It is taken for granted in today’s business writings that all organizations should have a strategic plan with a core mission and purpose clearly defined. Like many companies have done, we took our staff aside for an afternoon a few years ago and had a serious discussion about our company, what it is and what we want it to be. Because we had already been involved in association management for a number of years before we had this discussion, I think it made it easier for us to define our mission and purpose. It is a simple one. Our mission is to help our clients achieve theirs. Nothing gives us more satisfaction than that.
Currently our clients are mostly professional, scientific societies, and the work they do is amazing. Many of the world’s leading research scientists are members of various groups we serve. In their everyday jobs they are working toward the most noble of goals: to alleviate human suffering, to discover better treatments for serious illnesses, and to make life better for all of us. The scientific societies they have formed help to serve those same goals of advancing science and alleviating suffering.
We are honored to work with our members. As we have come to know the people who lead the associations we manage, I often find myself in awe of their accomplishments. But even more, I am amazed that such accomplished people with very busy jobs and very busy lives, offer so much of their time, their creative energy and ideas, as a volunteer to organizations they believe in. These organizations have provided the settings in which scientific presentations led to discussions, which led to collaborations, which led to new studies with new findings. They have developed and launched scientific journals that publish much of the newest information in their respective fields. They provide information that helps clinicians better treat their patients and that helps patients and families better understand the issues confronting them. How could you not love working with groups like this?!
It is such a privilege, and so much fun, to be able to help organizations like the ones we serve do what they do. Our one and only goal is to help them to do it better. So, how do we do that? We help our client members to stay focused on the real purpose of their organization, on the scientific mission, by helping them to think and act strategically – the best kind of strategic planning. We make sure they have the information they need to make good, informed decisions. We make sure that we are prepared to offer advice when it is needed on matters of non-profit governance and operations. And, we take the burden off them of tending to the myriad of administrative, logistical, financial, and managerial tasks that must be done on a daily basis.
In conversations here in our office, I have said that I want us to do our job with the same level of excellence that our members do theirs. That’s an ambitious goal, but we are committed to accomplishing it!
