My colleague and friend (let's call him Ryan) is the director of chapters at a midsize membership association. He's responsible for managing all aspects of component relations for more than 100 chapters across the United States. From my viewpoint as marketing director, it seems like herding cats —respectfully, of course.

Ryan often comes to me with questions from chapter leaders: Do we have a template for event flyers that they can tailor? Do we have standard language for promoting membership to students in the industry? These requests are wonderful and show engagement from volunteers who want to represent the association as best they can.

The problem is, we only hear from some of them.

Many chapter leaders—emboldened by Canva, PowerPoint, and (gasp) AI tools—are creating their own marketing collateral without guidance from the national staff. When we come across a piece that is truly appalling, my knee-jerk reaction is, "Why didn't they just ask us?" But the reality is twofold: First, they don't know what they don't know. And second, if everyone asked for help, Ryan would be drowning in requests.

So how can Ryan and other association staff in similar roles prevent brand inconsistencies at the component level?

The answer is not to crack down on what volunteers are allowed to do or require national approval on all collateral. We must provide them with the tools and resources to do it well on their own.

But First, What Is the Brand?

Before we can ask chapters to be consistent, we have to define what the national brand is. Most associations have brand guidelines that cover visual brand aspects and how to use them properly. But have you documented elements like voice, tone, messaging pillars, and value propositions? Have you defined what personas make up your audience(s)? How should your association be represented in writing as opposed to when spoken about?

It's far easier to point out inconsistencies in typography or color palette than to pinpoint why a paragraph feels "off." And if the national office can't articulate the problem, how can your components correct it?

Start by collecting examples of your organization’s published messaging across both digital and print channels. What are the consistent themes that show the value of membership? If you don’t have a defined value proposition, not only will your chapters struggle with being consistent but also your overall member recruitment and retention will suffer.

If You Build It, They Will Conform

Once your brand is fully defined, it's time to empower volunteers to represent the association consistently. The key to success? It's not a 60-page manual that no one will ever read. Build a true playbook that is easy to reference and implement, even for the least creative of your leaders.

You don't have to prioritize brevity over content, though. The document can still be 60 pages, but present the information in bite-sized chunks that are quickly scanned. The goal is to make it easier for volunteers to conform to the brand guidelines than to wing it on their own.

Ryan and I worked together to build a marketing toolkit that is housed within the association's leadership portal. It's accessible by any chapter leader at any time, so when Susan in Iowa is working on a flyer on a Tuesday night, she's got the resources she needs to make it great.

Our toolkit includes not only the association’s visual standards but also a voice and tone cheat sheet with specific examples. It also has a list of the association's messaging pillars using on-brand verbiage. We even defined each audience a chapter might engage with, whether in written or spoken form.

Early feedback indicates that the sample copy (such as welcome emails, social posts, and event promos) has been some of the most useful elements. And the detailed table of contents was an absolute must.

Trust the Tools—and Your Volunteers

One hesitation when providing volunteers with a go-to resource is that it could get outdated. The secret is to treat your playbook or toolkit like a living document. Audit it regularly and update as necessary. Then make sure you're alerting your leaders about the updates and directing them to reference the new version.

When your components have lost the voice of your association, it's easy to blame them. But remember: They don't know what they don't know. Make sure your national brand is completely defined—both visually and verbally—then build the resources to empower your volunteers to carry it far and wide.

Brand consistency is possible at scale; we just have to make it harder to be inconsistent than to conform.