End-to-End Association Management

Kautter Wenhold Management Group — A Professional Association Management Company 

Conferences, Conventions, Corporate Events

KWMG currently provides end-to-end association management services to 24 professional organizations. Our experienced team of Executive Directors successfully plan, coordinate, and execute approximately 50 corporate events and meetings annually, hosting more than 14,000 attendees combined.

The conferences and corporate meetings we manage typically range from small volunteer workgroups to strategic planning committees. Whether you expect 50 attendees or 15,000, we manage everything so you don’t have to. All you have to do is show up and have fun!

Administration

One of the most important functions for any association management company is to effectively manage the day-to-day operational requirements. This allows volunteer leaders to focus on strategy and industry issues affecting their members.

KWMG has an operational team that manages all of the necessary administrative tasks and effectively implements the board’s strategic vision. We provide backup support which allows your volunteers to do what they do best; which is lead their organization.

Our responsibilities include:

Board of Directors Support

Supporting volunteers within their role as leaders is one of KWMG’s most valuable assets in our suite of association management services. With our highly experienced team, volunteer leaders are better positioned to think globally and strategically to lead their association at the 30,000-foot level.

KWMG’s dedicated staff effectively executes your Board’s vision. The tactical support that we provide for our volunteer boards allows them to focus on your organization’s macro issues. The strategic actions that arise out of Board meetings have to be executed flawlessly, and this is where you can depend on the vast experience of our team.

We effectively partner with client boards and committees to ensure a collaborative and productive relationship. Our professional staff gives your volunteers the freedom to bring ideas, energy, and resources to the table for the benefit of all members.

Listed below are just some of the services we provide to volunteer leadership.

Financial Management

KWMG believes that the foundation of any organization’s success is built upon its financial strength, integrity, and sustainability. In today’s unpredictable and volatile economic climate, associations, now more than ever, need experienced experts who can help manage their cash flow, build reserves, and understand the challenges of funding programs and projects, while growing revenue.

We offer a comprehensive set of accounting services for associations including monthly financial reporting in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We maintain a rigid system of internal accounting controls and procedures to ensure that all transactions are authorized, recorded, and reported accurately. Our system was developed to guarantee the highest levels of reliability, accountability, and integrity.

The KWMG financial team’s responsibilities include:

Member Management

Our decades of experience in the association management field gives KWMG an advantage over other companies because our experts understand nonprofit and association members’ needs and expectations. We provide every member an outstanding experience and provide answers and solutions responsively. We believe in a “whatever it takes” attitude to ensure members get what they need.

Membership management and interactions are the lifeblood of every association. KWMG’s specific membership support capabilities include:

From the infrastructure side, we know that an association’s data is the most valuable asset that the association has and we take that asset seriously.

We utilize this data to effectively interact with members through newsletters, prospecting, dues, renewals, and other various member communications. The data is backed up daily, both onsite and to various offsite secure locations, which exceeds industry standards for data management. KWMG gives our clients peace of mind when it comes to their critical association data and files, as well as how their members are being served.

Digital Marketing

Websites, social media, and communications are the public face of an organization and serve as the information hub for the association’s members. Association websites must deliver a fantastic user experience, functional, engaging, informative; able to generate interest; and drive traffic to the association. Our in-house full-service marketing department works with volunteer leaders to create and deliver the association’s vision of what their Internet presence needs to be.

KWMG’s award-winning marketing team has a history of creativity in all areas of digital marketing and business development. We apply specific technology solutions that increase online efficiency, effectiveness, and interactions. We believe the Internet should be the exclusive, dynamic portal for all member and non-member interactions. This includes membership signups and renewals, directories, research and educational information, organizational newsletters, conference registrations, social media, forums, and blogs.

KWMG works with our clients to ensure that the organization’s websites become a two-way communication tool. Our marketing team works to implement a board’s vision to create vibrant, user-friendly, and ADA-compliant websites that provide members and non-members easy access to public and private information. Our websites continually evolve and incorporate cutting-edge technology for the association’s member’s benefit.

Marketing services include:

Publications

Editorial planning and strategy development are key components to delivering valuable members-only publications. KWMG’s team of experts offers turnkey solutions for producing your membership publications including increasing advertising sales and enhancing relationships with advertisers.

Additionally, our marketing team is skilled at producing external messages, brochures, newsletters, and magazines which serve the mission of our clients in getting their message out to the members as well as to the public.

The KWMG team utilizes the cutting edge of social networking and leverages innovative technologies to grow membership, disseminate critical information to members, create buzz to influence political decision-makers, and educate anyone interested in our clients’ needs and goals.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is critical to every association and provides a blueprint for conducting business and future growth in the most efficient and effective manner. Our team at KWMG works with clients to create meaningful and implementable strategic plans. The plan takes the vision of the volunteer boards, incorporates the association’s mission, and creates tangible goals that increase the value of the organization to the member.

Any strategic plan is only as good as the effectiveness of implementation and follow-through. At KWMG, we take the direction of the board, and staff implements and actively manages those directives. Our team of skilled facilitators creates interactive and meaningful strategic planning sessions for our clients which culminate in a focused, obtainable plan that includes benchmarks and metrics to measure success.

Our goal in providing strategic planning services for our clients is to help the volunteer leaders create a sustainable roadmap of the organization’s future and tactics; which allow them to achieve the desired results.

Organizational Assessment

Keeping a volunteer membership organization running like a well-oiled machine isn’t something that happens spontaneously. Organizational excellence requires constant vigilance and regular assessment of all activities and processes —while measuring effectiveness. KWMG’s senior staff are leaders in organizational assessment and have the expertise to identify improvements needed in the following functions:

By conducting an in-depth organizational assessment the association oftentimes gets an outside, third-party view of the association and industry, which then allows volunteer leaders to better understand external perceptions. This assessment is critical for knowledge-based decision-making which helps volunteer leaders direct the organization towards the future and provide a better overall member value proposition.

KWMG is fortunate to have our President, Melanie Dixon, CAE, PHR, as our lead assessment principal. She is a nationally recognized Malcolm Baldrige Examiner and is responsible for the overview, assessment, and criteria analysis for evaluating multi-billion dollar businesses and organizations to determine their level of organizational excellence. She brings this background and expertise to our clients in need of an assessment for their organization.

we are here so your association can thrive

Kautter Wenhold Management Group
An End-to-End Professional Association Management Company