by Karen Rosen
Having purpose-built software makes all the difference when your nonprofit is membership-based.
Nonprofits don’t all look the same. Some rely heavily on recurring revenue, some on events, and some on direct fundraising revenue from a base of members. Engaging with and managing those members is much more efficient (and rewarding) when you use software built for membership management.
In this article, we will outline some of the ways membership management software can help nonprofits. Then, we zero in on why some of the largest member-based organizations (like Easterseals!) use CharityEngine to make member management seamless and productive.
Let’s jump in.
Benefits of Using Membership Software
Nonprofits with large or small member bases have a fundraising advantage. They can count on reliable revenue, increased engagement, and a wider reach. But managing those members—their preferences and history—can get tricky unless you use purpose-built software to keep accurate records and extract actionable insights.
Using membership management software can help nonprofits in a few ways:
- When it comes to administrative tasks, such as processing renewals or tracking payments, software can reduce manual work and potential errors.
- It can allow your nonprofit to send targeted and personalized communications to deepen member engagement.
- A centralized database that tracks engagement, preferences, volunteer history, and donation history, among other markers, can inform strategic decisions.
- Members pay dues, but they will often also contribute to campaigns. The software can track both dues and donations, simplifying accounting.
- The software's reporting and analytics tools help you spot trends and react quickly, enhancing the results of member outreach campaigns.
- Most nonprofits start with a few members and snowball. Using technology to manage members means the system can scale as your membership skyrockets.
Any software that reduces manual work will save time, improve organization and efficiency, and make it easier to manage members. If you’re relying on spreadsheets or outdated technology, you’ll be surprised at how much easier member management can be.
Membership Management in CharityEngine
Perhaps the most important feature of CharityEngine, applicable to the membership management capabilities, is its unified data. While calling yourself an “all-in-one” fundraising platform is trendy, it’s not true in the most genuine sense of the term. What we mean is that every core tool a nonprofit needs for donor management and fundraising is native to the CharityEngine system. Built in. Data about your membership renewals are in a contact record, in real time, while their donor history is also always there and updated, as is their record of volunteering. The tools are there, the data from all sources is there, and a complete view of your donors and fundraising is there in real time, all the time.
No other system can say that. The advantage you get with us is unique.
Beyond that overarching benefit, there are a few reasons CharityEngine’s membership management software stands above the rest:
Member Management
Streamlined member management, including contact details, membership levels, subscriptions, payment information, volunteer history, and engagement, makes it easy to get the whole picture of how a member interacts with your nonprofit. This 360-degree view is invaluable when a member contacts you and needs personalized attention.
Automated Subscription Billing
This is a CharityEngine niche! It’s easy to set up automatic recurring payments, reminders, and membership renewals right in the system. But we go one step further: CharityEngine helps you retain more of your recurring revenue than any other system on the market today.
Tiered Membership Levels
It’s a breeze to customize your donation form to offer tiered levels of membership. Tiered dues can include access to exclusive content, events, discounts, or table assignments at an event. All of this is easily managed in our unified platform.
Event Software
Events are a common avenue for member-based nonprofits to show appreciation to members and raise additional funds from potential members and other supporters. CharityEngine offers event software on the platform, including ticketing, reservations, seating assignments, volunteer hour tracking and management, and even the ability to download tax forms.
Member Portal
We are in the midst of a do-it-yourself economy, with self-service grocery stores and even car dealerships! With a private portal, your members can access their information, update their payment information, view their membership history, and download tax forms, saving your staff time.
Customizable Member Dashboard
CharityEngine recently launched an updated UI and offers fully customized member dashboards. This is the easiest way for you to spot trends and zero in on the contact record of any member. You’ll note the custom membership badge, giving you insight into member status at a glance.
Advanced Analytics and Reporting
The vast number of data points collected in CharityEngine is impressive, but it's not particularly valuable if you can’t make sense of it. We take the guesswork and frustration out of it and allow you to set filters to customize the data you see at any one time, as well as tools to show trends and map data so you can visually spot outliers or areas of strength.
Marketing Automation
When it comes to eliminating repetitive manual tasks and streamlining workflows, CharityEngine is the best choice. Our robust automation capabilities help you save time, personalize the member experience, increase engagement and retention, and quickly identify patterns or issues. For example, launching an email series to nurture prospective members, keep current members engaged, or even recoup lost members can all happen effortlessly.
Enhance Your Member Experience
A nonprofit’s north star is often this: make it easy to give. Similarly, make it easy to be a member. When supporters can choose their level of membership, receive timely and interesting communications about your shared mission, attend events, and manage their own contact record, it’s pretty easy to be a member.
Not many fundraising software systems offer member management alongside all the other tools your nonprofit needs. If you’re curious about why member-based clients love CharityEngine, book a demo. From the minute you start talking to our team, you’ll see what makes this all-in-one CRM a cut above the rest.
