Today’s Ideal Association Software Stack

Today’s Ideal Association Software Stack

When Gravitate CEO Tim Ward and I released Avectra’s NetForum in 2004, it was not uncommon for an Association Management System (AMS – or sometimes known as a Customer Relationship Management system – CRM), to join the organization’s accounting system and...
Competing on Analytics

Competing on Analytics

Excerpted from “Competing on Analytics” by Thomas H. Davenport of Harvard Business Review “To identify characteristics shared by analytics competitors, I and two of my colleagues at Babson College’s Working Knowledge Research Center studied 32...
Comprehensive Total Member Value

Comprehensive Total Member Value

I worked for two trade associations – the National Association of Broadcasters and 340B Health – both of which were obsessed with member retention and delivering member value. Not an uncommon pursuit at any association. One of the best ways to illustrate the value you...
Clean Data is the Foundation

Clean Data is the Foundation

“Let’s build a second floor on top of this pup tent in our backyard,” said no one, ever. And yet, this is exactly what happens when associations say “Let’s build a data analytics program” when their source data is not yet ready for prime time. In both cases, a poor...
Only 20% of my Member Data is in my AMS?

Only 20% of my Member Data is in my AMS?

When we analyzed our Nucleus data across all our clients, we discovered that, on average, the Association Management System (AMS) or Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) comprises less than 20% of our client’s data – and that only includes the systems our...
Destroy Decision Silos With Blended Data

Destroy Decision Silos With Blended Data

By Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP Principal & Founder, Rogue Tulips Consulting Years ago, there was a joke in the association community that people weren’t creating silos. They were building Monuments to Excellence. Having lived through several eras in association...
AMS Fest- observations of an AMS lifer

AMS Fest- observations of an AMS lifer

I attended Association Trends’ AMS Fest June 5-6th in Chicago at the Catalyst Ranch. The facility and its furniture were a little quirky (think: Central Perk Café in the sitcom Friends) but worked well for the size of the group, which was about 160. I enjoyed...