Why would Europeans attend our events, or want to become a member?

Many associations have a great opportunity to expand membership internationally. Especially to those countries that have close cultural ties and harmonious relations, such as between the United States and the countries of Europe.

However, the common approach of leading with membership might not be the best strategy.

For many associations, membership dues cover only a fraction, often about 1/3, of the true cost of delivering member benefits. The difference is usually made up by highly profitable trade shows, meetings, sponsorships or other sources of revenue.

By leading with membership into a new market, such as when a US based association wants to grow its membership in Europe or Asia from a low starting base, the association often faces two immediate problems:

1. It costs significantly more to service these remote members than the dues revenue can cover and,

2. there is an insufficient number of members, a lack of critical mass, to generate benefits for the members (peer to peer networking for example) or to attract sponsors and exhibitors at this early stage.

A more successful strategy may be to lead with a specific product or service that provides immediate benefit. It should at least cover the cost of delivery or ideally, generate surplus that can be re-invested in growing the member / client base over the long term.

Examples of programs that work well are meetings, seminars, and training programs (especially education that leads to a certification or similar professional recognition). It is important that the association offers programs that are relevant to the market and that offer something of real value not easily available locally.

For example, the dynamics of the European Union have been and remain very focused on issues of "integration" as the legal and economic systems of the 27 member countries in the EU continuously harmonize their laws and legal frameworks. This issue of integration and harmonization, of the balance between nation versus supra-national power, colors the view of Europeans in many aspects of their professional and personal lives.

US based associations that dismiss or ignore this heightened focus on regulatory and political issues risk appearing irrelevant to a European audience. An association that does not engage in regulatory affairs or policy in the US might find it needs to engage in public policy in Europe because that is the priority for its target audience in Europe.

Another important aspect is to make a careful review of your materials and content for US specific references that include terminology, measurements, references to US laws (State or Federal) etc. that have no relevance to a non-US audience.

The US retains the admiration of the world because of its ability to produce innovation, to accept and process risk, to re-invent itself, to accept failure as a badge of experience and to move on. US based associations will continue to attract interest from other parts of the world because of their perceived quality and ability to generate new content and services.

The challenge for US associations that want to tap into what is now the largest economy in the world, the European union, will have to invest the time and effort to understand the specific needs and dynamics of a 27 country political union. Those that do will realize the benefits. Those that don't will wonder why all those Europeans didn't come to the party?

Want to learn more about what it means to be a "global" association? Read more...