CRM for Associations and Membership-based Organisations
Membership CRM
CRM For Associations and Membership-based Organisations
Enhance Membership Onboarding and Engagement using SugarCRM
Challenges Faced by Membership-Based Organisations
Many challenges are encountered by membership-based organisations like associations, chamber of commerce , business networking communities, and other non-governmental organisations. Here are some of the key challenges faced by these organisations are highlighted here.
Membership Data
Many associations struggle with inadequate systems for tracking members and membership data. Often the data stored in Excel sheets is outdated due to the absence of a structured updating process. The lack of data integrity and accessibility when needed poses a significant challenge for these associations.
Data Driven Metrics
Numerous associations lack the tools necessary to derive accurate metrics from available data. These metrics could encompass fundamental aspects such as the size of various member types, their attrition rate during renewals, and their engagement levels through their membership duration.
Member Engagement History
Member engagement can be enhanced by implementing a system that captures the ongoing participation of members and provides data for improvement. If engagement data is only stored in excel spreadsheets or the memories of the organising committee, it will be challenging to enhance member engagement. The lack of a comprehensive member engagement history is a significant bottleneck in improving engagement.
Upgrade and Renewal Management
Memberships must be renewed before the expiry date. If membership data is maintained in physical records or Excel sheets, manual follow-up may sometimes be overlooked. Additionally, if the organisation has chapter-based members, it will become even more difficult to ensure renewals.
Contact Us for Quick Membership CRM Demo
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SugarCRM as Membership CRM
Membership-based organisations need a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform to effectively handle the entire life cycle of their members. This includes processes such as onboarding new members, engaging with them to ensure their active participation, retaining their membership, and maintaining a strong and positive relationship with all members. The CRM platform is essential for managing these aspects of member interaction and is fundamental to the true nature of Customer Relationship Management.
Drawing from our extensive experience in collaborating with membership-based organisations, we have customised the SugarCRM platform to specifically cater to the needs of such organisations, essentially transforming it into a specialised Membership CRM solution.
Effective Membership Profile and Directory Administration
Membership Management involved the meticulous handling of member profiles and the seamless management of the member directory. With various trade associations having corporate members and other community based organisations with individual members, the flexibility of SugarCRM helps manage both. For corporate members, the “Accounts’ ‘ module within SugarCRM is renamed and entirely customised to effectively capture the details of corporate members. When dealing with individual members, the “Contacts” module is adapted to accommodate and manage member profiles seamlessly within the system.
Membership Tiers and Pricing Management
Within SugarCRM, the product catalog module serves as a comprehensive repository for all membership tiers and pricing details. By leveraging the “service” option within the catalog, organisations can effectively capture membership renewal information based on the commencement date of the membership. The whole renewal process is streamlined ensuring an accurate membership pipeline.
Membership Management
SugarCRM’s Opportunities module, renamed as “Memberships” module, is used to keep track of both new membership and renewal opportunities. For membership-based organisations, the majority of their income is derived from membership fees, event sponsorships, and participation. However a substantial part of their predictable revenue comes from new memberships and renewals. With SugarCRM’s built-in opportunities module pipeline management features, it’s easy to manage all the membership effectively.
Membership Revenue Forecast
SugarCRM includes a built-in forecast module that captures all pipeline membership and renewal opportunities. Provides a realistic projection of revenue for the next month, quarter and year. Membership sales executives can make their commitments for new membership opportunities based on their interactions with prospective members.
Product Catalog Renewable Service
SugarCRM offers the option to designate certain services as “Renewable”. Once a service is marked as Renewable and a duration is provided, SugarCRM will automatically generate a new renewal opportunity with future dates every time a membership opportunity is marked as “Closed Won”. Additionally, SugarBPM is utilized to create workflow alerts for renewal opportunities, ensuring that no membership renewals are overlooked.
Renewal Console
Within SugarCRM, there is a built-in renewal console that consolidates all upcoming renewal opportunities into a homepage dashboards. The Focus Drawer functionality enables the sales person responsible for renewals to easily access each renewal opportunity directly from the home renewal console dashboard.
Email and Uniform Communication
SugarCRM’s Email module facilitates regular communication with members. This can include campaigns to inform about upcoming meetings or to express gratitude for their enthusiastic participation. Additionally, the email templating system enables the creation of a single template to communicate information accordingly.
Membership Onboarding Workflow
The standard SugarBPM workflow engine enables configuration of membership onboarding workflows, automating repetitive sales process activities.
Reaching out to Prospective Members
The Targets and Target List module in SugarCRM are useful for capturing information about prospective members. Data collected from external sources can be stored in the targets module. When a new membership drive is needed, SugarCRM’s Campaigns module and Email Template module can be used to send campaign emails to the target lists. Upon receiving response, the prospect can be engaged by transforming the data into leads and memberships with the respective modules.
Multi - Chapter Management
Numerous membership-based organisations experience organising growth by localising memberships at the chapter level. With SugarCRM’s Accounts module renamed and customised as “Chapters” module, you can adapt it to manage chapters and oversee all chapter-specific memberships and activities. Each chapter functions independently but adheres to uniform chapter membership marketing and onboarding procedures.
Event Management
Membership-based organisations frequently host various events to actively engage members and foster a sense of community. As such, event management stands as a crucial feature of Membership CRM. We develop a custom module to record events and track member participation in these events. Some of these events are open to the public, and there are specific discounts for members. These discounts can be easily applied in SugarCRM’s opportunity management.
Membership Engagement Tracking
With most activities and member participation captured in the Membership CRM (SugarCRM), at each renewal, we can generate a summary of member engagement at each renewal, aiding in the improvement of renewal. Additionally, overall member engagement reports can be generated to identify which events or activities are most engaging, providing valuable insights for planning future events.
Consistent Membership Support with Case Management
SugarCRM’s case management system can facilitate support of member’s issues and complaints. Support can be handled by converting an email into a support ticket or through a self-service portal, empowering members to independently raise and track their issues.
Who can use the Membership CRM built on top of SugarCRM ?
Trade Organisations, Business Networking Organisations, Communities , Alumni Associations and any organisation which is built on memberships.
If you are a company that predominantly depends on Memberships , contact us to ensure you get a demo of SugarCRM solution that is customised for your industry and you can start quickly.
FAQ
Ans : SugarCRM can be used as a CRM for membership based organisations and a full blow membership management might require integration with the website and more.
Ans : Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is designed to maintain a unified view of customers, including the sales and support activities aimed at acquiring and retaining them. For example, SugarCRM can be configured to manage the single view of a member and the team’s activities related to acquiring and retaining new members, effectively serving as a Membership CRM. On the other hand, Membership Management Software (MMS) or Association Management Software (AMS) used by membership-based organisations offers additional features such as website management, invoicing, and more in addition to membership management.
