How can your community platform help your association provide its core tasks?

The core of their work is the same for many associations. The diagram below depicts these core tasks as an ‘association propeller’ (source). You will find the organisation connecting the four core tasks in the centre. If the propeller jams (organisation), it is also more difficult for the association to perform its core tasks.

In this article, we will discuss the four core tasks of associations and how you can use a community platform to ensure that those tasks function optimally. Because if you set your digital environment up smartly, this will unburden your association’s employees and add extra value for your participants and members. 

1.  Serving interests

Does your association focus mainly on representing members’ interests? Then your core task lies mainly in giving a public voice to all individual opinions and interests. You provide information, facilitate consultation in various forms, and initiate or organise certain activities for your members. In short, you give the group a public voice.

How do you support your organisation with a community platform in this area?

• Share your own information via blogs, news items or content pages and include what the association does to promote member interests. 
• Get to know members’ opinions so you can better represent their interests. Get their views using surveys and polls, or read the discussions on a forum.

MBO Connect, the community for educators in secondary vocational education, promotes member interests, for example, on the forum or by regularly giving its members polls. And LVH, the Dutch national association for GPs, has an entire advocacy section on its website.

2. Strengthening the collective

Is your association mainly focused on strengthening the collective? Your association probably has committed members, and it is essential that society sees you as reliable and knowledgeable. You offer individual members information on the latest developments and subjects that you get from external sources. And by focusing on innovation, you strengthen the entire sector. In short, you radiate quality and reliability to society.

How do you support your organisation with a community platform in this area?

• Build a knowledge base by sharing documents or with wiki pages.
• Receive wisdom from the crowd: Q&A’s are ideal for this.
• Stimulate contributions from members but also, for example, validated knowledge from academia.
• A community platform for a profession strengthens the collective and gives members an immediate voice and standing.

Nevi Inside Procurement is the Dutch knowledge hub for procurement, contract, and supply management. Together, their ambition is to build, be and remain the most significant online procurement knowledge network in the Netherlands.

3. Meet and connect

Does your association focus on recognising the other in a shared situation, hobby or ideals? Then facilitating encounters in all forms is a significant added value to your association. In short, this core task helps people in a shared situation, hobby, ideal, or profession find one another.

How do you support your organisation with a community platform in this area?

• Open up the network and make it easily accessible.  
• Help members find one another and organisations by offering filters like expertise.
• Allow private messages to be sent among members.
• A collective calendar.
• Digital notice board and idea box.
• Acknowledge members who contribute often. 
• Set up collaborative groups to promote teamwork.

TVVL Connect is the knowledge platform for Dutch professionals in installation engineering. Their community platform offers their members the opportunity to collaborate, learn and share knowledge online. Here you can find and get in touch with individual professionals and specialist offices across the country.  

4. Offer individual benefits

Is your association mainly concerned with providing benefits and services to individual members, such as purchase discounts or unique products? Then quality, results and customer focus are crucial. In short, your main added value is providing services to individual members.

How do you support your organisation with a community platform in this area?

• Helpdesk (e.g., in the form of a legal assistance desk).
• Sharing documents via membership.
• Offering services through membership.
• Offering paid documents and services in a webshop.
• Offering products such as templates and playback of webinars.
• E-learning and coaching.
• Displaying job offers.

Vastgoedpro mainly focuses on providing individual benefits for members. They are the Dprofessional association for Dutch real estate practitioners. They encourage their members to work in an established way, while as a professional association, they provide support.

Despite breaking down the core tasks into four parts, most associations add value in several, if not all, areas of the association propeller. So, most associations focus to varying degrees on all four core tasks.

More tips on the opportunities and possibilities of a digital community platform?

Feel free to contact us, we would love to brainstorm with you.