Association Management articles from January 1998

Association Management archives from January 1998

The AMA sponsorship: lessons at a price. (American Medical Association)(Perspective)(Column)
January 1, 1998... Following the rules can prevent an endorsement fiasco. The other shoe has dropped. The first to hit the floor was the news report that an American Medical Association agreement to endorse Sunbeam medical products fell apart. The second was the...

Former ASAE leaders share tips. (time management; American Society of Association Executives)(Leader to Leader)(Column)
January 1, 1998... Association management asked three former chief elected officers of the American Society of Association Executives what was their favorite time management strategy during their year of elected leadership. Here's what they told us: * Susan...

All in a day's work. (volunteering; United Way's day of caring)(Leader to Leader)(Column)
January 1, 1998... Nearly two hundred volunteers from 30 associations across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area traded office attire for their jeans and T-shirts last fall and labored for the betterment of the nation's capital. "The day really showed...

Podium pointers. (delivering a speech)(Leader to Leader)(Column)
January 1, 1998... The ability to communicate well goes along with being a high-level executive, but for many chief elected leaders, the toughest challenge is delivering a speech to a large audience. Whether the audience is the association membership, an outside...

The link between political leadership positions and board membership. (women in governance)(Leader to Leader)(Column)
January 1, 1998... In a study of participation by women in association governance and political representation - based on examination of data in Associations Yellow Book (Winter 1996, Leadership Directories Inc., New York) - Associate Professor of Government Ronald...

Corporate assets. (corporate CEOs serving as volunteer leaders)
January 1, 1998... The perspectives of three corporate CEOs serving as volunteer leaders reflect a positive connection between the for-profit and nonprofit worlds and insights into setting goals and evaluating outcomes in both. Barbara Lohman, spokesperson for...

Future think: seven essential questions: how to help your association envision the future.
January 1, 1998... Let us start this article with three propositions to challenge your thinking about the future. The first comes from Peter Uberroth, who chaired the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Committee and served as baseball commissioner: "We are changing...

Making meetings productive and fun: how to transform board meetings into creative, energizing, problem-solving sessions.
January 1, 1998... It's that time of year again - when busy leaders and boring meetings come together to produce mass frustration. It doesn't have to be that way. Six months prior to her installation, I called my incoming president, Nan Crowley, a...

7 practices of super boards. (board of directors)
January 1, 1998... Transform your governing body into a high-performance board with a structured process of improvement. The revolutionary changes buffeting the American economy are creating new forms of associations and organizations, and forcing existing ones...

The difference between nonprofit and tax-exempt status: understanding association terminology.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... The terminology used to describe associations often generates confusion. Consequently, it is useful to clarify two key terms. Associations are generally organized and operated as both nonprofit and tax-exempt entities. Nonprofit status refers to...

Understanding related entities: an overview of how related foundations and taxable subsidiaries work.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... Any volunteer leader new to the association world may easily become confused by the relationship of an association to its foundation and any subsidiaries. Briefly, here's how some of the most common types of related entities work. A reason for...

Forging a strong board-staff partnership: use shared understanding of roles and relationships to build a strong team.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... If the relative importance of association leadership subjects were measured in loss of sleep, there is little question that the issue of appropriate roles for the board and the staff - the bellwether of which is the relationship between the chief...

The basics of budgeting: your role in developing a meaningful budget.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... As a member of the board of a nonprofit organization you have accepted a number of meaningful responsibilities to ensure its success. Because most organizations' activities require financial support in addition to voluntary personnel, the...

Managing legal risks: an overview of association liability issues and key insurance areas for associations.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... The legal environment for associations and their volunteers continues to grow more difficult and complex. Issues requiring legal guidance continue to increase as do the number of associations that turn to association lawyers for assistance. Even...

Communicating the value of membership: your special role in membership development.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... Think back to when you first joined your association. You may have been attracted by the association's brochure . . . or its lobbying . . . or its helpful publications. But chances are, what clinched your decision was the enthusiasm of someone...

Building your volunteer community: motivate volunteers to help achieve association goals.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... As the chief elected officer of your organization, you face greater demands and a more complex environment than any of your predecessors. With tight budgets, challenges to your membership, an increasing pace of change, and the explosion of...

Fund-raising fundamentals. (includes related articles on fund-raising and contributions)(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... In today's challenging and competitive business environment, every volunteer leader has the responsibility to participate in creating a financially sound organization. Making personal contributions, soliciting funds on behalf of the organization,...

Leading board and committee meetings.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... How to improve the quality of the meeting process. Much of the work of associations is accomplished, or not, in meetings. As a volunteer leader, you can contribute significantly to the effectiveness of your organization by improving the quality...

Understanding nonprofit financial management: how practices differ from for-profit organizations. (includes related article on tax-exemption)(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... As the nonprofit community experiences unprecedented growth and scrutiny, it becomes the responsibility of leaders of these organizations to establish and monitor sound financial practices that will ensure the appropriate use of resources in...

Changing the way volunteer leaders communicate: high-tech options abound for board-staff communication.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... Technology is changing the way association staff and volunteers communicate. As more and more association members get online, that change is going to be even more dramatic. Associations will link to their members via intranets - internal...

A blueprint for crisis management: understanding what it takes to weather the inevitable storm.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... At some point, every association will encounter a crisis. And when that time comes, being able to turn to a crisis management plan may prove to be the difference between triumph and tragedy. Crises run the gamut from natural disasters such as...

Robert's rules at work: using parliamentary procedure to conduct effective meetings.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... "I don't stay to the end of civic meetings at Town Hall because they always end up in an argument about who has the floor and what motion they're voting on. Someone usually moves to table the motion on the floor, and someone else gets up to say...

Evaluating board performance: analyzing performance keeps everyone and everything on track.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... Most people enjoy the process of self-evaluation about as much public speaking. As Mark Twain would say: "If it weren't for the honor of it, I'd really rather not." Twain's maxim certainly applies to board evaluation, for the "honor" of...

The book list: insights into mastering the challenges of leadership.(Board Primer)
January 1, 1998... Leading in today's environment demands strong relationship-building skills and constant innovation - all while you hone your own and your association's skills and capabilities to a fine edge. Thankfully, you and I aren't the only ones who have...

Tapping the power of e-commerce. (electronic commerce)
January 1, 1998... The association's role in helping its members leverage electronic commerce as a strategic, competitive tool for the future. One of the most important trends today is the movement of our global economy to electronic commerce, or e-commerce. In...