About Martin H. Strauss

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Martin H. Strauss has created 38 blog entries.

Talking At Your Members Is Easy—Listening To Members Is Harder

By |2016-12-28T15:21:51-06:00May 22nd, 2015|

Talking at your members is a one-way communication—pushing a message. Technology makes talking at the members of your association easy, all it takes is a few clicks of your mouse. You can find literally dozens of association communications software solutions at http://www.capterra.com/association-management-software/. As well, MailChimp allows you to send [...]

Increase the ROI on Your Events

By |2016-12-28T15:22:13-06:00April 24th, 2015|

“At most conferences, information flows from the top down in a numbing series of discursive, disconnected PowerPoints and sessions address topics relevant only to some of the people in the room. Participants leave slightly better informed than when they arrived.”[1] Your events do not have to be like “most [...]

Delaying Your AGM: What Corporations Canada Says

By |2016-12-28T15:22:32-06:00April 2nd, 2015|

Your association can apply to delay the date of its Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA) requires that AGM’s must be held within six-months of the yearend. This is a challenge for federally incorporated associations whose yearend is December 31st and who have traditionally held [...]

Pre-Audit Planning: Getting Ready for the Yearend Audit/Review Engagement

By |2016-12-28T15:23:22-06:00February 12th, 2015|

How easy or hard, how long or short, how much or how little your association’s audit/review engagement 1 will be is in up to your organization—not the external accountant. You can take control of the audit process by meeting with the audit partner/manager and person doing the fieldwork—before the [...]

Building Better Boards: Recruitment and Retention of Board Members

By |2016-12-28T15:23:53-06:00January 8th, 2015|

The purpose of this article is to identify strategies to build your association through the recruitment and retention of better board members; these strategies can also be applied to volunteers who are potential board members. There are three cornerstone strategies to board building: Identify the gap between strengths and [...]

Increasing Conference and Other Association Non-Dues Revenue

By |2017-07-10T14:11:24-05:00November 6th, 2014|

“Membership dues remain the largest single source of association revenue, but its share has been shrinking over the long term.” Dues average 41.4% of trade association revenue, according to an American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) report.1 So if membership dues - as a piece of the overall association [...]

Improve Board Effectiveness; Use a Planning Calendar

By |2016-12-28T15:24:38-06:00October 10th, 2014|

The purpose of this article is to help boards to be more effective by focussing on the big picture—not on routine matters—by building on the benefits of using a consent agenda. A consent agenda promotes good time management, allowing Boards “to focus on issues of real importance to the [...]

Make Board Meetings More Productive Using A Consent Agenda

By |2023-10-23T19:26:49-05:00September 24th, 2014|

Using a consent agenda can make your board meetings shorter and more productive. It achieves this by combining routine meeting motions into one motion. If every board member does his/her homework it is possible to have a single motion that approves: Meeting agenda Minutes of the previous meeting Reports [...]

Go to Top