Member Engagement Software: How to Choose the Right Platform

Member engagement is essential to a thriving association. When members feel connected to your association and can conveniently access professional development opportunities, they’re more likely to view their membership as worthwhile and renew year after year. And in the digital age, having the right tools for engaging members is more critical than ever. 

If you aren’t sure where to begin looking for member engagement software, you’ve come to the right place! This guide will cover everything you need to know about these platforms, including:

• Member Engagement Software FAQ
• Features to Look for in Member Engagement Software
• The Best Member Engagement Solutions

Especially if your association members skew younger or spend most of their workdays on the go, consider investing in software with mobile engagement capabilities that can become part of their daily routines. More than 60% of global internet traffic comes from smartphones, and 91% of Americans own one of these devices, which underscores the reality that your organization exists in a mobile-first world as well as a digital-first one. That being said, let’s get started!

Member Engagement Software: Frequently Asked Questions

What is member engagement software?

Member engagement software refers to digital solutions designed for associations to connect with members and encourage involvement. It typically centralizes various engagement tasks, from sharing resources to sending messages, in a single platform to streamline workflows and allow for easier collaboration.

As we previously referenced, many member engagement solutions are desktop-based, while others take a mobile-first approach to connect spread-out, active communities. Whichever type of software you choose, member engagement platforms can empower your organization to provide value and operate efficiently.

What types of platforms are considered member engagement software?

In its broadest sense, the term “member engagement software” can refer to any platform in your association’s tech stack that impacts the member experience. A few examples include:

• Community engagement solutions: These online or mobile platforms are what association professionals most commonly refer to as member engagement software since they’re member-facing and communication-focused.

• Association management systems (AMS): Although your AMS is internal to your organization, it houses the data you need to develop an effective member engagement strategy and may have built-in tools to facilitate involvement.
• Platforms that address specific member engagement needs: These may include your learning management system (LMS) for administering online courses, a volunteer management solution if your association relies on volunteers, or an application and review platform for engaging members via awards, grants, and similar programs.

Examples of association technology that don’t fall under the member engagement software umbrella include project management systems, accounting platforms, payment gateways, and other tools that primarily serve internal operational functions.

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll mostly focus on community engagement solutions because they’re the most dedicated to member engagement. However, you should keep in mind that the other solutions mentioned above are important to your strategy and integrate your community engagement platform with them if possible (more on this later!).

Why leverage a member engagement platform?

When you invest in the right member engagement software for your needs, your association can experience many advantages, such as:

• Increased member participation. When you can develop and communicate about member engagement opportunities efficiently, and members can get involved easily, they’re more likely to take advantage of all your association has to offer.
• More effective communication. Engagement-focused solutions allow you to send quick, targeted updates to members and centralize internal communications to keep everyone aligned on what’s going on at your organization.
• Easier revenue management. Member engagement and association revenue generation go hand in hand, so your platform should allow you to promote renewals, collect resource and event fees, and manage sponsorships all in one place.
• Improved retention rates. Because member engagement platforms combine convenient access to association opportunities, high-quality communication, and streamlined renewal procedures, they encourage members to stick around long-term.

All of these benefits improve the member experience at your association while also streamlining your team’s workflows, making it worthwhile to adopt an engagement platform regardless of whether your top priorities are internal or external.

Features to Look for in Member Engagement Software

Naturally, some member engagement platforms will be more beneficial for your association than others based on how they’re designed and what your organization specifically needs. To help you start creating lists of must-have and nice-to-have capabilities, let’s walk through some common features of member engagement software. As you evaluate different options, you can use the checklist below to make sure the platforms you’re considering have everything your association needs to succeed.

Member Profiles & Directory

As soon as a new member joins your organization, your member engagement solution should automatically create an individual profile for them. Make sure this profile contains all of the key information you need to know about that person, such as their:

• Name (legal and preferred) and pronouns
• Contact information (email, phone number, mailing address, social media handles, etc.)
• Preferred communication method
• Employment details (current employer, job title, years at company, relevant past roles, etc.)
• Date they became a member of your association
• Membership tier (if applicable)
• Engagement history (event attendance, online course completion, volunteer service, etc.)
• Any other data your team might find helpful, such as relevant interests or marital and family status

All of your profiles should comprise a searchable directory within your member engagement software. This allows you to easily find members you want to communicate with about specific initiatives. It’s also helpful to have a member-facing directory with revised profiles (other members may not need to know as much about data points like membership tiers and engagement history as your staff do, but they might want to see the awards members have won, for instance) to facilitate networking and help members get to know each other.

News & Resources

Your members likely want to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings at your association and in their field as a whole. Member engagement software that includes a news feed helps your association fulfill this need by delivering real-time updates to members wherever they may be. It’s especially useful if members can select the topics they want to follow in their feed, whether they’re looking for news on a specific area of their industry or tracking down new job opportunities.

Additionally, ensure your member engagement solution allows members to easily access a variety of evergreen professional development resources. Different people learn best in different ways—for instance, some members might enjoy guided online courses, while others prefer to read articles or watch one-off videos—so look for an engagement tool with a robust resource library and multimedia hosting capabilities.

Member Communications

Communication fuels member engagement, so your member engagement software should facilitate several kinds of messaging, such as:

• Direct-to-member. These messages come from your association to individual members. Although email is a tried-and-true method for these communications, about 50% of today’s association members feel like their organizations send them too many emails, a number that has increased in recent years. Mobile messages—whether they’re sent through an app or via text—can replace some emails and reduce member fatigue.
• Forums. These digital spaces encourage discussions among members, allowing them to seek answers and offer advice about various industry topics. Although members create the content on these forums, your association still needs to oversee the spaces for them to be productive. Set general guidelines for forum posting etiquette and keep each forum focused on one subject so members know where to go when they’re looking for specific information.
• One-to-one. You can also encourage members to contact each other directly by providing contact information in your public-facing member directory or using an app with messaging capabilities. Either way, members can benefit from connecting with others who might have insights into specific situations. For example, if a member is being considered for a promotion, discussing the role with another member who has a similar job may help them decide if the new position is a good fit for them.

If you’re using a mobile app to manage member communications, strategic push notifications can increase engagement with all types of messages. Even though some members may turn off notifications, those who keep them on will be more likely to spend time on your app if a banner with “1 New Reply to Your Forum Post” or “Registration Is Now Open for Our Annual Conference!” appears on their smartphone screen.

Event Management

Events are a significant undertaking for your association, whether you’re organizing a multi-day conference, a one-off panel discussion, or a volunteer outing through a nonprofit partner. While you’ll likely use your AMS to do most of the heavy lifting for events, other member-facing engagement platforms can help with several aspects of planning and management, such as:

• Distributing and collecting online registration forms
• Sending out session descriptions and pre-scheduling options
• Checking in attendees efficiently via QR codes
• Creating name badges for participants and speakers
• Managing event-related content and communications
• Gamifying activities like member networking and exhibitor visits

Generally speaking, your community engagement platform should handle attendee-facing aspects of event management, while your AMS is better suited for higher-level internal tasks like organizing programming and tracking payments.

Sponsorships & Advertising

Association sponsorships are a win-win-win situation: your organization gets additional funding for events and initiatives, your sponsors increase their brand visibility, and your members get to learn about new products that may be useful to them. But when your association has lots of sponsors, tracking your relationships with them can be tricky, which is where engagement software with sponsorship management capabilities comes in.

In addition to centralizing sponsorship agreements and communications, member engagement platforms (especially mobile apps) can help you and your sponsors generate even more revenue through advertising. Targeted ads are a valuable add-on to your sponsorship agreements since they provide sponsors with direct monetary gain as well as greater brand awareness.

Reporting & Analytics

You’ll only be able to improve your member engagement approach over time if you effectively track and analyze data that shows you what is going well and what could still use some work. Ensure your software includes a dashboard or other tool that makes it easy to visualize and evaluate key engagement metrics like:

• Member acquisition and retention rates
• News feed interactions
• Participation in events, courses, and forum discussions
• Open, click-through, and response rates for messages
• Sponsor ad clicks and impressions
• Member satisfaction indicators (reviews, survey responses, etc.)

Whenever you analyze member data, remember to follow all applicable legal and ethical guidelines and take proper security precautions with your member engagement systems. This way, your members can trust that you’ll safeguard any sensitive information they share with you.

Integrations

As mentioned previously, a community engagement platform is just one piece of a complete association tech stack. To allow for easier data transfer and collaboration between solutions, integrate or connect your primary member engagement solution with other essential tools your organization uses, including your AMS or CRM, payment gateway, and website builder.

Additionally, even if some of your engagement platforms don’t connect directly to each other, you can still develop an integrated strategy for leveraging these tools. For example, you might notify members about opportunities that use your application and review solution (award nominations, abstract submissions for conferences, etc.) using your primary engagement software’s messaging tools. Or, you might include links to online courses you built with your LMS in your resource library.

The Best Member Engagement Solutions

Now that you know what features the best member engagement solutions include, you’re probably starting to consider which specific platform(s) you want to use. Let’s dive into a few of the top options on the market today.

Clowder: Our Favorite Member Engagement Software

When it comes to mobile-first engagement solutions designed for trade associations and on-the-go communities, look no further than Clowder! Clowder allows you to build a fully customizable app for your association that your members can download on their iOS or Android devices. In addition to this flexibility, a few aspects of this platform that make it the #1 engagement solution for professional communities include:

• A comprehensive suite of features, including everything listed above and more!
• A command center that anyone at your association can use effectively, regardless of technical expertise.
• Ongoing support to help your team make the most of the platform at every stage of organizational growth.
• Integrations with many leading association solutions, allowing for seamless data transfer and collaboration.

Think of Clowder as a private social network for your association, bringing your members together virtually to deepen their connections with your organization and each other. But don’t just take our word for it—check out client success stories from real associations across various industries (from commercial real estate to baseball coaching) to see the platform in action!

Other Top Member Engagement Platforms

If you’re looking to round out your association’s tech stack, here are a few additional options we recommend across the different categories of member engagement software:

• Community Engagement Platforms:
  • Higher Logic: Web-based online member communities
  • YourMembership by Momentive: All-in-one member community and management

• AMS and Membership Management:
  • iMIS: Engagement management system designed for associations
  • Fonteva: Salesforce-native AMS
• Platforms for Specialized Needs:
• TopClass: Association-specific LMS
• OpenWater: End-to-end application and review platform

Wrapping Up: Additional Resources on Association Member Engagement

Member engagement software fuels your association’s success, especially in an era where digital and mobile activity reigns supreme. Use our guidance to start thinking about the right software for your organization, and make sure to add Clowder to your list if you’re looking for a highly customizable app-based platform!

For more information on engaging your association’s members, check out these resources:

• Member Engagement: 10 Top Strategies for the Digital Age. Explore some of the best ways to engage association members, which your software can facilitate.
• Mobile Apps for Associations: Everything You Need to Know. Dive deeper into the unique qualities of mobile-first member engagement platforms and how to choose one.
• How to Increase Mobile App Adoption in Your Association. Once you’ve adopted a mobile engagement solution, learn how to get members up and running with it.