Membership management requires a lot of work including keeping track of all member data, collecting payments securely, handling reports and analytics, and many more. Therefore, having membership management software by your side will help you and save you lots of time by handling all the repetitive tasks automatically. In this article, we will introduce you to what membership management software is and how to choose the right one for your nonprofit organization along with our top choices of membership management software for nonprofits for 2022.
What is membership management software?
Membership management software is a specialized solution for centralizing administrative and communication activities of a membership organization. The software creates a digital environment where community members can interact with managers and with each other and where all organizational issues can be addressed.
How to choose the right membership management software?
There are many software out there that offer solutions for membership management. It may be tricky to find out which one will work best for your nonprofit’s unique needs. To help you make up your mind, we listed some of the essential features of membership management software.
-Fundraising:
As a nonprofit, you mostly rely on fundraising. Therefore, the membership management software you choose should always meet your fundraising needs. To increase your donations, the software can help you with creating and promoting fundraising events, collecting donations securely, and handling many more fundraising activities.
-Customizable forms:
A big part of your organizational work that requires member data involves forms. Membership management software can automatically handle the work for you. However, the form should be customizable because each form may require different data on your members/donors. For example, your donation form should have areas for different donation amounts whereas your subscription forms should have areas for different subscription fees. When you are using software that offers extensive customization options, you will be able to get any information you want from your members and donors.
-Online payment management:
The most important task of your nonprofit is to collect donations. This task should be handled fast and smoothly so that your donors find it easy to donate and return to contribute in the future. Therefore the software you choose should provide you with a secure and easy payment process for any type of payment, including donations, subscription payments, and ticket fees.
-Member Tracking:
The software you use should keep track of your members. An effective tracking system will help you track key metrics, stay on top of membership renewals, and communicate regularly with your members. You will be able to help your members easily when they have an issue because you will have easy access to their data. This will make your members content with your nonprofit and therefore, reduce the member turnover rate.
-Reports:
We have mentioned the importance of keeping track of your members’ data. However, solely having all that data won’t be enough to help your nonprofit grow. Proper membership management software provides you with tools for analytics and reports so that you can get insight from them and make important decisions on your nonprofit’s growth.
-Extras:
Additionally, it is always helpful that the software you choose to work with has tools like a mobile app, live chat support, useful integrations, and features such as discussion boards and private messaging tools so that your members may interact with each other and strengthen their bonds to your organization.
Top 3 Membership Management Software of 2022
3. Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot is an all-in-one membership management software for nonprofits and small to medium-sized associations. Their aim is to help small membership organizations grow by providing the resources and tools to run them effectively. They offer features such as donor and donation management, fundraising and event management, attendance tracking, and email marketing. In terms of pricing, they offer both a free trial and a free version. Their paid plans start from $48/month with their Regular plan.
According to their Capterra page, Wild Apricot has an overall 4.5/5 score. Their Ease of Use received 4.3/5 stars and their Customer Service received 4.5/5 stars. Let’s take a look at their pros and cons based on customer feedback:
+Ease of use
+Customizable member database
+Integrated features for membership management
-Lack of some tools such as tools for creating pdf and sending it to contacts
-Poor customer service
-Doesn’t allow group invoicing
If you‘d like to see how Wild Apricot compares to our all-in-one solution Raklet, you can check out our Wild Apricot Alternative Raklet article.
2. Hivebrite
Hivebrite is an all-in-one community management platform that offers comprehensive solutions to nonprofit organizations. They offer features such as donor and communication management, discussions and forums, content management, event management, and a member database. Unfortunately, their pricing information is not shared online. All we know from their Capterra page is that they offer a free trial but not a free version. For any more information, you need to contact them.
Hivebrite has an overall good score on Capterra, with 4.5/5 stars. Their Ease of Use received 4.4/ 5 stars and their Customer Service received 4.8/5 stars. Let’s check out their pros and cons based on user feedback:
+Good customer service
+Easy customization process
+Add ons are affordable
-No archive of past events or forum discussions
-Email builder needs improvement
If you‘d like to see how Hivebrite compares to our all-in-one solution Raklet, you can check out our Hivebrite Alternative Raklet article.
1.Raklet
Raklet is an all-in-one membership management software that offers a broad selection of features to help nonprofit organizations. Our features include all of the must-have features that are mentioned above and more! Just to give you a few examples, Raklet offers fundraising and donor management, event management, a built-in CRM, a private social network, and a branded mobile app. We also offer unique tools such as a live support chat and unlimited customization opportunities. In terms of pricing, we offer both a free version and a free trial. Our paid plans start from $49/month. Also, keep in mind that there is a 50% discount for nonprofits. For more information, you can check out our pricing page and schedule a demo with us.
Raklet has an overall great score on Capterra with 4.8/5. Our Ease of Use has received 4.7/5 stars and our Customer Service has received 4.8/5 stars. Our users are content with the features we provide to them, especially with our fundraising and event management tools.
Now it’s your turn!
Now that you know what membership management software is, how to choose the right one for your nonprofit, and our top 3 picks for membership management software, you can decide on which one would be a better choice for your nonprofit’s needs.
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