Foundations of Success: Checking in with Local Chambers

Glenn Morris, ACE
President & CEO, W.A.C.E

​Anyone who has sat with more than one Chamber executive in a group has probably heard someone say “If you’ve seen one Chamber, you’ve seen one Chamber,” or something similar. 
 
While it is true that individual local Chambers can look and operate in different ways based on their community, priorities, and resources, it’s also true that there are core competencies that successful Chambers need to master and excel at in order to be effective in achieving their specific mission priorities.

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The W.A.C.E. Academy represents a two-decade effort by the association to provide local chamber staff with foundational knowledge and skills to run a successful and impactful organization.   Additionally, W.A.C.E. supports Chambers in building organizational and operational excellence through our webinars, conferences, and multiple white papers stored in the W.A.C.E. Resource Library.   And, of course, of the best ways we support our industry is by creating opportunities for peer sharing and learning.
 
Recently, we surveyed our local Chambers to get a sense of how we’re doing as an industry on a range of the foundational topics.   In addition, we wanted to identify those Chambers who were “best in class” in these areas who are willing to share their learning with their peers.   
 
So, how are we doing?   The short answer is that overall W.A.C.E. member chambers are doing quite well, with a few notable exceptions where we can still improve as an industry.
 
Beyond that headline, here are the results of the survey.   We asked Chambers to rate their organizations on the following “Foundations of Success” topics, with a scoring range of 1-5, with 1= We Need Help, 3 = We Have a Successful Program, and 5 = We are Best in Class at This Topic.    Based on those ratings, areas that our Chambers report that they feel confident in their efforts in these areas:

• Advocating with Government on behalf of Local Businesses
• Effective Marketing & Communications
• Generating Non-Dues Revenue
• Having clear, understood, and followed Financial Policies & Procedures
• Membership Retention
• Membership Sales & Recruiting
• Tourism Marketing & Development

 
At the same time, W.A.C.E. members report that their Chambers can improve in these areas:

• Business Retention & Expansion programming
• Electing Business-friendly Candidates and/or Winning Ballot Initiatives
• Facilitating New Business Formation
• Recruiting, Training, and Managing Board and Committee Volunteer Leaders
• Using Artificial Intelligence tools to support their work
• Workforce Development programming

 
Clearly this survey doesn’t include every essential practice or program, but it does help us identify areas that we need to continue surfacing and sharing best practices.    Fortunately, this year’s Webinar Series and Annual Conference provide several opportunities to learn from Chambers who have mastered these areas and others, improving the quality of work done by all Chambers.
 
For those looking for information or a conversation with a peer who has a strong program in a particular area, check out this list of those who rated themselves as “best in class”!