Octavio Peralta

MOST of us are familiar with the term “return on investment,” or ROI, a metric that helps us understand the profitability of an investment. ROI is the ratio of net income (over a period) to investment (costs of investing a resource at a certain point in time). A high ROI means the investment has made significant gains compared to its cost.

JANUARY, named after the Roman god Janus, is the time for beginnings and transitions. It is the first month of the year when you start planning and set new goals. The pandemic, however, has added a new dimension in the way organizations now plan and operate.

THE expression “same old same old” means the same thing has always happened, been done, or talked about but not acted upon, which implies that such thing tends to be monotonous, boring or unacceptable.

IF you have a motorcycle, then you know that to make its engine run, you need to kick-start it by pushing a ratcheting lever with your foot. Figuratively, “to kick-start” is to kick off a project or initiative, i.e., start a process and get things in motion. To kick-start also means to make something happen more quickly or improve on it.

A social enterprise is a business organization created to advance a social purpose in a financially sustainable way. If you take out the words “enterprise” and “business” from the first sentence, doesn’t it sound like a definition of an association?

THE Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking officer in charge of the overall management of an organization. In the association context, the CEO title varies (President, Executive Director or Secretary General).

IN my experience in over 30 years—and counting—as an association executive, I have come to the conclusion that leadership is about people, planning and passionate execution or what I call the “3 Ps of Leadership.” This is sub-divided into four elements with the acronym “LEAD.”

SUSTAINABILITY used to have different meanings at different times to different people but gained a more universally common and acceptable definition over time.

NEVER has digital technology development and innovation for associations accelerated than during the Covid-19 global pandemic. New and enhanced video-conferencing platforms, learning-management systems, association-management software, online communities and the like proliferated in the association world in such a short time.

IN this 300th column (thank you, BusinessMirror, for this milestone!), I will touch upon a topic close to my heart as this has been a part of my work and advocacy on association management.

THERE is no arguing that associations and business organizations learn from each other on management practices and models. For example, some businesses have adopted the associations’ membership-like activities while some associations have undertaken business-like revenue generating ventures.

IN a webinar organized by BoardPro Ltd., a board management software company in Australia, I saw a video that tackled ways to create effective minutes for board meetings.

YOU must have heard these terms before: change agent, change champion, change ambassador, or change catalyst. It means someone within or outside the organization who promotes and enables a new way of improving things, e.g., business model transformation, management restructuring, process reengineering, or digital adoption.

YOU must have heard of the oft-cited business term “pivot,” which means a company altering an aspect(s) of its core products or services to better meet demand, changing their target market, boosting sales or any combination of these. It could also mean adopting a significant change to its operations or business model. The end goal of a pivot is to help the company survive and thrive.

THE Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Asia’s first convention center, has reached another milestone in its 46 years of existence. The National Museum of the Philippines has officially declared it as a National Cultural Treasure (NCT). The PICC complex is itself a work of art by National Artist for Architecture Leandro V. Locsin.

AS I was thinking about what to write for this week’s column, I chanced upon a short article entitled “People Forget” from “Our Daily Bread,” a 365-day devotional booklet I read first thing in the morning. It tells the story of a churchgoer who curiously asked the priest why he repeats his sermon from time to time, to which the pastor replied, “People forget.”

To say the Philippines is a basketball-crazy nation is an understatement.

AN avocado is a fruit with a hard inner core and a soft layer around it. Thus, an “avocado leader” can refer to one with innate business skills and a humane approach to managing people.

ASSOCIATIONS are not in the events business but in the community-building and communications business. This means that associations have to take a step back and reimagine the way they are building their communities and what the long-term member engagement strategy could look like. Digital is not a threat, but a massive opportunity for associations to engage and grow their communities and have bigger, more continuous, impact.

LIKE the legendary phoenix, associations have begun to gradually rise from the ashes of the pandemic—from holding purely remote and virtual communication that kept the members at bay, to cautiously holding blended and in-person events. The question to ask in the context of communication is, “What communication approaches do associations need at this time?”

A year after the founding of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) in November 2013, it has embarked on an ambitious plan to develop its own credentialing program to advance association governance and management for associations and other member-serving organizations in the country.

ASSOCIATIONS do public good but not many of these good deeds are known to the public. In my talks to associations in my capacity as founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), I always tell my audience, “Doing good is one thing but communicating this good to the public is another matter.”

MEMBERSHIP engagement sits right in the middle of the US-based Marketing General, Inc.’s five-stage membership lifecycle framework which consists of awareness, recruitment, engagement, retention and reinstatement. Being in the middle of the lifecycle is auspicious as membership engagement determines success for the association if done well and failure if neglected.

THE most common question that a prospective association member asks is: “What value do I get from being a member?” From the perspective of the association, it is about planning, developing, organizing, and communicating its value proposition.

ASSOCIATION develop a range of products and services for their members—from education, certification, standards, and events, to networking programs —sometimes too many to handle. Prioritization on which and where to start could pose a challenge.

AS a kid growing up, I have always been fascinated with anything futuristic: aliens, spaceships, galaxies, universe and the like. While these things still attract me to this day, the “futurist” in me has ventured into other topics such as trends, scenarios and foresights, to enrich my professional life.

IS association volunteering still viable? This is the question Peggy Hoffman, president of Mariner Management, posed in a recent webinar organized by the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) entitled, “Re-engaging Members as Volunteers in Across the Spectrum.” Mariner Management is a US-based association management company and consultancy.

THE word, “governance” is derived from the Greek verb, kubernaein, which means “to steer.” However, the use of the term in its current broader sense gained prominence only in the 1990s due to fraud and malfeasance in public and private institutions, as well as subsequent reports and norms disseminated by multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank and laws enacted by governments (e.g., the US Sarbanes and Oxley Act).

“THE way a board agenda is structured will dynamically affect the quality of board focus and its ability to handle the big decisions that are required to create the future. This is further supported by the quality of board reports that provide succinct, focused information that facilitates the Board to understand the choices they have.”

MY friend, Lowell Aplebaum, is an avid reader of any publication that covers topics on strategy, leadership and management. He is the founder and CEO of the US-based Vista Cova, a group of expert facilitators who support strategic planning, member engagement and governance design for associations.

RICHARD M. Caballero is a man on a mission.

YOU must have heard or used the idiomatic and colloquial expression, “keeping the fire burning,” or similar variations. In the context of associations, it is keeping a sense of connectedness and belonging in a community setting.

I first came to know about the term “diversity and inclusion,” or “D&I,” as a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). In August 2011, its board of directors approved a 3-year D&I strategic plan anchored on the principle that a diverse and inclusive organization is one that can attribute high performance to composition, culture and infrastructure for collaboration.

IN my post about five years ago on October 5, 2017, “Beyond Traditional Revenue Sources,” I wrote about non-dues revenues (NDRs) which associations are now opting for as an alternative or supplemental business model. Aggravated by the pandemic, the days of associations relying mainly on membership dues to survive is over.

I only became familiar with association member onboarding midway in my career as an association executive. I knew much earlier the concept of onboarding is commonly used in human resource management, which refers to the process of fully integrating new employees into the workplace and to bring them “on board” to the company culture. Onboarding thus goes beyond what we knew as orientation as it takes longer and involves not only HR officers, but also co-workers, managers and mentors.

IF there’s one field in business management that I will find difficult to perform, it will be marketing. Take the “4Ps” of marketing into account—product, price, place and promotion—then the challenge becomes more complicated.

I usually start my day reading a page in “Our Daily Bread,” a 365-day devotional booklet where I find inspiring human stories and biblical passages to deepen my faith. Since it’s Holy Week, the most sacred week in the Christian church year, I’m sharing a few short captions from the publication. I labeled these anecdotes in relation to associations, their work, and advocacies.

I FIRST heard the phrase “it’s lonely at the top” decades back when I took up a university leadership course. I learned then that many executives shared the sentiment that more than half of CEOs experience feelings of loneliness in their careers.

SEPTUAGENARIANS like myself are supposed to be enjoying retirement time, taking it slow and easy, playing with grandkids, traveling and visiting friends and relatives, catching up on readings, or writing memoirs. But here I am and still at it, helping a non-profit organization build a secretariat team, volunteering for an association to build an online community, and working with the family to build a house in our hometown.

THIS was the question I wanted to ask association leaders but haven’t had the chance to do until recently when it was answered in a webinar I attended.

EVERY association expects to have continuity in times of uncertainty. As an association leader, I’m sure you’ve been asked this question before: “Why do we need a succession plan if I am still working as an executive director or serving as a Board Chair?”

I was first introduced to strategic planning ten years into the start of my professional career when I joined the management team of a big financial institution. Then I got more familiar with it when I became a member of the C-suite of an international association. So, 30 years later, I am now confident to facilitate a strategic planning session.

THE “stone soup story” is an old tale that has many versions and variations. It tells of a poor and hungry man who came to a village asking for food; but no one wanted to spare. So he puts water and a stone in a pot and boiled it over a fire. Curious and intrigued, the villagers watch him as he starts to stir his “soup.” Eventually, one villager brings a couple of potatoes to add to the mix then others followed suit with a few carrots, onions and a handful of herbs. A farmer donates salt, pork and milk. All of a sudden, the “stone soup” becomes tasty chowder!

THE Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (Pcaae) recently conducted a webinar entitled, “Membership performance during lockdown: How to support your team to focus on action that will set you up for future success.”

ASSOCIATIONS, by definition, are organizations or groups of individuals affiliated with one another that share a common purpose, interest or mission. They exist for the mutual enrichment and advancement of their members and of the community where they belong.

THE perennial question of a prospective member an association’s membership recruitment officer must answer is: “What’s in it for me?” or “WIIFM.” Your prospect’s needs should be top of mind as you make your marketing pitch, as it will be considered from the point of view of WIIFM. That’s why it’s critical to talk about the benefits of membership rather than the features of your products services—literally telling your prospects what’s in it for them.

I thought of sharing with you a short piece on the local association community from the perspective of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (Pcaae).

AS we usher in the New Year, it’s but fitting to salute all associations, their leaders, members, and volunteers, for being resolute, resilient and re-imaginative during this pandemic. Having attended hundreds of virtual association meetings, forums, and conferences these past two years, I have come to a conclusion that associations everywhere have adapted and survived this global crisis.

I wish to share with you seven top takeaways on association management which I curated from the 49 articles I have written and published in this column in 2021.

IN such a short time, the pandemic has completely changed the way associations have organized and conducted their events.

MEMBER engagement has always been a challenging task for associations as it straddles right between recruitment and retention in the membership journey. It actually starts during prospecting and accelerates when a member joins. It must be sustained during membership; otherwise, retaining the member will be difficult.

YOU might have heard the phrase “building back better.”

I have never thought in my wildest dreams I will be a rock star! Recently, I had my “20-minutes of fame” as I was interviewed by Associations Rockstars, a US-based peer group created during the onset of the pandemic and now has over 600 members. It is one of the brands of Vista Cova, a boutique firm of expert facilitators headed by Lowell Aplebaum, which supports strategic planning, member engagement and governance design.

I RECENTLY attended a webinar presented by American association management expert and consultant, author, and professional speaker Mary Byers, entitled “The Race for Relevance in Post-Pandemic Times.” The webinar was organized by “Answers for Associations,” an Australian online community of associations headed by Angela Shelton.

WHAT do the Black Death (mid-1300s), Spanish Flu (1918-1920) and Covid-19 pandemics have in common, aside from causing the death of millions? They were all universal adverse events that have changed the world forever.

I recently participated in a virtual meeting of the European Society of Association Executives, with the theme “How to Run a Lean Secretariat?” As part of ESAE’s “Association Leadership Circle” series, the session aimed to exchange experiences and case studies among its members on how to achieve an outstanding performance despite limited resources. The pandemic has made this challenge even more daunting.

WHETHER you are a first-time association CEO or a veteran CEO moving to another association, the first 90 days are crucial in terms of taking stock, building relationships and setting directions and priorities.

3D is the abbreviated form for three dimensional. In geometry, a three-dimensional shape is a solid figure or object that has width, height and depth.

CAN an international tennis umpire transition to become an adept association CEO? What umpiring skills can be effective assets in managing an association and in relating with the association’s staff and governing board?

“CHANGE can be disruptive at the best of times, but the kind of massive and unprecedented change we’ve experienced from Covid-19 is especially challenging and will be with us for a long time. There’s no doubt we need a new mindset and skillset to manage, embrace, and thrive in the future.”

IT has been over four decades ago when integrity as a virtue was first ingrained in my consciousness as an individual and as a professional—first as a banker in the mid-70s to the late 80s, and then as an association executive from then on.

ONE lesson I learned early during this pandemic is the need to plan short term as everything is tentative and fleeting. So I invited Dot Miller, founder and CEO of The Solutions, a management company based in Colorado, United States of America., to speak to our association community on “Sprint Strategies: How to Engage your Members to Move your Organization Forward.”

AS a banker in my previous career before I became an association executive, I have learned the “5 Cs” of the credit process: character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions. These 5 Cs are used to assess the creditworthiness of a borrower.

THE beginning of the year is usually member renewal time for most associations. This is when associations send their renewal letters to members that include a billing statement for the payment of their annual membership dues.

WHEN relating to existing and prospective members, many associations still fall into the trap of communicating value by enumerating their knowledge content, products, and features instead of highlighting what members value more: solving problems, advancing careers or the industry, or linking them up with their peers and their markets. The pandemic has amplified these needs from members.

I have read that there are two sacred cows in association management dynamics: governance structure and membership model. Based on my experience, there is some truth to this observation. Most associations are either reluctant or unable to advance the idea of touching, let alone changing, these two critical issues for fear of prolonged and heated discussions within the board and among members.

ON the invitation of the Brussels-based AssociationWorld Foundation, I recently attended its webinar on “Moving from Governance to Good Governance” together with 37 participants from international and European associations and non-profit organizations. The virtual event was also an occasion to launch its “Good Governance for Associations Initiative” campaign in collaboration with international and European key partners.