My journey over the past 20 years in the association industry has lead me to my new endeavor to help associations more deeply than ever. Eight years ago, I created .orgCommunity (online community) as a place for associations to collaborate. The timing wasn’t quite right so I took down the site but discussed it with others for many years. While the online community wasn’t successful, through .orgSource, we found ways to network through events, women executive breakfasts, networking lunches and more. Over time, we have heard a demand for more of these opportunities and decided to re-launch the .orgCommunity but with an expanded vision.

Today, associations are engaged in a formidable challenge regarding their relevance. Not only must they compete with other nonprofits and for-profits for members’ time and money, but they also must contend with quick and free sources of information, and scores of online alternatives for “associating” with others.

Discerning and prospective members alike have different expectations these days of how to connect, learn and interact with their professional association and their peers. The same is true of staff and executives operating these professional associations.

So, how can associations and other nonprofits best respond to this challenge? How can the industry defend itself against so many disruptions to and competition for stakeholder loyalty?

Enter .orgCommunity (www.orgcommunity.com), specifically designed to facilitate critical connections, significant business opportunities and key learning.

On December 15th, .orgCommunity will officially launch and offer the ultimate collaborative environment for influential nonprofit executives and industry suppliers. It will feature numerous ways to connect with peers and partners on common interests and needs:

An online community will be populated with executives and other senior-level professionals of member-based organizations, including: trade associations, professional societies, chambers of commerce and other nonprofits
Engagement and learning opportunities will be offered through in-person executive leadership workshops and seminars, webinars and volunteer opportunities (including mentoring, speaking, writing, research), networking events and social service opportunities
Training materials and updates will be provided on trending topics through articles, research, toolkits and templates.
The same entrepreneurs who brought the industry .orgSource and Avectra are surfacing .orgCommunity. Founders Sherry Budziak and Kevin Ordonez, association industry experts and visionaries, have a combined 50 years of experience serving the association management industry. Their mission for .orgCommunity is for its members and industry suppliers to gain relevant and fun experiences, programming, resources and networking in the association management industry.

To learn more about .orgCommunity, like us on Facebook where you will be the first to know about the launch (https://www.facebook.com/orgCommunity/), and get ready to engage with a community of accomplished professionals to further your goals.

– See more at: http://www.orgsource.com/blog/orgcommunity-helping-nonprofits-achieve-organizational-excellence#sthash.WEVVEXza.dpuf