From the Associa
tions Now article How KPIs Can Make Volunteer Groups More Successful Hannah Carvalho shares how ASID leveraged KPIs to better server members.
“While associations often rely on key performance indicators to measure financial and operational success, they can also be used to track the impact of volunteer groups. Implementing KPIs will not only help strengthen committee projects and initiatives but also the goals of the larger association.”
We applaud that ASID understands the outcome orientation of successful associations. Success is defined in terms of impact not activity. Their process for planning strategically is driven by vison and value. Their process uses but is NOT driven by an opinion-based SWOT of current conditions, or market research that is skewed in response and outdated by the time it is interpreted, or data that by definition describes the past.
To sustain relevance (a dynamic state), it functions like a continuously adjusting GPS rather than like a static roadmap. adjust strategy in response to changes in the environment or experience in implementation. Such measurement also allows the association and its work groups to demonstrate that progress is being made and support the need of high performing groups to be able to celebrate success along the way.
Examples of other associations benefiting over the years from using the same knowledge based participatory approach to the process of planning strategically include: the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, The Montana School Boards Association, the International Sign Association, and the American Planning Association. All are multiyear alumni of ASAE’s CEO Symposium where this practical and proven approach is examined.
