Many associations today are using a multitude of disparate systems and platforms to manage membership and content, and the impact on staff and members doesn’t go unnoticed. Use the following five steps to get your processes out of the rut they’re in and begin creating a much healthier foundation for your association by bridging together your membership and content.
1. What Problems Are You Trying To Solve? Start with the obvious. Get all of your key stakeholders together and identify what problems you are trying to solve. Is your staff spending too many hours managing disparate systems? Are they downloading and uploading reports into more than one platform? Are your members being affected? What is the end user experience like? In turn, you’ll begin to identify your association’s areas for improvement, and therefore, the areas to perhaps simplify or streamline the systems and processes you’re using.
2. Make Your Wish List: Now the fun part. Once you’ve identified the issues, use it to make a list of everything you and your staff have ever dreamed and hoped for. Maybe you want one database of record, instead of several? Maybe you really want to only ask your members to remember one password to manage their membership and content? Maybe you want to save on time, resources and budget? Write it all down.
3. Check It Twice: You can now begin to organize your wish list, and ultimately create a plan as a result. This is when you want to start thinking about solutions to your problems. Here are a few types of integrations and systems to consider:
- Comprehensive Learning Platforms that allow you to manage live, in-person, on-demand and continuing education programs all within one system.
- Single Sign-On Integrations between your AMS and LMS to improve your members’ experience
- Two-Way Integrations that feed all of your registration, eCommerce and continuing education data into your AMS.
Catalog Integrations that alleviate the need for duplicate data-entry by auto-populating your LMS with programs added into your AMS.
Use these four bullets, in combination with your wish list to identify what types of systems you need in place, and what integration points you need setup between your systems.
4. Do It Anyways: At this point in the process, a lot of associations get gobbled up by fear, and put a halt to the process completely. You start to learn about the time and dedication you’ll need to progress through an integration and the anxiety starts to set in. This is, more than ever, the point where you really need to move forward anyways. You’ve chosen a path that will likely improve your membership and staff experience, and therefore make your association a healthier business.
5. Look For a Partner, Not a Vendor: This is a key element to a successful implementation of any new project, regardless of the changes you’re making. When shopping for AMS, LMS, or any other association solutions, it is much smarter to seek out solution vendors that really take an advisory role and guide you down the right path for your association, rather than those that try to fit you into a box.
You’ve identified your problems. You’ve built a solutions list. You’ve bypassed any fear or hesitation on you or your staff’s part, and you have found a partner that will hold your hand through the implementation process. You’re officially ready to close the gap between your membership and content.
Looking to learn more? Download our Integrations: From Systems in Silos to Systems in Sync White Paper.
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