Web-based Membership Services

I’ve been involved in a couple of aquarium-related clubs. One thing I’ve noticed is inconsistent service.

For example, let’s say somebody mails in a membership form with payment. How long does it take to get back to that person to let them know they’ve been accepted into the club? Do you do it at all?

Does your club consistently remind members to “re-up” their membership? Do you send a statement or reminder? The most I’ve seen in this area from any club is printing the expiration date on the membership label.

Realistic Expectations

I know what you are thinking—this is a volunteer organization—there is only so much we can ask the membership chairperson to do. I’ve been a society membership chairman before—it’s not easy!
None of the customer service examples I have cited above are particularly hard, but the process is time-consuming.
If your club does an annual convention, registration, set-up, etc. can be overwhelming.

Outsource via the Web

My society, the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association, hosts an annual convention that attracts about 120 guests. In 2006, we hosted the American Cichlid Association (ACA) convention with over 600 guests!

As the webmaster of our society—and the ACA 2006 Convention Chair—I knew that automating the registration process would be worthwhile. Although I’m good with web tools, I’m not a back-end database expert or shopping cart guru.

I began researching registration services that we could use for GCCA’s events. There are at least twenty event registration services available, which, for a fee, allow you to set-up and register customers for events.

Interestingly, many registration services also offer membership management capabilities. Sorting through the various offerings can be daunting, and many seem to target larger associations.
One that I found particularly interesting was www.regonline.com.

What does the Regonline offer?

Regonline manages the entire membership management process. Your members can:

• Signup online
• Pay online
• Renew online

Members are prompted to renew their membership at an interval you set. The system accepts credit card payment and sends you a check once per month.

The membership chairman does not have to handle as much paperwork. Multiple administrators may be assigned so that the newsletter chair can download the member list when they need to print labels. Board members could download summaries of payments.

The system is customizable so that you can add your society logo, set pricing and membership types, etc. One very nice feature is the ability to send personalized email to your membership base.
Best of all, it makes it easier for people to join your club. Just put a button on your website!
But, it’s not free . . .

Regonline.com is not free, but I think it is reasonable.

Set-up Cost is a one-time fee of $150. There is also a $1 charge per member per year.
There is a credit card fee applied of 5% on Visa and MasterCard, and 6% on Amex, Diners and American Express.

Does it make sense for your society?

You’ll have to make this decision for yourself, but it looks promising to me.
Let’s say your annual dues are $20 per family membership. After you pay the initial set-up fee, it’s going to cost your society only $2 to process this membership.

If you have 100 members, that’s less that $200 per year! Because it’s easy to sign up on the web and the system does the reminding, you’ll probably increase your revenue to the club.

I believe it is worth spending money to avoid human cost to your club. Have you ever had a good, contributing member leave because of burnout? Hard-working, active members are very hard to replace. Regonline.com lessens the burden on the membership chairman.