If your association management company has been sold, your board has two jobs right now: find out what is changing, then decide whether the arrangement still serves your members. Neither job requires panic, and neither should wait for your next contract renewal.
I have seen this from every side. My family's AMC was sold when I was in high school. I spent 20 years as a staff executive, served on boards, and now run an AMC. A sale can go well for clients, but it goes best when the board asks direct questions early and gets answers in writing.
These are the top five things your board needs to ask about.
- What happens to our people?
Your association's results depend on the specific people who run it day to day. Ask about them first.
- Will our executive director and account team stay assigned to us? For how long is that committed?
- Have any staff on our account left since the sale was announced?
- Who is our new point of contact on the account team?
- If our executive director leaves, who decides the replacement, and do we have a say?
- What about our contract?
- Was our contract assigned to the new owner, or does it stay with the original company as a subsidiary?
- Did the sale trigger any change-of-control rights for us?
- Are our fees, term and termination provisions unchanged?
- Will we be asked to sign a new agreement? If so, what changes?
- What happens to our money and controls?
- Who now has signing authority on our bank accounts?
- Are our funds held in accounts in our association's name?
- Will our accounting system, auditor or financial reporting schedule change
- Who on the new ownership side can see our financial data?
- Will our data and systems change?
- Will our member database, website or email platform move to a new system?
- Who holds the administrator credentials for each system we use?
- Can we get a complete export of our data today, at no charge?
- Does the service and direction change?
- What does the new owner plan to change in the next 12 months?
- Are shared services such as accounting, IT or meetings being consolidated across the firm?
- How will we know if service levels change, and who do we call if they do?
What to do in the first 30 days
- Put the questions above in writing and request written answers.
- Confirm your association holds its own bank accounts, domain names and system logins.
- Request a full data export, even if you plan to stay.
- Have your attorney review the contract's assignment and termination terms.
- Schedule a board check-in at 90 days to review what has changed.
Most boards will conclude that the new arrangement serves them well, but the goal is a decision made on facts and transparency.
FAQ
Can our AMC be sold without our approval? Review your contract's assignment and change-of-control provisions. They decide whether the board has any say.
Should we issue an RFP right away? Not necessarily. Gather answers and data first. An RFP makes sense when the answers show the arrangement no longer fits your needs.
What is the single most important step? Confirm your association controls its own money, data and system access. Everything else is easier once that is true.
Working through a change at your AMC? Email Matt Ott at matt@MomentumAMC.com for more information.