The folks who populate these message boards are often actively looking for jobs, or creating a poisoned environment where people are not unhappy or managers are afraid they'll lose key staff. On the management side, tech companies are starved for good management. If you think I'm painting a picture of total gloom and doom, I'm not. Many nonprofit organizations enjoy a good, if not amazing, reputation in their industry as a provider of good information and analysis, excellent training programs, and quality certification programs. These reputations have evolved through years of providing solid member services and grooming members who provide the necessary leadership through times of change and innovation.
Nonprofits create neutral marketplaces that are perceived as fair to both buyers and sellers.
An organization's membership is indeed its crown jewels. Members are individuals and companies that have willingly become part of the organization's community to partake of the information provided, the marketplace opportunities, the networking, and the representation. Moreover, they have given the nonprofit the tacit, if not explicit, permission to send them newsletters, journals, white papers, and promotional pieces on topics of interest. When an association can claim a significant, if not near total, penetration of the potential market, it has power and it has a voice. Landscape Talk to your members about who is calling them, pitching them, and vying for their attention and dollars.