Join
AES
Join
AES
Contact
Us
Contact
Us
AES provides support services to not-for-profit organisations.
We're experiencing change at an unprecedented pace, as seen with technologies like ChatGPT gaining 100 million users in just 2 months, far quicker than platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or Netflix in their early days. With shifts in commerce, climate, and public discourse, how do association leaders and futurists respond effectively? Maxime Lagace says wisdom is key. Paul Tero introduces the “DIKW Wisdom Hierarchy,” emphasising the transformation of raw data into wisdom through description and understanding processes. Harness this model to guide your organisation and adapt to our ever-evolving world.
For leaders and executives within industry associations and not-for-profit organisations, the shift to remote working arrangements has presented both opportunities and challenges. Ensuring a seamless transition without compromising on the essential functions of the organisation is crucial. The recent case of Suzie Cheikho v Insurance Australia Group Services Limited presented at the Fair Work Commission provides invaluable insights into navigating this complex terrain.
Inbox overflowing? Email has become such a large part of everyday life that most of us receive dozens of emails a day, ranging from important work information through to spam from companies and brands. Unfortunately, with such a volume of messages, it can be easy for important emails to get lost, be forgotten about, or left in the “think about it later” basket for too long. A great way to avoid your important email message getting left behind is to avoid sending it as an email altogether. We take a look at when it’s a good idea to pick up the phone.
Membership is a central concern for every association. Growing
your membership base,
retaining members, and ensuring your members are engaged in your association’s functions and activities should all be key parts of your
strategic plan. Even associations with a large and diverse membership need to be consistently evolving and planning to offer value to their
members and to ensure they stand out from the crowd. We consider the main things to focus on when thinking about your membership.
A positive work culture achieves more than just happier and healthier employees; it increases productivity, improves outcomes, and leads to long-term growth and success. However, cultivating this kind of culture and a workplace where employees want to grow and succeed isn’t easy. With a new trend of resignations and disengagement, it is now harder than ever to keep the best talent at your association.
When running an association there are many different factors that make it successful. One of the most important keys to a thriving
not-for-profit organisation is effective marketing. Marketing is the way you get your association out there. It helps you to build a large
membership base, to promote your goals and drive traffic to your website. It is also a tool for developing a strong brand identity and to
connect with potential members, sponsors and more.
.jpg)
Once you've established your association, created a constitution and elected your board members, there are several policies and procedures that should be put in place to ensure the effectiveness and wellbeing of your organisation. These policies must be carefully constructed – if you do not take the time to implement detailed procedures then your association can quickly crumble.
How can you promote a positive culture within your association while dealing with a member complaint? Here are 7 points to consider before responding.
The Board of an association exists to guide the vision and strategic direction of the organisation. All Board members, along with the management team, are working towards this shared goal, which can sometimes make it challenging to decide who is responsibility for individual tasks. However, allocating specific roles and tasks to Board members helps to delineate between the responsibilities of the Board and those of the executive.
Last month, Association Executive Services hosted a webinar focussed on advocacy to government, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards. The objective of the webinar was to explore traditional methods of influencing government policy, how those have changed in the last two years, and how associations can build strong working relationships as we move into a post-pandemic recovery.
After two years of cancellations, postponements, and numerous challenges when it comes to hosting and attending live events, many of us are keen to get back into “business as usual”. But although associations are planning to resume live member events in 2022, the general feeling amongst association leaders about planning events and conferences for next year is “steady as it goes.”
Working within a COVID-19 world has forced many association leaders to rethink how they will manage their organisation in the future. With changes to the way associations can run events, engage with members, and continue to offer value, it is important that all organisations are able to be flexible and adapt.
Associations rely on their Board members to ensure proper Governance and to develop and implement strategies and policy. Many associations in Australia are fortunate enough to have their members seeking positions as Board members, but at the same time other associations can struggle to attract members.
Have you had to deal with internal theft in your Association? Theft can be extremely damaging to an association of any size. To prevent it, safeguards must be put in place and managers need to be aware of potentially problematic behaviour.
An interim CEO can be a valuable tool in ensuring continuity of operations and effective change management when an association loses their CEO. This crucial role within the management team requires an experienced and skilful person, and the Board should not rush the recruitment of a new CEO. Instead, an interim CEO can be used to handle operations and maintain the association’s objectives.
Associations offer a multitude of benefits to members, but sometimes members can be forgotten. When this happens, it’s important that contact is reinstated and members are made to feel valued by the association. This way, they’ll be more likely to continue to renew their membership and be more involved in the association’s events and activities.
Every association needs to have a clear value proposition to encourage new members to join and existing members to continue being involved. As revealed in recent research, networking rates as one of the greatest benefits valued by professionals, who appreciate associations that facilitate this activity.
One of the major differences between not-for-profit organisations and other entities is the reliance on volunteers. Volunteers can play an important role to support some or all of the administration activities, approve membership applications or facilitate the combined learning of the members.
Associations offer advantages to members throughout their careers and regardless of external factors, but their value is best realised when society is in turmoil. The past eighteen months have posed unprecedented challenges for people all over the world. While Australians have been relatively lucky in respect of the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy has inevitably been shaken by these global events. Being a part of an association offers members a myriad of benefits, especially during times of great uncertainty.
Ongoing lockdowns have presented an unprecedented challenge for industry associations that typically rely on in-person events and conferences to engage members and grow their membership base. With the majority of the Australian workforce now working from home, the opportunities to connect are more limited.
One of the services that AES has offered to associations for a number of years is the provision of an interim CEO. Often, this service is utilised by association boards that are in a transition phase, defined by the recruitment of a new CEO.
As we move into an increasingly digitised world, the threat of cyber-attack is growing. Regardless of the size of an organisation, cyber-criminals can infiltrate your systems and target you for payment. Payments made to cyber criminals typically cannot be recovered, so it is vital that associations understand the risks and take action to strengthen their cyber security.
Many associations rely on events as a major source of revenue. With business events cancelled and postponed over the last 18 months due to COVID-19, this has significantly impacted association revenue.
How we help membership based, not-for-profit associations now and into the future.
