As a membership association, one of the largest benefits which you can offer is educational opportunities. By having worthwhile educational opportunities available, you can increase and retain your membership database. As well as contribute to the wider best practice and sharing of information. In this edition of the Fitwise blog, we’re going to explore how you can maximise your educational offering. As well as how you can make each opportunity work for you.
Webinars
Webinars are one of the most cost-effective ways to provide educational content to your members. They are easily set up, low involvement from your association, and both attendees and speakers can attend from the comfort of their own home. This makes the whole process less onerous for all involved. Some of the key benefits of webinars include:
- Webinars can be recorded, meaning they can be made available at a later date for those who cannot attend at the time.
- Attendees can get involved, via polls, and Q&A’s.
- Webinars can be eligible for CPD accreditation.
- Webinars can be sponsored by corporate companies or partners, meaning they create an additional revenue stream for your association.
Webinars are made even easier to host when you have an association management company on board. They can provide administrative support, including registration, promotion, CPD applications, and hosting. Find out more about how Fitwise could support your wider association.
Conference
Hosting a conference is one of the best ways to provide a wide range of educational content to your audience. If successful, it can become one of the main revenue streams for your association. If you haven’t run a conference previously, or are looking for guidance and support through the process of planning, delivery, and post-event evaluations, working with a professional conference organiser like Fitwise can be of huge benefit. We are able to provide support in all areas of planning, marketing, finance and on-the-day support. If you’re not quite at the stage of planning, but would like conference bid support, Fitwise also offer this free of charge, as a no obligation service.
E-Learning
An avenue many associations are now exploring is producing their own resources and making them available online. E-Learning can be a great benefit to offer members as you can use the expertise of your council or executive to help share best practice. While the initial set up of an E-Learning platform will incur costs, with the support of an association management company or dedicated web support, they are easily updated, ensuring that they are in keeping with all current guidelines and policies. If your association is not quite at the stage of offering its own E-Learning platform, you could consider partnering with a corporate company. In this instance, you may promote the companies’ educational resources. In exchange, they may make it accessible to your membership for a lower fee.
Podcasts
With the ever-shifting preferences of how people consume their content, many associations are now considering starting in-house podcasts. In which, they can discuss current happenings in their field, share research, and share opinions. While not able to contribute to any CPD points, podcasts have many great benefits:
- Listeners can access at their own leisure.
- Previous episode topics can be revisited and built upon to reflect any changes to the field.
- They provide an informal and conversational space, which can help members feel more connected with those they are listening to.
- Hosts can have revolving guests depending on the topic, meaning the episodes can cover a wide variety of topics.
While starting a podcast still incurs cost due to the editing requirements, they are one of the cheaper ways to provide educational content. If successful, associations may also wish to explore the potential sponsorship opportunities they could.
By offering a diverse mix of educational opportunities, associations can meet the evolving needs of their members while maximising engagement. As well as encourage long-term member retention. From webinars and conferences to e-learning and podcasts, each format plays a unique role in supporting your association. With the right strategy and support in place, these offerings can strengthen your membership offering, enhance your reputation within the field, and offer revenue opportunities. Working with an experienced association management company like Fitwise can help ensure your educational programme is not only impactful, but also efficient.
