As the former executive director of a national association, Vicki Whitmell, Principal Consultant of Whitmell & Associates, is well aware of the challenges facing associations as they seek to grow and provide a wide level of services to their members.

Vicki's expertise in the day-to-day management of both large and small associations has led to her development of an affordable management program for associations, allowing association boards and members to concentrate on moving forward confident that the association's management activities are well looked after. This outsourcing and consulting service, which is available to local, region and national associations of any size, is customized to meet the needs of the individual association.

• Membership
  • development and maintenance of membership databases and records, including new memberships and renewals. The databases are designed to provide a variety of reports useful for determining trends and keeping members in touch with other another
  • membership promotion activities, both print and electronic, designed to promote interest in the association, increase its profile and attract and retain members.
  
  
• Conferences and Continuing Education Programs
  • development of customized conferences (national, regional and local) and continuing education programmes designed to attract a large number of attendees, provide learning and networking opportunities, increase the profile of the association and generate revenue
  
  
• Board Liaison and Assistance
  • organization of board meetings and retreats to assist in the decision-making capabilities, productivity and commitment of board members
  • provision of reports, minutes, and analysis allowing board members to make effective and effectual decisions
  • assistance in the election process, including nominations and voting, to ensure that the process meets by-law requirements and is timely and cost-effective
  
  
• Annual General Meetings
  • organization of annual business meetings and retreats to ensure a high number of attendees and to promote interest in the day-to-day activities of the association
  • provision of reports, minutes and analysis to assist members to make informed decisions
  
  
• Strategic Planning
  • facilitation of strategic planning exercises, focus groups, committee and board retreats focusing on generating a high level of involvement and participation which will in turn result in the ownership of and commitment to the decisions make and strategies taken
  • identification of short and long term trends to assist in the decision-making process
  
  
• Publications
  • design and development of print and electronic communication and website materials that are interesting, attractive and read and used by the members
  
  
• Financial
  • identification and development of revenue-generating activities designed to improve the long-term financial health of the association
  • timely and reliable accounting services with regular reports to the board and members on the association's finances
  
  
• Partnerships
  • identification of partnership opportunities with other associations or organizations and creation of an environment for discussion and development of joint activities to strengthen the association and improve the services it provides to members
  
  
• Media and Government Contacts
  • serves as an effective and available contact for media and government on issues or matters of interest to the association and its members
  
  
• Potential Member Contacts
  • serves as an effective and available contact for those interested in joining or learning more about the activities of the association
  • Consulting
  • provision of advice and analysis on a wide variety of issues, trends and forecasts on associations, their structure, plans, activities, services and members.