Eight ways to innovate at your association in 2024

With 2024 fast approaching, it’s wise to reflect on the state of your association and overall member experience. During the past year, did your organization experience disruption in the form of a shrinking budget or a smaller staff?  
 
If so, you’re not alone! Many associations experienced challenges in boosting member engagement efforts and providing quality programming. However, not all disruption needs to remain negative. 
 
Your association can learn from past challenges to adopt innovative strategies and better equip your staff and members for 2024. Here’s how to get started.  

How to innovate at your association in 2024 

To drive innovation within your association, you’ll need to adopt flexible practices across your organization, prioritizing new opportunities to support your staff, members, and key stakeholders with modern association management software (AMS). As you work with your leadership team, stakeholders, staff, and members to build lasting change, you’ll create a vision that propels your association into the future.  
 
Becoming a trailblazing organization requires the best AMS to support your strategies and goals. Here are eight innovative software features your association should prioritize in 2024:

1. Artificial Intelligence

Has your organization considered leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Regardless of your goals for 2024, AI has the potential to help you exceed member expectations, boost recruitment and retention efforts and alleviate staff stress.

Here are two vital ways AI can help your association innovate in the New Year:

• Offer easy membership renewal. With AI, your association can streamline the membership renewal process by sending automatic reminders to members in danger of lapsing. Choose AI to assist staff as they automate membership dues and process online transactions.
   
• Boost membership retention. Selecting AI makes your organization innovative because your staff can leverage member data to predict if an individual is unlikely to renew, then act before losing the membership. When you use AI predictions, you’ll become proactive about member retention, helping you fight churn.

Choose Nimble AMS, for the powerful combination of Salesforce Einstein AI and Nimble AMS Predictions. Using Nimble AMS Predictions will give your association deep insights into your member data, helping you understand what actions you should take, based on extensive membership reporting options.

2. Online community

Having an online community platform is crucial for boosting innovative inroads with your members. The latest Community Brands Association Trends Study found that nearly half of the surveyed association members used their organization’s online community. Those members who have used it report higher loyalty metrics. They also report a strong sense of community (52%) versus those who don’t (20%).

Increase member engagement with your online community platform by prioritizing the following solutions:

• Personalized member journeys. Within your online community, offer your members customized content feeds based on their activities and interests. Personalizing member content will keep members engaged and invested in your community.
   
• User-friendly community management. With the right tech, make it easy for staff to automate community processes like sorting members into groups and accessing pre-built, branded templates to customize your platform. Gain valuable member behavior insights to streamline your efforts about engagement and retention.

Activate the Nimble AMS online platform, Nimble Communities, to elevate member engagement. Provide a safe space for members to network and socialize while driving member retention and loyalty. Leverage valuable insights about member-generated touchpoints to boost your association’s retention efforts.

3. Learning program

Members join associations for the benefits. According to Community Brands research, 51% of surveyed members said their top valued benefit is certifications/credentials and training opportunities.

Offer more member value by investing in innovative technology solutions in 2024:

• Learning management software (LMS). Individuals join organizations to complete certification/credentialing requirements and for professional development opportunities. By choosing an LMS that integrates with your AMS, you can elevate member engagement by offering webcasts, on-demand webinars, and self-paced education courses.

When you integrate with Crowd Wisdom, a Community Brands LMS, your organization will level up the current member experience by offering a highly personalized online learning solution.

4. Career advancement opportunities

Community Brands research has found that organizations continue to undervalue career advancement opportunities. Now more than ever, members want help with career development. 48% of members believe career advancement help is vital, while only 26% of association professionals place importance on career advancement. 

Become your industry’s go-to career resource in 2024. Here’s how to offer this valuable member benefit:

• Career center software. Your members are always looking for career advancement insights and job opportunities. Foster your members’ careers by investing in a career center solution that integrates with your AMS, offering innovative career pathing resources, job board technology, placement services, and career coaches. 

Integrate Nimble AMS with YM Careers, Community Brands software created to boost your members’ careers and increase member retention and recruitment.

5. Automation

You can optimize hundreds of staff processes with innovative tech. Are you ready to automate key organizational processes, improving your staff and member experiences?

Look for an AMS that offers these important features:

• Point-and-click configuration. Select an innovative AMS that offers simple point-and-click configurations. Using clicks-not-code is central to the process of empowering your staff to build workflows to automate your organizational processes.
    
• Flow builder tool. To further streamline your automation process, look for an AMS that helps you get the job done. Building a flow allows you to target any organizational issue. With an AMS flow builder tool, your staff can create the needed automation within minutes.  

Nimble AMS saves your staff valuable time by automating complex business processes. By using clicks-not-code, staff can specify process criteria to automatically update or create new records, send membership reminder emails, complete routine tasks, or submit approval requests – all in a few simple steps.

6. Modern e-commerce

Elevate your members’ e-commerce experience with an AMS that offers innovative shopping options. Drive more revenue to your association and support a superior member experience when you choose tech with the following criteria:

• Drive more revenue. With an innovative AMS, boost revenue in your organization’s e-commerce site in 2024. Look for a solution that offers automated abandoned cart emails to deliver a positive member e-commerce experience and prompts members to return to forgotten purchases.
   
• A personalized e-commerce member experience. Choose an AMS that offers a cross-selling functionality to encourage customized shopping recommendations for your members. Highlighting personalized merchandise recommendations on your e-commerce site will encourage more individuals to shop, helping you surpass your revenue goals.

With the Nimble AMS Lightning Store, you’ll have the power of intuitive marketing to reach thousands of members and one-time customers, converting them to life-long members with effective e-commerce. Personalize e-commerce for members with the Lightning Cross Sell feature and highlight related merchandise for customers. Drive more revenue to your association when you create automated abandoned cart emails, prompting members to return to their purchases.

7. Continuous software upgrades

To innovate in 2024, your association will need the latest technology. Look for an AMS that offers routine updates to eliminate the risk of software failure. The latest technology will empower your organization to increase efficiency and enhance the staff and member experience.

Here’s how:

• Continuous innovation. Does your organization leverage the latest features your software has to offer? To effectively manage and enhance your membership experience, you’ll want an AMS that provides routine updates at no additional cost. Using updated software features will help you meet and exceed your organizational goals.  

Nimble AMS provides continuous innovation with three annual software updates. In 2024, Nimble AMS customers will experience a total of six product upgrades including three dedicated Salesforce releases and three dedicated Nimble AMS updates. Always access the latest technology and empower your entire organization with Nimble AMS.

8. Mobile capabilities

Statista reported that 85% of Americans now own a smartphone, with men and members of higher-income groups leading smartphone usage trends. When you prioritize an AMS with mobile capabilities, both your staff and members will appreciate connecting with their networks, from the convenience of their phones.

Here’s how to grant immediate value to staff and members with a mobile-friendly AMS:

• Staff. What would it be like if your team could collaborate from anywhere, all with the simple swipe of one’s phone? With a mobile-responsive AMS, your staff will have access to your entire database in their pocket, transforming team efficiency and communication, and driving you towards innovation. 
   
• Members. Choosing a mobile-responsive AMS will help your association boost its member engagement efforts. Going mobile will make it simple for members to sign up for an upcoming professional development course, connect with your virtual community, or register for your annual conference.

Are you ready to supercharge your organization for success in 2024?

Prepare your organization for the New Year by downloading our free whitepaper: Four steps your association can take for a digital transformation.

Download now