Clients come to us with a variety of tools to manage their association databases. We have seen it all including Excel spreadsheets, MemberClicks, Wild Apricot, YourMembership, and StarChapter. From our time on each platform, we have found how important it is to have a good, clean, organized system in place. If you are still managing your members in Excel, it is in your best interest to make the jump to an association management system (AMS). Below, we have broken down some items for you to consider when looking at your association’s next steps.
Ensure an easy to use but extensive website bundle. When it comes to your AMS, you should guarantee that it includes a website as part of your package. This will allow everything to be in one place and online. As an administrator, you or your AMC will be able to login and edit membership as well as your association’s website. Having the two linked, will also allow you to create members-only content. Members can sign in to the website to check on their membership status, catch last month’s webinar, or look at resources that are reserved for members-only.
When considering looking at AMS platforms, look into how complex the website editing tools are. If you or future board members are not tech-savvy, it is best to go with a simpler website builder. Wild Apricot, for example, allows users to drag and drop content rather than requiring coding.
Ease stresses during renewal season. Renewals are made so much easier once you have the right AMS. Rather than tracking checks and updating contact information in spreadsheets, members can do it themselves! You can send them an invoice straight from certain AMS platforms along with a message, they can pay it online, and everything is automatically updated. If you want to lessen the burden of this process even more, you can automate it. Most platforms allow you the opportunity to set up automatic renewals. This means once the time comes around for your member to renew, the system will send an automated invoice and message, taking the work off of you or your association manager.
Track event success and registration through your AMS. Each platform has a unique way of managing events. Find which one works best for you and your organization’s needs. Your AMS should track registration, payments, cancellations, guests, and more all online. This will allow you to track historical data as well as give access to anyone who is an admin on the account making for easier check ins and updates.
Make sure your membership and AMS match in complexity. We have come across organizations that have more complex membership levels that do not always have the capability to switch to simpler platforms like Wild Apricot. This does not necessarily mean that you cannot work with a simpler platform, it just means you may also need to simplify your membership.
Make sure you have a help chat! There is nothing worse than having to send an email for help on something and waiting 2 days for a response from the AMS help team. Look for an AMS that has a chat for quicker issues. This will save you an immense amount of time and stress.
Find the price that works for you. Ultimately, your AMS should help you to save money by lowering the amount of time your association manager spends in the database, bringing in new members, and event registration. The simpler and prettier your website is to use, the more time your members and potential members will explore it.
Each organization is different with different needs. We have found, however, that Wild Apricot and MemberClicks tend to have everything an association might need. Our go-to AMS is Wild Apricot because of their easy to use website and clean database system. They could use some updates to their email management system, but overall, it wins our vote. MemberClicks is a great alternative to organizations that have a complex database. They allow you to have more flexibility in your levels and organization of the members. They tend to be a little more outdated and complex to edit on the backend, however. Their website requires a bit more coding knowledge and should be strategically labeled from the start.
Feel free to reach out with any questions on our experience with each platform!