In between conferences, however, DHC needed a way to retain member engagement, foster an online community and provide ongoing professional development opportunities for roughly 700 members. To find out how CommUnity has helped DHC fulfill these needs — and more — we spoke to DHC Member Programs Coordinator Amanda Delorey. Amanda filled us in on how CommUnity provided the perfect members-only platform to promote upcoming events, share and store webinars and other resources, and host a vibrant online community where conversation and connection thrive.

Creating Communities of Action

When it came to building an online community, DHC didn’t want theirs to be just another corporate-branded social media. Instead, DHC wanted their community to be a tool for driving change. Amanda envisioned vibrant online spaces where members could gather to exchange ideas, delve deeply into important topics, and even mobilize people to action. The only challenge? These communities weren’t just quiet—they were stagnant.

“There were two pre-existing communities when I joined,” Amanda said. “One on diversity, equity and inclusion, and one on nursing. But neither was particularly active. You could see that there were only about 37 group members, which just means that somebody joined at some point — they followed a newsletter link or something like that. But the groups were mid when it came to actual participation.”

The question then became: how could DHC transform passive members into active participants? Amanda knew that CommUnity had the tools to help bring life back into these groups, so she set out to convert “lurkers” into contributors. Using the platform’s features—polls, forums, and discussion boards—she set in motion a series of strategies to boost engagement.

To start, Amanda began posting a new discussion question each week to encourage members to jump in.

“I engage them with questions every week,” Amanda said. “People comment on the thread, but they’ve also started their own threads. There are a couple of members who have taken the lead on this, which was a pleasant surprise. I had no idea who would step up, but it’s been fun watching the discussion grow.”

Building on this momentum, Amanda introduced specialty forums for niche topics, giving members a platform to share ideas and even have their contributions published. “One of the most popular forums I launched was a working group on an AI and healthcare lexicon,” Amanda recalled. “I prompted members to submit terms, provided them with a structure, and their submissions would be published on our website. People were excited about the opportunity to be featured, and we received 25 pages of contributions.

It wasn’t just one person posting repeatedly — it was a diverse group sharing their knowledge.”

In addition to creating engaging content, Amanda learned that a little nudge could go a long way. “I did send a somewhat ‘threatening’ email once, saying that if they didn’t participate, I’d have to remove them from the group,” she said with a laugh.

“I got 79 actions in one day after that email. Sometimes, you need a little push to get things moving!”

Rather than taking a “set it and forget it” approach, where members join a group only to disengage, Amanda succeeded in fostering an active, ongoing dialogue. With a steady rhythm of new posts to look forward to, members now log in regularly to engage, even creating their own threads and posing new questions. The chance to discuss cutting-edge topics and see their contributions published sparked enthusiasm, while the possibility of being removed from the group encouraged consistent involvement. Amanda’s strategy effectively tapped into CommUnity’s tools to create a dynamic, member-driven space that fosters meaningful connections and continuous engagement, ultimately turning a stagnant community into one of action.

Members-Only Benefits

One of the key features Amanda repeatedly highlighted during our conversation was the exclusive, members-only access that CommUnity provides. The paywall surrounding the platform isn’t just a barrier — it’s a strategic choice that benefits both DHC and its members. As Amanda explained, “I’ve found that when people don’t pay anything for a membership, they don’t value it as much, so they don’t really engage.” This insight prompted a shift toward maximizing the value of paid membership by offering tangible, members-only benefits that drive both engagement and retention.

A standout example of this is the weekly webinar series, Webinar Wednesday. Each week, Amanda records a presentation on a topic of interest to the community and makes it available exclusively to members through CommUnity.

“It’s free for members only, and we record it every week. It’s not available on a public platform like YouTube. It’s all private. So, if you want to watch a previous webinar Wednesday, you have to log into the CommUnity. You cannot access it on our website whatsoever,” Amanda shared.

This members-only format not only protects the content but also encourages ongoing participation and engagement. By having this content hosted within the app, it becomes an integral part of the member experience — one that they must log into CommUnity to access.

“The weekly webinars are a great way to drive engagement, discussion, and education — all of which are central to DHC’s mission,”

Amanda explained. Beyond offering value to members, these exclusive webinars create a deeper incentive to join and remain engaged in the community.

After each session, Amanda archives the webinar in the app’s resource tab, ensuring members can revisit past sessions at their convenience. New members also gain access to the full back catalog of webinars, further enhancing the appeal of joining DHC.

“Specific programs tend to drive engagement on our end; people are not spontaneously involved. So, if they have a specific thing to do, then they’re a lot more interested,” Amanda observed. “It’s a great way to run a members-only program and to have it be behind a paywall.”

In addition to the webinars, email plays a pivotal role in maintaining regular communication with members. Through a well-established weekly email schedule, members are prompted to register for webinars and stay up-to-date on upcoming events. This regular communication ensures that members are always aware of key initiatives and allows them to plan their participation in advance.

“The regular schedule and prompts in the emails really help our members know what to expect,” Amanda said.

“Most of them are familiar with our initiatives before they even engage with them in CommUnity.” This consistency strengthens member engagement and helps build anticipation for each event, ensuring a high level of participation when the content goes live.

Lifting the digital barrier

For overworked and overstressed hospital employees, in-person events are more than just a fun getaway — they’re a highlight of the year, a chance to recharge, connect, and gain inspiration. Understanding this, DHC is dedicated to ensuring its members make the most out of their experience before, during, and after the conference ends.

In the weeks leading up to each event, DHC’s CommUnity platform becomes a bustling hub of activity. Members post introductions, share their excitement, and hype each other up in anticipation. The platform provides an exclusive space where members can promote their expertise, highlight their ambitions, and spark interest in their speaking engagements or projects. This level of interaction doesn’t happen on broader, impersonal platforms like LinkedIn, where connections often feel superficial. Instead, CommUnity fosters meaningful engagement by focusing on shared goals and the unique camaraderie of DHC’s members.

Amanda noted that this pre-event interaction has a tangible impact on the event itself:

“When members come to the conference already feeling connected, it changes the entire atmosphere. People are more engaged, more likely to approach each other, and more comfortable jumping into conversations.”

During the conference, connection deepens as members interact in person and continue conversations through the CommUnity app. Members use the app to coordinate meetups, share updates and keep the excitement going. This digital engagement complements the face-to-face experience, ensuring attendees maximize every moment of the event.

But the value of CommUnity doesn’t end when the conference wraps up. As Amanda put it, “Often, you don’t get a chance to meet someone, or you meet them for two seconds and forget their name. That can be frustrating, but not when you have a chance to reconnect online the next day.”

CommUnity provides an accessible post-event hub where members can rekindle missed connections, collaborate on shared ideas, and continue brainstorming.

More than just a networking tool, CommUnity bridges the gap between in-person and digital interaction, ensuring that members feel supported year-round. Whether they’re sharing insights from the conference, planning future collaborations, or simply catching up, the platform ensures that connections formed at DHC events aren’t fleeting — they’re the start of something much more impactful.

CommUnity has proven to be an indispensable tool in Digital Health Canada’s member engagement strategy. By combining the power of exclusive, members-only benefits, a dynamic platform for ongoing conversation and seamless integration with in-person events, CommUnity has created a thriving online community that fosters meaningful connections, sparks discussions, and drives real-world action.

Amanda Delorey’s strategic use of the platform — from weekly webinars and specialty forums to consistent email engagement — has helped turn passive members into active contributors, ensuring that DHC’s members are engaged, educated, and supported year-round. The result is a community that not only survives between events but thrives, providing members with the tools they need to drive change and stay connected with their peers in the healthcare industry.

Are you ready to elevate your own organization’s member engagement? Schedule a demo today to see how CommUnity can help you achieve similar results and build an online community that drives action, engagement and lasting impact.

Looking to read more about CommUnity? Check out these resources:

• What Is An Online Community?
• How to Build an Online Community
• Association for Women in Science Reach More Members with CommUnity

The post Building a Thriving, Engaged Community: How CommUnity Powers Member Connection and Action appeared first on WildApricot.

In this case study, we spoke to Gaylen Racine, an initiating member of the East York Probus Club and a big part of getting WildApricot integrated into the club’s operations.

“The software is excellent for us; it’s almost like it was designed just for us,”

Gaylen said, and the more we dug into the club’s story, the more his words rang true. Gaylen told us all about East York Probus, what motivated them to seek out association management software, and how WildApricot has helped them reduce manual tasks and run operations more efficiently than ever.

Before WildApricot

When the Toronto Probus Club began attracting more members than it could accommodate, East York Probus Club was formed to take in the overflow. As it turned out, so many people were interested that the second club grew much larger than initially expected.

“At our first meeting, we were going to limit membership to 150 people, but we filled up immediately,” said Gaylen. “We’ve now increased our membership limit to 300, with about 150 on the waitlist.”

Probus clubs are places where retirees can gather to socialize, share their interests, and participate in activities like cooking, hiking and Scrabble. East York Probus Club is no different.

Now 300 members strong, the club was ready to start connecting members with groups and activities that matched their interests. There was only one problem: efficiency.

“When we first started our club, we’d have tables set up all around the room, and the person in charge of the walking group, for example, would collect everyone’s name and email address to see if they’re interested in that, and everyone else who convened an activity would have to do the same thing. Not only that, but at the same time they’re collecting membership payments, so everybody had to give a check to the treasurer in the same meeting,” Gaylen explained.

The meetings were getting frazzled and even a bit frantic. It was clear something had to change.

“I had heard of membership software before,” Gaylen said. “The Toronto Club had a homemade piece of software that gave them their website and some functionality but not much, and it was a one-man band. So, we put together a committee of the two clubs to look at various forms of membership software, and there are a lot of them out there. We narrowed it down to three, then did a detailed analysis of each. WildApricot came up as the preferred candidate because it was a Canadian company, the price was good, and it provided all the functionality that we needed very well.” So, Gaylen led the charge to onboard WildApricot and bring East York Probus into the digital age.

Onboarding process

Due to the demographics of the club — retirees and semi-retirees — some members expressed reluctance about moving operations online. That quickly changed when they saw how much easier WildApricot could make their lives. With everything online, volunteers no longer wasted time chasing down members to submit dues payments, fill out renewal applications or sign up for events and activities.

Everything would be through WildApricot’s robust, capable software rather than on paper, making operations not only smoother but infinitely more secure.

Despite an initial adjustment period, WildApricot’s user-friendly interface proved agile and easy to use while maintaining a high level of functionality. “Initially, there was a fair amount of training for members and volunteers,” Gaylen said. “But now we just have quick online tutorials for things like how to join and leave a group because it’s just that simple. It’s been smooth going all around.”

In addition to the software itself being intuitive and easy to use, Gaylen shared that WildApricot’s support website made the process even more straightforward.

“WildApricot has a great website. It’s just extraordinary. You can find anything on there,” Gaylen said. Whenever Gaylen or other members had questions, help was easy to find.

Benefits and functionality

Gaylen’s top benefit of using WildApricot and his best advice for other organizations are one and the same: the protection of volunteers.

“It really comes down to protecting your volunteers,” Gaylen said. “It’s hard to get volunteers these days. Everybody’s got stuff going on. They want to participate, but they don’t want to get stuck doing grunt work.”

Before WildApricot, East Probus volunteers were tasked with quite a bit of grunt work: activity leaders had to set up tables and get members to sign up for activities manually, while the treasurer had to collect checks from each member and haul them to the bank once a month.

Thanks to WildApricot, the club has all but eliminated manual tasks, freeing up volunteer time to focus on driving value where it counts. Core operations like renewals, payment processing, and signing up for events and activities have all migrated seamlessly online. Monthly meetings are no longer a mad dash to collect checks and sign up for activities, allowing members and volunteers alike to use the time to socialize and catch up with friends instead.

“The coffee hour can actually be a social hour now,” Gaylen said. “You get to see people and talk to people instead of worrying about whether anybody’s going to join this activity you set up. It enhances the amount of social interaction we have, which is great. And we weren’t even thinking about that when we chose WildApricot, but it’s made a huge difference. People can converse now instead of grabbing their coffee and lining up for the three different activities that they want to sign up for.”

Of course, the club’s treasurer no longer has to make monthly trips to the bank thanks to automatic payment processing. “I think the treasurer actually benefits the most from all of this,” Gaylen said, chuckling.

Setting up events was also a Herculean effort without association management software. “Before, everyone would have to make up their own email list to invite people to a particular activity, then collect responses and find out who’s going to be there and deal with all that. So, there was a lot of manual work associated with that too,” Gaylen said. Now, the club sets up all events and activities using pre-made templates, simplifying processes, cutting back manual effort, and increasing the number and kind of events members can participate in thanks to the increased bandwidth.

“The set-up is all there, all I have to do is fill in the pictures and the dates, then off it goes. I just sit there and wait for responses to come back. I don’t have to chase anybody down or anything like that. Being able to set up events is a big deal for us,” Gaylen said.

Advocating for WildApricot

East York Probus has derived so much value from WildApricot that Gaylen has become its unofficial advocate. On his own time, Gaylen gives presentations to other Probus clubs in Canada and beyond about WildApricot and how it can help streamline their operations. Titled “What WildApricot can do for your Probus Club,” the presentation highlights the features and benefits of the software and demonstrates to other organizations how WildApricot can simplify processes, cut down on grunt work, keep members in the loop, and help things run more efficiently all around.

“I’ve done a fair amount to try to promote WildApricot because the software is so good, Gaylen said. “It’s been excellent for us. It’s almost like it was designed for us. And everybody I know has found it very useful.” Thanks, Gaylen!

Advice to other organizations

As a seasoned volunteer and advocate for Probus clubs, Gaylen understands the challenges organizations face in managing operations smoothly and securely. Reflecting on the value that WildApricot has brought to East York Probus, he shares his top piece of advice for other clubs considering an association management solution:

“Number one, save your volunteers. Number two, save your club, because what you’re doing is consolidating everything. All your history is sitting in there, all your activities, all your historic membership roles, everything. Without this software, it tends to be distributed in all these systems that do not interact. And it’s inefficient, but it’s also insecure. WildApricot covers both: it’s secure, efficient, and then some. You only have to enter an email address one time. It’s just slick. It’s really slick.”

East York Probus Club’s experience shows how the right software can totally transform an association’s operations. With WildApricot, the club has significantly reduced manual tasks, streamlined event management and empowered volunteers to focus on meaningful interactions rather than administrative work. The intuitive interface and robust support resources have made it easy for club members to embrace digital tools, creating a more efficient, connected and enjoyable environment for everyone involved.

For East York Probus, WildApricot has truly been a game-changer — providing them with the tools they need to run smoothly and focus on what matters most: building a vibrant, more connected community where everyone has time to do the things they love.

To see how WildApricot can benefit your organization, try a 60-day free trial today and discover the difference it can make in streamlining your processes, protecting your volunteers and enhancing your member experience.

The post How East York Probus Club Streamlined Operations and Enhanced the Member Experience with WildApricot – Case Study appeared first on WildApricot.

In January of 1895, a small but dedicated group of book lovers founded the Caxton Club in Chicago. 129 years later, the club has been around longer than many of the books it’s collected, and at 400 members strong, it doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon.

Merging a modern digital venue with a timeless love for all things books, the Caxton Club connects members of all ages from various fields, including archivists, authors, binders, collectors, librarians, publishers, scholars and more. No matter your background, Caxton Club provides a community for anyone interested in studying and promoting the art of books to come together, publish, share ideas, hear speakers and even go on field trips.

As an entirely volunteer-run organization with a member base that skews older, the Caxton Club needed a powerful, capable solution. We spoke to Immediate Past President of Caxton Club, Jackie Vossler, about how WildApricot helped the club simplify operations, automate essential membership tasks and allow members to engage with the organization – in a way that’s intuitive and accessible to them.

Website

Caxton Club’s WildApricot website acts as its office as an organization without a physical home. The site serves as a meeting place, a digital filing cabinet, a community hub and a bulletin board all in one.

Members from all over gather on the club’s website to discuss the art of book collecting, delve into Caxton’s vast online archive, attend speaking events through Zoom and get information about upcoming events, publications and more. The site is also finely tuned to the needs of its members, who, as a group, generally prefer books to laptops. It’s accessible, easy to navigate and not too complex or involved.

“The website doesn’t seem too interactive or as ‘jazzy’ as you might think it should be,” said Jackie Vossler. “It’s straightforward, but it meets the needs of our membership. For an all-volunteer organization where most members are over 70 years old — including me — computer was not our first language — we need things to be simple.”

Caxton Club’s website is not only easy to navigate but also incredibly easy to set up. Jackie said putting it together was a snap with WildApricot’s ready-made themes and templates. Along with easy integration with Omeka, software commonly used in book collecting clubs, WildApricot offers guided website setup, with intuitive suggestions on where to place assets like photos and tabs, which fonts to use, formatting help and more.

“I went with all their suggestions,” said Jackie. “I didn’t feel the need to forge my own path. I really think for smaller clubs like us, when you’re not going to have a website design person, starting with one of WildApricot’s templates leads to the best success. WildApricot gives you a lot of guidance about setting up reminders and how you might want to think about what you’re doing. So, if you follow that path, you’ll be set up for success.”

Members-only tab

While the Caxton Club offers a variety of assets to the public for free, their paying members enjoy the bulk of what they have to offer. Under the members-only tab, Caxton hosts 30 years of digitized content plus 12 years of video programs for their members to access on-demand. The vast content library serves as a tremendous asset to members and a valuable tool to incentivize more membership for the club.

WildApricot’s advanced website capabilities have also been instrumental in preserving the online archive as a members-only zone. The software’s sophisticated security system prevents any penetration behind the organization’s paywall, ensuring only members are allowed access to the club’s carefully and painstakingly digitized library.

Before WildApricot, Caxton stored most of its digital files on Google Drive. However, the club quickly ran out of storage due to its vast content volume. WildApricot allows Caxton not only to host its entire catalog in one place but also to make it readily accessible to paying members.

“Our members are old-time book collectors, so the idea that they can share in the world of book collecting is something that we wanted to be able to do and that we’re encouraging them to do through our website,” Jackie said. “We’ve been around since 1895. So, members are proud of our history and want to go back and look at things we’ve done in the past. We have no offices, so if a member wants to go back and see something, they can find it all on the website. It represents everything we have to offer and we’re quite proud of that.”

Speakers and Events

As Jackie said, none of the Caxton Club’s events would be possible if they didn’t have such a great website. WildApricot has bolstered not only the club’s online traffic and engagement but also their event attendance, both online and in-person. Jackie said she’s achieved this primarily through keeping things simple, something WildApricot has helped her to do.

“I’m a big believer in that there’s a lot of money to be made from razors and razor blades. So, once we have a razor, I might replace the blade of information, but we are not reinventing the handle of the razor.” said Jackie. Caxton Club holds two speaker events per month. With WildApricot, Jackie was able to craft her “razor blades”, or the templates for promoting and advertising speakers on the club’s website. From there, all she has to do is swap out the speakers’ photos, names and information, or the “blades”, every two weeks or so, making event setup and preparation simple.

This system has made things more manageable both for Caxton volunteers and members alike. Through the website, members can register for events as soon as they go live on the website. They can also check the schedule of upcoming speakers, view the club’s archive of past speakers, receive reminders about upcoming events and check their registration status.

“The website is the most important feature for connectivity,” Jackie said. “None of the events we do would be possible if we didn’t have the website. Because as soon as I put events up on the website, members can begin to register. Then we send out reminders, both for registrants and for members not yet registered. If you have a regimented system and you follow the path that WildApricot has, it’s super helpful.”

WildApricot’s systematic content organization has also been enormously helpful in the speaker selection process.

“We have two speakers a month about books and book collecting, and sometimes it’s difficult for me to find those speakers. So, it’s very helpful for me to be able to go back into our website archive and see when we had a certain speaker so that we don’t duplicate things too quickly. It’s also a great way to evaluate a past speaker and determine if we want to have them again. It’s a great file drawer that I constantly reference.”

Communication

Communication is the lifeblood of any organization. As a club that’s been around for almost 130 years, Caxton Club understands the importance of communication. With WildApricot, the club has been able to segment its members by zip code, allowing more relevant and precise communication for in-person events. This strategy has also helped to increase attendance and engagement across the board.

“When we want to send out a communication, we use WildApricot to do it,” Jackie said. “If we’re having what we call an on the move event, we will sort our members by zip code and send communications only to certain zip codes. I’m into a lot of segmenting so I found that sort feature to be very, very helpful.”

Like website design, Caxton found building emails from templates remarkably easy with WildApricot. Templates and other shortcuts save time and resources and help Caxton create minimalistic, straightforward newsletters for their no-nonsense audience.

In addition to routine communication, WildApricot enables Caxton to send out automated email blasts to members on event registration, including payment reminders, ‘forgot to register’ notifications, and alerts on upcoming events.

“We’ve found building the newsletters to be easy,” Jackie said. “If you look at the plan and the path that WildApricot gives, you’ll be successful. We’re really very happy with it.”

The Caxton Club’s successful transition into the digital age is a testament to the power of technology in preserving tradition and enhancing community engagement. With WildApricot’s robust platform, this historic organization has seamlessly bridged the gap between old-world charm and modern convenience. The pre-made templates and intuitive design tools WildApricot offers have proven invaluable for a club that values simplicity and accessibility. These tools have empowered the Caxton Club to maintain its rich legacy while expanding its reach and inclusivity.

WildApricot has enabled the Caxton Club to streamline operations, automate essential tasks, and foster meaningful connections among its members. From its easy-to-navigate website, which serves as a digital hub, to the sophisticated security features that protect the club’s treasured archives, WildApricot has been instrumental in meeting the unique needs of the Caxton community.

The platform has significantly boosted engagement and membership, with its targeted communication tools and simplified event management processes. Members can easily register for events, access the club’s extensive archives and participate in discussions, all through an interface that prioritizes user experience.

WildApricot has provided the Caxton Club with the tools necessary to thrive in a digital landscape, ensuring its storied history and passion for books continue to inspire future generations. As the club looks toward the future, it does so with confidence, knowing that its cherished traditions will be preserved and celebrated in an ever-evolving digital world.

The post How The Caxton Club Thrives in the Digital Landscape with WildApricot – Case Study appeared first on WildApricot.

For 50 years, the Hale Associates Center has been explaining complex ideas in a way people can understand. Founded in 1974 by powerhouse consultant and entrepreneur Judith Hale, the Center specializes in improving performance through certification, credentialing, performance-based curriculum, evaluation, and sustaining initiatives. The Hale Center consults with credentialing agencies on the programs and standards used to qualify people across a range of industries, from helping managers improve efficiency and monitor performance to transforming school systems to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Drawing on decades of subject-matter expertise, The Hale Center designs and validates performance-based certifications for organizations wanting to certify employees, members, customers, suppliers and after-market partners. Judith Hale is also a prolific author and has written several definitive books on certification, including the award-winning Performance-Based Certification, 2nd ED, the popular Performance Consultant’s Fieldbook 2nd ED, Performance-Based Evaluation, Performance-Based Management, and Outsourcing Training and Development.

“In my certification work, we’re known for being innovative,” said Judy Hale. “We have numerous certifications we’ve created for the roofing industry. Well, they don’t get a test with multiple-choice questions; they have to do hands-on assessments. So, we’re known for our performance-based tests.” An organization as innovative and forward-thinking as the Hale Center requires software that is just as innovative and performance-based to match. Judy Hale chose WildApricot on a strong recommendation from a client and has never looked back. From the user-friendly design to easy billing to the benefits of building your own branded website, Judy can’t recommend WildApricot enough.

In this case study, we outline the WildApricot features Judy Hale finds most beneficial to her work at the Hale Center, the benefits that made her choose WildApricot above the competition and her advice to organizations shopping for member management software.

Ease of use

When Judy first started working with WildApricot, something struck her immediately: the software was incredibly easy to use.

“I can go in and make a workshop simple or more complicated. And remember, I’m not a techy,” said Judy. “I’ve been able to learn rather quickly. I’ve been able to design it, get my message across, go back and update it if I need to, schedule and announce it — all through the same platform. So, if it’s easy for me to use, that’s huge. It does what I need it to do. I am not a technological whiz bang, but I really find that your stuff is easy to work with.”

WildApricot’s user-friendly interface has been a huge boon for Judy. As someone who’s been in business for 50 years, she knows better than anyone the ever-changing nature of technology. Learning new tools and software can be obstructive and time-consuming, drawing valuable time and resources away from customers. When software is intuitive and easy to use, it becomes an asset rather than a hindrance, helping provide customer value instead of distracting from it. And despite not being a tech whiz-bang, Judy was able to learn how to operate Wild Apricot quickly and easily because you shouldn’t have to be an IT master for your software to mean business! All in all, Judy can perform most tasks in WildApricot herself — and that’s essential for someone as busy and ambitious as she is.

Communication

Attracting and maintaining a membership is all about communication. An organization’s communication style lets potential members know if that organization will be a good fit for them, while providing current members with consistent and relevant communication is key to engagement and retention — and the Hale Center is all about consistent communication.
“Last month, I had 17 announcements go out.” Judy said. “This month, I already have 10 announcements scheduled, and it’s only the first.” Judy loves that she can schedule and automate announcements ahead of time in WildApricot and not have to worry about them after that. It streamlines the entire communication process and keeps it stress-free.

Judy has also taken advantage of WildApricot’s newsletter capabilities, an essential tool for keeping members in the loop. The ability to brand Hale Center newsletters with templates and customization options has been especially helpful for Judy in maintaining member engagement.

“I’m able to brand the look of my messages, so members know who it’s from,” said Judy. “It helps cue my members in visually on what to expect. Like oh, this one is Wednesdays with Judy, or this one is something different. I think that’s been beneficial for them. Because we’re all so inundated with information, it helps when things can come sort of pre-sorted. And your system allows me to customize all of that.”

When members are used to a specific communication cadence from an organization, they’re more likely to respond and engage in turn. People respond well to routine and familiarity but also to something new and exciting. Judy has perfected templates and schedules for both, and the results speak for themselves.

Website Builder

WildApricot makes it easy to build your brand and boost your online presence with membership website software. While building a website from scratch may seem like a daunting, time-consuming task, WildApricot makes the process not just easy but quick, too! Just ask Judy.

“I don’t want to spend my time engineering a website. I used to have that, but I got rid of it because I didn’t want it. Your platform was recommended because it allows me to have members, to classify them, plus a vehicle that lets me do a newsletter. That’s what I was looking for.”

The Hale Center is big on branding, and a customized website makes it easy to do just that. From logos to color palettes to fonts, WildApricot allows organizations to get creative and make their website truly their own. Customization options also help organizations like the Hale Center reflect their values and company culture, display their history and achievements, and promote assets such as courses, books, or webinars. As the author of several popular books in her field, this is a major plus for Judy, allowing her to advertise and sell her books directly through her website.

WildApricot’s website templates are not only easy to use but also high-quality and highly polished, allowing The Hale Center to convey professionalism and expertise to potential members instantly. Much like WildApricot, the Hale Center’s new website is intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to navigate!

Payment Processing

While Judy offers plenty of free programs and classes through the Hale Center, she also understands the importance of getting paid for the work you do — especially when you have 50 years of experience to back it up. By partnering with 8am Affinipay, WildApricot offers easy, automatic payment processing, invoice generation, and automatic reminders on dues and other payments.

“The Hale Center also accredits programs,” Judy said. “This is where 8am Affinipay comes in, because I can invoice people from all over the world. It allows for so much flexibility. WildApricot allows me to easily charge fees for my work, and that’s exactly what I was looking for.”

With 8am Affinipay, invoicing is not just easy; it’s international. Because the reach of your business shouldn’t be limited by geography, especially in our increasingly digital world. WildApricot allows Judy to connect with and charge customers worldwide, doubling her impact and reaching more members than ever.

The Road to WildApricot

When it comes to members, Judy values quality over quantity. She wants to ensure she’s targeting people with a genuine interest in the work she does rather than simply casting the widest net possible and attracting a large volume of people who only have lukewarm interest.

“I don’t have a goal of having 100,000 members,” Judy said. “I’m a niche player and I want the right members. I want the right group. I don’t need a lot; I need the right ones.”

So, while attracting members was a goal for the Hale Center, it wasn’t about attracting as many as possible. Instead, Judy focuses on creating long-term, value-driven and content-focused relationships with her members. WildApricot aligned perfectly with this goal. Since she started using WildApricot, Judy has reached not just more members, but members whose objectives and interests match her own, who are interested in long-term engagement and who interact with her content consistently.

For Judy, the road to getting where she is now was surprisingly simple.
“I don’t do searches; I don’t have time for that.” Judy said. “I won’t take the time comparing 42 different websites. I’m more interested in word-of-mouth referrals. Someone I trust gives me a recommendation; I check it out.”

Like her strategy for finding members, Judy is all about trust and personal connections. WildApricot came strongly recommended by an associate she trusted, and after signing up for a free demo, she knew it was the one for her. Since she’s busy running her business full-time, she didn’t have the time or the bandwidth to investigate competitors for herself, making the recommendation all the more valuable to her.

Advice from Judy

When shopping for software, you want something streamlined, simple and easily manageable. But don’t just take our word for it.

“I’ve been in business 50 years. You want something that is easy to update and edit,” Judy said. “If you want to try a new twist, you should be able to quickly and easily go in and adapt or modify your messaging. Change should never be costly or burdensome.”

In the past, the Hale Center has encountered clients whose set-ups are expensive and time-consuming — not just to onboard, but every time they want to make a change. Because some organizations choose complicated and highly technical software, every little update is expensive and involved, necessitating a whole team instead of just a few clicks. With WildApricot, Judy can go in herself and make whatever edits she needs to — and she’s not even a techy!

“You want ease of use, and the ability to quickly update or change your theme. To me, it should be a living, agile system. And if you want that, you should go to WildApricot.”

WildApricot has proven an invaluable asset for the Hale Associates Center, providing essential benefits, including ease of use, streamlined communication, an intuitive website builder, and efficient payment processing through 8am Affinipay. Judy Hale’s experience underscores how the platform has not only enhanced the Center’s operations but also allowed it to maintain its innovative edge in the industry.

For Judy, the user-friendly nature of WildApricot has been a game-changer, enabling her to manage workshops, announcements, and newsletters effortlessly, even without extensive technical expertise. The ability to maintain consistent and engaging communication with members has been instrumental in fostering long-term relationships and ensuring high member retention.

Additionally, the customizable website builder has empowered the Hale Center to bolster its online presence and effectively market its offerings, while 8am Affinipay’s seamless payment processing has facilitated global transactions with ease.

WildApricot has been integral to Judy’s success, allowing her to focus on her core mission without getting bogged down by technical complexities. If your organization is seeking a robust, easy-to-use member management solution that enhances communication, simplifies website management, and ensures efficient payment processing, WildApricot might be the perfect fit. To see how WildApricot can transform your organization’s operations, we invite you to set up a demo today and experience its benefits firsthand.

The post How The Hale Center Maintains their Innovative Edge With WildApricot – Case Study appeared first on WildApricot.

Well-Read Mom takes the work out of running a book club. Founded in 2012 in a small town in Minnesota, Well-Read Mom (WRM) is a nonprofit, woman-centered organization committed to helping busy moms find the time to read good books and build community around them. WRM does all the heavy lifting for its members and chapters — putting together reading lists, connecting groups, coordinating schedules — and all moms get to read, discuss and enjoy high-quality literature, theology and philosophy. What began with a gathering of just 20 women in founder Marcie Stockman’s living room has blossomed into a national organization with chapters in all 50 states and nine different countries. That’s nearly 10,000 women reading great books and engaging in personal growth, friendship and meaningful conversations.   

Substantial growth and a CRM to help! 

As WRM quickly outgrew Marcie’s living room and began spreading across the nation, they identified a need for a CRM to support their mission while remaining within their limited budget. Nicole Bugnacki, Executive Director of Well-Read Mom, shared that they selected WildApricot for its customization, support and price point. And in 2022, when WildApricot launched their Text Messaging Service, Nicole identified an opportunity to leverage the new service to deliver the most important (and engaging) content to their members – audio discussion prompts for meetings.  

The power of text messaging 

When members feel inundated with emails, a simple text message can come as a breath of fresh air. Research shows that while email marketing has a 20% open rate on average, SMS, or short message service, enjoys a remarkable 98% open rate. In a similar vein, the time-to-open rate also comes out on top, with users taking 90 minutes to open an email vs. only 90 seconds to open a text. Click-through rates (CRT) bear the same story, with an average CTR rate of 2.6% for emails vs. 6.1% for SMS. Finally, conversion rates reflect the SMS advantage, with an average of 15% to 29% in favor of texting. When it comes to email vs. text message marketing, the upper hand goes to the small but mighty text message.  

This is a marketing truth that Nicole understands well. As the top-user of WildApricot’s text messaging service, this small-budget, mission-based organization relies on text messaging to help increase engagement among their members and to achieve their mission.  

Before a meeting, Well-Read Women sends each chapter facilitator a text message containing two to three audio files: one to open the meeting, one to close, and an occasional bonus file with insights from an author or professor to help members dig deeper into the reading. The sessions are structured around these audio files, so members need to be able to access them quickly and easily. Many groups also meet in public places or in homes off the grid — so being able to access the files even without Wi-Fi is a must.  

While members have the option to opt in and out of Well-Read Mom’s SMS communications at will or choose to receive email communications instead, many prefer the ease and accessibility of SMS. This has led to increased engagement with WRM’s supplemental materials and mission, allowing the organization to meet women where they are and help them truly connect with the reading. Using SMS, WRM can also easily send out member surveys, enabling them to tailor member experience even more precisely. The response rate to these surveys is excellent, as members can quickly and easily fill them out right from their phones in just a few clicks.  

Other than the occasional survey, WRM only sends out a single text a month — the most important one containing the audio files for meetings — so they don’t have to worry about overwhelming members with too many texts. For this reason, few members choose to unsubscribe from receiving SMS communications, and click-through rates remain consistently high.  

Know your audience and provide member options 

Despite the popularity of SMS, many of your members still prefer email communications, even if they may not open them as swiftly as a text message. For some, the slower pace of email communications plays into its appeal over SMS. Much depends on the demographics of your member base and their individual preferences. Each form of communication comes with its own set of challenges and unique advantages.  

Regardless of which form of communication you determine is right for your nonprofit, club or association — SMS, email, or a combination — WildApricot has the framework for igniting engagement, connection and driving member value. With mobile-friendly templates, you can quickly and easily create attractive, professional-looking emails to send out to members, while understanding your impact with a statistics hub that allows you to track engagement metrics like delivery, opens and links clicked for every message and every contact.  

For members who prefer short and sweet communications, our Text Notification Service helps you quickly share event updates, communicate membership renewal deadlines, execute donation campaigns and more with fun and professional SMS. Plus, you can manage and track your messaging efforts directly within your WildApricot system to see the engagement with your communications. 

By leveraging WildApricot’s SMS capabilities, Well-Read Mom ensures that important meeting materials are delivered quickly and efficiently, catering to the busy schedules of its members. This approach has led to increased engagement, 35% growth over the past several years and has allowed the organization to effectively tailor experiences to individual member preferences. 

WildApricot’s versatile platform supports both communication methods, enabling associations and nonprofits to optimize their engagement strategies. This flexibility ensures that organizations can make the most out of their communications, regardless of their chosen method, fostering an engaged, connected and mission-focused member base.  

The post How Well-Read Mom Achieves Their Mission with Text Messaging – Case Study appeared first on WildApricot.

Bob Young has been with the Kiwanis Club of Woodland since 1983. And since then, technology—and the club’s needs along with it—have come a long way. As their community grew, their needs expanded to include a new website, online payment capabilities, a user-friendly database to house member data, and ways to increase member out-reach and meeting attendance. As we’ll explore in this case study, with WildApricot on their side, Bob and the team were able to not only meet but exceed expectations in these three key areas.  

New Website, New Volunteers  

At its heart, Kiwanis seeks to bring people together. While the Woodland location was able to achieve this in person, Bob expressed the need for a platform where members could gather virtually. Using WildApricot’s website builder tool, Bob and his team were able to craft a visually compelling website featuring photos of the club’s activities and advocacy work. As the public’s first impression of the club, the site also served as a recruitment tool for new members, showing up in searches related to “volunteer,” and featuring a layout users can easily navigate to find information on joining and connecting with other members.  

“I’m no software wizard,” Bob said, “but I was able to create a fun, attractive website using WildApricot.” Without any experience in web design, Bob leveraged drag-and-drop modules and professionally designed, mobile-friendly themes to create a welcoming and visually appealing site.  

Online Payments Made Easy  

The new site also proved useful in meeting another of the club’s needs: online payments. With WildApricot’s easily deployable online payment tools, Kiwanis Club of Woodland can now securely accept and track all online payments and automatically generate receipts and invoices–all in one place.  

“The ability to charge credit cards for our last fundraising event saved us a lot of time dealing with checks and we netted over $12,000!” Bob said.   

On the member side of things, WildApricot’s online payment processing proved just as useful. The new software enables members and donors to pay online for membership fees, registration fees, or donations from their computer or mobile device, as well as set up recurring payments to save time and hassle.   

Email Collection and Enhanced Communication  

Perhaps most significant for a community-based organization like Kiwanis, WildApricot helped the club connect with a new wave of members and volunteers. By collecting and storing the email addresses of event participants in a single database, WildApricot enabled Kiwanis to massively increase attendance, sending out reminders about future events to the entire database with ease. The increase in fundraiser attendance also, unsurprisingly, led to a significant increase in donation funds.  

Along with invitations, WildApricot allowed Kiwanis to send out three successive reminders before meetings and events, significantly impacting turnout. As Bob reported, the Woodland Kiwanis location used to see about 15-20 members per meeting, but now sees around 25-30— with a turnout rate of almost 100%.

As meeting attendance increased, membership rates rose alongside it. Bob attributes the rise in membership to a number of factors, including the SEO capture of the new website and a whole new breadth of information about the club’s activities not previously as within reach to would-be volunteers. Since the integration of WildApricot, the club’s mission has reached more volunteers and changed the lives of more people than ever before, perhaps more than some members even thought possible.  

“Before WildApricot, we hadn’t had a new member in years,” said Bob. “But it has not only increased the turnout at our meetings significantly, but we’ve also gotten five new members to join in the last two months through our new website.”   

The member database also made it a cinch to pull member information and send it off to Kiwanis International, a necessary but often time-consuming process for the small, local division of a major international charity. With WildApricot, all of Kiwanis Woodland’s membership data is safely stored in the cloud, allowing staffers to easily search, update, and share information with teammates from any device.  

WildApricot has proven to be a transformative tool for the Kiwanis Club of Woodland, empowering the team to build a stronger online presence, streamline financial transactions, and greatly enhance communication. The integration revitalized the club’s mission and brought about a surge in membership, underscoring the importance of member management software not only in running a nonprofit, but in building a stronger community.  

If you’re looking to make a lasting impact for your club, like Bob did for the Kiwanis Club of Woodland, try out WildApricot! Start your free 60-day trial here.

The post How the Kiwanis Club of Woodland Boosted Their Membership with WildApricot – Case Study appeared first on WildApricot.

However, many organizations are still learning the ins and outs of implementing DEI best practices, or aren’t sure they’re doing it right.

That’s where the Diversity Workforce Coalition comes in.

“Given the racial climate in our country right now, organizations are looking for D, E, and I resources and we are positioned to be that resource,” said Tina Sharby, President of the DWC’s board of directors and one of its founding members.

The DWC is a membership organization of employers and other community members who aims to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace through education, networking and training of its members and community partners in the New Hampshire region.

“I was the Diversity Chair on a local Society for Human Resource Management chapter, the Manchester Area HR Association, and struggled to find information about diversity, inclusion and equity local to me in New Hampshire,” said Sharby.

Her difficulty in finding relevant resources led her to help form the DWC in 2012 so that other organizations wouldn’t face the same obstacles.

Their commitment to helping other organizations learn more about DEI has allowed them to grow their number of event attendees from 150 in 2019 to 940 in 2020 — an increase of 526%.

Want to know how they did it, and how your organization can follow in their footsteps?

Read on!

Harnessing the Power of Virtual Events

As with many other membership organizations, the DWC pivoted to primarily offering online programs this year in order to continue providing value to members and non-members alike.

“When COVID emerged, we were able to pivot to providing on-line education programs free of charge to not only our members, but anyone who wanted to participate,” said Sharby.

They offer a variety of virtual events related to DEI that organizations of all types can participate in, such as the one below.

Another way they’ve expanded their reach with virtual events is by showcasing their expertise at other organizations’ events.

“Our board members have been invited to participate in panel discussions for various businesses, most recently NH Business Review, leading to higher visibility in the state and new members,” said Sharby.

Takeaway: While offering virtual events that are valuable is important, it’s just the first step in gaining more members. Partnering with other local organizations or businesses is a great way to get more visibility for your organization too!

How WildApricot Has Helped the DWC Grow

Of course, it’s not enough to simply offer great content: you also have to promote it to your prospective audience.

To get more attendees, the Diversity Workforce Coalition focuses on three main promotional tactics: using their WildApricot website, email blasts (also sent via WildApricot), and press releases.

It’s easy to find their events page from their top navigation, so that new visitors and long-time members alike can access everything they have upcoming as well as learn more about past events and watch replays.

Once they’ve attended, it’s also easy for potential members to sign up on their WildApricot site for a membership.

“WildApricot is easy to use, easy for individuals visiting our site to navigate and complete a membership application,” said Sharby. “It is easy to track new members and attendees so we can reach out to invite attendees to become members.”

Takeaway: Having a central home where members can find information about your organization, from the events you offer to all of your membership benefits, Is key to providing a good experience. Making it as easy as possible for new members to join will make it more likely that they’ll do so!

Providing the Right Membership Incentives

Since the DWC’s events are open to both members and non-members, their goal is to provide enough value upfront that non-members will decide to learn more about their organization.

“If individuals have walked away from an event or program with new information, have made new contacts, and/or see the value of membership, they will join,” said Sharby.

To increase their membership’s value, the DWC offers several membership benefits. These include additional DEI training for members, networking opportunities, and additional company branding to show members’ commitment to diversity.

The most important opportunity in terms of branding is their annual award, announced every year at their annual conference.

“We have one annual event that is a day-long event, and includes an award for businesses that promote diversity, inclusion and equity. This has been a very popular event for us,” said Sharby.

Offering an award for participating members is a great way to build interest in joining — especially since the award winner is also shared on the DWC homepage for the year, giving them additional visibility to the community.

Takeaway: Provide a clear path for potential members to follow. If you’re offering free events to entice them, make sure you’re also giving concrete ways that they can benefit from becoming paying members as well.

So, What’s Next For the DWC?

Here’s what Sharby hopes to achieve: “We want to be the trusted leader for organizations seeking to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Some of our goals include ensuring sustainability of our organization, increasing our membership base, developing more community partners, and continuing to offer high quality programs.”

If you’re planning on auditing your own organization’s DEI initiatives, here’s what she recommends: “I typically suggest that organizations first inventory their current diversity, and culture. Then determine where they want to be, the gap is where the work begins.”

And if you’re a membership organization who’s looking for a way to easily manage your event registrations and grow your membership, check out WildApricot for free for 30 days.

The post How the Diversity Workforce Coalition Grew Their Event Attendance by 526% in 2020 appeared first on WildApricot.

Every month WildApricot hosts at least 1 free webinar that Lori and I promote to all our email subscribers.

If you’re not familiar with our webinars, we recruit some of the most well-known nonprofit experts in the sector (such as John Haydon, Beth Kanter, and Dr. Rick Lent) to share their strategies on how to run a membership-based organization more effectively.

One of our goals every time we host a webinar is to maximize registrants.

And because we have at least 1 webinar a month, we send a lot of email reminders.

It’s been the perfect opportunity to test out:

• how many emails we should send
• when we should send them
• what each email should contain. 

And while the formula we’ve discovered isn’t perfect, it works really, really well. So well, that regardless of the topic or speaker we bring in, we can always expect a consistent amount of registrants.

Here’s what we’ve learned.

(By the way, I’ve summarized all the main points in this article in a guide for creating email reminders for online events.)

Send 3 Email Reminders to Maximize Attendance

Each expert webinar presenter also promotes the webinar to their list, so the stats I’m showing are only for the emails that I can control and not based on total registrants, because some registrants come from the expert’s list.

Take a look at this summary chart of the registration averages based on how many email reminders we sent to our list.

Notice that there’s no significant increase when 4 reminders are sent versus 3?

Does this matter? Should you send 3 or 4 emails?

I’d say 3. As the saying goes, less is more.

It’s better to be concise, than keep emailing people who may have decided that they don’t want to sign up.

Plus, good things come in 3!

This is a good time to note that the first email sent explains what the online event is really well, so that people know whether or not they want to attend.

Okay, so this answers the question of how many, now…

Lori and I have tested sending out reminders anywhere from an hour before the event to 11 days before the event.

We’ve also tested out different times of day and different days of the week.

Here are the basic results:

On average, 42% of attendees signed up anywhere from 2 days to 11 days before the event, whereas 29% signed up the day before the event, and 29% signed up the day of the event.

So if 100 people are going to register, I can expect…

• 42 will sign up a week before…
• 29 will sign up the day before…
• 29 will sign up the day of.

A few things come to note here.

For one, there wasn’t a significant difference in sending the 1st email 2 days before the event or 11 days before the event.

Since our webinars occur online, people can quickly move around their schedules at the last minute since they only have to be sitting at their computers.

Plus, we also promise a free recording of the webinar in case people miss it. This causes more people who might be busy during the webinar window to sign up.

However, we’ve made it a best practice to send out a reminder email the week before to give people a chance to figure out their schedules or share it with their network.

Another interesting thing was that the time of day didn’t have a significant impact on registrants. It didn’t matter if we sent an email at 9:30 am or 4:30pm, however we aim not to send emails too close to the end of the business day, or on weekend.

The next question is: What should be in your email?

You’d think that every email should contain a unique message, however we’ve noticed no correlation between sign ups and the contents of the email.

In fact, we’ve learned not to spend any time rewriting the copy and we literally keep the contents of the email identical.

The hardest part about reminding someone about an online event is just getting them to read the subject line. If we can do that, we’ve already won the battle.

Take a look at this email decision tree I’ve created. Notice that by providing a recording, we’ve added an option for people with scheduling conflicts to still sign up.

From our tests, the one major thing that’s made a difference in the actual email message is the subject line.

The subject line.

Within the subject line itself, there are two things that matter:

You’ll notice that all our webinar invite emails always start the same way

“Next Thursday. Free Expert Webinar…”
“On Tomorrow! Free Expert Webinar…”
etc.

These two things (time and free webinar) stand out in a long list of unopened emails.

The time tells people how urgently they need to open the email, and “Free Expert Webinar” tells them what it is.

We have found that the topic of the webinar does matter somewhat (certain topics are more popular than others), but the most important bit is that it says “Free Expert Webinar”.

Since “Free Webinar” doesn’t change, the only thing that changes is the urgency of the date. We typically use:

How to Structure the Body of the Email Reminder

As for the actual email message, we’ve also formulated what we’ve found to work best.

We’ve tested out a lot of things to learn how to maximize click-through rates within the email:

• buttons
• links
• copy
• length
• all text emails
• all image emails
• and many other things including the email signature and even a P.S. at the end.

One thing we’ve discovered (surprise, surprise) is that people don’t read.

Once they’ve opened the email, they’re looking for basic information that they want right away:

• Topic
• What they’ll learn
• Time
• Date.

Here is the formula we’ve found to work best to convey all this information and maximize click-through rates:

1. A large image with the title of the webinar (and/or presenters)
2. The time of the webinar
3. The name of the webinar as a link to the registration page
4. A longer description of the webinar with another text link
5. 3-4 short bullet points as a summary of the key take-aways from the webinar
6. A large “save my seat” button that links to the registration page
7. The time and date directly below the sign up button

Here’s an example of an email reminder that follows this format:

Apply this Strategy to Your Events, Renewals, and More

Next time you see an email from us about an upcoming webinar, you’ll know our strategy!

Don’t think of this strategy for webinars only. You can apply this strategy to any online reminder, or event you need to send out.

Just remember this simple formula: 3 emails: 1 week, 1 day, and the day of.

I’ve prepared a short guide on all this and even included a template with some examples for you to work off of. You can download it here.

It Only Starts Here

As I said before, there are many other types of online events you can apply this strategy to. Once you do, it’s important to start analyzing your own email campaigns to optimize them for your unique members.

Read More: How to Plan an Event: The Complete Event Planning Guide

The post How we increased Online Event Registrations by 200% with a 3-Email Reminder Formula appeared first on WildApricot.