Membership Resources: Articles & Guides

Technology & Website

How Check Payments are Stunting Your Membership Growth and How Online Payments Can Turn That Around

If your organization’s main form of accepting member dues and event registrations is through check or cash, you may be missing out on a massive amount of new members.

Check use has been declining since its peak in the late 90’s. Today, payment by check is one of the least popular methods.

In contrast, last year, 205 million people shopped online in the US. That number is expected to rise dramatically in the next decade.

199 Free or Cheap Online Tools for Nonprofits

Nearly any manual task your organization is doing right now can be automated with a free or low-cost online tool.

Here are 199 online tools, along with expert advice, to help you decide which are best fitted to your organization. Think of this as your nonprofit online tool encyclopedia.

Here's an in-depth look at membership management software – what it is, how it works, what it costs, and how it can help you build a website, connect with your supporters and grow your membership, while saving you time and effort.

This guide offers research and insight to help you understand your members' attitudes towards technology, as well as ideas and tips to help members, volunteers and your board embrace technology advancements as tools that will help them and your organization as a whole.

This White Paper outlines the various website builder options available to membership organizations; describes each and indicates the “pros” and “cons” of each system.

All-in-one Membership Management Made Easy is a presentation that offers all of the information you need to help convince your organization to move to Wild Apricot.

Here is a step-by-step guide to help you evaluate membership management software providers.

Wild Apricot created this guide to help you choose the best software for your business or professional association, charitable or volunteer organization, club or community group.

Is it time to do a little website spring cleaning? This checklist outlines some of the tasks that you can consider for sprucing up and refreshing your website.

Understanding Online Payment Services

If you are considering moving to an online payment process, this article will help you understand the terminology; how the process works; and take you through an online payment transaction.

Do You Need A Donor Management System?

Do you have doubts about your non-profit’s current donor management system? Idealware/TechSoup have developed this Step-by-Step Decision-making Workbook to "walk you through the process of assessing your needs, comparing them to what you have, and determining the benefits — and the costs — of moving to a new system."

How to Select an Online Payment Service Provider

Once you’ve decided to take online payments on your website, this article can help identify the key criteria to consider when selecting a payment service provider. It also includes a Payment Service Selection Checklist (Excel spreadsheet) you can use to evaluate service providers.

Getting Started with Online Surveys

This article, designed for those who are new to online surveys, offers tips on: setting objectives; identifying the right online survey tool; and crafting effective online surveys (timing, content, promotion, etc.).

Search Engine Marketing Guide for Associations and Nonprofits

This is a great resource for organizations just getting started with or who want to know more about Search Engine Marketing: what it is, and how it can be used to increase your online visibility, target potential constituents, and drive more visits to your website.

A Few Good Online Survey Tools

This Idealware article explains what online survey tools can do, what type of features might be helpful and they offer an overview of the following online survey tools.