Sequence Consulting

05/20/2026

Saying yes to a good idea is easy. Saying no to a good idea is strategy.
Without filters, ideas compete on personality, politics, or timing.
With filters, they compete on what actually serves members.

What's one "yes" your association is carrying that probably should have been a "no"?

05/14/2026

For years, associations have leaned on non-dues revenue to keep the books healthy -- events, sponsorships, publications, and education. In many cases, it already pulls more weight than dues.

But we still talk about it like a side hustle, a budget filler, or another line item. When a revenue stream supports your mission, serves your stakeholders, and sustains your future, that's a business model.

In 2026, non-dues is the strategy.

What would change in your association if you started managing non-dues that way?

05/12/2026

"Decline almost never comes from apathy."
That's something we hear from Chris, our co-founder, every time he sits with a board that's watching their association lose ground.

The board sees what's happening. The trouble is they don't know what to do about it.

Turnarounds need a change agent. Either the board hires a transformational leader, or the board itself decides to lead the change. The boards in those rooms have plenty of pride. They need someone to point them in the right direction.

What's the biggest signal you'd want a board to act on before it's too late?

05/07/2026

If your value is information, you are now a commodity.

Associations were built for a world of information scarcity. AI has made information infinite.

The question is no longer what do you produce. It’s what do you uniquely provide.

05/05/2026

Caretakers maintain what exists. Architects design what’s next.

Both have served associations well, but in a period of structural disruption, caretaking alone is not enough.

Which one does your organization need right now?

04/30/2026

AI is not the disruption. It’s revealing the cracks.

Four areas where associations are most exposed:

1) Value — commoditized.
2) Speed — outpacing.
3) Structure — fragmented.
4) Governance — lagging.

Where is your model already breaking?

04/27/2026

Members don’t join associations to belong to something. They join to become something.

When you make that shift, everything changes: Value moves from access to outcomes. Events evolve into year-round experiences. Retention becomes an onboarding issue, not a renewal one.

Is your association helping members become what they’re trying to become?

03/07/2026

If this past year showed us anything, it was that planning is no longer annual - it’s continuous. AI is making this shift possible. Leading organizations are already using the technology to create strategy that is both intelligent and intentional. So the question now isn’t whether to use AI, but how to use AI to serve your mission.

In your quest to bring AI into the meeting room, remember that AI is a tool, not a bandaid. If your goals are clear and your values steady, the technology will amplify your impact. When your goals are unclear, and your values aren’t steady, AI only makes the confusion louder.

Read our full post here to learn more: https://buff.ly/PoJbhsi

02/10/2026

Do you know your association’s value proposition? If your answer is no, you’re in good company. Only 11% of association executives believe they offer a very compelling value proposition. A misunderstanding of member needs may be the status quo, but it doesn’t have to be!

If you want to thrive in 2026 and beyond, you have to be honest about where you are now. Even when the numbers are uncomfortable. Stop asking your most loyal volunteers easy questions. Start asking the uncomfortable questions to members who left. This is where real growth can happen.

Read our new blog post for our full value proposition playbook here.

02/06/2026

Across the association sector, conversations about AI have started to sound eerily familiar. The same discussions, warnings, and reassurances persist, but we haven’t seen meaningful adoption.

This isn’t a problem with AI; it’s a problem with decision rights. When no one across your association is authorized to make decisions surrounding the use of AI, nothing gets decided.

You can’t wait for certainty before making decisions about AI. Even if you try to wait, people within your organization will be using it, just without supervision.

Find out how to stop talking about AI and finally act by reading Chris Vaughan’s newest article with ASAE, “AI Isn’t the Problem. Decision Rights Are.”

AI Isn’t the Problem. Decision Rights Are.