Recently we closed down a survey on Association Technology usage. We ended up with 203 responses and got some great information about how associations are using various types of technology – including AMSes, social media, mobile, and various learning technologies. I plan to put together some highlights and eventually will do some more in-depth analysis on the data, but in the meantime, I wanted to go ahead and share it.
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Update 06/23/10 – Here are some highlights from the summary data:
65 percent of participating organizations indicated that they have
implemented an AMS. Aside from membership management (96.7%), some of the
most popular uses for the AMS were events management (78.7%), committee
management (69.4%), and e-commerce (61.5%).
Among organizations indicating they have not implemented an AMS, the
technologies most commonly implemented were: a content management system
(63.5%), marketing-related software (53.8%), and finance and accounting
software (51.9%).
Among other types of software implemented by organizations (regardless of
AMS usage), the most common by far were Webinar software (63.5%) and event
registration software (46.3%).
The most common services offered by organizations on their Web sites were:
registration for events (87.6%), a member-only resource area (79.3%), and
the ability for members to update their own profiles (60.9%).
The great majority of respondents indicated that they offer an electronic
newsletter either in addition to (51.2%) or in place of (43%) a print
newsletter.
Only 7.1 percent of respondents indicated that their entire Web site is
available in a mobile version, and 12.4 percent indicated that some parts
of their Web site is available in a mobile version.
Data back-up and recovery (74.1%) and network security (70.5%) topped the
list of “very important” technology issues. Social media policies were in
a distance last place with 17.1 percent.
Public social networks (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) topped the list of
social media tools used by the organizations that responded (49.1%),
followed by microblogging tools like Twitter (47.4%), then discussion
forums (39.2%). Facebook (87%), Twitter (74%), and LinkedIn (70.2%) were
by far the most popular tools among organizations using social media.
58.9 percent of respondents indicated their organization is already using
social media and their use will be greater in 2010. 14.6 percent indicated
no plans to use social media tools in 2010.
Only 19.4 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has
created a formal social media strategy.
58.9 percent of respondents indicated that they have never surveyed their
members about technology use. 22.7 percent have surveyed them within the
past 12 months.
Only 41.4 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has a
strategic technology plan or a part of their general strategic plan
dedicated to technology.
53.5 percent of respondents indicated their spending on technology will
increase in 2010. 37.4 percent said it will stay the same. 9 percent said
it will decrease.
