Strauss Articles
Knowledge, Insight, and Experience
Every Thursday, our experts provide insights into industry trends and issues that readers can leverage to improve their associations and signature events.
How to Build an Association Crisis Communications Checklist
Let’s face it; no association wants to go into crisis communications mode. But ultimately most will face an internal or external [...]
Balancing Different Volunteer Preferences on Association Boards of Directors
Coming out of the pandemic, I have noticed a divergence amongst Board members as to when they’re available to volunteer. Some [...]
Simple Association Membership Calculations: Renewal Rate
One of the biggest indicators of an association’s health and longevity is their member renewal rate. A member renewal rate is [...]
Associations: Navigating the “New Normal”
The pandemic has all Association Management Companies (AMC) working with their association clients to rethink how to get back to “normal” [...]
Practicing The Art Of Woo (Winning Others Over) Within An Association
Difficult people are everywhere. Despite one’s best efforts some people are never pleased. But when they are exhibitors at an association [...]
Team Building Exercises to Strengthen your Association
Strong teams build strong associations. For an association to thrive and work in an organized and productive way, its staff need [...]
How to Elevate and Streamline your Association’s Strategic Planning Sessions
With the new year in full swing, many association’s communications teams are in full swing gathering members to participate in upcoming [...]
Tips on How to Effectively Tackle Your To-do List as an Association Leader in 2023
It’s a New Year. New projects are in full swing. Association Board meeting energy is picking up momentum as Board members [...]
Understanding Your Association’s Budgets & Cashflows
It’s a New Year with new opportunities for your association. One of the key elements of a successful association is understanding [...]
The Importance of Association Policy Statements
Policy statements are the guidelines for the association, they state appropriate standards of action and behaviour for all Board, committee, and [...]
How to Get Back Into the Swing of Things Post-Holidays
As 2022 draws to a close, many of us are feeling excited to switch on our “Out of Office” message before [...]
The Role Continuum for Chief Staff Executive and Board of an Association
In previous articles, I have written about the CSAE CEO Symposium led by Glenn Tecker. I find some of the tools [...]
Five Ways Associations Can Improve Their Social Media Game
Social media can be a powerful communications tool for an association. If used correctly! The key is knowing your membership audience [...]
Six Steps to Elevate Your Association’s Content Creation Strategy
As Bill Gates once said, "Content is King." High-quality content creation must be curated for your association to generate a presence [...]
Embrace the Cloud: Using SharePoint with Association Boards
High-performing association board members are busy enough. Volunteer boards put trust into their association staff to maximize efficiencies and make the [...]
Should Your Association Conduct a Needs Assessment?
Within every association, there is a need to evaluate what is currently being achieved against what is desired to be achieved. [...]
How to Use Events to Grow Your Association’s Membership
Event planning should always be done with membership recruitment top of mind. To attract potential members to your association's event, you [...]
The Importance of Conflict of Interest Policies within an Association’s Board
Each Board member brings to the Board a special set of skills and life experiences. Volunteering is the lifeblood of not-for-profit [...]
Hiring Interns: How it Benefits an Association
As an association, it’s important to stay relevant, innovative, and invested in the future of our industry. Hiring interns can help [...]
Understanding Your Association’s Budgets and Cashflow
Budgets and cashflow analysis are important management tools to allow an association to properly manage their performance, allowing them to plan [...]