Meet Neff & Downing Management Services: A small but mighty association management company that’s been quietly thriving since 1980. With just four full-time staff members and two part-timers, President Denise Downing, CAE, CMP, and her husband, CEO Kevin Downing, have built a family business that punches well above its weight, managing 11 associations with confidence and care.
And their secret? WildApricot.
The AMC Edge: Why Smaller Companies Choose WildApricot Over “Corporate” Competitors
For years, people assumed WildApricot was just for single associations. But Denise knew better. After a decade of building websites for her clients on the platform, she’s proven that WildApricot is actually a great fit for small, family-run AMCs managing multiple associations.
“I am very protective of our websites,” Denise explains. “Every single thing that we do involves this website. We use almost every single aspect of it: the database, the registrations. You can’t just hand it off to someone’s friend who builds websites.”
While working with bigger platforms like Cvent and WordPress, Denise found herself frustrated by:
- Disorganized, messy inherited websites
- Less intuitive interfaces that slow down simple updates
- Expensive IT involvement for basic changes
- Complex systems that don’t fit smaller association budgets
WildApricot offered something different: power without the corporate bloat. It’s professional enough to handle multiple clients, but simple enough that Denise and her small team can stay in complete control.
Streamlined Operations: The Tools That Keep a Four-Person Team Running Like Clockwork
When you’re managing 11 associations with four people, every minute counts. That’s why Denise relies on WildApricot’s most flexible features:
Event Registration That Just Works
“The registration piece of Wild Apricot is the most easy and flexible to use,” Denise shares. “Setting up promo codes, swapping registrations, transferring payments. It’s so much easier and intuitive versus other platforms.”
For one of her larger clients using a different membership solution, simple registration changes require getting the company’s support team involved. With WildApricot? Denise handles it herself in minutes.
Training New Staff Without the Headache
When a new employee joined with zero association management experience, Denise didn’t panic. She hired Gail from Merge Creative (a WildApricot partner) to provide bite-sized training sessions. Now, that employee uses WildApricot daily with confidence.
“Once you understand the way it works, it’s very easy to figure out new things,” Denise notes. “99% of the time, if someone gets stuck, I know how to troubleshoot it.”
Payment Processing That Works
Denise also appreciates the Affinipay integration. When you’re juggling billing for multiple associations, having payment processing that just works saves time and headaches.
Fast-Track Success: From Zero to Fully Functional in Three Months
Here’s where WildApricot really shines for AMCs: speed.
Last year, Neff & Downing took on a new client who had nothing. No website. No online billing. No online renewals. Just potential.
Denise made WildApricot part of the contract. “We told them, ‘We’ll take you on, but you have to get onto WildApricot as part of the deal.'”
The result? A fully built, professional website in just three months, created in partnership with Merge Creative.
Compare that to other platforms, where you’d face:
- Lengthy demo processes
- Contract negotiations
- Complex onboarding support cycles
- Months of waiting before going live
“I like the ability to get it up and running quick,” Denise says. “Some associations just don’t need everything. They need the basics, and WildApricot is pretty powerful even beyond the basics.”
Her largest WildApricot client has about 800 active members (2,000 users total in the database). That’s not small. But it’s the perfect size for WildApricot’s sweet spot: professional, powerful and priced for reality.
A Final Word: Small Teams, Big Impact
Neff & Downing Management Services proves something important: you don’t need a massive team to deliver massive value.
With WildApricot, a family business of four can confidently manage 11 associations, build new client websites in weeks or months instead of quarters and stay protective of the digital experiences they create. They can train new team members without expensive consultants. They can make changes in minutes that would take other platforms hours or days.
Most importantly, they can say yes to growth without saying yes to chaos.
If you’re an AMC managing multiple clients (or thinking about it), WildApricot isn’t just for single associations. It’s a powerful, intuitive platform that scales with your business, not against it.
Because the best tools don’t just make your work easier. They make your work better.
Ready to see how WildApricot can work for your AMC? Start a free 60-day trial today and discover why small teams choose platforms that grow with them, not over them.
