Blog
February 2019
Your offices have wheelchair-accessible doors, hallways and restrooms. You have designated parking spots out front. You welcome service animals. Your association has gone above and beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Nobody can accuse you of being inaccessible or unwelcoming to those with disabilities.
Or can they? How ADA-compliant is your association’s website?
For every person who visits your association’s brick-and-mortar offices, hundreds or even thousands more are checking it out online. Is your website’s virtual presence as accessible as your physical one?
Federal government sites are required by law to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), version 2.0, outlined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). New York State has an executive policy requiring the websites of state agencies – and entities the state contracts with – to meet similar guidelines.
Read more: ADA-Compliant Websites: It’s Not the Law (Yet), It’s Just a Good Idea
November 2018
Most of us who are Generation X or older can remember when there was only Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving. The latter, since many of us have the day off, is traditionally a big holiday shopping opportunity. Over the years, it acquired its own designation – Black Friday – and became a retail phenomenon, with special promotions and store hours.
In 2005, the term Cyber Monday came to be applied to the Monday after Thanksgiving – when consumers, especially those without internet access at home, returned to work and used their office computers to shop online (on their breaks, we hope!).
Seven years later, in response to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday commercialism juggernaut, New York’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation created a new movement: Giving Tuesday – or, as it’s frequently styled for the social media age, #GivingTuesday. Since the movement began, hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated to charities on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Many charitable organizations have incorporated Giving Tuesday into their fundraising efforts, and many non-charities, from businesses to professional associations, encourage their employees, members and friends to participate.
Lis Design, a full-service design studio based in Saratoga Springs, NY, has entered into a working relationship with ADG Creative, the creative division of the Association Development Group.
Michele Wyse (left) and Elisa Sheehan“Over the past several years, I have had the pleasure of working with the talented designers at ADG Creative,” said Lis Design founder Elisa Sheehan. “In my work with ADG I have found a creative culture similar to Lis Design, with the added benefit of expanded services such as web design and development, video and video animation, copywriting and the kind of marketing strategy clients have been asking for.”
Disclaimer: This post is not paid advertising or its questionable cousin, “sponsored content.” It’s a public service announcement for association managers who want to spend less time, money and stress on their online financial transactions.
At ADG, we work with multiple associations and have seen the best and worst of online payment processors. Often a client has been using its processing company for years and has become accustomed to its quirks. Like the door that sticks or the spouse who snores, they’ve learned to live with it.
A member of your association’s board owns an office building that the association is considering for its new headquarters.
A board member is a partner in an accounting firm that is in the running to handle the association’s bookkeeping and taxes.
Your association needs to hire a new office assistant. A board member’s spouse applies for the position.
Which of these scenarios constitute a conflict of interest for the board member involved? The answer is “all of the above” and “none of the above.”