NPEA had always operated with a small team, and frequent turnover in its member engagement role made that capacity even harder to hold onto. Each time the role turned over, its responsibilities fell to the Executive Director and the Director of Programs on top of their own jobs.  And with no documented processes to fall back on, institutional knowledge left the organization along with each departing employee.

In addition, Karin noted that“limited capacity meant we couldn't run events, losing revenue. Also, being in constant emergency mode prevented strategic thinking about our event direction or alternative revenue.”

The strain showed up in long hours, staff burnout, and revenue-generating events that NPEA simply couldn't staff anymore. 

Karin realized "this cycle would continue unless we got professional guidance on our efficiency, processes, systems, and future path.”

Dennison & Associates began with a full organizational assessment: extensive benchmarking against similarly sized associations, paired with a deep analysis of NPEA's financials, staffing, revenue, pricing, and future profitability. The goal was to understand, with evidence rather than instinct, where a lean team was reaching its limits and what a new hire actually needed to solve.

Karin appreciated that “Dennison & Associates looked at everything—current roles, responsibilities, our goals, and what was achievable.  [They] reviewed all our financials—revenue, expenses, everything.”

That assessment also led into a focused follow-up project: building a RACI matrix and clear swim lanes for a team that had been resolving nearly everything in group meetings, simply because responsibilities weren't defined. The clarity it created let Karin Elliott, NPEA's Executive Director, step back from covering internal gaps and delegate that work to her staff with clearly assigned roles, freeing her to focus on external partnerships and revenue generation.

“This incredibly useful, though exhaustive, process of detailing every task in a RACI matrix was a great contribution from Dennison & Associates—something I'd never considered. It's an amazing tool.”

With roles clarified and the groundwork in place, NPEA hired a new meeting planner against clear ROI and revenue targets for the position, rather than a general job description built on guesswork.

With clearer roles, their membership resource could focus solely on recruitment and retention, capitalizing on her specific skills with relationship building.  NPEA grew new membership by 25% year over year and is projecting an 85% renewal rate — a significant swing for a small education association.

Karin noted, "One key impact of working with Dennison & Associates was member growth: a 25% increase in new members since last July compared to the previous year. We're also projecting an 85% renewal rate."  

NPEA also returned to holding more in-person events beyond their conference.  This was a revenue channel that had gone dormant for years due to a lack of staff.  And, with greater clarity in the roles, Karin was able to focus on growing sponsorships for the events.  

"Because of working with Dennison & Associates and hiring the new meeting planner, we held four additional in-person events this year, after none last year. This return was significant. [And,] My role shifting to be more external had the biggest revenue impact: I brought in more grants and focused on time-consuming conference sponsorships.”

The role clarity from the RACI process carried straight into daily operations. With the new meeting planner in place and responsibilities clearly assigned, staff could focus on their own roles instead of covering gaps left by turnover.

"Everyone's role changed significantly in a short time, leading to more efficiency, better capacity, and improved work-life balance. People aren't as burned out because they can focus on their own jobs."  

For Karin, that same clarity meant stepping back from day-to-day coverage to spend more time on the work only she could do.  And the new meeting planner expanded capacity for events exactly as planned.

“We've held four in-person events besides the conference, bringing in significant revenue towards our event goals. This was achieved in the first year of having the new meeting planner.”

Dennison also reviewed how NPEA was using its membership platform and connected the team with a specialist partner. That relationship helped NPEA start automatic renewals for the first time, and clean, usable reports the team had wanted for years.

Karin elaborated, saying, “the biggest game-changer, now unfolding, is shifting all memberships to auto-renew. This alone is a huge time-saver, eliminating hours spent chasing renewals. Auto-renew and reporting training have been game-changers.”

Today, the National Partnership for Educational Access is fundamentally repositioned, enabling the organization to more effectively pursue its core mission of supporting students from under-resourced communities. By addressing operational inefficiencies, strategically redefining roles, and strengthening its financial framework, NPEA is less constrained by previous limitations. 

The clarity gained across operations and finance also significantly improved communication with NPEA’s board, fostering confidence in the association's strategic direction.

"All the information from our work with Dennison & Associates allows me to concisely communicate our strategy, progress, and future direction to my board," affirmed Karin Elliott.
"They understand we're set up for success and moving that way, thanks to the information to achieve this positive momentum."