Customer proof on record
How NPEA increased new members by 25% with Dennison & Associates
- Customer on record
- NPEA
- Vendor on record
- Dennison & Associates
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NPEA engaged Dennison & Associates for an organizational assessment, and its Executive Director, Karin Elliott, says the vendor helped them redefine roles and hire a meeting planner. By Elliott's account, this shift allowed the small education association to hold "four additional in-person events" and achieve a "25% increase in new members." She adds that shifting to auto-renewing memberships has been a "huge time-saver, eliminating hours spent chasing renewals."
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Showing all 67 quotes
- How they use it
Dennison's Role Assessment
“That's where Dennison & Associates came in. Vanessa looked at everything—current roles, responsibilities, our goals, and what she thought was achievable. After some time, she came back and told us we needed a meeting planner.”
- Before
Strategic Hiring Decision
“When we got budget approval for a new hire, instead of rushing, we sought outside expertise to ensure we hired for the right role for long-term sustainability, not just a temporary fix that might fail.”
- How they use it
Platform Improvement Recs
“Dennison & Associates helped us understand our platform issues and made recommendations that have led to significant improvements in how we use its features.”
Why Dennison Was Chosen
“I clicked with Vanessa from Dennison & Associates, which is important. Beyond that, I saw her successful projects with similar clients needing organizational assessments. Dennison & Associates had extensive experience, was professional, committed, and genuinely cared about client success. Crucially, they understood we are a small association with limited resources.”
Final Decision on Dennison
“After a thorough process reviewing over 20 consultants, I chose Dennison & Associates. I appreciated their professionalism, commitment to client success, and understanding of small education associations like ours, providing one-on-one attention to ensure our success.”
- Results
Efficiency, Work-Life Balance
“As an external-facing ED, I'm out in the field more. Vanessa and Dennison & Associates recommended this hire, anticipating this ripple effect, which has played out. 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.”
- How they use it
RACI Planning by Dennison
“We redefined our roles even before the hire. Another thing Dennison & Associates did pre-hire was an accountability project: a RACI plan. We mapped responsibilities for every current task and those imagined for the new meeting planner. This matrix, created before hiring, showed us current duties, necessary shifts, and expected outcomes with the new role. It's a living document we still use and reference. This incredibly useful, though exhaustive, process of detailing every task was a great contribution from Dennison & Associates—something I'd never considered. It's an amazing tool.”
- How they use it
Pricing Model Development
“Dennison & Associates reviewed all our financials—revenue, expenses, everything. They then provided pricing suggestions for events to achieve specific revenue goals, like covering expenses plus X percent more. They analyzed our conference, membership, and all budget details, creating pricing models for us. While not mandatory, their suggestions made sense, we've followed them, and it's working.”
- How they use it
Platform Consultant, Auto-Renew
“We use "YourMembership," a common platform, but struggled with accessing features and understanding it due to lack of in-house expertise. Dennison & Associates' best recommendation was to hire a consultant specializing in this platform. We did, for help with reporting and training. The biggest game-changer, now unfolding, is shifting all memberships to auto-renew. This first cycle (July 1-June 30) will have everyone on auto-renew, like Netflix. This alone is a huge time-saver, eliminating hours spent chasing renewals. Auto-renew and reporting training have been game-changers.”
- Results
Improved Board Communication
“Working with Vanessa and Dennison & Associates gave us the tools to present our situation, goals, and progress to our board meaningfully, creating a helpful roadmap. I report to two boards. Recently, one was very impressed with a conference report, seeing a direct connection between the new meeting planner, improved execution, and positive outcomes months later. I now have more information, metrics, and clarity for both boards.”
- Results
Clear Path to Success
“All the information from our work with Dennison & Associates allows me to concisely communicate our strategy, progress, and future direction to my board. They understand we're set up for success and moving that way, thanks to Dennison & Associates providing the information to achieve this positive momentum.”
- Before
Systemic Inefficiencies
“We couldn't resume additional in-person events post-COVID due to lack of staffing. This made us question if we were using association best practices for events, membership, or technology. We knew our ducks weren't in a row and needed to figure out how to align them. It felt like a perfect storm of external factors hitting us, and we realized this cycle would continue unless we got professional guidance on our efficiency, processes, systems, and future path. That’s where Dennison & Associates came in to help.”
- How they use it
Strategic Patience, Broader Wins
“We couldn't hire immediately due to a key person being on leave. This delay, however, allowed us more time to address other areas needing help, like our membership platform and other technology. Ultimately, despite the waiting and wishing for faster progress, things unfolded thoughtfully and methodically, leading to recent wins and positioning us for future successes.”
- Before
Need for Expert Hiring Aid
“We knew we wanted to hire and had an idea for the role, but we didn't want a temporary band-aid. We needed an expert to review everything and help us identify the best, most sustainable position, not just a quick fix.”
- Before
Membership Platform Issues
“As a small association, we'vealways struggled with pre-packaged membership platforms not quite fitting our needs. The current one is our third. We knew we had challenges, like not being able to run clean reports. When we started with Vanessa and Dennison & Associates, this platform was an area we wanted them to assess, and she made very helpful recommendations for improvement.”
- How they use it
Strategic Event Validation
“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. Dennison & Associates helped us evaluate this and ultimately recommended we stay on our path with events, as people love them.”
- How they use it
Efficient Event Modeling
“Members want to attend our events; we just needed to be able to hold them again. Dennison & Associates helped us confirm this strategically, avoiding a rush. They helped us be thoughtful about the event model and how to execute efficiently to ensure profitability. That was very helpful.”
- How they use it
Strategic Offering Review
“Pre-Dennison, challenges included limited capacity for desired events and a diverse member base needing tailored offerings. We strategically brought in Dennison & Associates to assess our path, suggest tweaks, and explore other revenue streams. They ultimately guided us back to our existing offerings but equipped us to deliver them thoughtfully with resources, capacity, and a good model.”
Understanding Client Needs
“It was crucial to find someone who understood and could work with our small association's limited capacity, which is different from larger associations. This was a key factor in choosing Dennison & Associates over others.”
- How they use it
Role Redefinition Pre-Hire
“Dennison & Associates helped map out the meeting planner role. But first, they stepped back and helped us redefine all existing roles, recognizing upcoming changes. They guided us through that process, which ensured we were ready when we made the hire.”
- Results
ED Focus on External Role
“Shifting roles allowed me to spend more time on external partnerships, fundraising, and revenue generation, benefiting the entire team and association. This was something I couldn't do before and an area we needed to return to, which wasn't possible before engaging with Dennison & Associates.”
- Results
Valuable Pricing Insights
“We knew we wanted help with pricing, revenue analysis, and benchmarking to ensure our pricing models were appropriate. Dennison & Associates thoroughly investigated this, providing usable information and helping us understand our pricing, revenue, and expenses as a small education association. This was very valuable.”
- Results
25% New Member Increase
“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. This short-term impact is largely due to the new meeting planner, allowing our member engagement person to focus solely on her role.”
- Before
Limited Capacity, Need Efficiency
“Our long-standing small association always had limited capacity with a very small team. In June 2023, when we engaged with Dennison, we knew we needed to hire a fourth person and improve our efficiencies and best practices. These were key triggers: wanting more efficiency and needing another person to increase capacity to fulfill our mission.”
- Before
Need For Guidance
“We figured it was time to 'look under the hood' to identify areas for improvement. We knew we needed professional assistance because we weren't sure which direction to take.”
- Before
Fear of Wrong Hire
“We wanted to hire but realized my idea for the position might be wishful thinking as it wasn't vetted. We decided to pause and not rush because, with a small team and budget, we couldn't afford to get it wrong—like hiring a communications director when we needed a meeting planner.”
- Before
Undocumented Processes
“A big challenge was our lack of efficient, documented processes. When someone left, their knowledge left too. We knew we needed to document, become efficient, and ensure sustainable processes.”
- Before
Inefficient Platform Use
“With limited team capacity, our technology and membership platform must work well. Previous platforms didn't suffice. Our current one is better, but we realized it wasn't efficient, and we weren't using it to its full potential.”
- Results
Role Clarity, Focused ED
“We hired our meeting planner last fall. This allowed us to shift team roles: our member engagement person now focuses solely on that; the Director of Programs added communications (a needed skill); and it allowed me to concentrate on external-facing work like fundraising, partnerships, and sponsorships, instead of covering others' responsibilities.”
- Results
Impactful Hire
“She understood the meeting planning role more quickly than a junior person might have. We tweaked the role as we went, and it ended up better than imagined because this individual had the skills and was ready to step in. That was very impactful.”
- Results
Setup for Success
“All responsibilities were mapped out, and everyone knew their roles. This set up the new person, and all of us, for success because we were clear on our goals with this new team structure.”
- How they use it
Financial Benchmarking
“We asked Dennison & Associates to review our financial information and assess if our membership and conference pricing was right. This included benchmarking us against similar-sized associations, which was part of the contract. We wanted to understand our performance relative to others—for instance, if low member numbers were due to high pricing or other factors. This was a key requirement when we contracted with them.”
- Results
Increased Member Acquisition
“We've brought on more members than in the past—about 25 more this year than last. For a small education association, that's a huge metric. With auto-renews, we expect our renewal rate to increase from 80% to nearly 85%.”
- Results
Quick Positive Results
“Between events, membership, and projected renewals, these key metrics are already yielding positive results within a few months of hiring the new person. It's been tremendous.”
- Results
Five Additional 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. We also held an unplanned donor salon dinner, bringing total additional events to five, plus the conference.”
- Before
Staff Shortages, Outsourcing
“With a small team of three and a big mission, if someone was out or we had turnover, we'd lose significant capacity, going from three people to two. Much of our work involves professional development and events, so we used to outsource meeting planning more extensively. This created tricky team dynamics and limited our internal capabilities, which was a real struggle and a burden. It impacted our revenue because we couldn't do as many events.”
- Before
Pre-Dennison Strategic Need
“Around the time we engaged with Vanessa and Dennison & Associates in 2023, we were starting to recover and could be more strategic and forward-thinking.”
- Before
Pre-Dennison State Summary
“Before engaging with Dennison & Associates for assistance, our small team of three had limited capacity for events and membership growth. If someone was out, it heavily impacted the team, leading to a lot of burnout.”
- Before
Pre-Dennison Inefficiencies
“Prior to working with Dennison & Associates, our small team of three had limited capacity and poor efficiency. If someone was out, we faced challenges with work-life balance and burnout.”
Consultant Selection Process
“When I realized we needed an organizational assessment, I did extensive research via an "Association for associations" (ASAE). I researched about 20 consultants, narrowed it to 4-5 for calls, then to two (Dennison & Associates and another). After reference calls, I chose Dennison. It was a thorough, month-long process.”
- How they use it
Hiring Better Than Expected
“Once we knew the skills we wanted, the interview process helped further define the role. We found someone with the right skills who was more advanced than expected. This contributed even more to solving our capacity challenge as she needed less training.”
- Results
Increased Revenue Gen Act
“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 overall role shifts and new hire also allowed us to conduct more revenue-generating events (in-person and virtual) and enhance the conference as a revenue generator with more attendees and new sponsorship opportunities I could sell. This was a huge impact.”
- Results
Freed Time for Revenue Opps
“Clarifying all team responsibilities allowed me to focus more on revenue generation—sponsorships and grant raising. The team, in their redefined roles, could also conduct more revenue-generating member events and a virtual symposium. These shifts freed up time for new revenue opportunities.”
- Results
Impact of Dedicated Staff
“We're on track for that improvement, which is tremendous for a small association. This is entirely due to having someone dedicated full-time to membership.”
- Before
Lack of Documentation
“When someone left, the remaining team had to figure things out as we lacked documented or efficient processes for departures. We'd then have to create documentation, which we now have.”
- Before
Inefficiency, Burnout
“This lack of capacity meant going backwards to go forwards, which wasn't efficient. With limited people power, running an event with two people instead of three meant long hours, burnout, no work-life balance—huge challenges for a small team.”
- Results
Restored Revenue Streams
“A key outcome was being able to do more events, a significant pre-pandemic revenue channel. This included smaller in-person events for members and non-members, and an annual virtual symposium, all adding revenue. We restructured to bring back these revenue streams that had been stopped for years, which had hurt our revenue.”
- Before
Financial, Staffing Limits
“Our financial resources are limited, so hiring is constrained, and much falls on internal staff. Our largest event, a 400-450 person conference, requires year-long planning. If someone leaves, remaining staff pick up extra work to maintain quality.”
- Before
Misallocated Focus
“We faced turnover of the membership person when we desperately needed someone focused 100% on membership (growth, benefits, retention, communications). Those duties then shifted to me (Executive Director) and our Director of Programs, who should have been planning the conference.”
- Before
COVID & Event Impact
“That’s an example of external factors' ripple effects. COVID impacted us; for instance, we used to hold a conference and other revenue-generating in-person events throughout the year, which COVID shut down. We brought Vanessa from Dennison & Associates on to assist with this.”
- Before
Member Role Turnover
“Our biggest challenge was frequent turnover in the member engagement role for several years, significantly limiting our capacity for member growth and retention.”
- Before
Burden on Other Staff
“When the member engagement person left, which was frequent, their responsibilities fell to the other two team members—the Executive Director and Director of Programs—meaning we did that job plus our own.”
- Results
Increased Event Capacity
“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.”
- Results
Projected Renewal Success
“We're ending the year with nearly 57-58 new members. While renewal rates are pending, we're hopeful for close to 85% retention.”
- Before
Impact of Staff Turnover
“When we had turnover in a key role, like member engagement, we'd be stuck for months without someone, which happened for a few years.”
- Before
COVID Impact, Revenue Loss
“COVID was a challenge. We saw an initial member boom, but then budget realities hit, and we lost members, impacting revenue. We held two virtual conferences; neither brought in as much revenue as in-person events, though expenses were lower. We were juggling industry changes and COVID's impact on revenue. Hiring a fourth person kept getting delayed, partly due to COVID.”
- Before
Resource Constraints
“Resources are traditionally a challenge for a small association, and we definitely experienced that.”
- Before
Staff Turnover Impact
“Around that time, we had staff turnover in the member role. We wanted to capitalize on new people coming in and position ourselves to retain them, despite tight budgets.”
- Results
Significant Member Bump
“We brought on about 32-35 new members last year, so this year's additional 25 members is a significant bump we haven't seen since 2021-22. Achieving that requires a lot of people power for outreach and onboarding.”
- Background
Association Mission
“As an education association, our mission is to unite schools, higher education, and non-profits to remove barriers to educational access and success for under-resourced students.”
- Before
Limited Resources
“We have outside help, but much had to be done by our internal team. A challenge is that we're not a huge association with unlimited funds.”
- Background
Self Introduction
“My name is Karin Elliott, and I'm the executive director of the National Partnership for Educational Access, a small education association established in 2008.”
- Background
Self Introduction
“Hi, I'm Karin Elliott, executive director of the National Partnership for Educational Access, a small education association.”
Revenue Growth Uncertain
“Overall revenue growth is mainly from new members and events. Conference revenue has been stable, likely due to the current complex environment for event attendance.”
Fiscal Year Timing
“It's hard to quantify the exact percentage of year-over-year improvement due to Dennison & Associates yet, as our fiscal year ends in June and we're still mapping final numbers.”
Transition/Filler
“(Transition to next topic)”
- Background
Member Type Clarification
“Technically, our members are organizations and schools, not individuals. It's either an organization or a school member.”