Like the line in the movie “Jaws” says: “Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water . . .”

The 21st century is a wondrous age unlike any before. We can travel the globe in a matter of hours. We can talk to and see each other in real time using handheld devices. Individuals are realizing and exercising their power to create their own lives. We have embraced the power of choice and we are redefining what success means.

It was brought to my attention by a group of colleagues that digitalNow, considered one of the flagship nonprofit management meetings, is scheduled on Yom Kippur this year. For those not familiar with Yom Kippur, it is arguably the most important religious holiday in Judaism. It is the Day of Atonement in which individuals seek to make up for their transgressions and sins. For those who practice the Jewish faith, it is a day that cannot be skipped or double-booked.

When I was a child, I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of other kids around my age. Being from working class families, we had to earn our extra spending money (the candy and comic books didn’t pay for themselves!) so we were always looking for ways to earn some cash.

This week in ASAE’s Collaborate Component Relations community, the topic of Rogue Chapters was discussed. Being a company that is familiar with the concept of “rogueness,” I’d like to offer my take on this situation.

This year, there is a lot of talk in the association community about modernizing the chapter system. It comes from a lot of areas: outdated ways of delivering services locally, governance systems that no longer serve the members, and draconian requirements to maintain chapter or affiliate status that create unpaid staff positions for volunteers.

Many times, when people consider compensation, they think hourly wages or salary. Money is an important part of compensation, but it is not the only measure of performance and experience, nor should it be the only reward. I specifically mention performance and experience because these are two important factors in determining compensation (and rewards!) for employees at any level in your organization.

On May 24, 2022, the ASAE Component Relations and Volunteer Management Council held its monthly “Crunch & Munch” discussion focused on the topic of modernizing and updating the current association chapter model. I was excited to be invited to the discussion which was inspired by several Rogue Speak articles I wrote on this topic. The Council leadership was well-represented by Cheryl Goldsby, Steve Idzikowski, and Jessica Irizarry.

In my last article, “Is Your Chapter System from another Century?”, I outlined the argument that the “mini-me” structure of chapters needs to be done away with in favor of a more agile, modern system based on the way we live now.

If you are a membership association, you are familiar with chapters even if you don’t have them as part of your organization. Chapters can be great ways to offer regular engagement for your members locally or regionally, and it keeps the association “top of mind” in between national conferences.

In last week’s edition of Rogue Speak, I wrote about the dangers of outdated thinking in reference to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In that article, I outlined what I saw as the problems with Vladimir Putin’s thought process. In my opinion, he has a lot of them.

By this point, we’ve all heard the term “The Great Resignation.” The influence of the lockdown on lifestyle and mindsets brought people to a place where they re-evaluated their personal happiness index. [Learn more about The World Happiness Report here] This led to many individuals in 2021 leaving their current positions – and at times leaving their employer in a lurch – to pursue other options.

There are a few basic rules of member service that all associations should keep in mind. No matter the size of your budget or staff, what counts is how your members feel at the end of an interaction with the organization.

It’s late summer so that means it’s individual award season again in the nonprofit community. As associations look forward to their annual conferences, Awards Committees are formed. Nominations are announced. Sometimes self-nominations are encouraged. Deadlines are extended to make sure there are candidates to review.

When you bandy about the word nonprofit, many people think of foundations or charities. For some reason, even in our own profession of nonprofit management, there are people who think associations are different from nonprofits.

The 501c League offers an insightful and thought-provoking ethics course that is designed for professionals in the nonprofit profession. It demonstrates our commitment to supporting ethical development within our profession, which protects the integrity of what we do.

“When citizens can associate only in certain cases, they regard association as a rare and singular process, and they hardly think of it. When you allow them to associate freely in everything, they end up seeing in association the universal and, so to speak, unique means that men can use to attain the various ends that they propose. Each new need immediately awakens the idea of association. The art of association then becomes, . . ., the mother science; everyone studies it and applies it.”

Here at the League we often talk about the CAE journey; sometimes that journey is longer to earn the designation than for others, but it is in the process of preparation for the CAE exam that we develop our skills and hone our knowledge. We learn about ourselves and find our strengths. During this process, we meet new people and make new connections.

There is an old joke in the Association management profession that after decades doing our jobs, we are still explaining to our family what we do for a living. While I love this joke it also gives me pause.

Dictionary.com defines ethics as “moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity, [e.g.] medical ethics also enter into the question.” Making decisions that affect the organization you serve as a board member requires the application of ethics within that activity as well.

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