"For generations the key to successful association management was in taking care of your members. Know their names and apply a lot of TLC and the membership numbers will take care of themselves.

However, for the past decade, associations as well as professional societies have found it increasingly difficult to attract and to retain members. In response association managers have resorted to every membership marketing technique conceivable including “improved member communications,” incentive gifts, discounts and other special treatment of one kind or another. Yet in most cases the return on investment has been disappointing. How frustrating then for these managers to witness associations that seem to attract members effortlessly.

The Orlando-based Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) represents such a case. Although IIA managers work hard to be responsive to member needs, the underlying secret to their success is tied to the same causes that have made attracting and retaining members such a nightmare for associations: They have identified, defined, and set themselves up to deliver the cutting-edge products and services needed by an increasingly insecure and competitive market.

In virtually every survey of association membership, the first advantage people cite for belonging to an organization is networking. But networking is really only a fringe benefit of a program or organization that has succeeded in attracting a critical mass of people and companies in the first place. In the general camaraderie of association meetings it is easy for association managers to lose track of the somewhat stark fact that people are there because they are seeking to acquire the competitive advantages they need to survive. The tools that give them “survivability” consist of enhanced professional skills, knowledge and experience of best practices methodologies, and the marketable diplomas or certificates that certify their level of expertise.

The IIA had studied its market and had developed these tools. In addition, they had effectively established their brand image as the only reputable place where these products and services could be acquired. As a result of this preparation, IIA has seen double-digit revenue growth—the bulk of which comes through the sale of its products and services to non-members at non-member prices. The IIA’s membership also has grown, but this is a secondary benefit, not the driving factor behind the association’s strategy.

Being market-driven can open vast new possibilities for associations. For example IIA realized that its market was global in scope and that in fact the opportunities outside the United States were far greater than in the domestic market alone. Although it is a professional society serving the needs of the individuals in a given profession, IIA also discovered a useful niche in serving the professional training needs of corporations and government. Being strictly a member-focused organization is to be blind to new opportunities. IIA demonstrates that a market-driven approach is the way to thrive in a competitive market.

In this scenario members are indeed important. Their input guides the organization and the products and services it develops and delivers. But these members are attracted to the organization precisely because it serves a market that is far bigger than the membership itself—and that has been the key to IIA’s success!