What Is The Accelerator At Member Jungle?

I once "built" an office chair from Ikea; I followed all the instructions, put all the screws in the right place, and got angry at the tiny Allen key, all the usual stuff. When I was done, it did all the classic chair things; it looked like a chair, it went up and down, and you could even sit on it. Except that whenever you sat on it, it would slowly rotate anti-clockwise constantly. Even if you held perfectly still, it would just slowly spin anti-clockwise forever. I had somehow turned a desk chair into the world's worst perpetual motion machine. 

 

 

My point is that I am not an expert or professional chair builder, so I did as good a job as I could, but there were some noticeable flaws. That brings us to today’s question: Should you set up your new Member Jungle system yourself or pay the Member Jungle team to do it for you?

The Member Jungle system is designed to be easy to put together yourself, and it really is. Still, it’s always going to be easier for a Professional. So, with all that in mind, let’s just slowly rotate into today’s discussion.  

D.I.Y Vs Accelerator: Overview

D.I.Y Overview

D.I.Y is what we call it when you set up your own Member Jungle system yourself. This means you need to design your website, organise your pages, set up your member levels and everything else to get your site up and running. 

Don’t worry; there are plenty of help articles and checklists available to guide you during this process, including the Complete Member Jungle Setup Guide.  

The time it takes to complete a D.I.Y setup of your website will vary depending on how complicated your needs are, how tech-savvy you are and how much time you have to devote to building your site. On average, the time from signing the contract to going live with a D.I.Y site is about two to three months. However, this can vary significantly based on the above factors; some clubs have done it in a fortnight, and others have taken the better part of a year. There is no minimum or maximum amount of time a D.I.Y can take; if you want to spend the next decade slowly building your site for some unknown reason, you absolutely can. 

Accelerator Overview

The accelerator or the Quick Website Setup - Accelerator, to give it’s full title is where we set up your website for you. It has been specifically designed with nonprofit organisations in mind. Rather than setting up the system yourself, Renee, our professional web designer, will build your entire system to your specifications based on our library of website templates. Once your website is built, you will get a one-on-one handover meeting with Renee, who will show you exactly how to use your new system. 

The length of time it takes to complete an accelerator website will vary depending on how complicated your needs are and how quickly you get the required information to Renee. Generally speaking, an accelerator website takes about two to four weeks to complete. 

Now, let’s address the cost: the accelerator costs $1,199 AUD, which isn’t nothing. However, when you consider how much time it is saving you and how much it would normally cost to get a professionally designed custom website, it is a very good deal. 

By using the accelerator, you will save literally months of work and get a website personalised to your requirements that would normally cost between $5,000 and $10,000, all for a little over $1000. 

The main focus here should really be the time it will save you going with the accelerator. No matter who you are, your time is valuable and important and investing months of it into building a website probably isn’t the best use of it, especially when you consider that the end product isn’t going to be quite as good or as polished as if you had gotten a professional to do it. 

The Quick Website Setup Accelerator has been designed to help not-for-profits that don’t have a "web person" to take care of things, who don’t have the time to do it themselves, or who can't afford commercial graphic designers. 

Member Jungle Accelerator, What’s It Good For?

The Quick Website Setup - Accelerator comes with a range of features that will make setting up your new club site so much easier and quicker. The accelerator includes all of the following features. 

1. You will get a 30-minute project planning meeting with Renee, during which you will choose how you want your website to look and function. 
    
2. As part of your accelerator package, you can also select one of our $199 or $399 website themes for free.
    
3. We will transfer and set up several of your web pages, events, news items, and documents, and we will even set up membership levels, forms, and products for you. 
    
4. When your site is ready, you will have a one-hour training and handover session with Renee to ensure you understand how it all works and feel confident in your ability to run it. 

D.I.Y Vs Accelerator: What’s Best For Your Club?   

Ultimately, whether I think the accelerator is worth the money or not is irrelevant to you, as I work for Member Jungle, so I'm biased. Therefore, I wanted to share a few quotes from a Member Jungle Customer who has used the accelerator so you can get an actual relevant opinion on the matter. 

This is what the admin team from the Picton Magpies Old Boys had to say on the matter. 

“Pay for the Accelerator and don’t muck around. That way, you get the site set how you want it and do not waste volunteers’ valuable time getting stuck on the setup.”

To hear more customer opinions like this, check out 9 Tips From Member Jungle Customers That You Need To See. 

Data Migration & Other Start-Up Options 

The final thing you need to account for is any optional extras you might want to add to your start-up process, D.I.Y. or accelerator. These optional extras, like the accelerator, can make your life easier or are just extra ways to add value and style to your club. 

These optional extras include a completely custom-designed website, custom import of your member data, customised digital membership cards, and plenty more. These optional extras are designed to make your life easier but are absolutely not essential. If you say no to every single one of these and no to the accelerator and decide to do it all yourself, you will still have a great experience with Member Jungle. 

If you want to see the full list of optional extras that are available, please see Optional Setup Options on our website. 

Your Next Steps

Well, that is about everything you need to know about the accelerator, what it is and why it is useful. It is certainly the most convenient and time-saving way to do things, but you will be perfectly fine without it, too. At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you and your club. 

If you have any more questions about the accelerator or where to go from here, either reach back out to Sammy, who will be more than happy to help you, or read Everything You Need To Know About Onboarding At Member Jungle.