Principled Innovation LLC

Member support, presence and intimacy

March 7th, 2009

Right now, perhaps more than at any time in recent history, associations very much want to have a real presence in their members’ lives.  The far-reaching implications of a global economic downturn create a possible opportunity for associations to demonstrate their tangible value to members confronted with serious new personal and professional challenges.

Unfortunately, ASAE & The Center’s recently-released economic impact research (443 KB PDF download) suggests association members don’t believe their organizations have the right tools and resources to help them “cope with a down economy.”  According to another new research report (554 KB PDF download), this one from McKinley Marketing, membership retention and acquisition are the top two association priorities for 2009.  If the findings of both reports are to be believed, associations seeking to keep their current members, as well as bring in new ones, could experience major difficulties meeting those goals this year.  What should leaders do?

All associations want to support their members, but doing so successfully today may well depend on the kind of support they are willing and able to offer.  Let me suggest that associations begin thinking about providing a form of “deep support” consistent with the concept presented in the 2004 book, The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff and James Maxmin:

Deep support enables psychological self-determination. It produces time for life. It facilitates and enhances the experience of being the origin of one’s life. It recognizes, responds to, and promotes individuality. It celebrates intricacy. It multiplies choice and enhances flexibility. It encourages voice and is guided by voice. Deep support listens and offers connection. It offers collaborative relationship defined by advocacy. It is founded on trust, reciprocity, authenticity, intimacy, and absolute reliability. 

My idea of “deep support” is less expansive than what Zuboff and Maxmin propose, but probably no less deep.  In fact, there are three specific and related types of deep support associations can organize (or re-organize) themselves to deliver at this time:

+Sense-making support–Members need help building their capacity to think more clearly and creatively during times of ambiguity and complexity.

+Meaning-making support–Members need help building their capacity to situate what is happening in the world around them into a meaningful context so they may better understand potential implications and outcomes.

+Decision-making support–Members need help building their capacity to make good decisions, both personally and professionally, during times of increased uncertainty and anxiety.

The cumulative impact of these three forms of deep support on association members could be profound, making it possible for them to function much more effectively on behalf of their organizations and in their own lives.  Associations can deliver this kind of support, up to a point, by fully adapting existing organizational activities and channels to today’s environment.  For example, traditional education activities can be re-designed to include powerful double-loop learning opportunities based on genuine dialogue and reflection.  But to fill most of the void, associations will need to capitalize on self-organizing peer-to-peer and community collaboration mediated by social software, as well as the careful process of nurturing truly intimate relationships with their stakeholders.

The notion of member intimacy may make some leaders uncomfortable, but if pursued consistently and effectively, it could become the most reliable way for associations to create an authentic, trusted and enduring presence in their members’ lives.  Without question, associations must do more than help their members “cope.”  Coping is an insufficient and unhelpful response to the realities of today’s world because it does not make possible the emergence of new insight or foresight.  A focus on deep support enabled by member intimacy, however, represents a clean break with today’s failed strategies and a commitment to the creation of tangible new value.

As they begin working toward new organizational capabilities for deep support and member intimacy, leaders should consider whether their current approach to managing member engagement is successful.  Sustained member engagement is an essential element of both deep support and member intimacy, since the association’s networks will contribute significantly to co-creating and delivering on both capabilities.  Interestingly, 69% of respondents to the McKinley research reported that responsibility for volunteer engagement is shared across departments.  For the most part, this kind of distributed approach makes sense.  To build new capacity, however, associations may find it necessary to bring a greater measure of strategic focus and discipline to an all-important process that often lacks both, especially when no one group is charged with its coordination.

It is also critical for association leaders to understand that the ideas of deep support and member intimacy do not include either “happy talk” or motivating through fear.  On the one hand, any sense of trust between members and their organizations will be compromised if associations cannot strike the right balance of optimism and realism when talking about what’s happening in the world today.  On the other hand, encouraging members to feel fear and to make questionable choices on the basis of those feelings is simply irresponsible.  There is already plenty of fear and anxiety in today’s environment, and the responsible act for associations is to help reduce it.

One upside benefit of recession is the compelling and comparatively safe opportunities it affords to organizations open to reinventing themselves.  Building a lasting presence in the lives of their members, through deep support and a much increased level of intimacy, is one such opportunity.  Now is the time for forward-looking association leaders to embrace it.

Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, We Have Always Done It That Way, Garage Memes, Embrace the Revolution