Terrance Barkan, CAE, is chief strategist and business architect with GlobalStrat, providing professional advisory services for the not-for-profit community. Connect with him on LinkedIn or on Twitter at @TBarkan.

A few weeks ago, I used an online discussion forum to ask community managers why past online forum and listerve efforts failed. I wanted to know why they failed in order to better understand how to make sure new efforts succeeded. The main reasons (in no particular order) for failure cited included:

• The forum did not allow non-members to engage and so was limited to too small a group of participants.
• Questions were met with a very limited response due to a lack of critical mass, especially at launch time, and it withered.
• Lack of knowledgeable resources (people/experts) to promptly answer questions or to offer stimulating content and discussion.
• Inappropriate use; example, discussing “fluff” that is of little professional value.
• Using technology that is not VERY EASY to use, creating an obstacle to getting people engaged.
• Lack of proactive moderation or management to make sure the launch gets momentum and the community stays on track.
• Lack of a clear purpose for the online community and not communicating that purpose adequately.
• Lack of investment in the right tools.
• Lack of a plan or strategy for the forum (what are you trying to achieve?)
• Using too many forums so none gets critical mass or people have to monitor multiple (too many) channels to get their information.

Although we now have great tools to facilitate active group discussions, the basics on how to sustain engagement in an online community never changes: stimulating, thoughtful content nurtured by proactive community management and a clear purpose for the community that adds real value for its members.

Deirdre Reid writes about association and business management, with a focus on building communities in the association, non-profit and business world. She also shares her ideas at Reid All About It and on Twitter. She will be a contributing blogger for SmartBlog Insights.

Association professionals gather Tuesdays at 2 p.m. (ET) on Twitter to wrestle with association management challenges, including how online communities affect association membership.

Many of us participate in online communities and belong to associations; what can we learn by examining the value we receive from each, as our members are likely to do? We get news, education and access to experts online. We develop and deepen relationships with peers via online communities. Some question the value of their association membership as they now receive more of these critical benefits freely online than from associations. Are our members experiencing the same?

Be community builders and relationship brokers
One strategy is to augment a member’s social networking experience with value that we alone can provide, whether it’s as a starting place to meet peers or the glue that holds folks together. We must be present in the outposts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) yet link our members back to our home base, while continuing to provide face-to-face networking opportunities. We are experts at face-to-face, and can use online tools to enhance and extend that experience.

Demolish the silos to meet new challenges
The slow-moving “decision by committee” nature of many associations is preventing them from addressing these new opportunities for member engagement. Businesses are learning that social media crosses many departmental lines — marketing, sales, public relations, research and development, customer service, human resources — associations must also break out of their silos. Any steps into social media should be part of an integrated plan involving all departments. As early adopters, we must help create a safe, trusted environment in which leadership and members can make sense of this new world, get sound advice and be willing to experiment.

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