| Pain |
Capability |
Gain |
| Need to maintain accurate membership records. Details change frequently so records can rapidly become out of date. |
Database with online access for staff and allowing members to maintain their own details. |
Major saving in administration. Never lose track of a member. |
| Membership renewals represent a tedious task with a need for multiple reminders etc. |
Automated reminders which stop only when the member's record is marked as paid. |
Time saving. Cash flow improvement. |
| Members have difficulty in remembering and contacting each other. |
Personal pages for each member including photo, interests etc. These are only available to other members and, if required, show contact details. |
Member satisfaction. Knowing member interests also provides personalisation opportunities. |
| Ditto |
Standardised mail addresses for all members (e.g. forename.surname@your-association.org) |
Members can easily reach each other. Staff never have to look up members email addresses or maintain large address books. |
| When everyone has to maintain specific mailing lists people get left out of mailings. It's also difficult to make sure that committee papers get to the right people. |
Member groups that identify members involved in committees or projects. Staff manage who is in which group(s). There is a facility to email to these groups by simply naming the group (e.g. council@your-association.org). |
More effficient comittee and project activity. No more apologising for omitting people from group communications. |
| Managing document distribution by mail attachments is hard work. It can become almost impossible to ensure that people can get access to current versions. |
Knowledge store with a folder structure and search capability. Access controls can allow folders to be available to a specific group, all members or public. Documents are stored with "metadata" that allows for accurate searching. Documents can be of any type (e.g. native web pages, Word, Powerpoint etc.) |
All documents are easily available and accessible. This resource becomes an excellent asset to increase the value of your association to its members. It is also a great help with new member induction. |
| Events represent a huge effort on the part of staff and can be very difficult to get perfectly right. |
Micro-site capability that provides consistently-presented information for each event or conference. Includes programme, speakers, venue, logistics etc. |
More professional presentation of events, leading to improved attendance. |
| Ditto |
Online registration system that can, if required, handle accomodation and elective sessions. Uses member database so members update their details but do not need to re-enter them. Tracking system with graphical presentation that allows staff to know the exact state of registration at any time. |
No mistakes with registrations. Ability to apply tactical measures to drive up attendance if it is running below par. |
| Ditto. |
eMail alert system that allows different messages to be sent to those who have or have not registered for an event. |
Maximise attendance. |
| Ditto. |
Planning capability incorporating profiling and checklists that allows staff to stay on top of the myriad of details that must be managed. Calendaring at the event level and within events. |
Events that run like clockwork. Save costs and stress associated with last-minute panics. |
| Regular newsletters and a great way to maintain share of mind with members. However, they are typically a lot of work. |
Newsletters can be easily published and mailed from the system. The system handles both HTM and plain text mails, ensures correct formatting and avoids any broken links etc. |
Time saving. More regular contact. More professional presentation. Drives traffic to your association website. Also useful for membership development. |
| It takes effort to produce surveys, collect in responses and analyse them. |
Survey tools make it very easy to create and publish a survey. Members can respond online. Responses can be tracked and multiple choice elements analysed automatically. |
Time saving. Increased accuracy. Faster turnaround. |
| Email is not the best medium for discussions such as debating the association's position on some hot topic. |
Forums can be set up to host such discussions. These allow a much clearer view of discussion. These would usually be for members-only of could be restricted to a group. |
Can help reach faster and more robust consensus on important issues. |
| Website content can get out of date and a webmaster can be a bottleneck and an avoidable cost. |
Our website content management option can help you manage the variable content of your site such as news or new events on your website. |
Web updates are immediate and can be made by any member of staff or authorised member. |
| Specific requirements exist for each association. |
The e-ssociation system is modular and flexible, allowing other capabilities to be added. For example, we have recently been asked for a system that facilitates the submission, adjudication and selection of conference papers. |
Helps ensure a complete solution to association management. |
