Member Engagement and Priority Assessment

This program gives you credible, third-party feedback from your members to keep your organization strong. This affordable program helps you reduce costs, preserve your member base and improve services such as educational programs, Web site, written information and staff relations. You may add member needs and expectations modules to better understand members’ preferences for communication channels, training delivery, and program priorities.

Supports these activities:

• Engaging Members
• Setting budget priorities
• Exploring service assumptions
• Strategic planning
• Setting program priorities
• Measuring and tracking performance

This program helps you create and administer benchmarking between your members. Help them share best practices, track performance levels, and improve the services they provide to their customers or members.

Supports these activities:

• Providing your members with a high-quality research tool
• Enriching communication and teamwork between you members
• Better understanding your members’ needs through summary reports
• Developing educational and service programs based on members’ needs
• Provides original research to support your media and sponsorship outreach 
• Provides possible revenue source to support your programs

This program lets you evaluate awareness and effectiveness of programs and initiatives specific to your organization, then segment your membership to deliver the right services and information, in the right way, and at the right time. Such surveys carry significant weight when making resource decisions or evaluating the outcome of an initiative. Through scientific sampling techniques and collaboration on the survey instrument, Cobalt will help you establish a quantitative foundation to develop great programs or support tough decisions.

Supports these activities:

• Engaging members
• Marketing for programs, services and events
• Improving communication effectiveness
• Gathering policy feedback
• Measuring awareness, perspective and intent

Focus Groups

A focus group is a facilitated meeting in which a Cobalt moderator guides 6-10 people through a discussion. It is a powerful and persuasive tool that can significantly enhance communication and educational program effectiveness. Such groups often yield unexpected insights and a human touch that enriches your program evaluation.

Supports these activities:

• Gathering member perspectives and ideas on programs and services
• Helping members communicate concerns or thoughts on difficult issues
• Allowing members to participate in the early development of policies or programs
• Building insight and support outside of large formal meetings

Strategic Workshop

This half-day onsite workshop guides your leadership team in identifying emerging trends and developing strategic responses. Through a balanced mix of instruction, group exercises, media, and discussion, your team will gain the foundational skills of long-term strategic planning and apply them to their areas of responsibility.

Supports these activities:

• Helping key staff think about trends that effect the organization and its stakeholders
• Developing skills to translate trend opportunities and threats into prioritized action
• Tying daily action to strategic outcomes using performance metrics

Facilitated Meetings/Audience Response

The Facilitated Meetings Program utilizes an easy-to-use keypad system that integrates with a conventional PowerPoint presentation. The meeting facilitator asks a multiple-choice question on the slide, and the audience uses wireless keypads to answer. Results appear instantly on the slide.

Supports these activities:

• Engaging the audience
• Instantly gathering audience feedback during conferences and large meetings
• Instantly testing understanding
• Profiling age, attitude, geography, or other variables
• Establishing if you have consensus – or if there are concerns that have not been spoken
• Enhancing attention and engagement through significant audience participation