Looking for resources about growing and managing an association's database

January 17, 2012 9:19 AM

As of Monday I'll be new to the field of Association Management. Can you share with me your favorite resources and best practices (I hate that phrase but it's the best I can come up with) on how to grow and wrangle a membership database?

I'm switching gears in my work life - going from a newspaper where I've done online production-type work for 12 years to a trade association for a certain type of doctor. I'll be in the Membership department working closely with the database of members and non-members, and acting as a liason between the Database Admin in IT and the people in Marketing and Membership who need info from that database. I interviewed with many people and they all know of my lack-of-association-management background. The position is new, so I won't have the benefit of learning from my predecessor's notes.

I'm confident I can re-learn some of the database integrity practices I used here years ago and can learn to use their membership software (iMIS). But I'm looking for ideas, resources and case studies on how to grow the non-member portion of the database. Much of this will be on the job learning, but I would like some reading material to give me background so I don't start Monday as a completely blank slate. Google searches give me non-relevant associations to join, and opinions on how to grow email marketing opt-in lists. I found ASAE's Acronym blog shortly after I got the job and have it bookmarked.

So, Association Management AskMeFites, can you share with me your favorite resources for dealing with your database? I'll read blogs, read online articles, read books, join websites, follow Twitter hashtags -- you name it. Actually, any tips for thriving in this new-to-me field would be welcome since my new job jitters are quickly multiplying.

posted by ladygypsy to Work & Money (1 answer total)

I run the iMIS database for our association. My best suggestion is for your organization to join the National iMIS Users Group I they are not already members. It is very cheap and gives you access to their library, as well as an active community who can answer your questions. You should also start participating in your local iMIS User group.

In the meantime, do you have any experience with iMIS? It can be sort of persnickety, and often very unintuitive. Do you anticipate needing to create your own reports, which will require the generation of custom Crystal reports?
posted by gagoumot at 9:59 AM on January 17, 2012