AMC - Association Management Consultants, LLC is an association management company that brings its knowledge and experience to more than 40 organizations, most of which are based in the Houston area. Lori Wilkins, owner and visionary, started working for the Houston Chapter of the Appraisal Institute back in the 80s after college. As she tells it, she walked in the door on her first day and was instantly given the checkbook to reconcile, thus setting her on the path for a career in associations. By 2002, Lori and her husband Dale realized there was a gap in the market – a need for association management services in the area. They decided to start their own company and hired their first employees, Molly and Shelby, who happened to be their dogs! (They played pivotal roles as the chief mail sorter and greeter!) More than 30 years later, AMC is going strong with over 10 account managers and two support staff members; Lori still works with AI Houston along with several other associations - helping to monitor and grow their checkbooks; and we have many more dogs that are a part of our growing family. 🙂
Throughout my time at AMC, I have so often heard clients exclaim, “you provide exceptional service on a shoestring budget,” and “for the price, this quality is great!” and “thank you for working to increase our profits.” Here at AMC, we work hard to make sure you are getting the biggest bang for your buck. We use our contacts, industry knowledge, and negotiation skills to ensure you are getting the lowest price. Along with this, you’ll find that all our employees care about the organizations we work with. We want your sponsors, members, and volunteers to have the best experience working with the organization alongside AMC as your outsourcing partner. We strive to put a smile on the face of everyone we interact with! Positive experiences are worth so much more whether it’s between the members and the organization, or the sponsors and AMC, or any combination of the above. We work relentlessly every day so that our organizations know we are meeting and exceeding their goals and expectations - communication is key! That caring nature is at the heart of every AMC interaction.
So, why are we starting this blog? AMC would like to impart some of our wisdom onto the organizations that we work with currently as well as those we don't (but hope to in the future). We know that often in volunteering "the struggle is real". We hope that we can answer questions and make any volunteer or staffer's job a little easier from the nuggets of knowledge we have gained throughout the years. We will be discussing common concepts that our clients often ask about such as:
- non-dues revenue
- how to guarantee
- Robert's Rules of Order
- cash vs. accrual accounting
- 501(c) status
- why people don't come to events or renew their memberships
- and how many emails are too many?
The plan is to write a new post a couple of times a month, maybe more. Additionally, we will provide access through our website to helpful templates and printables for things like sponsorship tracking, nametags and policy manuals. Sometimes our blog will uncover local and chain venues that we recommend for events such as luncheons, happy hours or conferences as well as other vendor recommendations. If you can walk away with one tip or trick that makes your life easier as an association leader then this blog has served its purpose. Please feel free to leave comments with topic suggestions and/or questions you may have regarding the association world.
We are excited you are here!
