(Data compiled from benchmarking and case studies providing reasons both volunteer and staff managed associations look for an Association Management Company-Thanks to the principals and staff who contributed advice suggestions and advice for this article!)

As smaller to mid-sized associations that have been managing themselves through a cadre of volunteers, and/or part time or fulltime employees, review best practice management options, it is critical that the senior volunteer leaders review the option of hiring an association management company (AMC) to assist in the strategic development and administrative functional area management of the association. Associations that are managed by volunteer leaders and those that are small to medium sized stand-alone organizations should assess carefully the impact and value of the AMC option.

In the case of a smaller association self-managed by senior volunteer leaders, not only is it difficult to perform one's fulltime day job and also tend to the governance affairs of the association, but is an additional burden to the manage the finances and administration of the association as well. Certainly, your administrative assistant and other staff that assist you in "doing it yourself," would be overjoyed to know that you are considering hiring professional help to assist the volunteers in managing the affairs of the association!

Some of the reasons that associations should evaluate and hire an AMC to assist in providing day-to-day operations include the following:

• Removes the burden of simultaneously governing and managing the association, thus freeing up time for all volunteers involved;
• Provides a staffing element with expertise and skill sets in managing an association in all of its facets;
• Provides for a lower overhead as time goes on; although doing it yourself would cost the association less in dollars, it would cost more in volunteer manpower ;
• Provides for continuity of staff over the long term as the relationship is not with a volunteer keeping the books at home, or a dedicated staff person who may or may not be with the association for the long term;
• Provides a full time staff committed to managing the association and assisting in its growth;
• Provides more capacity to take on additional field or industry projects and programs without volunteers having to shoulder all the responsibility;
• Ensures that there is professional management of the finances of the association and improves fiduciary responsibility removing the possibility of financial irregularities;
• With stand-alone association staffs, the association can suffer from higher overhead and equipment costs, inability to staff all key positions needed to run association programs and services; and greater exposure to risk of being an employer in an aggressively litigious society;
• Removes many of the legal risks associated with volunteers handling funds, liability issues and ensures that appropriate D & O and E & O insurances are in place, reducing exposure to the risk of being an employer in an aggressively litigious society; and perhaps most importantly,
• Permits the senior volunteer leadership to focus upward on strategy and not waste energy on minutiae and the day-to-day management. This alone allows the Board to govern and the staff to manage, and for the leaders do what they do best and staff what they do best.

Many of these issues surface as part of a Board's strategic planning and budgeting process when senior leaders ask themselves whether they reached their planning goals or were disappointed because of lack of professional staff, program, technology, financial or volunteer assets. These issues sometimes force the Board to look for another management solution.

Based on the benchmarks we reviewed and an actual case studies of an association's decision process to move to a managed environment, a small volunteer or staff managed association should begin to think about hiring an AMC when two or more symptoms below are noticed by the senior volunteer or staff leadership:

• Volunteers shy away from serving in Board or Officer roles because it takes too much of their time. It is difficult to find volunteers to maintain the growing records and programs of the association. The association is continually creating more committees than necessary because it is difficult to manage both management and volunteer governance responsibilities.

• The financials and budget need to be more sophisticated in order for the association to take advantage of future planning and apply resources appropriately. Some areas of management are not staffed with experts in those areas, such as finances, membership, marketing, communications and education. In other words, too few staff (or untrained staff) or volunteers to handle the day-to-day and also grow the association.

• The information technology system of the association does not have the capacity to handle the variety of functions and requirements of the association and the purchase or lease price for new hardware, software, e-operations, training and ongoing maintenance and service is beyond the capabilities of current operations.

• The association is unable to move "to the next level" given volunteer leaders inability to plan strategically and tie those plan to a managed program of work, or some senior volunteers or founders refuse to give up the power and prestige of "running" the association "they created" thus limiting the growth of the mothership.

• The association can never seem to create a reserve, without which the association cannot think beyond the day-to-day or use to fund needed initiatives.

• The association lacks the sophisticated marketing and communications programs that sister associations and competitors use to develop market share and momentum.

• As a stand alone association with its own staff, the personnel and overhead needed to maintain operations use most resources, leaving less and less for programming and publications, which create member value.

If your association suffers from two or more of the above symptoms, it should seriously consider an AMC approach for managing the association, or outsourcing some functions to a management company. The AMC can devote just the right amount of staff (FTE) and resources to do what it is that your association needs done, tailoring the services and the price to your specific needs.

With approximately 700 AMCs of all sizes and scopes located across the country and internationally, it should not be difficult, with the appropriate guidance, for you to find an AMC that is a comfortable fit for your senior leadership group and association. The only danger involved in moving to an association management company is the possibility of a "mismatch" between the AMC and the association, in terms of the association's specific needs and the ability, capacity and areas of expertise of the AMC to deliver them.

It may be appropriate, if your association is committed to looking into the AMC alternative, to find an experienced AMC migration consultant to assist you in putting together a professional request for proposal (RFP) and assist you in managing your selection and contract process to prevent mismatches and do the due diligence necessary to ensure the appropriate fit. All AMCs welcome this help as it allows them to work with a professional in better understanding the association's goals and specific needs and in putting together their proposals.

Using the guidance above, it should be clear whether it is time for your volunteer-run or smaller stand-alone association to evaluate utilizing an AMC approach. If so, begin methodically to look for the viable option that best fits your association's needs.

Dr. Carey is a charter class Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives and a Member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. corporate or nonprofit association can receive. AMMR is full service association management consulting firm, which conducts programs, organizational and program benchmarking and assessments in the areas of strategic planning, governance, research, management, marketing, and communications. AMMR specializes in association management company assessments, migrating associations to and from Association Management Companies and stand-alones, qualitative and quantitative market and member survey and focus group research, as well as value-to-dues studies and restructurings for trade associations, professional societies and other non-profit organizations. Dr. Carey may be reached at: scarey@ammr.com or 301.530.9066