Delivering Our "A" Game: SMG and the Power of the AMC Model

By Mary Connor, CAE, SMG VP of Client Relations

As an association management company, SMG brings value to our client-partners across a number of domains including financial advantages through economies of scale, intellectual capital through shared knowledge, and expansive resources through relationships that come from years of representing different industries. Agility is a key strength of SMG professionals. We must excel in time management and problem solving while bringing strong leadership skills to help advance the missions of the associations we serve.

SMG brings financial value to its association partners. According to the research conducted by the AMC Institute involving a study of 167 associations, AMCs deliver 317% more growth in net assets and 31% more growth in net revenue. The results indicated that AMCs offer consistently higher income from products and services, when compared to “stand-alone” organizations. For associations with annual revenue up to $1M, research found that net profitability was ten-fold greater than a stand-alone association and the leverage ratio (the ability of an entity to meet its financial obligations) was 25 to 50 percent more favorable for associations managed by an AMC. Further, the AMC model saves an association from capital investments, direct technology expenses, office overhead, and insurance expenses that would need be carried in full by the association in a stand-alone model.

With over fifty professionals on SMG’s team, the ability to share expertise across our company gives our association partners access to our team’s intellectual capital acquired by experience, education and mind-share. SMG’s professional staff are mostly credentialed in their respective areas of expertise. Nearly all SMG account executives are Certified Association Executives (CAE), a standard of excellence of a committed association staff executive who has demonstrated an expansive knowledge base required to manage an association. SMG meeting planners hold certifications from the Events Industry Council as Certified Meeting Planners (CMP) and Digital Event Strategists (DES). Our finance department is led by MBAs and accountants. SMG’s marketing-communications team is comprised of professionals with experience in both nonprofit and for-profit communications, and graphic design expertise. And, the majority of SMG’s coordinators hold the Qualified Association Specialist (QAS) designation, a comprehensive overview of association management domains. Coordinators are trained on a variety of technologies, including association management systems (database/website), certification tracking systems, and continuing education platforms. Professional development across all positions is highly encouraged at SMG.

At SMG, we bring together an expansive variety of services for over two dozen associations that we manage, and we shape these resources into a powerful and well-equipped machine to deliver value to our client partners. Think “economies of scope” where staff collaboration and shared experiences provide a robust environment where information is learned and shared from other client work. Beyond the best-in-class service we strive to provide, SMG’s relationship with our clients is that of an independent contractor which eliminates the role of employer for the association. Employee relations are an increasingly complex management responsibility: hiring, firing, worker compensation, fringe benefits, avoiding discrimination in a host of protected areas, and employer liability are only some of the concerns employers face.

As an accredited association management company under the AMC Institute, SMG brings together the expertise needed to deliver on all aspects of professional association management. Contact SMG to learn more.