By J. Bruce Wardle, CAE
President, Association Management Group, Inc

More than 3,000 associations are currently being served and managed by association management companies (AMCs). The annual budgets of these trade, professional, philanthropic and credentialing organizations can range from $150,000 to $16 million. Most of the larger associations managed by AMC’s have teams of people led by a certified association executive working exclusively for that one association and supported by additional staff.

The directors and officers of the associations managed by AMG have realized a significant benefit that would not be available to them and their organizations had they not made the choice to retain the services of this company.

AMG has the potential to help any non-profit organization. This company has exceptional experience and knowledge in managing all aspects of associations. In serving clients, AMG can draw upon and benchmark against experience with many current and former clients to provide associations with fresh thinking for new business models. In addition, AMG has standard operating procedures to ensure optimum results for each client and can provide cross-learning among staff association professionals and opportunities for internal networking; vendor relationships and access to knowledge of services/marketplace; and staffing in specialty areas such as government relations, credentialing, public relations and membership.

The economies of scale and efficiencies provided by AMG are unmatched by “stand-alone” associations. Operating ratio reports from ASAE and other organizations evidence the savings association clients can achieve inside an AMC. As a larger AMC, with its clients’ aggregate buying power, AMG can leverage vendor relationships to obtain favorable rates. In addition, AMG has expertise in helping clients weather market changes and offers technology to provide state of the art e-commerce and e-marketing solutions. AMG will also eliminate disruption to association programs and services with prompt staff allocations and hiring, services which are included in our fixed fees.

With unlimited experience in serving a wide-variety of organizations (trade, professional and philanthropic), AMG will help associations meet their organizational goals and objectives by using best practices and case studies based on multiple-client experience and staff expertise. The opportunity for cross-learning among client teams and staff benefits each association served and this experience translates to achieving budget and strategic goals for clients.

For associations on the search for management and professional staffing solutions, this introduction is just the starting point. Associations can find the right association management partner by reviewing company information, visiting AMG’s offices, talking to current AMG clients and meeting the professionals who are responsible for serving our clients on a daily basis. Only then will association leaders get a full perspective on AMG’s strengths and abilities.

We look forward to working with and serving your organization.