If you run a small-staff association, your team is scrappy by definition. You find ways to get the job done without the resources that large-staff associations often have. Your staff members have to be talented and creative – and be willing to say yes to new ideas or risk stagnation.
Fortunately, help is available at reasonable prices, if you know where to look. Here are some great ideas to help your small staff be even more efficient.
Graphic Design
Graphic design is a key element to most projects in your association. Creating blogs, ebooks, social media posts, whitepapers, emails, calls for proposals, website pages, and many other member-facing programs need good design. Here are suggestions for getting design help on a budget:
- Design Contests: Running design contests on platforms like 99designs or DesignCrowd can be an effective way to get multiple design concepts for a fixed budget. You set a prize amount, and designers from around the world submit their ideas. You choose the best design and pay the winner.
- Design Marketplaces: There are online marketplaces, such as Creative Market or Envato, where you can purchase pre-made design templates, graphics, and resources at affordable prices. This option allows customization while reducing costs compared to custom designs.
- Design Tools: You can invest in graphic design software and tools that offer user-friendly interfaces and templates. Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, and Piktochart are some popular tools that allow non-designers to create professional-looking visuals and graphics.
- Collaborations with Design Schools: Partnering with local design schools can be mutually beneficial. You can offer design projects as part of the students' coursework or collaborate with design professors for guidance. In return, you receive fresh ideas and potential design talent. This works well with recurring annual projects.
- Member Involvement: If you have creative members, you can engage them in contributing design ideas or projects. Harnessing the skills of passionate members can lead to unique and cost-effective solutions.
Video Production
Social media clicks increase with videos, but producing them can be expensive. It’s possible, however, to create great videos without hiring a full production team. Think about these solutions:
- Video Production Tools: Software packages like Lumen5 use artificial intelligence to transform your text into graphic videos. You choose background music, layout styles, and color choices and let the program create the video. You can edit the draft video before saving it for publication.
- Video Production Contests: Similar to design contests, you can run video production contests on platforms like Tongal or Zooppa. Here, video creators from around the world submit their ideas and proposals, and you choose the best video concept. The selected creator then produces the video for a predetermined prize, providing an opportunity to get high-quality content with a fixed budget.
- Video Editing Tools: Investing in user-friendly video editing software can empower non-professionals on your staff to create compelling videos. Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and iMovie are popular options with intuitive interfaces that enable editing without a steep learning curve. If a staff member becomes your editor, provide some video production training to help get off to a good start.
- Leverage Phone Technology: With the advancement of phone technology, producing quality videos has become more accessible. You can encourage your members or volunteers to use their phones to capture video footage for specific projects, reducing the need for expensive equipment.
Artificial Intelligence & ChatGPT
Everyone is talking about ChatGPT, but that’s no reason not to try it. It won’t replace the good writers on your staff, but it will allow them to work faster. It learns as you ask questions, and relies on the information you provide to create its responses. If it can’t do something, it will let you know, but it is only as accurate as the information it accesses on the internet. ChatGPT does not verify that its output is factual, and it only has access to internet information through Sept. 2021. Be sure to check any stats it provides with other sources.
The current AI product can’t tell personal stories about your members unless you provide the facts, and it’s very literal when it completes a writing task you propose. It can, however, search for new ideas. You’ll still need someone with writing skills, but ChatGPT and its competitors can help make their jobs easier. Think about using it for social media posts, photo captions, video scripts, bulleted lists, and other narrowly focused writing projects.
Contractors & Freelancers
If you can’t afford to hire a full-time staff member, you can tap into the vast pool of freelance professionals available online. Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer allow access to a wide range of talented creatives who offer their services at competitive rates. You can review portfolios, interview, and hire for specific projects, paying only for the work you need.
If you prefer to get personal referrals, ask your peers for their best recommendations or check the vendor guide at your state SAE. Contractors and freelancers can give you the budget-friendly expertise you need when projects are larger than your staff can comfortably handle.
Contract professionals, however, are not limited to just writers, photographers, and designers. You can hire meeting planners, succession planners, trainers, instructional designers, accountants, and even office space on a contract basis without paying salaries, benefits, and other full-time perks. The number of freelance professionals is growing, and your association can benefit from this trend.
Your small staff already does a great job, and they can accomplish even greater things – with a little help. You can extend their capabilities without breaking the budget, and we hope you find these suggestions helpful.
