Volunteer-Managed Associations: Avoiding Traps

I see one of the most visible results of associations being completely volunteer-managed almost every time I encounter such an association: the organization has, either in the past or at present, lost its standing to do business in the state in which it is incorporated (and, therefore, in other states). Oftentimes, the problem is due to the organization's registered agent being a volunteer who has moved or died or is no longer in the business or profession of the Association. In some states, the registered agent must be an attorney and/or must be a resident of the state in wihch the organization is incorporated. Notices to the registered agent that to unanswered can cause all manner of trouble.

Those pesky annual report requirements tend to get lost or misplaced or simply overlooked by volunteers, many of whom do not have any experience in dealing with state reporting requirements. It is understandable that unpaid volunteers with no previous experience may overlook reporting requirements, but that makes it no less important. While it's usually not the end of the world to lose status, failure to maintain currency of standing can be enormously problematic. For example, directors and officers liability policies may become invalid upon dissolution of corporate status caused by failure to file reports. The IRS can get testy if an organization fails to file annual returns. All sorts of state officials tend to bristle at unauthorized conduct of business within state borders.

This is NOT an argument that all volunteer-managed associations need to immediately seek the services of an association management company. I'll readily admit that many of them simply do not have the financial resources to engage a management company, particularly on an ongoing basis. What I will argue, though, is that volunteer-managed associations need to take steps to ensure that they maintain their good standing with state comptrollers and secretaries of state. Here is a simple and relatively painless way to do that:

• At a predetermined time each year (the beginning of the year often is a good time to start), the Boards of Directors should set aside time to review what filings have been made, what filings are required, and who has responsibility for making filings and reporting back to the Board;
• If the Board is not organized in such a way as to be sure that such an activity will absolutely, certainly take place each year, a "reminder service" of some sort should be paid for (see below);
• If the Board does not know what filings are required, a member of the Board should be assigned the task of exploring state requirements. A couple of good places to start looking: 1) the secretary of state's website and the 2) comptroller of public accounts' website. If the information is not readily available or cannot be found there, a call to a CPA should provide a quick answer at little or no cost.
• Whenever possible, the Board should engage a professional to ensure that appropriate reports are filed, or at least that the Board is notified of the need for filing them. An association management company can be engaged for that purpose at a very low annual fee, as can a CPA or an attorney; for a very basic "reminder" service, the cost should be negligible.

The drudgery of annual reports, tax filings, and the like can cause some people to just ignore them in the hope they will go away. They won't. They will come back to bite the Association, and can do it with a vengenance. Simply ensuring that someone looks into the issue on a regular basis can save the Board from headaches and, in some cases, much worse.

Tough Topics

Politics and religion can be dangerous topics in mixed company. It's hard to know who believes what and what comments might offend people. So, the safest and best route for association executives is to stay away from those topics, right? No. Emphatically, no!

Granted, there are some situations in which it is best to avoid both subject areas, but generally speaking, association executives should be leaders in conversations about areas that are sensitive. Indeed, any leader should feel compelled to talk about, and to encourage discussion about, politics and religion and any other topics that tend to create more heat than light. Why? Because dispassionate discourse can lead to understanding and acceptance or, at the very least, tolerance. And tolerance of divergent views is the cornerstone of any truly successful association and any truly successful association executive. The key is the way in which 'tough' topics are handled.

Association executives should, in my view, set the stage for any tough topics by laying the cards on the table, e.g.,

"We're going to discuss TOPIC A. I know this can be an emotional issue with many people, but I'm counting on everyone to be respectful of every comment, every opinion, and every perspective. It's especially important for those of us with very strong opinions to not only listen to opposing viewpoints, but to try to truly understand and embrace those points of view. Our objective here is not to demonize the opposition but, rather, to reach concensus on compromise."

In my opinion, truly capable association executives are those who actively seek out people with divergent opinions so they can better understand all perspectives. And by leading by example, association executives can, bit by bit, change an organization's culture from one of exclusionary distrust to inclusiveness and philosophical tolerance.

In my own company, I make it a point to tell applicants for employment that this company's philosophy is one of inclusion and tolerance and that we value diversity. We don't just tolerate diversity, it is actively sought out; we value it.

People who cannot be comfortable with diversity in gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, etc. are unlikely to be comfortable in an association environment. After all, associations bring people together from all walks of life, all sort of backgrounds, and all manner of personal experiences. While association members have some common interest or interests, that one commonality is likely to be dwarfed by the vast sea of differences between members.

Association executives have the opportunity to be leaders in promoting tolerance and in promoting the value of diversity. Tough topics are, in fact, tools of leadership that can be used by skilled association executives to make a lasting impact on the organizations with which they are associated.

Imminent Danger

Organizations that do not take seriously the different preferences of their various constituencies are at risk of becoming irrelevant.

When Netflix emerged in 1998, Blockbuster was the king of home video. There was no match, no comparison, no threat. But Netflix changed that. And for quite some time after Netflix introduced its new model of video delivery, Blockbuster behaved as if Netflix posed no danger. That hesitation very nearly cost Blockbuster its existence. Some say it will, yet. But Blockbuster finally recognized that some of its customers really liked home delivery of videos and it began t0 emulate Netflix' business model. Thus far, it has survived. Time will tell whether it acted quickly enough, early enough, to salvage its business.

The Blockbuster experience, regardless of ultimate outcome, is a less for associations: listen to your constituents and know their preferences. If your members want hard copy newsletters, give them hard copy. Sure, it's expensive, but if your members want them badly enough, they will be willing to pay for them. If your members want podcasts and wikis and personalized education, you'd better give them that, too.

In today's business environment, speed is king. Listen fast, act fast. There may come a time when your members will give you time to deliberately assess their needs. There may be a time when you will again have the luxury of testing new products and new modes of delivery to be sure they're right before you launch them. But, for now, you'd better be prepared to act fast, take risks, and pay close attention to your members' rapidly-changing preferences or you're apt to find yourself staggering in the gutter, wondering where the good life went.

Crisis Preparedness is a Business Imperative

The principal difference between most associations and most "normal" businesses is the organizational imperative: make a profit for most "normal businesses" versus advance the interests of the industry/profession for most associations. But, at their hearts, the management of associations and the management of "normal businesses" are virtually the same. They are businesses. And every business needs to have a plan for crisis management.

Some executives scoff at the idea that they, personally, should be involved in planning for crises..."I have people whose responsibility it is to do that for me," they say. I say, nonsense! If the buck stops with you, you had better understand the nature of potential crises and how your organization would respond. Maybe a member of your staff is given operational responsibility for responding, but the chief executive had better know that a plan exists, that it has been tested, and that it is logical, meaningful, and sufficient.

Crises can take literally hundreds of forms, including:

• Weather-related damage/destruction
• Theft of materials or equipment
• Sabotage of business relationships
• Unwelcome media coverage
• Loss of important membership data
• Hacking into organizational websites
• Compromise of member personal/financial data
• Allegations of sexual misconduct by Board or staff
• Embezzlement of association funds
• Death, injury, incapacitation of key volunteer or staff
• Workplace violence, either in association office or in members' environments
• Public revelations of criminal wrongdoings by volunteers or staff
• Natural disaster impacting meetings or other association operations
• Acts of terrorism
• Destruction of physical property by fire

Obviously, the list could go on for pages.

Like every other business, associations must be prepared to respond when crises occur. That is not to say that a crisis response plan must anticipate every potential crisis, but a plan should be malleable enough to provide a roadmap to association staff and volunteers when a crisis does occur.

A crisis response plan should address:

• Who should be notified
• Who will be in charge
• Alternates in the event primary contacts are inaccessible
• Ways to get in touch with all appropriate people to be notified
• How to reach the authorities and which authorities should be contacted
• How to sustain business operations, if relevant
• How to establish alternative operations centers, if appropriate
• Locations of backup data
• Alternate means of communications in the event of power or infrastructure outage
• Etc., etc., etc.

Just consider what you would do if you walked into your office on a Monday morning to discover that a fire has destroyed your office...your network server is gone, all local computers have melted, your telephone system will not work, all your paper files have burned, and to make matters worse, your pyschological counseling association client has a local meeting scheduled for noon that day. What do you do? How do you recover? What if all this happened after another catastrophe the previous Friday, when the association's chief elected volunteer leader was arrested for groping a client?

If you're an association executive who faced such a dreadfully unfortunate scenario, you would be expected to have a plan to recover quickly. Not create a place. Have a plan.

If you're an association volunteer or elected leader, it would behoove you to ask your chief paid staff executive whether such a plan exists. If not, your CEO should be directed to produce one, quickly.

Successful Associations Require Staff Intensity

That's right, successful associations require intensity. There must be intensity in the underlying purpose of the association and in its mission and vision and objectives. There must be intensity in its volunteer leadership. And, most important to my message today, there must be intensity in its staff.

One of the things I've felt passionate about during my career in association management is that staff members must develop an intensity, a firey passion, about the business or profession of the associations with which they work. It's simply not enough to do the work. The work must be done with feeling. It has to matter. When that happens, things begin to happen. Possibilities that were never even considered begin to emerge. Volunteers who had a hard time finding the spare moments to devote to the association start to make time for the association.

Intensity in association staff (and, of course, that includes association management company staff) is an important component of the "fire in the belly" that causes great things to happen. It's not sufficient, but it is necessary. Great things also require committed volunteer leaders and other volunteers who are willing to work...without that, staff intensity will ultimately wither. But when staff intensity is combined with volunteer intensity...watch out!

I'm the first to admit that, for the most part, associations are not institutions that form the bedrock of society, so we mustn't take ourselves too seriously. But we must all understand that our little parts of the world do matter, and that by focusing our intensity on things that make our little parts of the world better, we're making an important difference!

I'll close this first post in our new blog with some comments from some very wise people:

"Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein