AI and Association Management: How We're Using It—and Why You Should Too

Written By Kelly Dando

As an association manager, I’m constantly searching for ways to better serve our clients through more efficient, streamlined operations. Recently, I attended a webinar hosted by the American Marketing Association focused on AI and marketing. One comment from a speaker stood out: “Ask AI how to run your association.”

It may sound overly simple, but that question is actually a powerful starting point—especially for associations just beginning to explore how AI can support their work.

I’ve integrated AI into our daily operations and have trained tools like ChatGPT with enough context and data to tailor responses to our clients' unique needs. So naturally, I asked ChatGPT that very question: “What is the best way to use this tool to run associations?”

The response was more comprehensive than I expected. Here's a high-level summary of how AI platforms like ChatGPT recommend using their capabilities for association management:

🔹 1. Membership Engagement & Communication

AI can support:

  • Drafting email campaigns

  • Creating social media content

  • Writing call scripts or outreach messages

ChatGPT even offered sample prompts to help teams use the tool effectively—a surprisingly helpful touch for those new to AI.

🔹 2. Reporting & Analytics

This is where my team has found the most immediate value.
We use AI to:

  • Compare chapter performance across regions and tiers

  • Analyze year-over-year membership trends

  • Visualize growth to guide retention strategies

Having instant access to this kind of insight is incredibly powerful.

🔹 3. Event Planning & Promotion

AI tools can help generate:

  • Event timelines and checklists

  • Email announcements and flyers

  • Speaker bios, signage, and surveys

This makes even large, multi-day events easier to manage with fewer team hours.

🔹 4. Board & Governance Support

ChatGPT can draft:

  • Meeting agendas, minutes, and recaps

  • Board recruitment materials

  • Onboarding guides and nomination forms

These administrative tasks, which often take hours, can be completed in minutes with a solid prompt.

🔹 5. Operations & List Management

Lastly, AI can help with:

  • CRM data cleanup and imports

  • Drafting internal policies

  • Automating welcome emails and engagement plans

It’s a major assist in keeping your systems organized and your outreach consistent.

How We're Using AI at Our Firm

We use AI across all of our association clients. For example, I’ve built cross-association data models to compare membership growth by region, chapter size, and even by association manager. This helps us identify trends and make more informed decisions about where to invest time and resources.

We also rely on AI to generate marketing content, from social media posts to member spotlights, saving us hours of creative time each week.

Right now, I’m actively testing several platforms—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. While all have strengths, ChatGPT remains our go-to. Not necessarily because it’s inherently better, but because we’ve built a large volume of historical input into the system. That context makes the content more aligned to our clients’ voice and needs.

Final Thought: Build the Data, Then Trust the Process

The real key to successful AI use is feeding the system meaningful data over time. The more you use it, the more helpful it becomes.

If you haven’t started experimenting with AI yet, I encourage you to try. You don’t need to overhaul your entire workflow—just start small and stay curious.

Stay tuned—our team will continue sharing how AI is reshaping the way we serve associations.

Kelly Dando https://www.kellydando.com
Next

Happy Holidays!