Taking the AMC route: read about several associations that made the switch to AMCs. (Association Management Company Directory).

In today's dynamic business climate, the only certainty is change. Industries are consolidating at an unprecedented pace, and many trade associations and professional societies are feeling the effects of budget cuts, travel restrictions, fewer members, and reduced income. In the face of cutbacks or an inability to provide competitive benefits and salaries to attract and retain great staff, association boards may find themselves focused more on resource issues than on furthering the mission of the association.

But there is an alternative. With the help of an association management company, an association can maximize the funds available for programs and services by reducing the cost of operations. And by sharing resources, headquarters, staff, and systems with other associations that are clients of a firm, an association executive can continue to serve a consolidating association and to see personal compensation grow.

An AMC provides a turnkey, talented, trained, and ready-to-serve staff to deliver the full range of the association's programs--and does so in a way that will be transparent to the association's membership and will not compromise the autonomy of the organization. In addition, the firm can provide time-tested advice and assistance in assessing programs, strategies, staffing levels, and efficiencies.

A financial boost

In 2000, the association representing manufacturers of glass containers, the Glass Packaging Institute, found itself at a crossroads. In operation since 1919 in New York City, and present in Washington, D.C., since 1976, GPI found its budget cut by more than half, from $4 million to $1.8 million, over a two-year period. It became clear that a significant restructuring would be necessary, and GPI's executive board took the step of contracting with a professional association management firm, CLARION Management Resources, Alexandria, Virginia, to streamline the operations of the association.

The restructuring was seamless, with no disruption in the services provided to association members. Members of the association's committees were contacted, programs were continued, banking and business changes were made, a sales program was put online, and the voice of the glass container industry settled well into its new office space. What's more, GPI was able to retain its key staff executive, who was hired by CLARION as a senior account executive, and reduce operating expenses by about $500,000 in the first year, giving new life to member benefit programs that had atrophied across time.

It is a similar story for the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, which began to face a painful reality in 1998: The viability of the organization would be in jeopardy if it continued to operate as it had been, with dedicated employees and its own office. The Journal of Neuroscience Nursing was going out late, the association was losing members, and the board was focusing on minutiae instead of providing strategic direction.

According to volunteer leaders Karin Grant and Tess Sierzant, "We knew we needed to do more than survive. We needed to grow as an association and support the expansion of our nursing specialty. As we evaluated our financial losses against the investment we would need to make to move forward as an organization, it was evident that we could not realize all we wished to do."

That's when they turned to Association Management Center in Glenview, Illinois, for help. "We sought an organization that had experience in health care, had demonstrated a commitment to their clients, and had a history of turning organizations around."

Association Management Center terminated AANN's office lease and managed the transition. Like GPI, AANN experienced a financial turnaround and after two strong years is able to invest in new member services and programs. The energy of the board is now focused on strategies to expand services and move the specialty forward.

Filling a gap

The Connecticut Psychological Association, which began in 1963 as a small operation with 47 members, experienced steady growth during the ensuing years and was able to move its operations from being volunteer-managed to a small office with part-time staff. Across the years, the organization flourished, managing the association with a system developed internally. Then suddenly, in July 1997, the executive director announced that she was leaving CPA. With her went the historical knowledge and the ability to manage a membership and financial system that she had created and which was, according to the president, "held together with duct tape."

By 1998, CPA was in dire straits. It had outgrown itself and its capacity to provide the services that its membership expected. Lacking the technology and finances necessary to meld several independent systems into one functional management database, CPA became a floundering organization on the brink of bankruptcy.

That's when CPA leaders knocked on the door of Association Resources, Inc., an association management firm in West Hartford, Connecticut. Four years later, CPA is a successful, 700-member association managed by Association Resources.

In that process CPA, like GPI, AANN, and many other associations in similar situations, learned that giving up an office doesn't detract from an association. It matters not to members where the services come from, just that they happen. CPA leadership also learned that change can create success and that more effective and efficient ways of doing business are possible without losing the essence of the association. CPA also has the advantage of learning from Association Resources' other clients and putting their successes to use in CPA-- an intangible but significant benefit for clients of an association management firm.

Looking for leadership

The Ombudsman Association was managed by a knowledgeable ombudsman who was familiar with professional practice issues and technical industry questions, but had no experience with the myriad issues involved in managing a tax-exempt organization. A member of the search committee went online and discovered professional association management companies after the executive director's retirement in 1999. After conducting a rigorous and thorough search, the committee chose Professional Management Associates in Hillsborough, New Jersey.

PMA performed a transition audit and discovered that there was no insurance protection in place, no policies or procedures, no prospective member database for marketing purposes, no detailed budget or financial statements, and that communication pieces had an amateurish look with a homemade logo.

"PMA has assisted immeasurably in the redesign of our communication pieces and has also contributed to the inclusion of valuable information related to the ombudsman discipline," says Mike Turpenoff, chair of the communications committee. Professional management of the association has resulted in unprecedented growth for the organization and the development of a sound reserve that has contributed to its success and stability.

The association admits that it did not understand the body of knowledge involved in the management of associations and that the education has been an eye-opener. Would they go back to being managed by "one of their own"? Absolutely not.

Joanne J. Cole, CAE, is managing member of Professional Management Associates, LLC, Hillsborough, New Jersey. E-mail: [e-mail].