It’s time for the next installment of Associational Management Center’s Ask the Management Team question series. This quarter, we reached out with a question about something everyone can relate to: BUDGET! But instead of focusing on the challenges related to limited budget, we wondered what our executives would do if they had more money to spend. We asked AMC leaders to answer the following question:

If your budget increased by $200,000 for the year, with the expectation all of it must be spent in 2016, where would you invest to make the biggest impact? Why?

Here are a few of their responses:

Susan Farrell Stock, Director of Catalyst Consulting
I’d invest 200K in training and development of the team. Increasing capacity as leaders requires self-awareness. Learning about new models for product development or market research brings fresh inspiration for ways to enrich our clients and deliver on mission. As we often look outside of the association or not-for-profit industry to find new ideas that could impact business performance, I would envision that training to develop communication skills, strategy, or technology would enhance our business processes – while demonstrating commitment and investment in staff.

Stephanie Mercado, Executive Director, National Association for Healthcare Quality
If my budget increased for a single year, I would use the resources to invest in something that would directly or indirectly sustain or grow that revenue boost for years to come. For example, I would invest in a campaign to attract more prospects who could be grown over time into customers or members. Or, I would invest in a technology that would improve members’ expertise and engagement, thereby improving sales or membership retention. Deploying a long term strategy to address a short term opportunity pays dividends.

Dianne Michael, Senior Manager, Member Services
I would invest the $200,000 in software development (primarily Personify and interfaces with outside vendors) to gain operational efficiencies and decrease manual labor and work arounds, providing an improved customer experience.

Phil Saigh, Executive Director, American Academy of Pain Medicine
The topic of a recent “generative session” for the AAPM Executive Committee was as follows: If you had the front page of the New York Times to disseminate anything you wanted about Pain Medicine, what would you say? To the question at hand, I would consider using the $200,000 to engage the AAPM Board more actively in developing key organizational messages and then use the remaining funds to begin dissemination of those messages . . . whether to the New York Times or other publics.

Previous Ask the Management Team Questions:

What is the issue that will affect the association industry the most (either positively or negatively) over the next decade?

What would you tell a young professional who asks you “what are the one or two most important skills I should master to be successful working with volunteers?”

To learn more about the AMC Management Team, please visit the Our Experts section of our website.