help them grow their businesses.

Find a college student who you can hire once a month (first Friday of the month) to conduct a one hour session over coffee.  Be consistent with the same time and venue each month.  Whether 10 or 1 show up, you're providing value.

For a great resource on content marketing go HERE and visit HERE for social media tips or visit my blogroll on the right navigation bar for other resources.

In addition, here's three websites I visit on a regular basis Copy Blogger, Jeff Bullas and Content Marketing Institute.

Solve your member's social media problems by creating a monthly training session on how to use the latest tools on the market (free or fee based tools).  Click HERE for 14 Social Media Marketing Tools Recommended by the Pros.

That's a great way to engage your members on a regular basis and solve their social media challenges!

Chamber Mergers: Lessons Learned

At a recent best practices session with a dozen of seasoned chamber CEO's the topic of mergers was addressed.

With a sluggish economy it was suggested that there will probably be more mergers or outright closings of chambers in the future, not less.

Let's start with a couple of facts:

• There are over 7,000 chambers of commerce in this country
•  Local chambers are in competition with each other

Now that we can agree that mergers are inevitable in our business, as discussed in this session, I thought I'd share a few comments from the panel.

The following statements we're made:

• Most difficult thing I've ever done!
• Put people on your board who can be change agents
• You may not have a job at the end of it
• It's emotional
• In today's global economy there will be more mergers in the future
• Address all the issues
• You must believe in the merger
• Potential companies don't look at community lines, it's bigger than that

But at the end of they day, you need to do what’s best for the organization and the surrounding community.

Can you come up with any partnerships with surrounding chambers of commerce?

For some research on the subject of nonprofit mergers by the Stanford Social Innovation Review go HERE.

Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch

Chambers have been talking about strategy and strategic planning for years.

Yes, it’s important but I buy into the title of this blog.

You can have all the ideas in the world, but if you don’t have a culture to implement those ideas, you’ll end up spinning your wheels.

What do I mean by culture?  Staff and volunteers have to trust each other. My take:

• Staff and volunteers working together
• Staying true to your mission
• Transparency
• The ability to try new things
• Trust

I talked about failing forward in a previous post HERE and it’s important to support the concept (the CEO and Board).

My final comment on this is the last bullet above.  If you don’t have trust you have nothing.

For an interesting blog on culture in the workplace go HERE or follow them on Twitter @WorkXO.

Chamber Loyalty: Do You Have It With Your Members?

There has been a lot written about this concept over the years.

Loyalty programs are programs that keep your members coming back.

Sounds like a golden handcuff to me!

For a previous blog post on golden handcuffs go HERE.

Think of the following loyalty programs:

• Costco
• Airline Programs
• Credit card rebates
• Dunkin Donuts

To build loyalty you need to have something your members can’t do without.  Have you identified what that is for our chamber?  Is it:

• A directory
• An advocacy program
• Access to government officials
• An affinity program (insurance, etc.)
• Other

I like to call it a core good that your members can’t do without.  What is your core good?  It is critical that you can answer that question.

If you can’t answer that question you’ll continue to struggle with who you are, who you want to serve, and I bet you’re struggling with growing membership.

People will continue to be loyal as long as you’re delivery value.

As a side bar, I’ve been a Canon camera guy for over 35 years now and I’ll never change as long as they continue to deliver the goods.

Don’t you want to be like Canon or Nikon?  These two companies have the loyalty equation down pat.

Just a thought!

Are You Solving Problems For Your Members?

If not, you should be.

There has been a lot of talk recently about delivery value to your members.

And by the way, a networking event is not solving a problem.

Solving a problem is helping with a regulation, complying with a new law or getting information so your business member can grow their business.

Do you have toolkits on how your small business members can:

• Write a business plan;
• Gain access to capital; or
• Learn effective marketing techniques.

Especially now with the Internet and social media as a free resource, it's time to step up and solve some problems!

For some of your members, you might want to teach them how to use social media to help them get their message out and grow their business.

If your members think of you as a problem solver, I'm suggesting that will be a happy and retained member.

Solving problems will grow your membership and your community will benefit from that growth.

I like that combination!