Most associations don’t lose momentum with their AMS because the technology fails them. Progress stalls because excitement wanes, motivation ebbs, and new projects, member questions, and events pull attention, resources, and dollars away from practices improving AMS use. Our Achurch AMS Success Diagnostic was built using our understanding of the 7 common obstacles leading to AMS disuse. Do these sound familiar?
Obstacles to Improving AMS Use
Each of these obstacles stems from a gap in strategic alignment, skills, or resources, and the mix looks different at every association depending on size, structure, and priorities. They tend to take hold when organizations treat implementation as the finish line rather than the starting point, letting the ongoing work that drives AMS success fall by the wayside.
1. Low Adoption and Buy-In
The issue » You’ve invested in a powerful new system, but not a lot of staff are using it.
Outcome » User pockets signal uneven adoption and lead to unrealized value, potential, and ROI. Staff may express frustration, confusion, or even hatred. When only the people who touch the system every day actually use it, frustration builds and trust erodes.
2. Unclear Ownership
The issue » When everyone is responsible, no one is.
Outcome » Without clear ownership (e.g., an adoption alliance) decisions stall, efforts are duplicated, and questions go unanswered. No one fully understands how it’s used. Without an individual or team to champion the system, enthusiasm wanes or becomes nonexistent.
3. Legacy Mindset
The issue » Staff misunderstand the new system (or upgrade’s) capabilities. It’s business as usual.
Outcome » You lose the opportunity to improve your AMS use and transform your organization. Old habits continue: Your AMS remains a static database instead of an evolving platform.
4. No Presence
The issue » Your AMS isn’t highly visible, active, or even easily accessible.
Outcome » An AMS with no presence means staff are stuck at implementation. They aren’t reaching for ways to improve their work. People don’t link their AMS use to their workflows and tasks. Instead of improving your AMS use, this maintains the status quo, and you lose out on innovation. Adoption stalls. Teams stop looking to the AMS for new ideas altogether or revert to Shadow spreadsheets and systems.
5. Strategic Disconnect
The issue » Your AMS isn’t aligned with your organization’s bigger goals.
Outcome » Without alignment, it’s easy for leadership to overlook how your AMS investment and progress connects to overall organizational mission and goals. Tell the story so you can justify continued investment and build support for improvement. An AMS does more than house data. It can tell you about your organization, your members, and point to proactive ways to serve your mission and members better.
6. Constant Band-Aids
The issue » Messy data, clunky configurations, and shaky integrations create a cycle of band-aid fixes.
Outcome » Inability to accelerate value and engagement. Every issue that goes unresolved is a missed opportunity to cement staff’s AMS use, unlock efficiencies for staff and members, drive revenue, introduce new members, and improve all around user experience.
7. Operational Imbalance
The issue » Imbalance between daily routine requests and strategic priorities.
Outcome » Users experience the AMS as a point of frustration. Requests for fixes accelerate. The backlog continues. Users don’t see these updates as improvements to their daily routine. They see them as a simple eradication of annoyance.
Your Next Right Step
The key to improving your AMS use depends on the specific obstacles and gaps within your organization. Every organization is different. Some organizations are missing strategic alignment. Others need more staff skill, capacity, or support. These issues rarely show up alone, and they don’t all stem from the same root cause. Thus, the solutions to improving AMS use and ultimately the path to AMS success varies.
Improving AMS Use and Attaining AMS Success
The Achurch AMS Success Diagnostic looks across five critical dimensions of AMS success: Alignment, Adoption, Performance Optimization, Continuous Improvement, and Foundational Activities. It shows your current state, identifies your biggest opportunities, and lays out your next best steps: A prioritized action plan built for where you are right now, not a generic vendor checklist.
You Can Improve Your AMS Use
Stop guessing. Find a clear path forward. Move past obstacles and get unstuck. Take the free AMS Success Diagnostic today and get your AMS working as hard as you are. In five minutes, you’ll have a better understanding of where you are so you can improve your AMS use: from “just another database” to a strategic platform.