You are an ambassador. That’s right, YOU! Whether you are a member of a social group, professional society, or even as an association staff member, each time you talk about these groups, you are acting as an ambassador.

When we hear the word “ambassador,” we think about an accredited diplomat serving as an official representative to another country. But a second definition is a person who acts as a representative or promoter of an activity or organization.

As an ambassador for your association, are you conveying a consistent message and brand? If not, it may be time to launch an ambassador program. Launching an Ambassador Program as part of your brand strategy helps create greater awareness not only for your association, but also for the individual ambassador and for your industry. When we think about traditional association spokespersons, we tend to think about existing leaders—board members, committee chair, or the CEO/executive director. But you may find really great ambassadors among otherwise inactive members. 

Here is how you launch a program:

Recruitment. Start with your board of directors and committee/chapter chairs and ask them to be ambassadors—yes, even the annoying one. This just means they are included in your ambassador roster, so that when your organization needs a person to represent, there is a good, solid list. Next, ask your board members and committee chairs if they can recommend other members for the program.

Send an invitation. To invite members to join the program, send an email that starts with, “Congratulations, Sue Brown has nominated you to be a founding member of our new ambassador program.” Explain the ambassador’s responsibilities—typically representing the organization through various activities (described in the “launch the program” section below)—and the time they need to participate in the program (typically two to three hours annually).

Train the ambassadors. Start with your association’s messaging document that contains key and sub-messages (e.g., about current items, like COVID-19, annual meeting, and so forth). This document will be the key training tool for your ambassadors to learn how to talk about your association. [Note: Don’t have a messaging document? Create one using your mission, vision, and core value statement, and perhaps with the paragraph at the end of your news releases.]

Create an ambassador toolkit. To ensure the ambassadors have access to your resources when they need them, develop an ambassador toolkit. This online toolkit may contain messages, sample articles, sample blogs, sample op-eds, sample PowerPoints, sample news releases, scripts for communicating with journalists or elected officials, and logos. House the toolkit in the members-only portion of your website so that it’s accessible to ambassadors any time.

Launch the program. Your ambassadors are now ready to represent your association through myriad activities. You may ask ambassadors to write a magazine or e-newsletter article, draft a blog, participate in a podcast, post/share on social media, deliver a presentation, present a webinar, talk to related groups about collaborating, discuss a legislative issue with an elected official, respond to a media inquiry, and more. There’s no limit to what trained ambassadors can do to increase awareness of your association and industry. Bonus: It provides them with knowledge and skills that may be helpful to career advancement—making the ambassador program a member benefit.

Ensure the program is ongoing. Continue to add to the program as you discover new potential ambassadors. Since these new ambassadors will need training, continue to offer message and presentation training a few times a year to refresh current ambassadors and train the new ones.

By following these tips, creating an ambassador program is simple and fruitful.