What Is Membership Management Software For Nonprofits? - All Your Questions Answered

Date: Wednesday 26th July 2023

Running a not-for-profit club or association can be both fulfilling and challenging. It may seem like a full-time job without the pay, but you’re not doing it for the money. You’re driven by your passion for the cause and bringing like-minded individuals together to work towards a shared goal. Whether that be simply running a junior soccer team or a national peak body to further a particular cause.

Regardless of your passion for your nonprofit, having an easier way to manage it would always be helpful. Fortunately, there is a solution that can help you run your nonprofit more efficiently and with less time spent without sacrificing the personal touch that makes your nonprofit thrive. This solution is membership management software for nonprofits.

At Member Jungle, we have a passion for clubs, especially volunteer-run nonprofit clubs; in fact, many of us are in nonprofit clubs ourselves. That’s why we designed Member Jungle specifically to meet the needs of nonprofit organisations. Our software includes all the features necessary to run your club more efficiently and enjoyably, all at an affordable price tailored for nonprofits. We are committed to helping your club succeed, and we want you to make an informed decision.

So, today, I’m not just going to rabbit on about us and how we’re so amazing or whatever. Instead, I will explain what membership management software for nonprofits is, how it can benefit your organisation, and provide you with a list of several companies that offer membership management software for nonprofits. This way, you can start your journey off from an informed and unbiased point. To this end, I promise to be as unbiased and honest as humanly possible.

What Is Membership Management Software for Nonprofits?

Very simply, membership management software is a digital system that assists you in running your nonprofit. It is designed to save you from spending countless hours on the mundane parts of your nonprofit so you can get back to doing what you love faster.

Membership management software can simplify the running of your nonprofit by organising all your needs in one digital system. It can automate and streamline the vast majority of the running of your nonprofit. Most nonprofits that sign up with a membership management system see a significant drop in admin time, a rise in club growth, and an increase in member and admin happiness.

What Does Membership Management Software for Nonprofits Actually Do?

So, we know that nonprofit membership management software helps cut down on admin time and effort, but how do they achieve this? Well, let’s break down how they work a little.

Firstly, they provided you with a member portal, which often (depending on the company) comes with a custom website. This portal provides your members with somewhere to sign up, log in, and check your club’s activities. Among other things, this means that new members can sign up to your nonprofit online, erasing the need for paper forms and manual data entry.

They also have automatic membership renewal systems. This means that the software works out when memberships are up for renewal, and it sends an automatic reminder to the members in question, reminding them that their renewal is upcoming. Don’t worry; these automated messages can be customised by you ahead of time so your nonprofit doesn’t lose the personal touch that made it so special in the first place. Membership management software eliminates the need for printing and mailing out renewal notices and confirmations. As a result, many nonprofits save significant amounts of money during the renewal process.

Membership management software also has event management capabilities, allowing you to organise events and tickets more manageable than ever before. They will also have event registration and attendance tracking features. Hence, no one needs to stand outside an event with a clipboard and a malfunctioning pen.

All this information or member data is then stored so that you, as the administrator of your nonprofit, can view it. You will then be able to set up widgets to sort that data into clear and easy-to-understand graphs and tables. This allows you to easily see how your members interact with your nonprofit and what is and isn’t popular with your members.

This is a very brief overview of what membership management software for nonprofits is. For a much more in-depth look at it, you can read, What Is Membership Management Software?

What Features You Need In A Membership Management Software For Your Nonprofit

Hopefully, by now, you’re starting to get a clearer picture of what membership management software can do for your nonprofit. Now, let’s have a look at some of the key features that any good membership software should have.

Key features of membership management software for nonprofits:

Automatic membership renewals
Event management tools
Access to member numbers and data
Powerful communication tools
Customisable website
Customisable power data forms
Easy member sign-up
Member engagement tracking
Custom emails and notifications
Online payments
Online store
Easy export of data to accounting software

These are all helpful headline features of membership management software that almost every company will offer. However, it is essential to do your own research to determine if these features are available and of high quality at any company you are looking into.

As far as we are concerned, you can see a complete list of our features at Member Jungle Features. As far as any of our competitors are concerned, they will also have complete lists of features readily available on their websites. Later in this article, we will discuss various membership management companies to help you begin your research.

Of course, these aren’t the only features of membership management systems; there are plenty of other less well-known but equally great features that you can read about here: 5 Features of Membership Management Software You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

How Much Does Membership Management Software For Nonprofits Cost?

Naturally, there is a cost involved in all of this. However, the good news is that companies such as Member Jungle and many of our competitors have designed their pricing structures to suit nonprofit organisations.

The idea is that the cost of your membership management software should be covered by your membership fees. As your number of members and required features increase, some companies may adjust their prices accordingly, ensuring that your membership management software cost does not exceed a reasonable percentage of your membership fees. Because it doesn’t matter how excellent a piece of software is, it could never be worth bankrupting yourself over.

Membership management software varies in price depending on the size of your nonprofit, but it ranges from about $50 a month to upwards of $1,000 per month. For your nonprofit, you are likely to be looking somewhere in the middle of that range. At Member Jungle, our prices range from $89 per month to $319 per month. You will likely be looking at around this price point with most of our competitors, too.

It’s probably worth having a look at the Member Jungle pricing page and the pricing pages of our competitors so you can start working out your membership management budget.

What Membership Management Software Is Best for Your Nonprofits?

The good news is that there are a lot of great options available to you here. Many membership management systems have designed themselves with nonprofits in mind when it comes to price and function. The best thing you can do is start looking at all the options available to you. See what they offer, how much they cost, and most importantly, what their customers say about them.

What membership management software is best for nonprofits:

All of these options can be very good ones for your nonprofit; it’s just about finding the one that suits you best. If you are looking for a great place to start your research, why not read the following articles:

Does Membership Management Software Have Its Downsides?

Yes. This might surprise you, seeing as I work for a membership management software company, but I already told you I was going to be completely honest with you.

The truth is everything on the planet has its downsides; even Tom Hanks made that absolute stinker of a Pinocchio movie. The truth is not every movie can be big, and no membership management system is without faults. The good news is that for the vast majority of your options out there, the good massively outweighs the bad. The downsides of membership management systems aren’t anything to be too concerned about, but they are definitely worth knowing about so that you can make a more informed decision.

This article isn’t really the place to go on a deep dive into the problems with membership management systems, but it is certainly something you should know about. So, read The Top 5 Most Common Problems With Membership Management Systems next time you get the chance.

Where Next in Finding the Best Membership Management Software for Your Nonprofit?

I’m not going to give you the big sell here; you just need to start researching your options and find the one that suits you best.

There is nothing I could say that would be as useful as hearing from an actual customer of Member Jungle. So, why not read Customer Story - Rockingham Kwinana Chamber of Commerce.

If you have any questions about membership management software in general or Member Jungle in particular, please reach out to a member of our team, and they will be more than happy to help you.

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