Changes in 2009 Shaping Your Non-Profit in 2010

This year, board members and staff members find themselves working much harder in an effort to achieve results that might even come close to those reached in 2008. The current economic realities of 2009 have really thrown a curve ball at the nonprofit world, not to mention everyone else. And 2010 budget season is right around the corner.

Given that budgets for next year are being developed now, how will you make sure your organization makes the right projections and decisions? I suggest you need to be more creative, more effective and go back to the mission and goals of your organization. Is your mission to drive more dollars to the bottom line of your member companies or is it to connect business to business? Is it to enhance the professional careers of your members or to advocate for the needs of your industry with government? Everything you do should connect back to your primary mission. Especially this year, you need to look at the services and benefits currently being delivered in a fresh, new light. Be inventive in finding original ways to effectively achieve your mission. Taking a risk might just produce your biggest pay off yet.

One of AMG’s clients, the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS), was looking for a boost to position and create brand awareness for the organization among a broader target audience. By focusing on the AIIS mission, the missing piece was discovered and a new event was conceived. . We helped them launch the Critical Commodities Conference to promote networking, communication, and education within the steel industry. The CCC created a presence for AIIS in the commodities community as well as within the international steel industry and provided a springboard for expanding membership categories to generate additional revenue.

In addition to creating new products and benefits, which can be risky in this economic climate, here are some things I think could help your organization weather this difficult economic season.

1. Use technology to bring people “together.” Get creative with meetings and conferences. Offer webinars or video conferences so all members can benefit from the education being provided. Filming and streaming your conference can help people feel as though they were there without leaving their office. Or you may even create a virtual meeting with extended sponsorship opportunities to complement your conference.

2. Leaders should expect a reduction of approximately 30 percent in meeting revenue and adjust mid-year budget projections to reflect the trends in lower meeting attendance, sponsorships and exhibit sales this year. The board must be prepared for, and made aware of, this projected decline.

3. Check your hotel contracts and release rooms from the organization’s room block to minimize penalties.

4. Explore expense cuts. For example, reduce printing by producing electronic board books. Why not reduce meeting expenses by starting meetings later in the morning and not offering breakfast. Or how about providing a Web link to attendees for them to download presentations prior to the conference and save on printing agendas or costly handbooks. You may even consider consolidating the number of speakers or limiting the number of staff that travel to an event unless there is a clear ROI.

5. Don’t stop marketing. This is definitely not a line item you want to cut these days. Instead, create new messages and new ways to reach people. Look at telemarketing, social media, faxing and cross-promotions…all ways to reach your members and target audiences. Social networking is great for members but also great for the organization. It’s a no-cost way for members to find each other and keep in touch while your nonprofit or event enjoys word-of-mouth marketing and promotion. With today’s social networking tools, staying in touch is easier than ever. Create a group or a page for your association on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or Ning so you can be viewed as a resource and a central “meeting” place for members. It’s a great way to add benefits to your organization membership and meetings with little investment.

6. Joining an Association Management Company can be a great way to reduce costs by up to 30 percent while drastically increasing your productivity. The benefits of in-house IT and graphic design services, meetings management, communications, and financial staff can be a huge benefit both time wise and financially.

In today’s economic climate, frugality and modified expectations are no longer options. They have become a necessity. But being frugal and revising projections doesn’t mean being cheap. It means working harder and smarter to achieve the desired results. Get creative, take risks, figure out what your members really want from their organization and give it to them! 2009 may have taken the world by surprise but we must be ready for 2010.