In 2003, Michael Lewis published Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Lewis examined how Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, utilized an advanced analytical approach to maximize the talents of his players while still maintaining one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. Using this approach, Oakland performed above expectations and made several postseason appearances.

That was an actual sign I looked at every day in the lobby of the corporate headquarters at The Trane Company, my first job in corporate business. It's Back! The rumors abound right now, just like 2009, 1999, 1983, 1976, and so on. Recessionary impact frightens the entire association world with concerns about finance, employees, members, investments, and more. But there is good news. Associations that deliver significant value to their members usually thrive in a recession—countless studies have proven it—but not without careful thought and the contingency plan to be always prepared. The best method for that is to start now so that if and when a recession comes, your organization is already prepared. Here are some insights.

Once considered the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday marked the beginning of the most profitable time of year for traditional retail stores. Through the years, and with the assistance of the internet, the nature of Black Friday has evolved and expanded. Many brick and mortar stores are now open on Thanksgiving Thursday, Small Business Saturday provides an opportunity for local businesses to kick off the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday is now the internet's version of Black Friday, and Giving Tuesday is the Black Friday for charitable giving.

I love sports analogies. Anyone who has worked with me has heard me say about associations that you have to go for the big play to the end zone, but you can't do it on the first play or on every play.

Clients often come to us with requests to do a Member Satisfaction Survey. After a discussion to gauge what their true research objectives are, we often steer them toward a Member Indispensability Study instead. But why? Satisfaction doesn’t equate to longevity. In our research experience, we have seen that satisfaction isn’t a strong driver of […]

MGI recently released our 2019 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. While it’s filled with nearly 80 pages of data, one stat in particular stood out. 22% of associations experiencing an increase in the number of new members this year recently adopted a new membership model. IPMA-HR, the leading public sector human resource organization, knows the impact […]