The end of the year is the perfect time to look up from the daily grind and imagine what your association could become. Not in a far-off future, but in the next 12 months by tackling one smart project at a time.
The technologies that once felt out of reach are now within grasp, ready to help you connect members, streamline operations and amplify your mission.
Here are five tech investments for your to-do list that can turn the year-end pause into a launchpad for progress in the coming year.
[Related: Launch Smart — A Practical Guide to Starting AI Projects in Associations]
1. Tech Investment: Implement AI Development and Automation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. It’s already embedded in many of the applications you use every day. The question for you as an association leader, however, is: “How can I deploy AI to make the biggest positive impact on my team’s workflow?”
As tempting as it is to let your staff use AI any way they want, we would recommend a little caution. Instead, you can select the AI tools that suit your purposes best.
For example, you might need to:
- Analyze large data sets
- Get an AI bot to help people join your association or help members renew
- Secure assistance with content creation
Whatever it is, developers are shaping this new technology to save you time and effort by automating repetitive tasks and providing ways to derive new insights from your data.
Selecting the best and most cost-effective AI source for your association, however, will require some research into what’s available and the cost involved. And after the purchase, your staff will need training and support to use the new capabilities.
Once you’re up and running, you’ll find AI tools can help you improve productivity and sharpen decision making.
[Related: Tools and Strategies to Create an Efficient Automation Process at Your Association]
2. Tech Investment: Conduct Tech Assessments
Is your current technology supporting your mission? Or is it standing in the way?
Spreadsheets, work-arounds and staff dissatisfaction are all indications that your technology may be standing in your way. But what exactly is working and what isn’t? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
By conducting integration and organizational assessments, you can ensure your systems are connected and data is flowing smoothly, providing your staff with the information they need without extra stress and effort.
You can also confirm that your members have great experiences when they interact with the association. The point is that you don’t know what to address until you understand your whole system or the organization in which it works.
Assessments give you a deeper understanding of how your systems support or hinder your work. They can produce an action plan that outlines whether it’s time to upgrade, optimize or retire a system or an application.
[Related: 5 AI Pitfalls Associations Should Avoid (And How to Get it Right]
3. Tech Investment: Modernize Your Technology With Application Management
Sometimes, the assorted applications and platforms your association uses (AMS, CRM, LMS, financial systems and marketing tools, among others) can seem like tangled Christmas tree lights.
Some of them work as long as they aren’t connected to any others, but they seem to go completely dark when you try to use them together. You may be tempted to trash them all and start over.
But we’ve found that many legacy systems still have plenty of life left, and they can connect to newer applications with a few smart adjustments. We’ve also found that some legacy systems are ready for retirement and selecting a new management system is the next best step.
But it isn’t just the applications that need to play well together. Your vendors and your staff need attention, too. With vendors, you must manage differing processes for upgrades, troubleshooting issues, service negotiation and cost increases. With staff, if they don’t trust a system, they won’t use it.
One way to discover the level of distrust is to determine how many staff members use their own databases or spreadsheets. Once you know, the goal becomes fixing the problem and restoring trust in the system.
If you plan to incorporate AI in your operations, consider updating your legacy systems for AI readiness and integration. Keeping your association future-focused doesn’t need to feel overwhelming. Instead, you can enjoy a wealth of choices to help you succeed.
Many associations do not have the talent in their current staff to manage complicated tech projects. If that’s you, don’t worry. You don’t necessarily need a new employee because you can outsource the application management, just like you outsource your hardware, networking and cybersecurity to MSP providers.
[Related: CRM vs. AMS – How To Choose the Best Management System for Your Association]
4. Tech Investment: Curate Your Technology Selections
A successful technology selection isn’t just about choosing a system. It’s about setting up your organization for long-term success.
The selection process for a new major tech system starts with an understanding of the goals and mission of your association. It continues with an assessment of your technology and the environment that supports it.
Then, you’ll need to know what resources are available to you in both staff expertise and budget. After that, you can narrow the choices, attend demos and review cases based specifically on your association.
Your decision touches every department and every stakeholder and requires a major investment of time, energy and resources. The right choice can transform your operation. A bad choice can cost you years of frustration and missed opportunities. It takes time, effort and resources to get it right.
[Related: The Hidden Costs of Poor Technology Integrations]
5. Tech Investment: Implement a System
Your job isn’t over when you make a technology selection. In fact, it’s just beginning.
Your new system is best when configured to support your workflows rather than forcing your workflows to conform to the new system. Cleaning up your data is a must. Then data migration needs special attention to ensure the right data goes into the right places.
And any application programming interface (API) needs to link your system seamlessly to another application. Your goal in a new system implementation is an easy transition with minimal disruption.
You’ll benefit from experienced project management and change management during the process. Once the new system is online, your staff will take over. They should be trained, confident and supported. Their decisions will be based on reliable data and can help launch real, sustainable change.
[Related: How To Implement Your 2026 Association Budget Wisely]
From Wish List to To-Do List
As you think about your priorities for next year, it’s possible that cleaning up your technology bundle may be high on your list. We hope that our suggestions for approaching five strategic tech investments will help you plan.
Because technology supports almost all that associations do, however, performing a tune-up or a major overhaul can seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, help is available.
Dennison & Associates can help you with any, or all, of the items we’ve mentioned. We don’t work for software vendors — we work for our clients. We’re rigorous in our approach, but we’re flexible, too. And we’re here for the long haul as your committed partners.
Contact us today to discuss your needs and to learn more about how we can help your organization focus on the future.