Ready to make improvements and grow your association this year?

Give members the career development and professional education opportunities they want.  

If you’re looking to grow and improve your association, consider what members want. In the 2022 Association Trends Study, members list job opportunities, help advancing their careers, trainings, and certifications among the most important benefits.  

By delivering career development and continuing education opportunities, you can offer greater member value. And that translates into increased member acquisition, engagement, and retention. 

Here are two approaches to delivering members the benefits they seek: 

1. Offer an online career center.

A robust online career center can help you give your members the career development resources they need – all in one location. Creating an online career center is easier than you might think, as long as you have the right tools. 

YM Careers by Momentive Software offers job board software to power your online job board. Each job board comes with the Career Planning Portal, a career advancement hub that offers a comprehensive set of career resources.  

In addition to a job board in which members and potential members can search and apply for job opportunities, a YM Careers-powered online career center includes: 

• Career Advice – This module allows you to offer a library of career articles and other content about topics including:
  • Résumé and cover letter writing 
  • Networking 
  • Job interview techniques 
  • Job search and career growth ideas

• Career Coaching – With this module, you can connect your members with certified career coaches who will guide members through career planning, résumé building, and negotiation. They can also help your members work through career challenges, add direction to their career goals, and prepare for job interviews.
• Career Insights – This module allows you to give your members data about their potential careers, helping them gain the knowledge they need to change career direction or move forward in their current careers. It includes:
  • Career descriptions 
  • Typical education levels of people in each role 
  • Occupational outlooks 
  • Activities performed by people in each role 
  • “Day in the life” videos 
  • Salary benchmarks 
  • Unemployment data 
  • Comparison of employment statistics 
  • Related occupations 

• Career Paths – With this module, you can give your members a way to create a roadmap to achieve their career aspirations. Members can choose a desired job title, and then see a career path that includes job descriptions and relevant skills required for the next job in their career journeys. It helps members gain confidence in the next steps in their careers, evaluate their skills, and design a tailored action plan that includes the learning, training, and experience they need to reach their career goals.  

In addition to offering powerful career center software, YM Careers makes it easy to set up an online career center: 

• You pay no up-front costs. YM Careers doesn’t start making money until you do.
• You don’t have to do a lot of extra work. The YM Careers team can help your association reach both job seekers and employers through email, advertising, and digital campaigns to drive traffic and increase job postings on your site. This helps you boost revenue as your career center becomes the career destination for your industry. 
• You can start seeing value right away. Once your online career center is in place, you’ll be able to attract more members, deliver greater member value, and produce ongoing revenue.  

TIP: Integrating your YM Careers-powered online career center with YourMembership association management software (AMS) by Momentive Software is quick and easy. This power duo makes it even easier to attract, engage, and retain members while driving more revenue. 

2. Provide continuing education opportunities. 

Your members also look to your association for everything from continuing education to certifications. Make sure you’re doing all you can to optimize your learning program. For example: 

• Offer content from your in-person learning events through an online experience. This allows you to stretch your investment in on-site content further while extending the reach of your content to more members.
• Provide learning content in various ways, with different pricing options. For example, you might offer a single price for access to an unlimited number of courses over a specified period. Your might also offer various on-demand options for learners who are unable to attend live events and courses. 
• Make it easy for members to purchase your educational products through your online store. This not only gives your education options more exposure to members and potential members, but it also allows you to promote your learning program as a valuable member benefit to drive member acquisition and engagement. 

TIP: Deliver educational content more efficiently with Freestone. It’s a learning management system (LMS) that integrates with YourMembership AMS to help small associations organize content and deliver a modern online continuing education experience.  

Learn more. 

Having the right technology in place makes it easier to engage your members and provide them with the value they seek. Learn more about how YourMembership AMS can help your small association continue to improve and grow: Explore YourMembership. 

By Kyela Bishop, YourMembership Marketing Coordinator, Momentive Software