School started today for the Minneapolis Public Schools. Summer has come and gone and the hustle and bustle of fall is right at our doorstep. Adjusting to a new season of extra curricular activities, school functions, homework, events and more, can be challenging. It’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. And just as life gets hectic in our own personal lives, it’s likely your association activity will spike as well.
To keep stress at bay and set yourself up for success, we advise creating a to-do list. Section off your tasks by day or week and set manageable goals for yourself and employees. Research has actually shown that to-do lists “dampen anxiety about the chaos of life… give us a structure, a plan that we can stick to; and they are proof of what we have achieved that day, week or month,” says Psychologist and author Dr. David Cohen. So before you mentally unravel when looking at the lengths of work you need to accomplish, evaluate, organize and prioritize a list of to-dos.
Check out our top to-dos below.
Start with a clean workstation
Before you put pen to paper, prioritize a quick clean up. Remove clutter, organize paper work and wipe down surfaces. Simply starting with a fresh workstation can improve productivity.
Organize Membership Database
Not only does a clean, workable database improve your productivity, but it also clues you in on metrics like member engagement, acquisition, retention, and churn. If your database is a chaotic mess of expired members, inactive records or incorrect records, you’ll miss important correlations.
Take time each day to sort through your database. Purge inactive records, organize member types and edit profiles so your data is consistent. Though this is a tedious task, it is necessary to operate at optimal level.
Content Calendar
If you have a blog or active discussion area of your website, sit down with the team and develop a content calendar. Develop topics, themes or a series. If you’re struggling with content creation, check out our recent post on content inspiration. Here at AMO, we use Trello, a project management tool that allows us to assign projects and add due dates so everyone stays on track.
Not convinced your association needs a blog? See how ArcStone, our parent company, quadrupled their web traffic in 2 years from blogging alone.
Event Offerings
Events are a great way to generate non-dues revenue and engage your members. Set aside an afternoon with the team to come up with a list of exciting events for the year. Break it down month by month. Survey your members and ask what they’d like to see.
End of Summer Recap
Speaking of events, wrap up the summer by hosting a BBQ or picnic. Relive summer moments and get members excited for the upcoming year. Announce any upcoming events or tease a cool program you’ll be rolling out come fall.
Membership Sale
End your summer with a bang by lowering prices and see a spike in membership. Create urgency by closing the sale after a week.
Organize, prep and communicate
Starting the “busy” season doesn’t have to be stressful. Preparationation is key! Communicate with your team and prioritze specific tasks to acheive your goals.