While most folks probably belong to a professional association (if you’re like me you belong to several), not many know exactly what happens inside one. There’s a whole big group of us association professionals who manage the various workings of the organization. It’s us association staff who send you your membership card, deliver the conference or training, and publish the magazines. And that’s just for starters…there’s a whole lot more involved.

Take, for instance, my position as a membership professional. What do I do? The beauty is that it is highly cross-functional work where I delve into areas such as marketing, customer service, and product development. As I work my way up to the Director level, I’m now heavily involved in internal organizational management which includes areas like budgetary responsibilities, staff development and coaching, and workforce effectiveness. Then, there’s external leadership priorities as I work with various volunteers, committees, and the Board of Directors. So in all, it’s incredibly challenging and exciting work for someone who is a student of organizational management and behavior.

For instance, one particular challenge that association professionals face is managing volunteers and member leadership. This becomes particularly sticky when it comes to introducing necessary changes. How do you develop and guide change initiatives targetted at groups that are really your customers? You might say that associations are much more like a democracy where the member is a functional citizen of the group. To this point, many members have access to and input into the direction of an association that customers of a for-profit do not. It’s a thorny issue and one in which I’ve found very few resources.

Another interesting difference between non-profit and for-profit is their focus. I remember when I was interviewing a few months ago, I met the hiring group of a for-profit business consultancy that specialized in helping executives develop creative solutions to their problems. Early in the meeting, I was asked, "What do you think you could bring to the firm that’s valuable?" Bear in mind, I’ve been working in non-profits for most of my professional life. I proceeded to talk to the hiring group about how my values seemed to be in line with their values, how my unique talents could help their clients be more creative, and how my passion for organizational effectiveness could be a real asset to the firm’s growth. The lead interviewer then said, "That’s very nice. But what exactly do you bring that will contribute to our bottom line growth?" The problem was that I answered their initial question like I was interviewing with a non-profit. And there’s another difference: associations tend to be mission-driven while corporations tend to be profit-driven.

This difference does tend to get us association professionals tagged as unsatisfactory candidates for corporate jobs. I recently had lunch with a colleague who lamented that he simply couldn’t get a for-profit company to even open the door for him. Interesting since he has quite a track record in operations, marketing, and public policy development for some medium-sized associations. Yet I understood since I received this same treatment by nearly all company executives with which I met. Even though I have a strong marketing and customer service background, because I didn’t develop them in the corporate world, these accomplishments are diminished somewhat. Could be that it’s a matter of better educating others about the work that we association professionals do and how it translates to the for-profit sector. I’d be keen to hear impressions and thoughts on this issue.

Well, that’s a little about the association executive’s world. Undoubtedly, there will be more to come in future posts. I believe for my next post, I’ll dig more into the details of what a membership professional does within an association. Feel free to ask questions either through the comments here or send me a personal email. Hope you find it all interesting and educational.