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.
Association Members Are Talking – Are You Listening?
In association leadership, we know how important it is to members that they feel heard and seen. With this in mind, [...]
Making the Most of In-Person Association Board Meetings
My last pre pandemic blog article discussed how The Best-Intentioned Association Boards can get Sidetracked. As I reflect on the way [...]
Optimizing Your Call to Action: What Is Your Association Asking For?
Members are an association’s life force. Revenue from membership dues, event attendance, and professional development opportunities keep your association running. So, [...]
10 Ways to Make Your Association Newsletter Stand Out
Earlier this year I attended a presentation that provided tips on elevating the quality of your newsletter. Prior to this presentation, [...]
Connecting with Association Members Using Online Tools – Part II
In a past blog, I shared the following three helpful tools to connect with association members: Doodle to create polls, QuestionPro [...]
Post-COVID: Return to Association Events and Travel
In a matter of only a few weeks, we have seen travel and in-person events start up in the blink of an [...]
The Business Behind Association Events
Now that in-person events are re-emerging, it is time to start planning! Your association members are ready to meet in person [...]
The Crucial Orientation and Training for Association Board Members
As we start getting back to in-person board meetings, volunteer board members are craving a better understanding of their role as [...]
Lessons of Leadership from Ted Lasso for Associations
We often discuss leadership within associations and need not look far for leaders that set a good example. There are many [...]
The Key to Organization for Association Leaders
For association board members it can be difficult to keep your association to-do lists organized, especially when your professional life gets [...]
Accounting for Associations: Not-for-Profit Financial Management
Not-for-profit accounting is a unique process by which not-for-profit organizations plan, record, and report their finances to a committee or Board [...]
Plant Seeds and Cultivate Leadership Within Your Association
Leadership is a quality that can occur in any person. However, not every member of your association has realized the potential [...]
Creating Successful Virtual Environments for Association Leaders
As the world continues to alter its response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the way in which associations operate has changed [...]
Courage: Try, Trust, and Tell
Despite the constant struggle with COVID-19, restrictions, and exhaustion that we have been facing over the past two years, the association [...]
Getting Together Again – Adjusting Expectations (Again)
Over the second year of the pandemic, we have experienced a lot of starts and stops. In October 2021 we felt [...]
Collaboration and Delegation: The Science of Working Together
There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. Whether you’re on an association board or committee, you work together as a team. A [...]
The Membership Application Form – A Member’s First Impression of Your Association
Is your association membership application form sending the right impression to potential members? Your membership application process is the way new [...]
A Diverse Board Is Good For a Diverse Association
When discussing association board composition, it is important to consider the question: “What is the key function of a board of [...]
Return To The Starting Line: Lessons From the Race Management Industry
The association events sector is experiencing an unprecedented time of flux and uncertainty. One community that is leading the way back [...]
Word of Mouth: The Association’s Need for Communicative Media
No longer do we live in the days where messenger pigeons carried letters to home. It’s plain to see that we [...]