--- title: "Small and Smart" id: "61202" type: "post" slug: "small-and-smart" published_at: "2025-09-30T19:15:29+00:00" modified_at: "2026-07-11T18:05:56+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/small-and-smart/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/small-and-smart.md" excerpt: "Microcommunities play a crucial role in helping members feel like they belong. Associations can help by making access easy and allowing them to run with limited interference." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Associations Now" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Small and Smart Part of the Deep Dive[The Future of Connection](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/the-future-of-connection/) There are a variety of ways to encourage your members to be a part of your online microcommunity. Last year, the Cornerstone League identified a simple one: Don’t ask members to pay for the privilege. Cornerstone League is a trade association representing credit unions in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma. It had gone through a series of restructurings and mergers that were completed in 2023, which included online communities for its various council groups dedicated to different parts of credit union operations. Previously, Cornerstone had members pay an annual $25 fee for group access. After the merger, it changed tactics and decided to treat it as a member benefit. “We thought, ‘Let’s rip that barrier off,’” says Cornerstone League VP of Operations and Engagement Sarah Bowman. “The Kansas and Missouri credit unions [whose group had merged with Cornerstone] are not used to paying that. It’s not like we were dependent on that income.” With the groups established and the additional price tag removed, the association could focus more on supporting the individual parts of the association’s communities and launched new ones for young professionals and CEOs. To stoke engagement, Bowman says, the association asks each community to produce a number of “virtual engagement opportunities” such as webinars, alongside topical discussions. “We’re connectors, we’re the place that facilitates cooperation among the cooperatives, so this gives us another means to connect,” Bowman says. ## Post-COVID Growth Online communities, like those run by the Cornerstone League, have played an increasingly substantial role in an association’s operations since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted members to move their connections online. “Before COVID, there wasn’t really too much engagement in that area of the application,” says Davendra Raghubir, project manager for AMO, an AMS platform. “A lot of stuff for associations were always in person. Once COVID happened, all of a sudden, I was getting requests every single week, people asking us about our group system.” Carrie Hartin, president of MCI USA, an association consultancy, says that for many associations those communities have become places where members can discuss issues with more immediacy and flexibility. “In places where it’s been harder for members to discuss more timely issues, those microcommunities have had a lot of purpose,” Hartin says. [Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Tags: [#Associations Now](https://associationsnow.com/tag/associations-now/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## More in this Deep Dive - [A Place To Belong](https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/a-place-to-belong/) - [How Associations Can Embrace Automation While Strengthening Human Connection](https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/how-associations-can-embrace-automation-while-strengthening-human-connection/) - [Intentionality and Intimacy: The Keys to Virtual Networking Success](https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/intentionality-and-intimacy-the-keys-to-virtual-networking-success/) - [Strategic Serendipity at Meetings](https://associationsnow.com/2025/09/30/strategic-serendipity-at-meetings/) [View the full Deep Dive →](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/the-future-of-connection/) ## You Might Like - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [VideoThe Career Moves Every Association Leader Needs Right NowSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/the-career-moves-every-association-leader-needs-right-now/) - [VideoNCRA: Safeguarding Cancer Surveillance: An Advocacy Response to FY26 Budget ThreatsSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/ncra-safeguarding-cancer-surveillance-an-advocacy-response-to-fy26-budget-threats/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2025%2F09%2F30%2Fsmall-and-smart%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !