Signs That Standardizing Chapter Technology May Be For You
By now, it’s clear that components (chapters, sections, etc.) play a major role in the success of membership growth for an organization as a whole. The symbiotic relationship of association parents and components means that often one can’t function without the other.
Operations between the two should be in partnership, consistent with organizational goals, and structurally in sync. When associations embrace technology standardization as a strategy to align their components with the mission and goal of the organization the benefits include:
- Streamlined operations and cost savings
- Cross-functional visibility & efficiency
- Automated manual processes
Signs That You Need to Standardize Technology for Your Chapters
As your association grows with new chapters and members, you may also be experiencing some growing pains, including the effects of technological gaps between them.
Ask yourself these questions to reveal the gaps and pains you and your chapters might be facing:
- Are staff at your parent association not focusing the energy they should on their primary job because manual processes get in the way?
- Are you continuously challenged with gathering financial and member data/reporting from all chapters?
- Do you feel like volunteers and chapter officers are overwhelmed and able to spend less and less time on operations because the focus is on membership and events?
- Is maintaining visibility into chapter health difficult and tedious?
Staying ahead of these standards and properly protecting your organizations’ data, assets, and revenue is no simple task.
So what’s all the buzz about?
Here’s why standardizing technology across chapters is all the hype right now:
Organizational and chapter restructuring
Like most associations do, yours has more than likely grown greatly from where it began. The technology needed then may not be up-to-date with your current needs and support further growth. Standardizing your technology allows your association and its chapters to be in complete sync when it comes to communications, data and strategy.
More and more associations are standardizing functions across people, processes, and technology. This objective positions them to achieve cost savings, greater member satisfaction, and improved functionality.
Generational shift – People have less and less downtime, making less time for volunteer hours, leaving chapters in a position where they need to automate or simply processes and take the burden off of running a chapter. In addition to restructuring, technology is often part of the solution.
Why restructuring = technology standardization
- Save time & resources
- Quicker & more accurate processing
- Eliminated manual errors via automation
- Higher membership satisfaction
- Increased cross-functional visibility & efficiency
- Increased productivity
- Predictable transparency
- Greater organizational effectiveness
- Steady cash flow & quality data for organization-wide reporting
