Friday Buzz: Embrace Volunteer Passion

Even though a volunteer’s term on a board or committee may be over, that doesn’t mean they want to be done with the association. In fact, they may still be passionate about the organization they’ve been a part of.

According to Jeffrey Cufaude of Idea Architects, associations should consider redirecting and leveraging that energy and find a way to make room for them.

“Instead of talking about how to rid themselves of these people, organizations should focus on how to retain the best of what they can bring to their community,” he argues. “It yields a much richer and more respectful conversation.”

Read his full post  (opens in a new tab) for more thoughts.

Understand the Paths

Walk a mile in your members’ shoes to identify areas for improvement. Here are 3 areas to consider when creating member journey maps > > > https://t.co/mWJbAEZeSL  (opens in a new tab) #AssnChat  (opens in a new tab) @AMCInstitute  (opens in a new tab) #YMBlog  (opens in a new tab) #Onward  (opens in a new tab)

— YourMembership (@yourmembership) February 16, 2018  (opens in a new tab)

Your members may start with your association from a variety of vantage points, and the better you understand those, the more effective you’ll be in ser.

Over at the YourMembership blog, the company’s director of product marketing, Peggy Smith, breaks down the perks and benefits of member journey mapping  (opens in a new tab)—particularly in helping you better understand how members interact with your organization and where you could serve them better.

“Members have different reasons for joining your organization, so it’s important to create maps for each of the member experiences after their initial joining period,” she writes.

Other Links of Note

Google changed the way its image search works, as part of a legal settlement with Getty Images. Here’s what’s different  (opens in a new tab).

Sometimes, engagement isn’t the best option. According to Emma Thompson, director of Ashridge Communications, there are always pockets of members who simply aren’t looking to be engaged  (opens in a new tab).

Email design matters. Web Scribble rounds up some important thoughts  (opens in a new tab) on the email marketing front.

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