How Modern Association Software Can Help You Become a Learning Organization

Associations are mission-driven. But to achieve the mission, the bottom line must be met. Critical to meeting the bottom line is the addition and retention of members. Critical to adding and keeping members is deeper engagement. Only modern association software can increase engagement by turning associations into Learning Organizations with expertise in what matters most – their members.

The First Step: Eliminating Data Silos 

The first step on the path to becoming a Learning Organization is to have all meaningful data accessible in one place by establishing a Single Source of Truth (SSoT). Only modern association software enables you to turn data, your most important decision-making resource, into advanced learning opportunities. By spreading your data across multiple systems or keeping it siloed in spreadsheets (or other disconnected depositories), you create obstacles to learning. Data silos prevent dynamic data interaction, which is at the heart of understanding, which informs action. 

The more you understand your members, both at the individual and group level, the better you can engage them. Modern association software with access to all your meaningful data – expressed through dynamic dashboards and engagement scorecards – provides intelligence on how effectively actions and policies are advancing engagement. 

The Second Step: Learn from Every Interaction

Member data is the key to everything you do. You can’t manage your data completely and properly if it does not come from a SSoT. Modern association software further facilitates learning by turning member interaction into a dynamic web experience. This is only possible with modern association software – where the website and business system come from the same source. Web interactions are logged in the business system instantly, speeding up your knowledge of individual members as well as overall trends. 

How Well Do You Know Your Members? 

When a member visits the website, modern association software already knows who the member is in detail. If membership is renewed, or a purchase of any kind takes place, the member record immediately reflects this behavior. Understanding your members’ total behavior with your association means knowing how often they log in to your website, the number of events they’ve attended, and which professional development credits they’ve earned. This knowledge will keep you one step ahead because you can anticipate their engagement or drive it yourself. Software that advances learning in a timely way deepens engagement.

The Final Step: Built for Learning 

Learning is central to every association’s mission. Associations stand out as arbiters of excellence. They publish journals, accept editorial submissions, and dispense awards that advance the learning of the industries they serve. Modern association software incorporates online learning management systems, abstracts and other key learning elements into a single ecosystem, establishing a SSoT. 

Much like an association provides members with learning opportunities, modern association software provides staff with ample opportunities to learn what matters most to them: the minds of their members. While members are becoming experts in their fields, association staff are becoming experts in their members.

Learning and Continuous Performance Improvement 

By turning its users into Learning Organizations, modern association software creates a continuous performance improvement machine that works day in and day out over the years. Users have the power to engage members at every touchpoint and to learn everything there is to know about them from every interaction, improving data accuracy and increasing member engagement.