From professional associations and trade unions to clubs, all member organizations tend to share a common problem: Management. Keeping track of people and memberships is easy enough when you've only got a few dozen members. But as your organization grows, that job's going to get increasingly challenging and time-consuming until eventually doing everything by hand just isn't possible anymore.
Maybe you're here because you saw it coming. Maybe you've already hit that threshold. Either way, you've figured out that you need membership management software.
Let's talk about how you can find the right solution.
Could you go through the selection process and choose membership management software entirely by yourself? Probably. But should you?
Probably not.
You'd be better off working with a well-rounded team drawn from across your organization. Include people with expertise not just in communication and administration, but also event management, finance, human resources, and IT. That'll allow you to look at prospective software from a ton of different angles — and make it much less likely that you'll miss the mark with your choice.
With all that said, you'll also want to make sure there's one person on the team who has the final say. They'll be the point of contact for vendors. If you decide not to step into the role yourself, choose someone who's both organized and skilled at communication, then make sure they've a solid understanding of what you're looking for.
Next, you need to figure out how much you're able to spend on your software. More importantly, you need to make sure whatever budget you come up with is realistic. Unfortunately, this is where things get a little complicated, as the price structure for association management software isn't always cut-and-dry.
There are a few different factors that can impact cost.
First, how many people will be using your software? How many members does your organization currently have, and how fast is it likely to grow? While some vendors charge based on membership volume, others might bill you at a flat rate or only charge you for internal seats.
You'll also need to think about implementation. Are you going to need to update any of your existing infrastructure? How difficult is the software to deploy and configure, and does the vendor charge for installation?
Finally, there's operating costs. These could include support fees, additional licensing fees, and hosting expenses.
Now it's time to think about what you need your membership management software to do. Working with your team, put together a list of high-priority features and characteristics. You'll want to consider:
For example, a small trade association that regularly hosts events will probably want to look for something with robust event management functionality but baseline member management. On the other hand, a global professional association that works with multiple industries is going to need something with a great deal more flexibility and customizability.
In addition to managing memberships and dues, association management software can offer a range of functionalities tailored to your needs. An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, for example, can help with:
Other association management software solutions may provide various other features such as event management, content creation, certificates, polls, surveys, and web hosting.
Once you've brainstormed a list of features, separate them into two categories: "Must-haves" and "nice-to-haves." The former is what you absolutely need the software to do, your deal-makers and deal-breakers. The latter category includes features that you can live without, even if ideally you'd like to find a vendor that offers them.
With your feature-list in mind and your needs established, it's time to start looking for a vendor. While you'll probably cast a wide net initially, eventually you'll want to narrow things down to no more than five or six vendors. In that regard, there are a few questions you can ask:
Once you've put together your shortlist, you can start scheduling sales demos with each vendor. Make sure you come prepared with any questions you might want to ask, features you want to see, and concerns you have about the software. More importantly, don't commit to any of your prospective vendors until you've seen demos from all of them — just because one vendor wows you, it doesn't mean it's the only one that fits.
Once you've seen all the demos, it's time to confer with your team again. Your goal now will be to figure out which vendor offers the best value at their price point. Ideally, you'll also want to choose a vendor that regularly innovates and updates their software, both to keep with changing market trends and improve their product.
There's a lot that goes into running a membership organization. It can be challenging to find the right software, especially if you need to manage multiple programs and fee structures. Sparkrock can help.
We offer the only SaaS-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software specifically designed to help associations simplify finance, purchasing, reporting, budgeting, grant management, and scheduling. Sparkrock combines intuitive financial, inventory, and project management with member engagement so that it's easier than ever to help your organization grow and thrive. Here are a few ways our purpose-built ERP solution helps membership organizations:
Is it time to upgrade your association management software? Book a demo today, and we'll show you exactly what we can do.