What If Associations Weren’t Afraid to Generate Serious Cash?

ASAE’s Acronym blog is promoting what it calls “Big Ideas” month, though it really isn’t — it’s more like “What If?” month.

So here’s my what-if question: What if associations weren’t so damn afraid to generate serious cash?

Because you can, you know. Did you know that?

Never mind your archaic governance structure, your internal politics, your consultants who think every little thing you do should be strategized or categorized, your bizarre “I don’t care about money, I care about mission!” attitude (as if fulfillment of any mission is possible without big, fat, green dollar bills) …

No, if you’re worried about making this year’s budget or next week’s payroll (those being the sorts of things that those of us who actually run associations worry about) — you really have no choice but to set all those things aside and think, “How can I bring in some serious cash in the door, quick?” The good thing is, for a typical association, it’s not as hard as some people make it out to be. Heck, this morning at 11:35am I was struck by an idea, and at 11:40am an email was sent out to an opt-in list that had brought in 10k by the end of the day.

Maybe 10k in one afternoon isnt a whole lot of money to you, but it is to me, and in any event, things like that have a way of adding up.

Thing is, as an association you have access to a cash-generating apparatus that would make for-profit companies salivate, if you’ve been doing at least some things right. They include:

• Access to an opt-in list of people who are interested in particular things (preferably, not just members)
• A database that gives you information about more specific things these people are interested in
• Access to experts in the field you serve
• “Goodwill” of your organization’s brand and name recognition within the marketplace you serve

Those are some fairly powerful and potent things. Basically they add up to this:

You have the ability to create things that have tremendous value to people you have access to who are willing to buy things from you.

(I look forward to @joerominiecki’s critique of the grammar in that sentence.)

For example, you could:

• Conduct surveys of members on important operational data points, analyze the results, give the participants the results for free and sell them to everyone else at a premium
• Find good trainers in your field, use Camtasia or something similar to create training CD/DVD packages on topics important to your field, offer them a royalty and sell resulting packages at a premium
• If you already sell products of some kind, look at extensions – such as training packages further explaining them (see bullet point above),  ”lite” versions, “advanced” versions, “specialty” versions — and sell at a premium
• Trade assn? Get 10 “legends” in your industry, record interviews with them speaking with a good moderator wherein they reveal their best tips/techniques/secrets, get ‘em transcribed and hire an editor to package them into a book, or just produce a CD with the audio, or both — and sell at a premium
• Publish a magazine? Pull content that still matters about a particular topic, revise reedit reconfigure, sell as downloadable or print content for people interested in that particular topic, at a premium
• Offer a subscription program for on-demand webinars, combining new workshops with repurposed speakers from F2F events, at a premium
• Mouthy bloggers in your industry or profession? Ask the best ones to write a book on their specialty, pay them royalties, and sell book at a premium

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head — because the industries or professions that associations represent are so different from each other, it’s impossible for me to suggest more specific ideas for you. But I can tell you that I’ve done most of the things listed above, to pretty good success.

But let me be clear: You should not be looking for one idea amongst the bullet points above or others that you generate. You should have a culture wherein lots of little ideas get discovered, explored, and tried. None of these ideas (or your ideas) will be some sort of homerun — in fact, I think it’s a big mistake to look for homeruns at all. You’ve got a long nine innings ahead and each and every play counts.

You’ll notice that each of my bullet point ideas above are described as being sold “at a premium.” This is because I think an alarming number of associations underprice their products and services. It’s the margin you make on products like these that ENABLE you to focus on the mission, the reason for your association’s existence — your members’ success. Spending a lot of time and energy on products with low (or no) margins will DEFEAT your mission. Offering successful products that meet a market need while producing high margins are what FREE your association to focus on the REAL “big ideas” that matter for your constituency.

I know that there are some who want to dismiss any sort of focus on little products like those I describe. Some of them say you should focus on your strategic plan; others on some sort of “social revolution” or whatnot. None of them offer any solid explanations as to how you would realistically pay for either, and I suggest you closely evaluate the actual track records and qualifications of those who make suggestions like that.

The fact is, if you want to do something, anything BIG, the easiest way to fund it (and yes, it must be funded) is through a steady stream of little things that are of tremendous value to people you have access to who are willing to buy things from you.

It’s not nearly as hard as you think.