Are you looking for a membership system that better fits your organization’s needs? The right system helps organizations operate efficiently, while the wrong one can introduce avoidable challenges. With so many options on the market, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve created this three-part series to guide you to the best membership software for you.
This series will walk you through:
- Identifying your organization’s needs
- Evaluating software options available
- Interviewing and trialing top software contenders
Before diving into comparing softwares, begin by first analyzing your organization’s priorities, and determining your wants and must-haves. A thorough needs analysis will help you avoid settling for the wrong software option. Here’s how to get started:
1. Gather Feedback from Key Stakeholders
Your members, volunteers, board members, and staff are the people who interact with your current system the most. Their insights can help you pinpoint what’s working, and what’s not.
Explore these key areas:
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- What they like about the current system
Identifying what’s currently working well will lead you to a software that maintains those features. For example, if members appreciate the ease of online event registrations, prioritize that in your search. - What they don’t like
This is your opportunity to eliminate current frustrations. Maybe the event registration system is clunky, or it takes too many clicks to renew a membership. Make a list of common complaints and issues of your current membership system. - What they would love to see in the future
Ask your stakeholders what features they wish the current system had. Do they want a job board? Or perhaps automated email reminders for membership renewals? Use these “wish list” items to evaluate whether new software options can enhance your member experience. - What they hope not to see
Understanding potential deal-breakers is equally important. If members are complaining about having to download another app on their phone, look for a solution that offers the ability to join, renew, and register for events from their phone without needing to install another app.
- What they like about the current system
2. Reach Out to Similar Organizations
Talking to organizations that run like your own can provide unique and valuable insights.
Try to:
- Find out what software they use.
This could help you discover solutions and incompatibilities that you hadn’t previously considered. Are they satisfied with their system or are they also considering jumping ship? - Catalog their pros and cons.
Organizations using different software will have practical, real-world experiences to share. For example, a system may look great on paper but requires significant customization to get it working smoothly. - Ask about support relationships.
The responsiveness and expertise of the support team are crucial when issues arise. Find out if customer service is included in the cost of the software or if there are additional fees. Ask whether support is unlimited or capped at a certain number of interactions. Understanding whether their support team provides personalized assistance, or just generic responses, can give you insight into the level of support you might expect.
3. Organize Your Findings
Once you have gathered feedback from both internal stakeholders and similar organizations, it’s time to organize all the information in a way that’s actionable:
- Create a spreadsheet to track requirements.
Divide your findings into categories: - Create a spreadsheet to track requirements.
Divide your findings into categories:- Must-have: Essential features that the new software absolutely needs to include.
- Really want: Features that would significantly improve your workflow but aren’t deal-breakers.
- Nice-to-have: Features that would be helpful but are not necessary for your organization to function.
- Give each feature a scoring system.
Assign scores to help evaluate each software option based on how well it meets these criteria. You might consider using a scale from 1-5, as the way a particular feature works within a software may only fit part of your needs. If you’d like, you can use our Membership Software Evaluation Template to start outlining your organization’s requirements today. - Include notes and feedback.
Use a column for any specific comments, like potential concerns or particularly well-liked features. This will help keep everything organized when comparing options.
By dedicating time to properly assess your organization’s distinctive needs, you’ve taken the first step to ensuring the right membership solution for you.
In our next blog, we’ll demonstrate how to conduct an in-depth evaluation of the different membership options available.
Note: This is part one of a three part blog series on switching membership software.
- Continue to part two of the series – Switching Membership Software: Evaluate Software Options
- Skip to part three of the series – Switching Membership Software: Interview and Trial Period
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