The importance of providing professional education opportunities for your members

Association industry research shows that members are seeking professional education opportunities. Here’s how and why to deliver the learning experiences your members want. 

You probably know that association members are looking for ways to further their careers. But do you know just how significant professional education opportunities are to members?  

Let’s look at why it’s important to offer continuing education opportunities to your members and how you can deliver top-notch online learning experiences that meet your members’ needs. 

Why focus on continuing education opportunities for your members? 

Offering continuing education opportunities helps both your members and your association. Consider these benefits:

• Attract and retain more members – Findings from the 2023 Association Trends Study by Community Brands show that help with career advancement is one of the most important benefits to members. By delivering professional education opportunities, you can give your members more of what they want, including skills development, certifications, and credentials, to grow their careers. And providing one of the top benefits members are seeking leads to greater member acquisition and retention. 
• Stay competitive – The association trends study also shows that members are turning more to their professional organization and employer as top sources for professional education. By delivering excellent continuing education opportunities for your members, you can take advantage of this opportunity to stand out as a career growth resource for your members.
• Drive more revenue – As your association becomes the go-to place for continuing education for your industry, you can drive more membership revenue as you attract and retain more members. You can also drive non-dues revenue through sales of educational content. 

How to deliver great professional education experiences for your members 

Your association’s in-person events likely provide training and other professional education opportunities for your members. But members need learning opportunities year-round.   

That’s why it’s important to invest in a modern learning management system (LMS) to provide members with engaging online learning opportunities throughout the year. This approach allows you to accommodate your members’ schedules, learning preferences, and training and certification needs.  

The right LMS will allow you to:

• Easily create and organize courses for your learning program and present them to members via a modern online learning portal  
• Offer online courses that allow members to learn from anywhere, on any device, at their own pace  
• Provide recommended courses and personalized learning paths based on learners’ past activity and career goals  
• Simulate self-prep and conduct high-stakes testing for mock certification and licensure tests 

Crowd Wisdom LMS includes these capabilities and more. It’s the award-winning LMS by Community Brands that’s designed to meet the needs of your learners.  

Crowd Wisdom can also be used with NetForum association management software (AMS) to deliver an unparalleled learning experience, including:  

• Single sign-on and catalog integration – Learners can easily navigate from your website to your e-learning catalog to your member page. Any education products created within your NetForum AMS can automatically be created within Crowd Wisdom, providing a consistent and seamless experience for your members.
• An integrated e-commerce experience – You can create a shopping experience that allows members to purchase your association’s store products and learning products from either your e-commerce store or LMS storefront. A full view of your members’ purchase history can live in your AMS. 
• Easy education credit tracking – You can track learner progress (through quizzes, assessments, checkpoints, attendance, scores, and completions) along with credits earned, through both systems. This gives members greater insight into their learning programs and a comprehensive view of their credits through their AMS member profile. 

Learn more

Learn more about how NetForum AMS and Crowd Wisdom can help your association deliver the professional education opportunities your members seek: Join the webinar Maximizing your CE Program Results with a NetForum & Crowd Wisdom LMS Integration on September 14 at 2 PM ET.