Institute for Organization Management - A Program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

  • About
    • General Information
      • Institute Policies and Procedures
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
    • Recruitment Toolkit
    • Prospective Student Toolkit
    • Media
    • Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions
    • Contact Us
  • Curriculum
    • Core Curriculum
    • Elective Curriculum
    • Webinars & Resource Center
  • Sites & Dates
    • Winter Institute
    • Midwest Institute
    • Southeast Institute
    • Northeast Institute
    • 2023 Institute Schedule
  • Registration
    • Registration
    • Deadlines and Fees
    • Scholarships
      • Enrollment Incentives
      • State Partner Scholarship
    • How To Institute
  • Who’s Who
    • Staff
    • Volunteers
    • Faculty
    • Sponsors
    • Alumni
      • IOM Alumni Database
  • Blog
A PROGRAM OF THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION
 

IOM Blog

September 8, 2020

Making Lemonade with Pandemic Lemons

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” is a phrase used to promote a positive attitude during adversity.  The lemons represent the sourness or difficulties.  Making lemonade is turning them into something positive or desirable.

Many chamber and association executives are making lasting improvements during the pandemic adversity.   A discussion among component executives of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), yielded these ideas for making lemonade.

  1. Training – Stock up on reading materials and resources for staff to enjoy. Start an impromptu mentoring group for your team.  Encourage studying for the CAE or CMP exam next year.  There are ample webinars available for continuous learning.
  2. Government Affairs – Government offices may not be open; don’t let that hinder your advocacy efforts. Use the time to research and update position papers, increase understanding of the PAC, or create a webinar on effective grassroots lobbying for members.
  3. Strategic Plan – Often the strategic plan is a multi-page typed report. Transform it into an eye-catching brochure that communicates value and demonstrates leadership.  Share your visually enhanced strategic direction with members and prospects.
  4. Physical Improvements – Make enhancements at the office. While staff are working remotely it is an opportunity to paint walls, clean rugs and install hardware and software.
  5. Value Statement – Members will be asking about return on investment when dues notices are mailed (“What have you done for me lately?”) Inventory every program and service, identify its worth (ROI), and create a value statement to communicate your efforts and successes during the pandemic.
  6. Sponsorships – Transform sponsorships lost to event cancellations. Identify evolving needs of sponsors.   Design a 2021 sponsor opportunity menu that connects suppliers to members.
  7. Budget – Recast the budget. Identify new revenue line-items.  Adjust the expense savings resulting from meeting overhead and travel.  Work with a CPA to seek stimulus dollars for the organization and it’s charitable foundation.
  8. Foundation – Expand the purpose of the foundation beyond education to address food and housing insecurity, for instance. Collaborate with other foundations to make the greatest impact in the community.
  9. Manuals –Manuals support training and sustainability. Take them off the shelf to make enhancements.   Through the pandemic many chambers and associations have realized there are policies that need to be tweaked.  For the operating procedures manual ask staff to document their best practices.  To update the policies, read recent board minutes to identify any motions that are intended to be long-lasting policies.
  10. Member Database – Use this time to check the database for accuracy. If members are working from home, ask if you have permission to acquire and use their home address during the pandemic.
  11. Insurance Review – Ask your insurance counselor to review policies. The pandemic and other forces may be a need to adjust coverages. Discuss adding cyber-crime and publisher’s insurance.
  12. Governance Efficiency – Nobody can deny the importance of governance being more efficient. Appoint a task force to analyze board size and composition, outcomes, frequency of meetings and the governing documents.

Organizations using time during the pandemic to make lasting improvements will be respected by members while improving operations.

#  #  #

Note:  Bob Harris, CAE, provides free governance tips and tools at www.nonprofitcenter.com.

Avatar photo
Bob Harris, CAE
President
NonProfitCenter.com

There are more than one million nonprofit organizations in the USA. Bob has studied thousands of them to develop best practices. He started his career in Washington D.C. working with Presidential Classroom. He went on to build an association management company in Tallahassee, FL. He is on the faculty for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. He has worked in Amman, Jordan, Tokyo, Japan and Minsk, Belarus to help organizations. He received “Association Partner of the Year” award from Association Trends Magazine in 2012. He has authored books on association management. To improve management he created the Association Self-Auditing Process, used by more than 20,000 organizations. He believes that nonprofit organizations should be as efficient as any commercial business. He’s been dubbed the “Martha Stewart of association management” for providing tips and templates for making management easier. These are available free on his website at www.nonprofitcenter.com.

Note:  Bob Harris, CAE, provides free association and governance tips, articles and templates at www.nonprofitcenter.com

Comments

  1. Bob says

    September 8, 2020 at 12:09 pm

    I have learned from the best – the IOM students.

    Reply
  2. Pat Harris says

    September 9, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Bob is a master of content and delivery. Our members learn so much from his presentations and each year that ask for him to come back to present information on governance. I can think of no other association management presenter who is as knowledgeable and relevant as Bob.

    Reply
  3. Bob Harris says

    September 11, 2020 at 7:53 am

    Today marks 180 days since W.H.O. declared a pandemic. The recipe for making lemonade from lemons: stamina, determination, teamwork, adaptation, innovation – SHAKE, STIR, ADD SUGAR TO TASTE.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
DONATE NOW!
UPDATE CONTACT INFO
Sign-up for Emails
Consultations
Approved Provider
Approved Provider

About

  • General Information
  • Contact Us
  • Curriculum
  • Prospective Student Toolkit

Sites & Dates

  • Winter Institute
  • Midwest Institute
  • Southeast Institute
  • Northeast Institute

Resources

  • Scholarships
  • Faculty
  • Sponsors
  • Update Contact Info
  • Volunteers

Follow IOM

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
IOM Blog

Institute for Organization Management - A program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce © 2023 | Privacy Policy