AI consulting for associations, every price on the page.
I help trade associations, professional societies and member organizations put AI to work for staffs of 10 to 200. A $2,500 written plan if you're not sure where to start. A done-for-you rollout from $4,500 if you are. The policy your board signs comes first, and staff training is included either way.
Fixed fees, published here. No hourly billing, no 90-day discovery phase, no deck for the board to file.
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Justin McKelvey
AI consultant · 15 years building products · Austin, TX
Quick Answer
Justin McKelvey is an AI consultant in Austin, Texas who helps trade associations and professional societies put AI to work for staffs of 10 to 200, at published prices: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap), then a done-for-you rollout of Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (from $4,500, about two weeks, staff training and 30 days of support included). The first 30-minute call is free. AI seats are paid to the vendor separately.
Author: Justin McKelvey · Prices as of October 2026
Who can help an association roll out AI?
Someone who starts with your members, your board and your member-data rules, not with a tool demo. That's the work I do. I work with executives of $1M to $50M organizations, trade associations and professional societies included, and I set AI up for teams of 10 to 200. A typical engagement is two steps: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which tool fits and the data-handling rules your staff follow), then a done-for-you rollout on the tool your staff already uses (from $4,500, about two weeks, staff training and 30 days of support included). If the rollout starts within 90 days, the $2,500 is credited in full. Start with a free 30-minute call.
Right now
Right now I'm helping a national trade association roll out AI to about 50 staff. I'm also building a member mobile app for a national association of school principals.
Bigger associations (several departments, 50+ staff, or AI across the whole team) get a written custom scope after the Assessment, priced to the work. The published prices are where most teams start, not a ceiling.
Where AI goes first in an association
An association's staff does the same four kinds of work every year. Each one is a workflow I can scope and set up. The Assessment decides which goes first for you.
Member services and member communications
The member inbox, renewal notes, the weekly newsletter, the "where do I find" questions. The assistant drafts answers from your own bylaws, benefits pages and past replies, and a staff member sends them. Renewal notes can name what each member actually used, if your member database can share that safely. Nothing reaches a member without a person's yes.
Events and conferences
Speaker emails, session descriptions, attendee FAQs, sponsor follow-ups, the post-event recap. High volume, tight deadlines, mostly rewriting what you already have. That's the kind of work a staff of 10 can hand a first draft of to an assistant without changing who signs off.
Certification and education content
First drafts of course descriptions, study guides, webinar summaries and CE announcements, built from your existing material and checked by the subject-matter volunteers who check them today. Live exam items stay out of AI tools entirely. That line goes in the policy before anything else does.
Board and committee work
Board packet summaries, committee agendas, minutes drafted from your notes. AI meeting notes follow the same antitrust guidelines as any record of a member meeting, so who records what, and where it's kept, is decided up front.
The job-by-job how-to, with examples, is in AI for associations. This page is about getting it done for your staff.
Staff rollout and an AI policy a volunteer board can approve
Most associations I talk to have the same setup: a small staff doing a big organization's work, and a volunteer board that meets a few times a year. Some staff already use ChatGPT in a personal tab. Nobody has said what's allowed.
So the rollout starts with a one-page acceptable-use policy: the approved tools, what never goes in, who reviews AI-written content before it reaches a member, and how meeting notes are handled. It's written in plain language so the board can approve it in one meeting, not refer it to a committee. My AI acceptable use policy is the starting point.
Then every staff member who gets a seat gets trained on the workflows I built, including how the tool gets things wrong. The rule on every workflow: the AI drafts, a human approves.
Member data and privacy
- ▶Workspace seats, not personal accounts. Member records belong under your association's account, with admin controls, not in ten staff members' personal chat histories.
- ▶No passwords. Your admin grants delegated access and can revoke it in one click. Every rollout includes deciding whose login each connection runs under.
- ▶A written never-paste list. Member financial details, live exam items, anything a member shared in confidence. It's in the policy, and it's in the training.
- ▶NDAs are fine. Your standard NDA before kickoff, or I send a mutual one. The free strategy call doesn't need one.
What AI consulting costs an association
The same published prices as every client: $2,500 for a written AI plan, from $4,500 for a done-for-you rollout, or $397 for a self-paced course. Fixed fees, no hourly billing.
Strategy call
$0
30 min
A straight answer on what's worth doing. No pitch.
AI Readiness Assessment
$2,500 flat
2 weeks
A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days.
AI Team Rollout
from $4,500
~2 weeks
Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your staff, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice.
The Shop
$397
self-paced
8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back.
| Service | Price | Timeline | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy call | $0 | 30 min | A straight answer on what's worth doing. No pitch. |
| AI Readiness Assessment | $2,500 flat | 2 weeks | A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days. |
| AI Team Rollout | from $4,500 | ~2 weeks | Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your staff, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice. |
| The Shop | $397 | self-paced | 8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back. |
Prices as of October 2026. Seats for the AI tool are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft, separately. Every rung, side by side with the rest of my services, is on AI consulting services.
On seat prices, check your tax status first. Anthropic's nonprofit program names registered 501(c)(3) organizations (read September 28, 2026), and Google's requires registration as a charitable organization (read October 8, 2026). Many trade associations are 501(c)(6). If that's you, budget the seats at business rates until the vendor confirms. Professional societies and foundations that are 501(c)(3) usually fit, and the dated vendor nonprofit rates are on AI consulting for nonprofits.
Which tool? The one your staff already uses
I set up Claude, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and I pick by where your team already works. If your staff lives in Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint, it's usually Copilot. If they already live in ChatGPT, it's ChatGPT Business. If you want Claude, it's Claude. Same price and timeline for all three.
If your association runs on Google Workspace, the Assessment's tool recommendations start with what you already pay for.
What the engagement looks like
About four weeks of calendar time from plan to trained staff: two for the Assessment, about two for the rollout.
-
1
A free 30-minute call
We look at where your staff's hours go across member services, events and education, and which tool they already live in. You leave with a straight answer on the next step, even if it's that you don't need me yet.
-
2
The Assessment: weeks 1 and 2
A workflow audit, every realistic AI opportunity ranked by impact and effort, tool recommendations for the stack you already pay for, governance and data-handling guidance, and a 30-60-90 day plan. A 15 to 25 page roadmap on day 14, with a 1-hour walkthrough. It's written so you can hand it to your board.
-
3
The rollout: about 2 weeks
The permission check on whose login each connection runs under, the association context the AI works from, up to 5 tools or sources connected, and one workflow pack. Roughly 3 hours of your time. The rule on every workflow: the AI drafts, a human approves.
-
4
Staff training and handoff
A training session for your staff on the workflows I built, a plain-language handoff doc, then 30 days of support. If something I set up isn't working, I fix it. No extra invoice.
Assessment slots are capped at 2 to 3 a month, so a 2 to 6 week lead time is typical. Already know the workflow and the tool? Skip step 2.
Who this is not for
- ▶Associations looking for a 90-day discovery phase or a strategy deck. The plan takes two weeks.
- ▶Governance theater: a policy nobody will follow, written so someone can say it exists.
- ▶Boards that haven't decided whether to use AI at all. Settle that first; I'm useful once the answer is yes.
- ▶Very small organizations under $1M. The Shop ($397) or the free checklist below is the better start.
A free first step
Not ready to talk? The free AI readiness checklist is 30 yes-or-no questions you can answer without an email. Leave one and it saves your score with a recommendation.
Score your AI readiness first.
The AI Readiness Checklist: 30 yes/no questions across data, workflows, team, governance, and execution. You can answer them without an email. Leave one and your score and recommendation are saved.
Or answer the questions first, no email needed. One-click unsubscribe from anything I send.
“Justin doesn't just write code; he thinks like a CEO. He understands the business impact of every technical decision, which is rare in this industry.”
AI consulting for associations: common questions
- Who helps associations put AI to work?
- I do. I'm Justin McKelvey, an AI consultant in Austin, Texas, and I work remotely with executives of trade associations, professional societies and member organizations, setting AI up for staffs of 10 to 200. The usual order is a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (2 weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which tool fits, and the data-handling rules for member records), then a done-for-you rollout of Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (from $4,500, about 2 weeks, staff training included). The $2,500 is credited in full if the rollout starts within 90 days. The first step is a free 30-minute call at justinmckelvey.com/book/strategy-call.
- How can associations use AI?
- Start with the staff work that repeats every week: member-services answers drafted from your own documents, renewal and event emails, board packet summaries, and first drafts of education and certification content from your existing material. The rule on every workflow is that the AI drafts and a staff member approves before anything reaches a member. Live exam items stay out of AI tools entirely. The Assessment ranks these for your association by impact and effort.
- How much does AI consulting cost for an association?
- With me, every price is fixed and published: the 30-minute call is free, the AI Readiness Assessment is $2,500 flat, and a rollout starts at $4,500 (range $4,500 to $7,500), with a $1,500 deposit applied in full to the install invoice. The Shop, a self-paced Claude course, is $397 plus $97 per teammate. AI seats are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft separately. Bigger associations (several departments, 50+ staff, or AI across the whole team) get a written custom scope after the Assessment, priced to the work.
- Do trade associations get nonprofit pricing on AI tools?
- Don't assume so. Anthropic's nonprofit program names registered 501(c)(3) organizations and their international equivalents (read September 28, 2026), and Google's requires registration as a charitable organization (read October 8, 2026). Many trade associations are 501(c)(6), which is a different category. Professional societies and foundations that are 501(c)(3) usually fit. If you're a (c)(6), budget the seats at business rates until the vendor confirms.
- Does an association need an AI policy before it rolls out AI?
- Yes, and it should come first. A one-page acceptable-use policy names the approved tools, what never goes in (member financial details, live exam items, anything a member shared in confidence), who reviews AI-written content before it goes out, and how AI meeting notes are handled, since they follow the same antitrust guidelines as any record of a member meeting. Every rollout I do writes this down before anyone gets a seat, in language a volunteer board can approve in one meeting.
- How long does an AI rollout take for an association?
- About four weeks of calendar time if you start with a plan: the Assessment is two weeks with the roadmap on day 14, and the rollout is about two weeks and roughly 3 hours of your time. If you already know the workflow and the tool, skip the Assessment and the install alone is about two weeks. Assessment slots are capped at 2 to 3 a month, so a 2 to 6 week lead time is typical.
Read more before you decide
AI for Associations
Member services, events, renewals and certification, and what stays human.
AI Consulting for Nonprofits
The same prices, plus the dated vendor nonprofit seat rates.
AI Acceptable Use Policy
The one-page policy every rollout starts from.
AI Training for Employees
Team seats in The Shop, and the training inside every rollout.
Start with a plan, or start with a call.
The Assessment is $2,500 and credited toward a rollout within 90 days. The call is free and takes 30 minutes. I reply to everything within one business day.