The DelCor Connection Blog

What If Your AMS Already Has All You Need?

Don't overlook the many options available to upgrade your website and improve social media offerings for your members. Integrating updates into your existing system could provide your association with new tools for engaging members.

Read the full article by KiKi L'Italien in ASAE's TechnoScope.

 

Viva la RFP

RFPs aren’t the problem.

FULL, 100% disclosure up front:  DelCor writes and manages requests for proposals (RFPs) when it is an appropriate part of a solution selection process.

It appears folks are getting excited about not using RFPs any longer.  They seem to feel that the RFP is an inherently flawed approach to technology selection and acquisition projects. It’s the RFP’s fault?  I don’t think so.

When I consider all of the RFP documents I have seen in the past 20+years, I quickly realize they can be sorted into piles of effective and ineffective pretty quickly.  The same goes for the RFP process – which is just as important as the RFP document.  A well written RFP used in a poorly designed or managed process can be just as ineffective as a poorly written RFP used in a good selection process. 

Here is my short list of an effective RFP’s attributes:

• Appropriate level of detail - appropriate means appropriate, not copious or anemic levels of detail.  This depends on the overall process being followed and the solutions being considered, of course.
• Targeted – an RFP isn’t the tool one should use to determine if a solution provider might be an appropriate resource.  If the RFP is going to more than six candidates, chances are there has not been enough pre-RFP work done to help narrow the field.
• Clear – goals, requirements, process, selection criteria, and success factors should all be as clear as possible.  Naturally this relies on having clear goals, process, selection criteria, etc… which we all know is easier than it sounds.
• Simple – it should be as simple as the situation allows it to be.  See Occam’s razor.

Another reason I want to keep the RFP alive is because the value of an RFP isn’t in the actual document itself.   Perhaps folks that haven’t done it correctly don’t realize that.  The value is in all of the conversations and work that go into developing the RFP.  During the process DelCor follows, there is a great deal of discussion about business process, culture, the organization’s goals, training needs, and both functional and nonfunctional requirements.  The discussions that happen along the way and the decisions that are made are as much of value to the organization as any solution that is later selected as a result of the process.

On the flip side:

Not only do we produce RFPs at times, we also receive them.  Maybe it’s a benefit of our work, but we know better than to respond to bad RFPs or even a good RFP that is part of a bad process.  If the RFP is distributed to more than half a dozen firms, I am very likely not to respond.  Not because we fear competition, but have learned that if an RFP is distributed to a dozen firms, chances are it’s a buckshot approach.  No work was done to filter the list to the most appropriate set of solution providers.  A simple RFI (request for information) will help narrow down the list of RFP recipients.  One RFP I received went to over 30 firms.  I didn’t respond to that RFP.  Another red flag is a lack of opportunity to meet the decision-making team.  If there is no meeting before the selection, that’s an automatic decline as far as I am concerned.  We are in the consulting business, so personal interaction, chemistry, and communication are critical components of our success with a client, as well as that client’s success.  If the prospective client can’t meet us as part of the process, how will they evaluate those elements of our potential relationship?

Solution providers/vendors/firms – whatever you want to call us - need to keep in mind that responding isn’t a requirement.  Responding to an RFP is your decision.  If the RFP stinks, don’t respond.  If your firm isn’t selected when you respond to a poorly written RFP, or even a well-written RFP that is part of a poorly run process, don’t blame the RFP.

The RFP isn’t the problem.  If you’re issuing or working with a consultant to issue an RFP, make sure the process is focused on the goal – clearly communicating as much as you can with potential solution providers so that the most successful match can be made.  If you’ve received an RFP you owe it to yourself to spend time evaluating the process and the RFP before you respond. 

Viva la RFP!

AMS Selection and Implementation: Why It Makes Sense to be Scared

Do you want to know why people are scared about AMS selection and implementation?

1. There is no set of steps that will automatically work for everyone
2. Things can go really wrong if you don't have a complete picture of the data your organization uses regularly
3. Once the transition takes place, then the real work begins *shudder*

Associations are almost always concerned about the following data issues:

·     Membership Benefits and Structure

·     Event Management

·     Member Communication

Whether you are choosing one of the usual sophisticated suspects (e.g., iMIS, TIMSS, GoMembers, NetForum, Aptify) or going with a solution for a niche membership market (e.g., The Patron Edge,Tessitura , PIDI, Amergent), there will always be concerns about moving into a new direction with your data.

I recently asked the Twitterverse to tell me what the biggest concerns were relating to AMS selection and implementation and here’s what I heard back:

@kikilitalien: number 1 question i ask about an AMS: DO U HAVE AN OPEN API? Actually i just asked that to a vendor last week-no API no deal!

@kikilitalien My biggest question on AMS selection/integration is DATA MIGRATION from current system to new. ugh.

@kikilitalien The biggest issue is proper requirement identification. Have lots more to say, but can't in 140 characters!

What are your questions?

DelCor Technology Solutions CEO Loretta DeLuca will be co-presenting with designDATA COO Cort Kane on “Selecting an AMS/CRM - Audience Issue Shootout for Medium to Large Associations” at the upcoming ASAE Technology Conference & Expo (#tech10). I would love to share your comments or thoughts about AMS selection with the presenters before their session and post a follow-up with some tips here!

 

Are You Missing Opportunities to Connect Your Members?

What if your members were able to opt-in and include their online profiles for easy contact with other members as they registered for a meeting or renewed their membership? What if your members could share their bookmarking sites, areas of interest, desired volunteer roles, along with their blogs and public profiles?  Might associations consider tracking twitter IDs in the AMS? If it were easier to find fellow members who were also on Twitter, wouldn’t that aid in forging the kind of relationships associations strive to help members create?

Recently Twitter added the ability for its users to list people they follow into categories. This was a great benefit for many users who wanted the ability to look at one particular type of discussion, instead of using a third-party Twitter client, like TweetDeck.  The benefit for this kind of segmentation is that one is able to categorize the people one listens to on Twitter.

Example: I can read the tweets of all people in the association world I follow by clicking on my “association peeps” list and see a conversation mostly about association-related topics. I can then easily switch over to my private Twitter list “Gadget Aficionados” to read up on the latest news there.

What does all of this have to do with missing opportunities to connect your members?

 With so many online locations for members to communicate and engage, there is most likely not an easy way for them to connect to each other on popular sites like Twitter from your website or member portal. But there should be.

Associations are in the business of connecting people and organizations with one another and today there are too many places to look for that contact. Associations are in a position to provide valuable hubs of contact information and networking opportunities for their members.  Just like Twitter fulfilled users’ needs for organizing followers into lists, associations might fulfill a need by providing better contact information for those members who opt-in to share that information.

There are arguments that say social networking might replace associations, but I can’t help but see that as an alarmist response. Social media provides fantastic tools to associations that have been in the business of connecting people for many years. But will associations adapt? Will associations learn new ways to provide service to members?

What are your thoughts?