Organizing your members with a club website
Being a member of a club can be a very rewarding experience until the day the job of keeping up with your membership data passes to you or falls into your lap! The joy of sharing your passion with like-minded people can sour very quickly. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. A well-designed CMS (Content Management System) integrated into your website can not only keep your membership data organized, but can also save you a lot of complaints.
A good CMS website can provide these features:
1. Join online. In the past, clubs had links on paper membership application documents that prospective members had to download, print, complete, and then mail to the club’s membership officer. Today, we tend not to trust anything that involves snail mail due to efficiency and reliability.
When potential members decide to join a club, they are usually excited to be part of a group that shares their passion. The actual bonding process should be quick and easy so that the excitement is not stifled in any way.
A CMS website provides an online application for new members. Once submitted, an email is sent to the webmaster (or whoever the club designates). Depending on the club’s requirements, i.e. if board members are required to vote for the prospective applicant, membership may be instant.
2. Online registration and registration for events. An active club that has many events that require registration will benefit from the online registration features offered by a CMS website. This can be linked as part of the Events Calendar or as a separate section of the site.
We have both helped organize many events. We know the panic that comes when you’re not sure how many people will attend. Online registration allows organizers to know, in real time, exactly what to expect in terms of event participation.
3. Collection of Fees or Online Registration Fees. The old phrase, “the check is in the mail,” becomes obsolete when money is collected online. Online payment systems like PayPal and AuthorizeNet are becoming the trusted standard for online payments and are relatively inexpensive compared to the efficiency they provide.
4. Ask members to sign up for an account. Maintaining a current club roster can be a full time job in itself. Members are constantly on the move, changing phone numbers and email addresses.
With a strong CMS website, members need to sign up for an account on the site. The site administrator receives an email notification when a new user registers and can confirm that the user is, in fact, a member of the club. Members of the Online Site may be required to update their personal information from time to time through the Website.
Another amazing feature of having members create an account online is that the site can be set up so that there are membership levels. For example, Joe Clubber is a member and an officer of Club X. When you register online on the Club X website, you may be assigned the “role” of “Member” and “Officer.” The X Club site can be configured so that certain pages or sections of the site (such as the Membership Directory) are only visible to members or officers. Therefore, Joe Clubber would be able to access these areas that would not be available to a regular visitor to the site.
5.Social media tools. There are several networking modules that we make available on our site.
A. Forum. Forums are great for allowing members to post informative dialogue, ask questions, or sell or buy equipment.
b. Cat. When a club member is on the club website and notices that another member is online, they can communicate with each other online. This feature is especially attractive for large clubs that are geographically dispersed.
against Members online. This allows members to see how many visitors/members have registered for a website account. It can also be configured so that visitors can see, in real time, who is actually connected to the site.
6. Targeted Emails. Since site members are organized by role, administrators can send email directly through the website to the various groups. For example, if the “Officers” role is set up on the Club X site, checking a box can send an email to everyone in that specific group. This alleviates having to create mail groups in other email programs located on an individual computer.
7. Membership Directory. Keeping members connected is one of the most attractive reasons to have a club website. A member directory is typically set up so that only club members can see it. It can also be configured with a search function so that a member can quickly find information about another member. More bells and whistles can be added, such as specific fields, member photos, etc.
The great thing about most CMS systems is that administrators don’t have to be internet/software geniuses to run the site. And, the information is always available, wherever there is an Internet connection.