Our Work - Associations

Who do your members look to for advice on professional matters? What's the perception among your members about the value of belonging to your organization? What value do your members derive from being a part of your association? What "member only" benefits do your members value most? What new programs and services should be provided by your association in order to maintain current members and attract new members? Are you missing-out on chances to attract new members to your association? What marketing messages will be the "hot buttons" that drive membership in your association in the future? What needs to be included in your association strategic plan for the next 5 to 10 years? How can you bolster your communications efforts with your members, lawmakers and policymakers about regulatory issues in your industry or profession?

These are just some of the questions that EPIC·MRA has helped associations answers. EPIC·MRA can help you determine member support for association activities, and then build a plan for changing programs or services to better meet the needs of members. We can also test public opinion about the issues important to your organization.

Examples of Association Projects

The challenges associated with managing a professional or trade association have become increasingly complex, as member interests shift to match the new paradigms in our society, government and economy. As a result, EPIC·MRA is working with a growing number of organizations to conduct surveys that measure both member and public perceptions, so that managers and board members have this research on hand when making decisions about the association's future direction.

Areas that have been probed in these surveys include: member satisfaction with the association, including its' policies, staff, communications, image, programs and services; changes that might improve the association's effectiveness and responsiveness to member needs; feedback about association member-only benefits and their importance to members; ideas for sustaining and growing association membership; member support for and involvement in the association's legislative and public policy initiatives; public perceptions about the association, its' members and their image; public support for association public policy initiatives; and the alignment of public opinion with association goals and/or positions on public policy issues.

In addition to conducting survey research, EPIC·MRA is partnering with associations to process membership files and sort them by congressional and state legislative districts; overlaying member contact information (home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) with state and federal legislative maps in an effort to increase communications with members and involve them in the association's grass-roots lobbying efforts and in election campaigns where candidates are supportive of the association's public policy initiatives.

Association Clients:

AARP

Michigan Association of Local Public Health

Michigan Association of Realtors

Michigan Association of Substance Abuse Coordinating Agencies

Michigan Education Association

MESSA

Michigan Restaurant Association