Starting a Credentialing Program for Your Association
By Jennifer Williams, SVP, Head of Certifications and Credentialing, Professional Credential Services, a division of Virtual, Inc.
You’ve determined there’s a need and a market for a credential – now what type of credential is the right fit, and where do you start?
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone, or behind. There’s no fixed template for starting a credentialing program, but the associations that do it well tend to work through the same questions: What type of credential matches their goals? Can their existing content and systems support it? And what will it actually take to launch and run a program? Below, I answer the questions we hear most from associations working through this.
We want to start a credentialing program. Where do we start?
Start with your goals, not a system or vendor.
Associations often come to this question already thinking about a tool. Sometimes that’s because whatever they’re running now – usually an LMS, or a membership management system – is proving problematic for managing a credential.
Other times, organizations know they need help, and finding a tool seems like a natural place to start.
But the starting point for a credentialing program has to be a conversation about your goals. What you’re actually deciding is whether to start smaller with a micro-credential or go straight to a full certification. You need to be clear internally on what you’re trying to accomplish before you decide what to build and what you need to build it.
Should we start with a micro-credential or go straight to a certification?
Deciding whether to start with a micro-credential or a certification depends entirely on what you need the credential to do.
If the goal is to recognize a specialization rather than an overall qualification, or you want to test demand, a micro-credential can be the right first step. Often, we see organizations start here because it’s lower commitment than a certification, allowing you to focus on a subset of your membership and generate revenue through fees for education or assessments. Some associations build micro-credentials with the intent of eventually stacking them into a full program.
That said, a micro-credential isn’t always the right choice. For example, I’m currently working with an organization that needs a certification for people who will go on to perform formal assessments as part of their role. A micro-credential wouldn’t carry enough weight for that specific industry. A full certification is the only real option, because of what the people earning it are going to be trusted to do afterward.
What’s the difference between a certificate, a certification, and a micro-credential?
| Credential Type | Typical Requirement | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Completion of a course, training, or program | Documents that specific learning has taken place |
| Certification | Eligibility plus assessment or exam | Validates that an individual meets a recognized standard of professional competence |
| Micro-credential | Focused skill assessment | Validates an individual’s competency in a specific skill or knowledge area |
Certificates document specific learning has taken place; certification validates an individual meets a recognized standard of professional competence; micro-credentials validate an individual’s competency in a specific skill or knowledge area within a field.
Unfortunately, these terms are not standardized industry-wide and often get used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Here’s how I generally explain the difference to associations.
A certificate usually comes from completing a series of education, webinars, or a training program. Any exam involved is mostly confirming you absorbed what you just finished.
A certification is different. It requires meeting established requirements and demonstrating competence, usually through an exam or other assessment. Unlike a certificate, it is not simply proof of attendance or course completion; it validates that the individual meets a recognized professional standard.
A micro-credential recognizes a specific skill or knowledge. It’s a specialization, not a claim of overall qualification. For example, a project manager may hold a PMP certification and earn a micro-credential in Agile project management. Digital badges are a popular visible version of this, particularly for associations. If you have a certification in place, a micro-credential can give members a way to specialize further. It’s just not the same thing as a certification.
One more distinction worth noting: “credential” itself is an all-encompassing term. It can reasonably describe a certificate, a certification, or a micro-credential, depending on how formal the recognition behind it is.
How do we turn existing curriculum and webinars into a credential?
Many associations we talk with have great education pieces already in place. But they’re missing a defined pathway for a credential – a specific set of requirements someone has to meet, and something, usually an exam, that verifies they met it.
Sometimes that pathway already exists in pieces – you might have curriculum and micro-credentials but need help turning that into a larger certification. If you already have those building blocks, the work isn’t starting over. It’s stacking what you have into something more formal.
I don’t think most associations know exactly what that defined pathway should look like until they sit down and work through it in real detail. For example, how does the pathway map to your organization’s goals? What resources do you have to deliver it?
It’s easy to reach for a word like “certification” for example, before deciding internally what that word is actually going to require of the people who earn it, and what has to be in place operationally to support it.
Can we use our existing LMS as a credential management system?
An LMS is great at managing training and learning, but as a credentialing program grows more complex, the LMS is no longer the best tool for managing it.
This is where a credential management system excels. These platforms are purpose built to handle the credentialing workflow and to ensure your program can evolve, keeping pace with program changes and candidate expectations.
What are the costs involved in creating a credentialing program?
If you build and manage the program in-house, creating a credentialing program can be expensive. The main costs to consider are staff time, a testing vendor, and typically a psychometrician to work with your team in creating the exam and validating exam questions. Actual costs will vary depending on the scope, but as an example, certification exam development alone can cost upwards of $100k.
This is why many organizations choose to work with a credentialing management partner. In this case, a common cost structure is an implementation fee up front, with the operating cost built into a per-applicant fee paid by the people going through the program – which can be more cost-effective than trying to build a credentialing program from scratch on your own.
How long does it take to launch a credentialing program?
How long it takes to build and launch a credentialing program will depend on the type of credential, and if you have in-house resources or are working with partners.
The process includes defining a specific set of requirements someone has to meet and building the governance and operational pieces around it: approval workflow, communication, and exam security.
When we work with organizations this process typically ranges from 4 or 5 months to a year, depending on whether a certification exam needs to be created.
What are the biggest mistakes associations run into when starting a credentialing program?
The most common mistakes we see organizations make when starting a credentialing program are:
- Moving into program design before validating demand
- Underestimating exam security and validity
- Relying on tools not built for credentialing
Too often, associations hear members asking for a credential and move straight into designing a program before confirming that enough people will actually pursue, pay for, and value it long-term. Even a well-designed program will struggle if the market doesn’t see a need. Validating demand early, rather than assuming it, gives leadership better information before the organization commits significant resources and helps avoid building a program that solves the wrong problem.
Exam security and validity is another challenge we see, particularly when organizations choose AI-only remote proctoring over a live proctor to save money. It can look like a reasonable, less expensive choice when you’re first mapping out the budget, but it doesn’t catch issues the way a live proctor does. If cheating is discovered after the fact, replacement questions have to be written from scratch by subject matter experts. That’s expensive, and it puts the credibility of the whole program at risk before it’s had a chance to prove itself.
Tools are the third common misstep. Organizations often assume that their existing membership management system or LMS can handle a credentialing program, but these systems aren’t built for the credentialing workflow. For anything beyond a few applicants organizations need a system designed specifically for credential management, one with automation capabilities, applicant tracking workflows, and built-in compliance features to help the program run efficiently as it grows.
It all comes back to credibility
A credential does more than signal achievement; it validates expertise and reinforces your organization’s reputation. That’s true when it goes well, and it’s just as true when it doesn’t. A compromised exam or an applicant who falls through the cracks damages the trust the program is supposed to represent. Getting things right from the start protects that reputation and turns your curriculum into a program that generates the non-dues revenue and higher renewal rates you’re looking for.
Not sure where to start? Take the 2-minute Credentialing Readiness Check to see where your program stands and what to do next.