Small Associations Deserve Big Help. I Built a Company to Prove It.

· association-management, strategy

In 2014, I started Kelly Dando Consulting with one laptop and one idea. Small associations deserve the same professional support as the big ones.

Back then, that idea sounded strange. So did the way I planned to deliver it. Remote.

Remote work was not a thing in 2014. Not in association management. The typical firm rented an office, hired local staff, and served clients within driving distance. If you were a 60-member chapter three states away, you were on your own.

I saw the gap from the inside

I came up through AGC in Nashville and CFMA. I saw what well-run associations look like. I also saw what happens to the smaller ones.

They run on volunteers. Good people with full-time jobs. The treasurer keeps the books on a personal laptop. The president holds the passwords. When the board turns over, the knowledge walks out the door.

These boards were not thriving, and it was not because they did not care. It was because they did not know help existed. Or they assumed it cost more than they could ever afford.

That was the gap. Small associations with real needs and no one built to serve them.

So I built a different model

I did not rent an office. I did not hire local staff. For a long time, it was just me, a laptop, a phone, and a calendar. A chapter in Honolulu gets the same attention as a chapter down the road in Dallas. Distance stopped mattering.

Working remote kept my costs low. Low costs meant I could serve small budgets. That was the whole idea.

Twelve years later, the numbers tell the story

  • KDC now supports more than 80 associations, chapters, conferences, and foundations across the country.
  • Together, our clients represent more than 7,000 members.
  • Our median chapter has about 84 members.
  • Roughly 6 in 10 of the chapters we manage have fewer than 100 members.
  • About 1 in 4 have fewer than 50.

Read that again. Most of our clients are small. That is not an accident. That is the mission.

We grew from a one-woman show to a team of 14. We still serve the chapter with 25 members the same way we serve the chapter with 300.

Small does not mean simple

A 40-member chapter still has to file taxes. It still needs a budget, a board, events, sponsors, and a website. It still has members asking what they get for their dues.

The work is the same. The volunteer hours are fewer. That is where the right support makes the biggest difference.

What I have learned

Small associations are not a lesser version of big ones. They are often where members feel the most connected. Everyone knows each other. Everyone pitches in.

Those boards do not need more pressure. They need structure, continuity, and someone in their corner. That is what I set out to build in 2014. It is still why we do this work.

Every chapter matters. The small ones most of all.

Want to learn more about how KDC supports associations? See what we do.