Hearing the Olympic theme music on a daily basis throughout the summer and winter every few years always brings a smile to my face.

For those of us involved with the nonprofit world on a daily basis, it is easy to draw quite a few similarities out of this once every two and four years event.

Here are just a few that came to my mind:

1. Measurement Reigns Supreme

The Olympics are infamous for the myriad of extremely precise measurements. This is especially true when those measurements are the basis of new Olympic or World records in any event. Can you imagine watching almost any Olympic event without measurement in terms of time, distance or points?

Most believe this focus on precise measurement provides the foundation for all of the new Olympic and World records we see at every single Olympics. Just think how lost the TV and Radio commentators would be without those precise measurements to use during their broadcasts.

Although measurement and record keeping can sometimes be hit or miss in fundraising offices, it can be quite powerful in determining factors influencing success.

Proper measurement is a key to developing best practices when used properly. We will explore this concept further below because tradition is still influencing way too many processes even when proper measurement would prove otherwise.

2. Tradition Shouldn’t Stifle Innovation

The Olympics are the tremendous spectacle they are because of the wide variety of traditions. One need only to look as far as the opening and closing ceremonies to see the immense value of tradition shining through.

A key departure from tradition for the Olympics was moving the Winter games so they occur on a totally different four cycle.

The professional fundraising world often seems just as bound by tradition. Some of those traditions such as those revolving around ethics are key to building and retaining trust with donors. Others such as processes revolving around events, appeals and campaigns could certainly use the scrutiny of scientific research and testing.

Two traditions, I personally hope continues to change over time are the inclination to think top notch professionals should be paid less for doing the same job just because they work at a nonprofit and the inclination to not invest dollars in tools or systems that would enable higher degrees of success.

3. Cyclical Nature Controls Overall Timing

The key fact that each seasonal Olympics are only held every four years leads to numerous timing-related factors for the participants. Virtually every participant has to schedule their training and activities in such a manner so as to be at their peak performance during the relatively short Olympics competition window.

This same series of timing issues comes into play for sponsors, volunteers, broadcasters and officials.

In the nonprofit world, the cyclical nature of the calendar year often plays a huge role. Nearly every charity budget would be wrecked or severely reduced without the year-end giving by donors of every nature in November and December.

The same cyclical nature comes into play for most charities signature event. Picking the right time of the year and sticking to the scheduling so everyone can make it part of their schedule is more often than not quite critical.

4. Heroes Make a Huge Difference

Obviously, most of us can think of past Olympic heroes from our own country and other countries. The background stories regarding the individual heroes have become a key part of the success of the Olympics as well as the continued rise in interest around the world.

For every successful fundraising organization, there are so many public and private heroes. These range from the major donor or high-level sponsor to the foundation providing the game-changing grant.

Heroes in the nonprofit world also include the millions of volunteers who give generously of their time and talent as well as the staff members working extra hours on a regular basis to ensure success.

Lastly, the recipients of the work of the mission are often not noticed for the heroes they are. Some of these heroes rise up to be spokespersons or future volunteers themselves!

5. Best Practices Emerge Slowly

The wonderful concept of tradition can sometimes be a two-edged sword. For both the Olympics and nonprofit fundraising mindsets and habits are hard to change. Because of this resistance to change “Best Practices” emerge slowly, often times even in the face of proven data. Let’s explore a couple of examples.

Most of you may not remember just how revolutionary a new way to high jump was to the world of track and field. This method of jumping was so different that the rest of the track and field community literally refused to accept it at first even with the outstanding results it was achieving!

Now the Fosbury Flop is the accepted best practice in high jumping.

In the nonprofit world of fundraising, we could easily cite example after example of such resistance to change making it difficult for best practices to emerge that should.

The most obvious are direct mail practices where traditions are passed down from generation to generation of fundraisers. These range from the number of mailings per year to segmentation practices.

We can all hope the delicate balance of respecting great traditions can blend properly with the exciting results new best practices can bring as the future unfolds.

6. We Have Problems To Overcome, and That’s Okay

It’s hard to ignore all the issues surrounding the summer games in Rio: concerns over the Zika virus, human trafficking and corruption have given the Olympics a black eye.

The nonprofit sector too has its own issues to overcome. Recent scandals surrounding the Red Cross and the Cancer Fund of America have painted an inaccurate picture of the sector’s majority of hardworking fundraisers, just as the world’s athletes suffer from the mistakes of a small few.

There will always be improvements to make, but we shouldn’t let any of that stop us from moving forward!

Now get ready to settle back and enjoy one of the world’s biggest spectacles! If you are in the nonprofit fundraising profession I hope you can draw inspiration as you draw your own similarities!

This article was originally sourced from Business 2 Community and was written by Jay Love. 

A recent study finds that more than 90 percent of educational institutions are offering credentials and digital badges, in part, to serve their millennial students, who favor badging and certificates to traditional degrees. What lessons can associations learn from the study?

Usually, I don’t have to do a lot of guesswork when my two-year-old daughter wants something. When she says “I want cookie now” or “I don’t want go bed,” her desires are pretty clear—even if she does miss an article or two in her articulation.

What about millennials? What do they want? It’s a question we think about a lot over here at Associations Now, and it’s a question we know that many associations are considering on a regular basis too. And sometimes a study or two—or the five that are referenced in the blog—help us connect the dots on what this ever-growing generation wants and how we, as associations, can address those desires.

(As an aside: Did you know that millennials are now the largest population in the U.S.? According to the Pew Research Center, as of April 2016, millennials have overtaken the baby boomers in terms of population).

But back to what they want: In late June, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)—in partnership with Penn State and Pearson—released a study that showed that 94 percent of educational institutions offer alternative credentials. And one-in-five institutions offer badges.

It’s an interesting finding because a study in 2012—thanks to Pew for this one too—found that a record-breaking one-third of young adults had graduated from both high school and college. All this to say, that even while millennials are finishing high school and college at higher rates than any other generation, they’re also looking for alternative credentials or digital badging.

“The degree will always be an important credential, but it won’t always be the gold standard,” said Jim Fong, director of UPCEA’s Center for Research and Marketing strategy, in a press release. “As millennials enter the prime years of their career and move into positions of greater power, we’ll see more alternative credentials for specific industries and possibly across the board. Higher education institutions, especially those in our survey, are showing that they are being progressive with workforce needs.”

Charlene Templeton, the assistant dean of continuing education at Anne Arundel Community College, said that digital badges are practical and help students get jobs. “Digital badge earners indicated that since all job applications are online, the badge sets them apart from other applicants,” Templeton said in a press release. “Employers like that they can click on the badge icon and verify an applicant’s skills. It’s a win-win for both.”

Now, just to be clear, the UPCEA study surveyed educational institutions, not associations, though I think there are lessons to be learned. Especially since, another study—this one from the software firm Abila—found that some of the biggest reasons why millennials join associations is for the jobs, training, and career advancement.

And in the last poll I’ll reference in this blog, Gallup recently found that although millennials most value opportunities to learn or grow in their workplace, “only 39 percent strongly agree that they learned something new in the past 30 days that they can use to do their jobs better. Slightly less than one in two millennials strongly agree that they have had opportunities to learn and grow in the past year.”

From all of these studies, polls, and surveys, we’ve learned that millennials want professional development. We’ve also learned that the majority of millennials feel like they’re not getting professional development, and lastly, to reference the UPCEA survey, that they value certificate and digital badging programs. So, where should they logically turn?

To their professional association, of course.

Luckily, there are a fair amount of groups—like the American Alliance of Museums—already experimenting with digital badging and competency-based certifications. And those numbers are sure to continue to climb.

And Veronica Diaz, the director of online programs at EDUCAUSE, said digital badging “has been well worth the time and investment” for that the group, which works to advance higher education through IT. “From our data, we’ve seen a huge spike in professionals accepting the credential and making them public and sharing them in their LinkedIn networks,” she says.

This article was originally sourced from Associations Now and was written by Emily Bratcher. 

HIA Executive Director Brenton Gardner today welcomed the progression of the State Government’s 1000 Homes in 1000 Days Program to a stage with the first homes being completed.

Mr Gardner said “The program comes at a time when the South Australian building industry is in need of additional Government building projects to offset a significant decline in the new home building market”.

“As the program progresses, HIA hope to introduce a number of new builders to Renewal SA to qualify for future house building and Trust renovation work, thereby creating employment and manufacturing opportunities for South Australians.”

“It will also be good to see the rejuvenation of a number of Adelaide suburbs and

regional towns, as public housing stock is replaced and renewed.”

This Media Release was originally sourced from HIA. 

Sydney-based integrated communications agency, Zadro, has been appointed as the official communications partner for the Australasian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE).

Zadro secured the partnership with AuSAE after completing strategic communications planning and marketing support for the 2016 AuSAE Conference and Exhibition (ACE) earlier this year, where the conference trended on Twitter with hashtag #ACEACT16.

In the coming year, Zadro will focus on developing AuSAE’s online and offline marketing communications to fuel membership engagement and growth; plus supporting ACE 2017 - the pinnacle event for association professionals to be held at ICC Sydney in May 2017.

Brendon Ward, CEO at AuSAE said, “We are delighted to be continuing to work with Zadro across our communications – their team is highly experienced in the associations’ market and understands the unique challenges faced by not-for-profit organisations.

“Zadro is aligned with our mission to foster a strong association sector in Australia and New Zealand and are a great fit to boost our external communications, reach our goals and increase attendance at the 2017 conference,” said Mr Ward.

The partnership comes as Zadro continues to expand into the association and not-for-profit sector in Australia.

Debbie Bradley, Group Account Director at Zadro said, “We’ve been working closely with associations on their diverse communication needs over many years. The sector is a key growth area for our business and we’re excited to be working with the fantastic AuSAE team to advance this industry and provide opportunities for development, education and training of association professionals.

“We look forward to assisting AuSAE in their future communications endeavours,” concluded Ms Bradley.

Zadro specialises in strategic communications, public relations, member research and surveys, marketing, digital and social media, design, employer branding and internal communications services.

The agency works across a variety of industries including meetings and events, business tourism, finance, technology, construction, infrastructure and associations.

Waitakere Indian Association has elected the full slate of officers and board members the year 2016-2017 at their recent AGM meeting held on Sunday 31 July in Auckland.

All of our newest and existing Board members embody the spirit of community and bring talent, expertise and energy to the table. We are very fortunate to have them by our side as we continue to strengthen community in Waitakere”, says the incoming President Mahen Sharma.

There are more than 155,000 Indians living in New Zealand and Hindi is the fourth largest spoken language. Since its formation in 2000, Waitakere Indian Association has been working with various government agencies and local Indian associations in promoting, advocating and integrating the Indian culture and values with the Kiwi way of life.

Waitakere Indian Association is a non-sectarian, non-profit organization open to all. Our mission is to build a sense of community and common purpose throughout the region, and to enhance the recreational, educational, cultural, health and social well-being of the Indian Diaspora in Waitakere, Auckland.

For more information about Waitakere Indian Association call 021 132 4688 or visit www.waitakereindianassociation.nz

The Executive Committee of 2016-2017

President Mahen Sharma

Vice President Sunil Kaushal

Secretary Hasmita Singh

Assistant Secretary Kajal Kumar

Treasurer Naveen Prakash

Assistant Treasurer Mohini Prakash

Executive members Hardip Singh

Manoj Tahal

Sunil Chandra

Preeya Prakash

Chandrika Prasad

Dev Bhardwaj

Arwind Singh (Rohit)

Nawal Prakash

IPP Naveen Prakash

This article was originally sourced from Scoop Media. 

Providing excellent membership value is one of the most important ways associations improve recruitment and retention rates. But where should you focus your efforts? In the latest episode of Association Adviser TV, we spoke with David Lewis, executive director of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials, and Lauren Hoffmann, director of marketing, communications and membership for several regional and national associations, to hear their best tips for making the most of your membership value proposition.

Encouraging members to contact you with feedback helps your association understand how to provide more valuable membership.

Help your members learn from each other by giving a platform to those with unique expertise. 

Associations can close skills and information gaps by providing career development resources and opportunities. 

Encourage individual contact. Let members know you’re open to suggestions and want feedback in order to better tailor membership value to their needs.

The best way to ensure you’re delivering member value is to listen to how your members think you could provide a better service. But don’t just wait for suggestions—anticipate member needs and seek ways to actively improve their member experience. Make sure your members know you’re happy to serve them on a personal level.

Keep a close eye on the industry. Be a connector between news, trends and members. Stay on top of the media to find and share with members the content that is most relevant to their interests and needs. Social media can be a great tool for discovering what your members are talking about, understanding what matters to them and keeping them informed about the latest industry news.

Provide professional development resources. Associations are in a unique position to help close skills and information gaps because of their access to high performing professionals.

Offering unique career development opportunities like classes, workshops, webinars and certifications add great practical value to membership that encourages renewal.

Leverage member expertise. Associations also have the opportunity to shine a light on members who have unique expertise about relevant topics by giving them a trusted platform to share their knowledge with a wider audience. This could be online, on forums or websites or at live events. Associations can call on members to write guest blogs, share their success stories or speak at events. You could also interview them for featured articles in your association’s publication. Help members learn from their high-performing colleagues by facilitating that connection.

To make sure membership in your association remains valuable, anticipate and respond to member needs while encouraging open communication and feedback. Your member recruitment and retention rates depend on you letting your members know you are happy to improve their experience in any way possible. By providing unique opportunities for professional development, learning and networking, your association can have an influence on holding the industry to a high standard.

Establish your association as an industry partner by offering quality benefits that members need and by directly asking your members what you can do to serve them. Being equally skilled at communicating and listening will set your association apart and deliver real value to your members.

This article was originally sourced from Association Adviser. 

The Australian Cricketers' Association is calling for the country's female cricketers to be included in the next collective bargaining agreement, in a move set to cause friction between the players' union and Cricket Australia.

The body representing the players wants CA to give female players the same rights as their male colleagues. At the moment, the women do not have an industrial agreement with CA and miss out on entitlements such as injury payments, access to the retirement fund and visiting periods for partners while on tour.

ACA's delegates met in Melbourne this week heading into the start of negotiations over the next memorandum of understanding. They have stated their concerns with domestic cricket and how they feel it has been compromised by innovation, and also raised issues about the schedule.

The ACA wants revenue from the women's game to be included in Australia's cricket revenue, of which players are entitled to a 26 per cent share, but expects to be rebuffed by CA. The union has also called for greater financial transparency from CA to get a better understanding of how much money the women's game generates through areas such as sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and digital media.

The two parties had a bitter dispute earlier this year over women's pay. CA significantly increased its commitment to the female game from $2.36 million to $4.23 million. Wages for Australia's elite female players have spiked significantly in recent years but whereas the top men can earn around $2 million annually the leading women have a maximum retainer of $65,000 but can earn more than $100,000 once payments from the Women's Big Bash League and Southern Stars match and tour fees are added.

Players remain concerned with how domestic competitions are being used as testing grounds for innovations such as the pink ball. While players are happy to try new ideas they believe it should not be to the detriment of the contest.

This season's Sheffield Shield competition will feature three different balls – the traditional Kookaburra, the pink ball used for day-night Tests and the Dukes used by England.

"The delegates are a passionate group representing the players who have expressed their genuine interest in maintaining the integrity and growth of the game," ACA chief Alistair Nicholson said. "The delegates have unanimously endorsed these principles and in so doing have made it very clear what the players need to help grow the game. These players are living and breathing custodians of the sport, and their commitment to the game and its growth is absolute."

A CA spokesperson said: "The game of cricket is in good shape and players contribute an important element to this success. We look forward to discussing this with the ACA, but won't be negotiating the MOU in the media."

This article was originally sourced from SMH and was written by Andrew Wu.

New Zealand First is warning again that the forestry industry is heading for disaster.

“While New Zealand’s forests are being cleaned out mostly by foreign owners other nations, including China, are locking up their forests,” says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“One of our greatest former state assets – trees – are being felled too early, not enough new trees are being planted and raw logs are leaving ports when it is processed products we should be exporting.

“Mismanagement of the industry and turning a blind eye to the plunder of our trees will go down as one of the great failures of the Key government.

“Each month they tick off land and forestry blocks to foreign buyers – now eight of the top 10 forest companies are foreign controlled.

“The way things are going in the coming years, exotic forests planted by people of foresight through the 1980s and early 1990s will be gone.

“From December 2001 to March 2015 the total area of new forest area planted plummeted from 33,674 hectares down to 3051 hectares.

“In the next five years China, our biggest market for logs, will fully stop the commercial harvest in their government owned forests thereby locking up 70.5 million hectares because they have over-harvested,” says Mr Peters.

Speech to Wood Processors and Manufacturers’ Association, July 2016

This article was originally sourced from Scoop Media.

THE Farm Machinery Industry Association (FMIA) has been given clear air to promote ag apprenticeship education.

It comes as State government policy after years of frustrations and blocked doors as the FMIA, and under its old name FMDA, has championed ag education, particularly as it relates to ag apprentices. And it has a solid and influential backer in South Regional TAFE Bunbury director, business development, Chris Mayfield.

Mr Mayfield said the ag training sector is undergoing significant change away from a bureaucratic structure to a more streamlined TAFE structure involving three centres covering 95 per cent of WA.

"And only one regional TAFE will pick up the agricultural industry," he said. "That centre will be the first point of reference to get things done."

FMIA executive officer John Henchy said talks had already started with Mr Mayfield to discuss the association's needs with specific emphasis on the Agricultural qualification AUR 30416 - Certificate III in Agricultural Mechanical Technology.

"Not only will we be focusing on the qualification but on delivery options and those options will be determined by our members in consultation with the management of the TAFE colleges who pick up the challenge," Mr Henchy said.

Mr Mayfield said the Certificate III course would be a Just-In-Time module with less emphasis on certificates and scholarships and more emphasis on developing specialised skills to be job-ready.

"We'll establish a world class training facility to cater for ag mechanical technology at a dedicated machinery training hub," he said. "That hub will be at Muresk and recognised as a Centre of Excellence with industry input into the curriculum.

"We have in-principle support from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) for unified, flexible delivery methods with protects OEM intellectual property so essentially we'll be teaching the same stuff throughout the State.

"If an employee can't send staff to us, we'll come to them.

"Our trainers can go on-site, to say an ag dealership, to train apprentices.

"We'll have a testing and proving ground at Muresk with on-site accommodation for apprentices and employers will have a 24/7 access to our online training platform to access monthly updates on their employees.

"A dealer can ask for training on-site with the occasional trip to Muresk for a specific component of the course and I would encourage dealers to pool apprentices in one town to get a more tailored package from our training providers."

Answering a question on TAFE colleges not teaching the basics to apprentices, such as drilling steel or flat-bending steel, Mr Mayfield said it would be up to the FMIA to drive needs to the TAFE training council to change training packages where needed.

"This supposedly will be asked for from industry," he said.

FMIA president Alan Fisher confirmed the association's desire to be a conduit to influence training packages required by association members.

Mr Mayfield also said there would be emphasis on training providers.

"For example, the models we are using for dairy traineeship are endorsed by Dairy Australia and I'm employing trainers from within the dairy industry," Mr Mayfield said.

"We can also train the trainers to keep pace with changing technology and there's no reason why OEMs can't work with TAFE colleges in WA."

Mr Henchy said the FMIA detected a desire in the TAFE system to help the ag industry and people were prepared to work with the association.

"We believe it can work and can work well," he said.

This article was originally sourced from Farm Weekly and was written by Ken Wilson. 

Local Government Business Forum has called the New Zealand Initiative’s latest report a breath of "fresh ideas" in the often stale debate about what is the right size for local authorities.

The Local Benchmark: When Smaller is Better highlights how out of step New Zealand is with the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. There central government has embraced the diversity of local government to boost the pace of economic growth.

The report also analysed Montreal’s municipal amalgamation, and found that not only did the merger of 28 municipalities fail to achieve the efficiencies, the process increased the annual cost of running the city by C$400 million.

"When it comes questions about local government efficiency, all too often the only response we hear from central government is the need to consolidate councils in fewer entities and to centralise decision-making," said Forum Chairman Michael Barnett.

"This report shows that bigger isn’t necessarily better. There are other ways of structuring local government that lead to better outcomes. And we need fresh ideas if we are to tackle some of the long-standing problems that drag on our economy, like high house prices, local bureaucracy, and poor democratic accountability."

"Ultimately, both central and local government have a shared interest in getting New Zealand’s governance arrangements right. Let’s use that as the basis for a partnership instead of getting hung up on structure," Barnett said.

The report is being launched today at Local Government New Zealand’s annual conference, where Initiative Research Fellow and author Jason Krupp will deliver a keynote address.

ABOUT THE FORUM

The Local Government Business Forum comprises organisations that have a vital interest in the activities of local government. Its members include BusinessNZ, the Electricity Networks Association, Federated Farmers of NZ, The New Zealand Initiative, NZ Chambers of Commerce, and NZ Retailers’ Association. The Forum was established in 1994 to promote greater efficiency in local government and to contribute to the debate on policy issues affecting it.

For more information on the Forum, see www.localgovtforum.org.nz

This Media Release was originally sourced from Scoop Media.