The benefits of member training and training management for associations

Recently updated on August 22nd, 2024

Associations have shown remarkable growth in the past couple of years after navigating the choppy waters of the pandemic years. Some of the latest research reports that in 2023 49% of associations saw membership levels increase, up from 26% in 2021,  with only 22% reporting a decline. 

The same research indicates that the growth in membership levels has been coupled with an increase in marketing budgets, with 32% of associations reporting an increase in budgets for awareness and 36% for recruitment of new members. 

With membership and budgets bouncing back, associations now face more traditional questions about how they can capitalize on this growth, increase membership engagement and retention, and continue to innovate and improve upon the services they offer to their members.

One of the key ways successful associations are doing this this is by offering training to their members, and in this guide we’ll explore how and why they are doing this, by looking closely at:

• The reasons why associations offer training to their members 
• The benefits that training brings to the association and its members
• Some examples and case studies of how associations are running training and the types of courses they are offering
• The tools associations need to start offering training to their members, and how they work together.

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Why do associations offer training?

At Arlo, we work with associations in a range of industries, including health and safety, construction, professional trades, nonprofits, educational, and academic institutions. We have seen firsthand how these associations have used and developed training programs as part of their strategy to achieve all of the above.

The key reasons that associations offer training, from our experience, are:

• Improved member engagement and retention due to access to industry-leading training and engaging content. 
• Training provides their members with a competitive edge in their respective fields. 
• Creation of additional revenue streams for the association, such as charging for the training. 
• Enhanced brand visibility and reputation as awareness grows about their training programs. 
• Opportunity to collaborate with companies in their chosen industry to upskill their staff, providing the association with further revenue opportunities.

For example, Arlo customer the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA) offers industry leading training to its members and the staff of its member companies. The association’s member companies look to VICA’s training programs to upskill their staff. 

This has proven particularly pivotal in the last couple of years when the construction industry in BC has been suffering from an ongoing skilled labor shortage. Companies have looked to the association to plug the gap. 

Related article: Discover how VICA reduced training admin by >50% with Arlo and Wicket

The types of associations that offer training

There are associations of all sizes in a wide variety of industries that utilize training as a key part of their offering to members:

• Professional associations –  such as those in the industries we listed earlier, primarily healthcare, construction, and other professional trades, as well as educational institutions, accounting, law, sales, HR, and finance.
  
• Non-profit associations –  such as charities, religious organizations, private foundations, and political organizations.

What types of training do associations offer?

The training most associations offer falls within the realm of professional development. Of course, that’s a broad category, and knowing what types of PD training you should offer to your members requires a lot of research.

However, we can look at some examples to give you some ideas:

The VICA that we mentioned earlier offers project management courses, project accounting, and cost control. The courses are aimed at helping a multi-general workforce and assisting construction professionals in transitioning from being on the tools to the next stage of their career.

Alongside these specialized courses, they offer self-paced eLearning courses that you can see in this image of their course catalog.

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Another example is the training courses offered by the Winnipeg Construction Association. You can see in their June 2024 course overview that they offer more general professional development courses, such as Microsoft Excel training, and more specialized courses, such as specific training on Construction Meetings.

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An important point to note is that these courses are open to both members and non-members, with a discount given to members. By opening up training to non-members, the WCA has the opportunity to increase non-dues revenue and also showcase their courses to learners who could then go on to become members

A final example of an association that does a great job of summarizing on the website the training they offer is the Independent Contractors and Business Association of British Columbia (ICBA). 

On their training page ICBA have the following message: 

“When it comes to developing workers, no association does as much as ICBA – from newcomers looking for the basics like Occupational First Aid, to apprentices looking to get their Red Seal accreditation, to experienced workers looking to take the next step in their careers, to office and management types looking for every skill they need to grow their companies. ICBA has professional development and training offerings for everyone involved in your company.”

It’s immediately clear to anyone visiting their training page that they have courses and programs available for construction professionals who work on-site, as well as for those who are office-based

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Other types of professional development training you’ll often see associations offer are:

• C-Suite training: Programs tailored for executive leadership, focusing on strategic thinking, leadership development, and industry-specific challenges
• General management training: Training for mid-level and senior managers, focusing on skills such as project management, team leadership, and conflict resolution
• Technical skills training: Courses designed to improve specific technical skills relevant to the industry.
• Compliance training: Ensuring members understand and comply with industry regulations, legal requirements, and ethical standards
• Soft skills training: Workshops on communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
• Diversity and inclusion training: Initiatives to promote understanding and implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace

The benefits that training provides for associations and its members

Association benefits

Growth in membership and improved ability to attract new members

“Associations that report a very compelling or compelling value proposition are more likely to see increases in their one-year and five-year membership counts and renewal rates” – 2023 Membership Marketing Benchmark Report

The quote says it all. Associations that have strong USPs and compelling, actionable benefits to offer potential members will see stronger growth than those that don’t. Training can act as a very strong UPS for your association. 

If you can highlight to potential members the benefits they can look forward to by taking your courses you’ll be in a strong position to secure their membership.

You can do this by:

• Display testimonials from members who’ve taken training through your association, describing what they gained from it.
• Create in-depth case studies where members share more about their experiences and the benefits they received from taking your training.
• Highlight your training benefits as the centerpiece of your printed promotional materials.
• Clearly showcase the discount that members receive on your training programs compared to non-members.

Strengthened member retention

Similar to the first point, if your training is providing significant benefits to your members, a knock-on effect will be improved member retention. Member training programs give members the chance to interact one-on-one, further their careers, and access exclusive opportunities that they ordinarily wouldn’t have

Research by Modern Marketing Partners states that membership organizations’ average retention rate is 76%. So, if you’re below this figure, or on-par but want to improve it, offering member training is one potential way.

Improved association reputation and industry standing

As we highlighted in the VICA example earlier, offering industry-leading training has strengthened VICA’s reputation. Companies look to the association to upskill their team members and provide employees with the key skills to progress in their careers and transition into new positions

Additional revenue 

Offering training opens up new revenue opportunities for associations. As we saw earlier, you can offer training with various pricing structures, such as a discounted rate for members and a standard rate for non-members.

Stronger relationships and ties to the community

Training gives the opportunity to build relationships with local companies, key decision makers and other key industry figures. And through offering training, and building upon your reputation you’ll strengthen relationships with the wider community.

Member benefits

Access to professional training at reasonable prices

It’s a pretty self-explanatory benefit, but one that’s worth listing: members of your association gain access to training that will directly benefit them—whether they want to upskill, take refresher training, or shift their career in a different direction within the same industry.

Networking opportunities

Training gives your members the chance to meet, network, and connect with other professionals taking the same programs, as well as professionals at different stages of their careers whom they can learn from. Additionally, they can connect with companies within the industry that they would be interested in working for or with.

Career growth and job opportunities

Again, it’s self-explanatory: developing skills gives your members opportunities to advance their careers both in terms of skills and through access to new job opportunities.

What technology are associations using to manage and deliver their training?

Of course, associations need infrastructure, staff, and software to manage their training operations. The key types of software and platforms integral to this include:

Training management software

A training management system (TMS)  is designed to help associations manage all aspects of their commercial training. A TMS serves as a centralized platform for creating and scheduling courses and presenters, as well as tracking payments and business growth.

Key features include:

Course management 

Training management software simplifies course management, allowing you to create and synchronize new courses on your website quickly. You can easily schedule recurring courses across multiple dates and locations using pre-built templates.

Course creation features within a training management system are designed to accommodate various formats, including face-to-face, live-online courses, blended, and eLearning.

Each course can be customized with specific delivery methods, and for courses with multiple sessions, each session can be assigned a different delivery method. This flexibility ensures that you can offer both in-person and virtual training to your members.

Course registration and payments 

TMSs contain course registration and payment software to simplify selling courses. This includes course registration forms that allow for multiple course orders or registrants using the same form, automatic invoicing capabilities, and built-in tools to easily cancel or transfer registrations and automatically notify customers of any changes.

Course reporting 

A TMS gives you access to a range of -pre-set and custom reports, such as:

Registration reports

Get key insights into course registration numbers, track and analyze registration data, such as course attendance, by organization registrations over time

Order reports

Order reports help you understand your financial performance. You can create reports to find out how much revenue your training courses have generated over a specific period or identify outstanding balances and billing contacts for follow-up.

Performance reports

Performance reports provide insights into the revenue generated by individual courses. These reports help you identify which courses are most profitable and where to focus your efforts.

CRM built for training 

Built-in CRM software provides access to dashboards that offer instant visibility into various aspects of your business, including upcoming courses, registrations, and revenue. Its relationship management features allow you to automatically store contacts, track course activity and outcomes, capture and nurture leads, and easily access certificates and documents—all while managing all your important relationships in one place.

Our recommended solution: Arlo Training Management Software

Membership data platforms

A Member Data Platform (MDP) is a cloud-based centralized hub for associations to manage member data while integrating with best-in-class software tools for their membership solutions. 

The MDP uses two-way synchronization to connect data to and from these software tools, ensuring that data is always up to date. As a result, the MDP acts as a single source of truth for all membership data held by an association. 

An MDP eliminates the need for built-in modules, commonly seen in association management software (AMS). Instead, it integrates with industry-leading software tools, allowing associations to optimize their member management. Despite leveraging different software tools, the login and member experience remains seamless through single sign-on (SSO), requiring only one set of credentials.

Examples of software that an MDP can integrate (other than a TMS and LMS) with include website content management systems like WordPress, reporting and business intelligence tools, e-commerce platforms, email marketing systems, and community engagement platforms

Our recommended solution: Wicket

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application or web-based technology that associations use to plan, create, implement, and assess their training and educational content. LMSs are primarily used for delivering self-paced eLearning content but can also be used for the delivery of live, blended, and hybrid training

Our recommend solutions: Moodle, Canvas or Blackboard Learn

Virtual training tools

For an association to carry out any form of virtual training they need a video conferencing/webinar platform. Thankfully these platforms such as Zoom integrate with the above software applications so training delivery is nice and straightforward.

Our recommended solution: Zoom

How these technologies work together to help associations

The above technologies integrate with one another to help associations ideate, create, implement, and assess their courses while managing all of their membership data within a central hub. Instead of having to manage individual applications for each part of the process, an association has a single source of truth. 

The exact way these platforms work together can differ from association to association due to the custom workflows each will have. However, to help visualize how they work together, here’s an example workflow:

Stage One: Member engagement and communication

An administrator uses their Member Data Platform (MDP) to identify the members they want to promote a course to. This may be a segment of members or their entire member base

Step Two: Registration and administration

Members register for courses or events via the TMS, which manages all aspects of enrollment, including payment processing and confirmation. The TMS also schedules the courses, assigns instructors, and coordinates resources and rewards, such as certification programs

Step Three: Course delivery and participation

Registered members access course materials hosted on the LMS. If the course involves live sessions, the LMS syncs with a platform like Zoom to facilitate the sessions. Members can join live webinars or interactive sessions directly through links provided in the LMS, while also enjoying social learning and gamification elements through the LMS and virtual platform

Step Four: Data synchronization and personalization

The LMS tracks member performance, assessment results and engagement levels. This data is fed back into the member data platform which updates each member’s profile accordingly.

Step Five: Analysis and reporting

The data collected across platforms can then be turned into different types of reports facilitated by the TMS and acted upon accordingly. These reports may reveal that the association needs to improve member satisfaction or enhance the learning experience for members.

Final thoughts – knowing the value of training

Training is an excellent method of providing an unforgettable experience for your association’s members. As you’ve read about in this guide, associations that go the extra mile by giving their members access to industry-leading courses and opportunities are reaping the benefits, not just in member satisfaction, but also in reputation and revenue.

If you’re currently offering training to your members, or you’re in the process of rolling it out and are looking for a platform that’s purposely built to facilitate the delivery of great training—providing you with all the tools to manage course scheduling, registrations, payments, website, CRM, reporting, and more—all in one easy-to-use platform, then schedule a demo or start a free trial below.