Letter from ASAE's AMC section chair.

Did you know that more than 3,000 associations are currently being served and managed by association management companies (AMCs)? And that the annual budgets of these trade, professional, philanthropic, and credentialing organizations can range from $150,000 to $16 million?

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AMCs have the potential to help any nonprofit organization. And at most of the larger AMC-managed associations, teams of people led by a certified association executive work exclusively for one association.

Overall, the directors and officers of associations managed by AMCs realize significant benefits that would not be available to them otherwise. AMCs have exceptional experience and knowledge in managing all aspects of associations.

* They can draw upon and benchmark against experience with multiple clients and provide associations with fresh thinking for new business models.

* They often have standard operating procedures to ensure optimum results for each client and can provide cross-learning among staff association professionals and opportunities for internal networking.

* They provide access to the market-place through their varied vendor relationships.

* They provide staffing in specialty areas such as government relations, credentialing, public relations, and membership.

The economies of scale and efficiencies provided by an AMC are often unmatched by stand-alone associations. Operating ratio reports from ASAE and other organizations evidence the savings association clients can achieve inside an AMC. With its clients' aggregate buying power, an AMC can leverage vendor relationships to obtain favorable rates. In addition, AMCs have expertise in helping nonprofit clients weather market changes and offer technology to provide e-commerce and e-marketing solutions. AMCs also eliminate disruption to association programs and services with prompt staff allocations and hiring.

With unlimited experience in serving a wide variety of organizations, AMCs help associations meet their organizational objectives by using best practices and case studies based on multiple-client experience and staff expertise. The opportunity for cross-learning among client teams and staff benefits each association served and this experience translates to achieving budget and strategic goals for clients.

This directory provides information about AMCs and their experience, expertise, and specialties. Use it as a resource to find the AMC that's right for you based on the number of associations served, size of budgets, number of employees, total members served, number of meetings produced, and other statistics.

For associations in search of association management solutions, this directory is just the starting point. After reviewing the company information within this directory, I encourage you to talk to current AMC clients, visit companies, and meet the professionals who are responsible for serving clients on a daily basis. Only then will you get a full perspective on an association management company's strengths and abilities.

J. Bruce Wardle, CAE, ASAE's 2004-2005 AMC Section chair, is president and CEO of Association Management Group, McLean, Virginia, an ASAE AMC Charter Accredited company. E-mail: [e-mail].