Ironworks has successfully partnered with professional, trade and charitable associations to improve their operations and processes.  This enables organizations to achieve more and deliver more to their constituents, while maintaining control of staff size and expenses.  Some of the benefits nonprofit organizations have realized from our expertise are as follows:

• Highly effective websites, based on internal stakeholder and member research to ensure that both organizational objectives and user needs are met
• e-Communication programs that enable associations to target individual audience segments with customized information and marketing messages
• Active online communities of practice that engage members in between meetings
• Centrally-managed content enabling a lean staff to publish significant amounts of information from many contributors to both internal and external websites
• New applications that streamline complex operations, increase revenues and enhance member services
• Improved interface design based on usability testing that simplifies access to information and improves workflows for online fundraising and e-commerce
• Significant increases in website traffic through search engine optimization

The following are some of the nonprofit organizations for whom Ironworks has delivered technology solutions:

• 92nd St Y
• American Cancer Society
• American College of Physicians
• American Health Care Association
• American Heart Association
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• American Institute of Architects
• Carnegie Hall
• Christian Children’s Fund
• Clearpoint Financial Counseling
• Edison Electric Institute
• National Association of Convenience Stores
• National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable
• Smithsonian Institution
• Society of Human Resources Management

Rick is a Certified Association Executive with over 25 years of management experience in not-for-profit organizations. He is regarded as an expert in Internet Strategy & Design. Rick launched the original website for the American Diabetes Association and guided its growth to win numerous design and content awards, produce new streams of revenue and achieve top ranking on all major search engines. His in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with almost every major area of association operations ensures that your technology partner truly understands your business needs.

Rick authors a popular blog on association operations and Web strategies and is the Lensmaster for the Associations lens on Squidoo.com.

DigitalNow is widely recognized as one of the best association conferences and attracts a large group of nonprofit professionals from around the country. A large percentage of attendees come back every year to learn more about the latest trends in association management and innovative uses of technology. The conference is produced by Fusion Productions in partnership with the Disney Institute and is held each spring at Walt Disney World.

Ironworks' Association Practice Lead, Rick Johnston, CAE, presented a workshop entitled "Defining Service Excellence in the Digital Age." Rick led a panel that included representatives from the National Restaurant Association and the Virginia Society of CPAs. The presentation focused on what associations are doing today to raise the bar in providing services to their constituents. The panel looked at such trends as:

• eKnowledge
• segmenting audiences
• new ways to push content (RSS and email updates customized to specific audiences)
• developing robust online communities with blogs, wikis, and podcasts
• integrating applications and data through portals
• business intelligence and digital dashboards
• new advances in distance learning
• mobile computing

Other presenters at DigitalNow included Jim Collins (author of the best-seller Good to Great) and Polly LaBarre (a cofounder and senior editor at Fast Company).