Welcome to the first issue of On Associations, our new email newsletter about how associations really create member value and growth.
Every other week, I’ll share a short reflection shaped by my unexpected mix of a PhD in philosophy and two decades helping membership organizations grow.
I bring a philosopher’s skepticism for easy answers and a strategist’s focus on outcomes through Sequence Consulting, a strategy firm focused exclusively on helping associations grow and thrive.
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Thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to the conversation.
Chris
Chris Vaughan, PhD
Chief Strategy Officer & Cofounder, Sequence Consulting
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisvaughanphd
I’m often invited to board retreats. The sticky notes fly, the smiles spread … and three years later, the “new” plan looks suspiciously familiar. Same bullets, new dates.
That’s the inside of the jar.
Associations are very good at convening smart, committed people. We’re less good at seeing ourselves clearly. When you’ve lived inside an organization for years - its rituals, its committees, its acronyms - you know the texture of the glass by heart. But you can’t read the label from in there. And if you can’t read the label, you can’t change what’s in the jar.
As a philosopher by training, I’m allergic to plans that are really just opinions with formatting. A plan is a promise about the future. It deserves evidence. In practice, that means building a shared set of facts that everyone - board, staff, even skeptics - can recognize as reality. When we do that, the strategic conversation gets calmer and faster. Alignment stops being a personality contest and becomes an act of stewardship.
So what does “outside-in” actually look like?
1) Listen beyond your fan club.
Talk to members, of course - but also to non-members and low-engagement members. Your most engaged people see a different association than everyone else. One large society we worked with was beloved for a flagship journal - but most potential joiners had no idea the other 90% of the value existed. That was on them, not their members.
2) Claim your “right to win.”
There’s a place where your unique assets meet an audience’s unmet needs. That intersection is where you have the right to win - and it should anchor your value proposition, your offers, and your story. When an association can say, “We are for these people, because we can deliver this - and no one else can,” marketing gets much easier, and growth stops feeling like pushing a rope.
3) Make strategy shared - and transparent.
People support what they help build. Share what you’re learning as you learn it. Socialize early drafts beyond the board. When stakeholders later see themselves in the plan, adoption isn’t an edict - it’s recognition.
A word about timing. In the last year I’ve seen a shift from post-COVID “restructuring” (fix the dues, rethink the model) to urgency around execution. Leaders want to know, “What exactly are we going to do?” That urgency is healthy - but only if the plan is built to move.
A good strategic plan does two things at once:
It chooses - three to five priorities that concentrate resources and attention.
It breathes - tactics that can evolve as reality changes without rewriting your purpose every quarter.
During COVID, the organizations that grew kept their goals steady and swapped initiatives quickly. The compass didn’t change; the route did. The same discipline serves you now - whether the uncertainty comes from technology, economics, or your own market.
If all of this sounds simple, it is. It’s just not easy. Inside the jar there are always reasons to be cautious. We love our legacy programs. We worry about disappointing a vocal committee. We mistake volume for value. I get it. I’ve been that voice in my own business.
But here’s the thing I’ve learned after two decades of doing this work: clarity is energizing. When people see the same world, they make bolder choices. When you tell the truth about member value, members feel it. When the plan is truly outside-in, change stops being a slogan and starts being visible.
A motion on the floor: before your next planning meeting, find one fact from outside your walls that would force you to rethink a cherished assumption. A number. A quote. A competitor’s move. Bring it into the room and let it change the conversation.
I’d love to hear what’s on your label. Just hit reply and tell me.
- Chris