POWERING AN ASSOCIATION
Leadership & Operational Management
Idea Bright staff provides executive leadership and operational management for INA, serving as the association's staff.
Through this partnership, I serve as INA's executive director and my fellow colleagues provide other key functions within the association's daily operations.
We bring more than 40 years combined nonprofit leadership experience to INA, plus a range of built-in technical, program, and partnership capacities.
This fractional staffing model not only increased INA's staff capacity, it reduced INA's annual operating budget by 45%.
Fixing the Member Value Proposition
Prior to working with Iowa Nonprofit Alliance, the association had a weak member value proposition. Annual dues were expensive, benefits were one-size-fits-all, and member feedback indicated the value just wasn't there.
We worked closely with INA's board of directors to:
1. build a new website
2. develop a member management platform that could meet the current and future needs
3. re-vamp membership tiers
4. significantly reduce dues for organizations
5. introduce a slew of additional member benefits
A Network Approach
The biggest change we made, though, was evolving the association's strategy to function as the primary network connecting nonprofits and enabling peer learning across the sector within Iowa.
This strategy enables all association members to become active co-creators of the network (not just beneficiaries), providing content and building network value. This creates a much richer experience for members while also reducing the burden on staff to continually develop content and create new value.
Outcomes (so far)
After just a few months, this model has already generated significant results.
Annual operating expenses reduce by 45%
INA increased from no cash reserves to 10 months cash reserves
INA engaged 2 new funders to support programming & events
Annual conference expanded to a 2-day event, second 1-day conference launched.
Improved member feedback regarding ease of use within website & member platform