Business Development for Data-Driven Times

Associations have access to more information about member behavior than ever. But many are still slow to apply it to a revenue strategy.

Unsettled political and economic times can be concerning for association leaders and their boards, which can be risk-averse even in boom times. But now is a good time for associations to think about ramping up their business-development strategies—in part because many organizations have already learned how to do it during the pandemic, says Vista Cova consultancy CEO Lowell Aplebaum, FASAE, CAE.

“The pandemic demonstrated the need for at least a rethink of some association business models,” he says. “Organizations that had been solely reliant on their meetings suddenly were challenged. So, there’s a more global understanding of the need for new business line development. But that means you need to create the capacity for that.”

The need to respond to inflation has made that challenge especially acute, says Chris Vaughan, chief strategy officer at Sequence Consulting. “The number-one lesson learned is diversification of revenue,” he says. “Many associations haven’t really developed new products in 30 years, have not looked at their fee structures in decades. So, it’s an extraordinarily painful time for them, and now they’re behind the curve.”