Switching AMCs
Your current AMC isn’t delivering. Changing shouldn’t put your association at risk.
Boards stay with underperforming management because the transition feels riskier than the status quo. A disciplined, dated plan removes most of that risk.
Warning Signs
When It’s Time for a Conversation
Every management relationship has rough months. A pattern is different. If three or more of these sound familiar, your board should be evaluating alternatives.
- Board materials arrive late, thin, or without recommendations
- Financial statements are slow, hard to read, or change after the fact
- Members wait days for routine answers
- Staff assigned to you turn over and nobody tells you
- The agreement has no KPIs, or nobody reports against them
- You are paying more each year with no change in scope or results
- Your data, accounts, or domain sit in the AMC’s name instead of yours
Before you start: pull your current management agreement and read three clauses: the termination notice period (often 90 to 180 days), the transition assistance obligations, and who owns the data, accounts, and intellectual property. Those clauses set your timeline.
Talk It Through Confidentially
A 30-minute call can map your notice period, transition risks, and timing before your board commits to anything.
Request a Confidential CallThe Transition
Our 90-Day Transition Plan
Dated, owned, and reported to your board every two weeks until it is complete.
Plan the Handoff
- Confirm notice dates and transition obligations
- Build the dated transition plan with your board
- Send the outgoing AMC a written request list
Secure and Stabilize
- Transfer bank signatories, credentials, and domains
- Export and validate the member database
- Keep renewals, inquiries, and payments flowing
Assume Operations
- Take over finance, membership, and event workstreams
- Re-paper vendor contracts in the association’s name
- Set the KPI baseline and reporting calendar
Report and Improve
- First full board report and KPI dashboard
- Prioritized improvement plan for year one
- Close out the transition plan with the board
Checklist
What to Request From Your Outgoing AMC
Put this list in writing at the start of your notice period. Most of it belongs to your association already.
- Full member database export, including history and notes
- Administrator access to the AMS, website, and email platform
- Domain registrar and DNS credentials
- Social media account ownership and logins
- Bank statements, signatory change forms, and merchant accounts
- General ledger, chart of accounts, and audit workpapers
- Last three years of Form 990 and state filings
- Articles, bylaws, IRS determination letter, and policies
- Board and committee minutes and resolutions
- All vendor, venue, and sponsor contracts with renewal dates
- Insurance policies, certificates, and claims history
- Open obligations: deposits, deferred revenue, and payables
- Event files, registration data, and future hotel blocks
- Brand assets, templates, and content archives
Read the full transition checklistOur guide covers what boards should require in the first 90 days of any AMC transition. Read the article →