The traditional membership organisation is where people or companies can subscribe to be connected around a particular industry, interest, profession, geographical location or mission. What would have once been membership payments sent in the post and paid by cheque is now online and instant - from the click of a button people can either pay by credit card or be issued an invoice. What would once have been physical meetings has turned into online video, chats, and comments.

A lot of membership organisations have been around for a long time, which means that their data may be vast, outdated, and incoherent. Group emails are still sent out by BCC'ing in every member and then getting emailed all of their out of office replies. Event registrations are still done by emailing someone who keeps a spreadsheet of attendees information, and physically creates invoices for each and every registrant.

Sometimes it is much more effort than it needs to be.

A lot of membership organisations have taken the plunge and have made all of their usual time-consuming processes digital. The average person is looking at websites mainly on their phone or tablet nearly as many times as their desktop. If you haven't already done so, it is time to take your membership organisation digital, and here is how you can do it.

Accommodate for your members

Tailor your web site for all screens

Whether a person is looking on a phone or a laptop, it makes sense that your website is compatible for those users. Ensure that the content and design has been laid out accordingly and can be easily accessed by your members, no matter the screen size.

Event registration and payment

Do you host events? These could be workshops, conferences, specialised meetings or whatever your organisation hosts. Adding event information, registration, and even payments onto your website will create an easy and automated flow for registrations. Particular software can determine what type of member they are (student, life time member, etc.) and charge them the fee allocated to that membership type. Simple and easy software can automatically generate invoices and take credit card/debit card payments on the spot, and anytime during this process the organisation can download a spreadsheet to see who, what, where, and when people have registered.

Create a member zone

To help make your member feel more like a valued person and to maintain contact with them, you can have a member portal that includes all of their information, photos, and automated functions such as when their membership is up for renewal or they've registered for an upcoming event.

Add in professional development points

When you host events, seminars, webinars, or have downloadable/purchasable resources for your members, a way of adding value to their efforts is to add professional development points to their actions. For example, one of your members attends your annual conference and purchases one of your reports, you can allocate an amount of points that will be added to that members profile. This gives your members a record of attendance as well as giving your internal team an over view of the most active and valuable members.

Send out newsletters

Email marketing and newsletters are a great way to give your members updates on the latest news, and promote part of your business or events that are coming up. Having your email newsletters up to date and going out often will ensure your members that your organisation is relevant and interesting, as well as giving them an easy way to register for an event or make contact with you.

Add in a community page

Do your members have great ideas and expertise in the field? Maybe they have a burning question that only other members can give advice on? Incorporating a community page where members can comment and chat is a great way to enhance website usability as well as providing an accessible means to communicate together. Community pages are a great place to enhance rapport and provide a safe and secure place for your members to chat.

Accommodate for your internal team

Online billing

It can be very tedious and time consuming having to look up each member's past payments, what they still owe, sending out invoices, following up on invoices etc. Including an automated system can ensure that each of your members gets billed at the correct time, for the correct amount, and with an option to pay by credit card so their funds automatically show up in your account. If your software is advanced enough, it can send out automated reminders to those who haven't paid by integrating with accounting software such as Xero or MYOB.

Email/Marketing Automation

Such a handy tool, especially since you can segment who you are sending your emails out to. For example, you're hosting an event and you see that there are 150 members that haven't yet registered, so you can easily send a reminder to just those people. Or say, you wanted to send an email to just your lifetime members about a special dinner you are holding for them - easy. Good software will have the option to personalise the emails, such as adding in first names.

Managing membership information

Membership portals have a directory placed in the back end of the website where all allocated staff can access their information. This makes it handy to update members information as you need to, delete/archive expired members, and export a spreadsheet of your members into excel.

MoST Software - an answer to your prayers

Expert has a bespoke product called MoST, which is a feature-rich and versatile online Infrastructure Platform which works as a website, event management tool, membership management tool and marketing tool - all from the back end of your website. Below are the functionalities of each feature:

CRM & Membership Management

• Store, segment, and track your database in one central location
• Track professional development
• Add searchable directories to your website
• Secure password protected areas
• Supported membership process
• Simplified communication
• Online payment and automated invoicing
• Donation facility

http://most.software/membership

Event Management

• Event registration and management online
• Resource management
• API & payment gateways
• Promotion
• Integrates with CRM & Membership
• Reporting
• Integrated site calendar

http://most.software/events

Email Marketing

• Automated and segmented distribution
• Manage templates
• Subscription management
• Customisable content
• Tracking and statistics

http://most.software/marketing

Content Management

• Add, edit and upload to your webpage with ease
• Maintain design and style consistency
• Improve user experience and overall site usability
• Administration with a smile
• Multi-lingual and Multi-site settings
• Develop SEO and social media engagement

http://most.software/content

If you would like to know more about MoST, or any of the services Expert offers, feel free to get in contact with us: us@expert.services or 04 384 9833