The AMR Association Management Blog

Here you will find blog posts from our team of association management experts featuring tips and tricks on a wide range of association management services:

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Dec 10

Unlocking New Revenue Streams: A Guide for Associations

By AMR Management Services

For decades, membership dues were the backbone of association funding. Today, however, that old foundation is shaking under economic uncertainty, shifting member expectations, and a crowded competitive landscape. Relying solely on dues is no longer a sustainable approach. To thrive, associations must diversify revenue sources and build a resilient portfolio that balances dues with new,…

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Dec 03

Let’s Play: Gamification Ideas to Energize Your Audience at Any Budget

By Shelbey Lang

Let’s Play: Gamification Ideas to Energize Your Audience at Any Budget According to the National Institute of Play, “being playful is the healthiest way to spend your time.” Research shows that play helps adults build resilience, retain new information, and create memorable experiences. In short, adults learn and engage more effectively when they are having…

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Nov 25

Volunteer Management: Turning Passion Into Long-Term Support

By AMR Management Services

Association volunteers are key to delivering member value. From your board to your committee chairs to your conference speakers, association volunteers go above and beyond what people typically consider when they think of volunteers. Volunteers are the people who truly power your organization. After all, volunteers perform 20-25% of an association’s work on average. With…

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Nov 20

Accessibility Opens the Door to Better Digital Experiences

By Kalea Young-Gibson

Picture this: you walk up to your favorite coffee shop, a place you’ve been to thousands of times. But this time, the door is locked. The lights are on, your favorite barista is taking orders, the other regulars are in their usual spots, but YOU can’t get in. Wouldn’t you want someone to open the…

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Nov 05

Joy as a Foundational Strategy

By Emily Lane

Association gatherings often pursue many goals – to achieve attendance or revenue targets, deliver on learning objectives, or foster connection among attendees. The foundation beneath these goals, however, isn’t often on our radar – joy. Joy is often the key ingredient that enables members to achieve other goals, and to strengthen their engagement with and…

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Oct 01

Small Changes, World-Changing Impact

By Molly Marsh

Helping Associations Change the World™ is more than just a slogan or tagline for the AMR Education and Events team. It’s what drives us and keeps us going through the long days (and nights), travel disruptions, and (seemingly) endless pages of Banquet Event Orders. Being an event manager is always on the list of most…

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Sep 10

4 Recommendations for Associations With Complex Tech Needs

By AMR Management Services

Did your association recently complete its mid-year check-in? When it came to your goals, did you find that your technology helped or hindered them? Associations with complex technology needs often spend almost as much time wrestling with their software as they do using it to advance their organization.  Fortunately, even large associations with complicated software…

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Aug 20

Event Microsite vs Website Page: What’s Best for Your Association?

By Mike Cooke

When planning an event, one of the first digital decisions you’ll face is how to present it online. Should you build a standalone microsite, or just add a new page to your existing association website? The answer depends on your goals, audience, and internal resources  and yes, your budget too. A microsite can offer a…

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Aug 13

Grant Writing for Associations: 5 Key Tips to Get Started

By Meredith Noble

Picture this: your association has a revolutionary idea that could transform your field. There’s only one thing standing in the way of your idea and its realization—funding. The need for diversified funding is the one thing that unites associations across the board. That’s why more associations are turning to grants as a key financial strategy.…

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Assessing the Quality of Your Member Experience: A Quiz

By AMR Management Services | September 2, 2026 | Best Practices,  Engagement,  Membership
Assessing the Quality of Your Member Experience: A Quiz Your association invests time, energy, and resources into delivering a great experience to your members. But when was the last time you paused to ask if your efforts are actually working? Sometimes, the best way to answer that question is to look inward. Reflecting on your…
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How to Manage People Well: 5 Rules for New Leaders

By Rachel Hight | August 26, 2026 | Best Practices,  Management
Stepping into a management role is a big shift. You’re no longer just responsible for your own work, you’re responsible for helping other people do theirs well. At AMR, this is especially true for the managers who oversee team members working across multiple clients. When someone’s day is split between two or three clients, good…
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Adaptive Governance: How Association Boards Move from Approval to Agility

By Molly Marsh | August 19, 2026 | Association Management,  Best Practices,  Board Tips
Here’s what we hear from association staff again and again: “Our board is brilliant. They’re thoughtful people who really care about the mission. But at the end of the day, we spend a lot of time in meetings talking about strategy, and then… nothing changes.”  This isn’t a board problem. It’s a governance problem.  Many…
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4 Member Communication Strategies to Boost Engagement

By AMR Management Services | August 12, 2026 | Best Practices,  Engagement,  Membership
Declining participation and member retention rates are among the biggest challenges associations face right now. At the start of 2025, the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report found that 26% of associations reported that their membership size had decreased. By July, that figure had risen to 36%. To overcome this hurdle, your association needs to prioritize effective…
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Illustration of strategic portfolio management with a large donut chart at center, a person aiming arrows at a target, and devices showing charts and graphs in the background.

Strategic Portfolio Management: Making Smart Bets in Uncertainty

By Molly Marsh | August 5, 2026 | Association Management,  Best Practices
You don’t have to bet everything on a single strategy. In fact, you shouldn’t.  One of the most valuable lessons from corporate strategy and investment management is viewing your organization not as a single plan, but as a portfolio of strategic investments. Now, not all corporate methodology translates directly to the association space—associations have different stakeholders, different…
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