Maryland Society of Association Executives

MARYLAND SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES

Circle of Excellence Award Press Release

NEWS RELEASEApril 7th, 2006

MSAE Contact: Mitch Lebovic, CAE,

Awards Committee Chairman,

Maryland Society of Association Executives

410.931.8100

Award Organization Contact:

Stephen C. Carey, Ph.D., CAE

President, AMMR

301.530.9066

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Association Management and Marketing Resources Receives a Third Circle of Excellence Award in Four Years—Joins Elite Circle

Association Management and Marketing Resources (AMMR), an association management consulting, market research and training firm, and its President, Stephen C. Carey, Ph.D., CAE, have been recognized and honored for outstanding achievement by the Maryland Society of Association Executives for the third time in the last four years. Dr. Carey was honored this year for the publication of his latest association management textbook in the area of integrated governance, marketing and communications, called, The 2006 Association and Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Research Guide: A Workbook of Models, Templates and Best Practices for Creating Simple, Effective Research-based Strategic Plans Tied to Operations for Volunteers and Staff during Uncertain Times,Thus far, the Guide has sold over 150 single copies in addition to licensed electronic and CD copies of the Guide to chapters and components of national associations.

“MSAE’s Circle of Excellence Awards recognize Maryland-based association executives and business partners for exemplary programs and work done on behalf of their members, constituents or the community,” says MSAE President Claire Jefferson, Executive Director, American College of Emergency Physicians, Maryland Chapter. “Dr. Carey’s and AMMR’s Strategic Planning and Research Guide sets a publications standard, for which other association consultants and professionals should strive, and can certainly be counted among Maryland’s finest.”

“In providing this tool, we hope to assist association and nonprofit executives in accomplishing their strategic planning missions in creating a plan for their future while operating in the present, plus give them the ability to integrate the long range planning elements and differing futures into the yearly budget and program of work,” said Dr. Carey. He continued, “Similar to our first management publication, The Association Marketing and Communications Guide, this new book was created as a direct result of working with many associations and seeing a need for a simple, comprehensive, flexible, user-friendly strategic planning tool for all nonprofits and associations in times we are currently facing.”

“We are pleased that Maryland recognizes our efforts and validates the importance to our community of this and our previous award winning Marketing Guide.”

The Maryland Society of Association Executives is a creative and effective community of committed professionals leading associations into the future.

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ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE GUIDE FOLLOWS BELOW

Additional Background on the Strategic Planning and Research Guide and Future AMMR Publications

AS LEADERS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING AND RESEARCH WE ARE NOT EQUIPPED FOR CONTINUAL RAPID CHANGE

Changes are occurring at lightning speed for associations and other nonprofits, and many are ill- equipped to handle strategic planning “on the run,” which today is becoming the first and foremost requirement of strategic planning. In benchmarking and reviewing data from a variety of trade associations, professional societies and other nonprofits of all sizes and budgets, we have found that less than 40% have a strategic plan. What’s more striking – less than 10% have a strategic plan that is tied to the ongoing annual budget and program of work.

The Association and Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Research Guide creates a simplified yet effective strategic planning tool that links together the association’s distant future with its current operational programs and service plans, and ties them together with the strategic plan, the budget and the yearly program of work. In short, it encourages you think about all the strategic planning ingredients you must consider, and lets you tailor a plan to your organization. The Guide provides models and templates needed for creating an integrated strategic plan to serve as the “headlights” for the association going forward, while at the same time, providing you the day-to-day operational blueprint.

Also, included are structural and cross-departmental team, coordinative models and templates to be used to integrate strategic and operational planning at all levels of the organization.

The publication, addresses in a clear and simple manner, the criticality of proactively applying “real-time integration and renewal of strategic and tactical planning for meeting short and long term goals within the uncertain times for associations and other nonprofits. This guide, available in single print or CD version, can also be purchased as licensed electronic copies along with substantial discounts for chapter or component volunteer leaders within national associations.

Speaking on the guide’s development, Dr. Carey further stated, “While conducting the research and benchmarking over 300 trade and professional societies for the guide, we discovered that less than 40 operate utilizing an effective strategic plan, and of those that do, fewer than 10% incorporate a research component, which then ties their annual plan to their program of work.” “Surprisingly, fewer than 20% perform a detailed environmental scan (using more sophisticated scanning instruments [not just a one dimensional SWOT analysis]) or make use of quantitative or qualitative research, upon which to build their planning session.”

Dr. Carey continued to say “this Guide provides a solid, organized, step-by-step process for creating a ‘living’ strategic plan, which is tied to the organization’s operations along with a set of metrics and a business planning matrix. The end result is a blueprint for operating in an uncertain future while at the same time allowing for flexibility to adapt and change in the present. The Guide comes complete with templates and best practices to shape our own plan!” Electronic or CD copies for the board, staff and especially affiliate and chapter volunteer leaders and staff are available.

Some of the key highlights the Guide provides:

A simple, comprehensive tool with templates (in Word and PPT), with detailed examples for applying each step of the process;
“Walks you through” the strategic planning and research process without needing to refer to other references to create your own complete plan;
The latest in strategic planning and research methods, including: the research required before the process, the best practices and trends within association strategic planning, and the creative exercise in planning for the future to move your board to a “higher planning level;”
Instruction on how to select a facilitator with the right “fit’ for the association;
Detailed guidance and templates to “hinge” your plan to the yearly program of work and the budget to keep the association and all constituents focused on the plan;
How to be inclusive of your constituencies and other stakeholders when you set up the planning team;
Step-by step methods to evaluate and measure the progress of your plan; and
An introduction by world-renowned futurist, David Pearce Snyder.

One of the more important benefits of the Guide is that a national association and its affiliates can utilize the same planning methods and mutually tie their operations together for the industry or profession.

The Guide and templates are available in hard copy, CD or via electronic delivery formats.

New AMMR Publication Scheduled for Release in 2007: Sneak Preview of the Guide to Value Creation and Delivery

A “sneak preview” of the appropriate methodology and templates for creating quantified value statements and value delivery vehicles are included in the revised 2006 Marketing and Communications Guide to assist in raising the “value visibility" of the organization’s products and programs. Value quantification and delivery will be examined in greater detail in the 2007 guide entitled, The Association and Nonprofit Value Creation and Delivery Guide: Defining and Delivering the ROI and True Value of Association and Nonprofit Products, Programs and Services for Association Executive and Volunteers.

About the Author

STEPHEN C. CAREY, Ph.D., CAE, has been President and CEO of Association Management & Marketing Resources (AMMR) since July 1995. Dr. Carey is a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and as lead strategist and facilitator, Dr. Carey has successfully led AMMR’s consultant team on over 100 major management consulting, market research, strategic planning program assessment, and teaching assignments with trade associations and professional societies in the key areas of governance, communications, marketing, strategic planning and administrative management operations.

Prior to AMMR, Dr. Carey, served as President and CEO of the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (now the Destination Marketing Association International) and the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives for 14 years, and as Director, Membership and Management Services Department, including business development for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for 4 years.

Dr. Carey has written, published, and/or edited 100+ articles and several books on association strategic planning, governance, marketing, communication and management topics. He conceived of, published and edited the first association marketing textbook, entitled Marketing the Non-profit Association (10,000+ in print) and wrote the first association marketing and communications planning guide (revised 2006) entitled,The 2006 Association Marketing and Communication Planning Guide with Best Practices and Templates, as well as the only two association business partner textbooks currently in the marketplace. Recently, he published the 2006 Association Strategic Planning and Research Guide with Best Practices and Templates. In addition to being a Charter Member of the American League of Lobbyists and Charter Class Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives, he was also selected as one of the 12 most influential association executives by the Washington Business Journal, and is considered to be one of the industry’s leading experts on strategic planning, restructuring associations, dues structures and program assessments in the governance, management, marketing and communications areas.

Most recently, Dr. Carey was issued invitations to present association strategic and research planning, marketing and governance trends and issues before the prestigious Council of Scientific Society Presidents at their last two annual meetings. Dr. Carey is also a retired military reserve Colonel, who was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze and Silver Star Citations, among others for service in Vietnam. Dr. Carey lives and works in Bethesda, Maryland and may be reached through the AMMR website at: or via e-mail at