You have a hunch about how your organization is doing, but a gut feeling is not going to cut it. You need to look at specific data to see what's working and what isn't. Don't just jump in and start measuring absolutely everything. Pro tip: First focus on these three crucial reports ─ email tracking, invitation history, and levels reports.

1. Email tracking report
Even the busiest membership manager needs to track ─ at the very least ─ email rates. With all the email campaigns you create, it’s helpful to see whether the messages are benefiting your constituents… or not.

Here’s a look at three email rates to keep your eye on. These key performance indicators (KPIs) will let you know whether folks are actually receiving, opening, and reacting to your emails:
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• Open rate

An open rate lets you know how many people are, well, opening your email. Subject lines, the email sender, and the time the email is sent can affect your open rate. Testing out different variations of these will help you optimize your email open rate.
 
Based on a recent email benchmarking report, the average open rate for nonprofits is 25.5%.

• Clickthrough rate

This number shows how many of your members are actually clicking the links you send them. It’s a great indicator of whether the content you send your members actually resonates with them.

The report indicates that the clickthrough rate for nonprofits is 4.10%.​

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• Bounce rate

Do you know how many emails aren’t getting through? This could be because it went to an invalid email address, which is the most common reason for a bounce.
 
One report cites a 0.5% bounce rate for nonprofits, although a popular email service provider reports a 10.25% bounce rate for its nonprofit customers.

To view opens, bounces, and clicks to your email campaigns on memberplanet, hover over Emails in the left navigation sidebar, then click Email Tracking Report in the submenu. Any type of email marketing service (even the ones that let you create an account for free) should provide these basic metrics.

For the date range selected, your email campaigns will be displayed with corresponding metrics.

2. Members invitation email history
You've worked hard to boost membership. If you implemented a membership drive or promotion, you probably emailed prospects to join your organization. What were the results? If you're using an association management system (AMS) or membership management system, it should track that.

​On the memberplanet platform, you can view your membership email history to track who was invited and how they responded. It’s a best practice to periodically send out invitations to prospects. To become members, recipients only need to make a membership payment or provide info to sign up for a free membership, if you offer the option.

A membership invitation history report shows which admin sent the invitations and when, who opened it, and whether the recipient accepted the invitation.  To view your group’s member invitation history on memberplanet:

On the left navigation sidebar, hover over Members and click Invitation History in the submenu.​

3. Membership levels report
​Sometimes, in a rush to drive membership, managers and admins forget to look at overall membership tiers or levels activity. If you’re only looking at new prospects who signed up for a free membership level, you might not quite get the complete picture.

Most organizations have different levels of membership, including free and multiple paid levels. An AMS should have a levels activity report readily available, which will save you a ton of time. The alternative is viewing manually updated reports in Excel. A membership levels report gives you a bird’s-eye view of how many members are on each level, as well as a granular view of the history of each member’s level.

Are you finding that a lot of members have downgraded their membership level? If that's the case, you'll know which members and levels to cater to more frequently. You may need to review member benefits to ensure each level offers the value they’re willing to pay for. You can also target members on a specific level and influence activity by creating events and content to keep members engaged.

Here's how to view the membership levels report on memberplanet:

1. On the left navigation sidebar, hover over Membership and click Membership Levels Report in the submenu

      2.  On the levels tab, click the gear icon for the membership level you wish to view
      3.  Select View Members from the dropdown menu

• The list of members on that level will be displayed, along with their member status

Admins can also view level history by member. On the Members tab, select the gear icon next to the member name you wish to see the history for, then select Level History in the dropdown menu.

All this business intelligence will help you become a better, more informed membership manager or admin. You also can look at other metrics, such as survey results, donations, payments, events, RSVPs and so much more – we have reporting for just about everything on the platform. If your organization has chapters or components, staff can benefit from a customized membership dashboard, aggregate reports and ad-hoc reporting, too. Visit memberplanet.com to learn more.

Updated since original publication on 03/02/2018.

The all-new All Payments report has an updated look and feel that makes it cleaner and more user friendly. The report provides administrators with a bird’s-eye view of their organization and more detailed way to manage transaction-level data. Admins can easily view and manipulate data – without having to export to Excel (which you can still do, of course). If your organization has child groups, such as chapters or clubs, you can also see and sort transactions from your child groups in the same report. This report and its features are available on all subscription plans.

Key improvements

Powerful search functions
Quickly parse organization data by utilizing search options like payment amounts, partial names like a last name only, and payment source. Every field displayed is searched, so if you enter in "30" in in the search box, you can rest assured that whether it appears in the date, is part of a string in reference numbers, or is shown in any other field, it will be listed in records returned.

Enter your search terms in the search box located in the upper right side of your report, then click the magnifying glass icon to return results.

Comprehensive accounting summary and functions
The report displays all your organizations transactions, and where admins have the permissions, they have convenience of issuing refunds from the same screen. Filter by payment type, and view payment details such as schedules of recurring and installment payments by simply clicking on a record. A detail screen will appear on the right-hand side. From there, an admin can view the status of payments without having to navigate away from the initial report. 

In one location, you can view complete running totals for payments, fees, and total transaction amounts for your entire organization.

Totals for your transaction data for the date range selected (not just page totals) is located at the bottom right of your All Payments report.

Improved date range search
Date parameters default to "any time," which is the time your organization began collecting funds on memberplanet to the present, so you start off by seeing the complete transaction information for the history of your group. The dropdown menu allows you to modify the date range, choose from other options, such as the last 30 days, or enter a specific date range.

Click on the dropdown menu labeled Any Time at the top of the report to adjust date range.

Quick Filters
These filters provide the ability to display payment activity by type of payment (installment or recurring) or memberplanet service such as events, donations, membership, and more to give you specific transaction details by source.

Click on the Quick Filters dropdown menu at the top of your report to check off any combination of filters.

User-controlled view
The column data of your All Payments report is also configurable so you can show and hide data fields according to your viewing preference. Drag and drop columns to customize your report layout, and set column data to sort by ascending or descending. You can also lock columns to make it easier to view data as you scroll horizontally.

Click on Choose Columns along the top of the report to add or remove column data, and to lock columns.

Parent/child report 
Organizations that have a child groups such as chapters, clubs, or units, can now view all data for their child groups in one consolidated report. The All Payments report default setting is Activity in My Group, which will isolate your group’s records. To view all records, including activity in your child groups, select Activity in My Organization.

If you wish to view the former All Payments report, don't worry it's still available to you. Just click on the Former All Payments report link near the top of the page and you'll be directed back to it.

Log in to check out the new report or visit our Support Center to view the full All Payments report documentation.

Updated since original publication on 8/21/18.

Small Club, Big Challenges

For a club whose members are mostly over 50 and involved in a hobby that includes a fondness of Morse code, attracting younger demographics and recruiting new members in order to thrive may seem like a unique struggle. There are many small social clubs, however, that have fallen behind on meeting the demands of a new generation of members, including providing access to information online, offering convenient payment methods, and effectively communicating updates. Clubs that still heavily rely on paper filing systems and manual processes face the time-consuming challenge of keeping accurate financial records and managing members.
 
It became clear to NCCC that it needed to upgrade its manual processes and combat its dwindling membership – or face radio silence.

 
Manual Processes – Over

In 2016, NCCC began using memberplanet to keep its database organized and up to date. “We really didn't know how many members we had prior to memberplanet. It's sad, but true,” Ian Parker, NCCC’s Secretary, explained. The club’s manual reporting processes included interactions between the secretary and treasurer, a lot of paperwork, and time. Sometimes members who missed payments went undetected. “We now have a good grasp on the number of real members. With memberplanet our data is kept accurate – and timely.” 
 
Club admins have enjoyed the platform’s turnkey features, such as automated membership reminders and convenient payment options. “We also have more up-to-date member information and auto renewals. These were the primary reasons for moving to memberplanet, which has been one hundred percent successful,” Parker said. The membership insights available in the support site and the time freed up from admin tasks are now directed to engaging members.
 

A Closer Look at NCCC’s Online Results

Admins have used the platform’s event sites and RSVPs to manage and track attendance. Parker believes that memberplanet’s payment reporting, event invite templates, and email campaign features have dramatically improved their efficiency. Members can log in to a dedicated portal, view club announcements, connect with other members using the interactive directory, and update their own profile. “We have received many positive comments,” Parker continued. “Overall, it has been a huge plus and now folks can also see when they last paid!” 
 
When NCCC started using memberplanet in 2016, it had 100 paid memberships. That number rose to 157 by the end of 2017 – a 57% boost. The club also saw a 37% increase in membership dues. Parker noted how more members are engaging with the club, converting to paid membership status, and how the hassle-free process of joining the club is contributing to an increase in membership overall. As of January 2018, NCCC had 350 members total.
 

Broadcasting a Bright Future

Parker reveals NCCC has recently obtained 501(c)(3) status for nonprofits, and plans to fundraise and open an online NCCC store are in the works. Growing paid membership and engaging members remains a focus for the club, which was founded in 1970. Now that NCCC personnel find it much easier to manage and interpret data, communicate with members, and increase engagement, they expect that their club for radio aficionados will remain on the air for much, much longer.
 
Contact memberplanet today to learn how the platform can help your organization simplify membership. 

First, there are a few reasons why mail to some email addresses isn't delivered: ​

While you can't re-subscribe a member, you now can manually edit and/or restore invalid or bounced emails. When you open a "bounced" member's page on the new membership database you will see a "!" symbol by their email, along with the word "bounced" and a blue link "restore". Restoring the email will remove it from the bounced list so that it will be included once again in future sends. However, if the email bounces again, it will again be disabled and the "bounced" status will reappear in the member's contact page. ​

Capterra is a service that helps millions of people find the best business software to fit their needs. So we’re proud to announce that the software-comparison firm has awarded memberplanet a five-star rating and ranked us as number four in its listing of the “Top 7 Free and Open Source Membership Management Software Products.”

memberplanet prides itself on supporting organizations and their members by meeting all of their needs in a single, user-friendly location. It’s one thing to strive for this goal and another to be recognized for it. Capterra highlighted the advantages of using memberplanet, including our donation campaign capabilities, integration with QuickPay, online surveys, and the range of support options available, “among quite a few other options.”

It is a special honor for memberplanet to be recognized. We strive to provide powerful solutions for any and all kinds of groups, including nonprofits, religious organizations, schools, boosters, parent-teacher associations, and Greek and alumni organizations. memberplanet aims to promote awareness and participation for your specific cause and make communication and integration seamless. That’s why our web-based software is an affordable option for organizations of any size. 

​To really understand how our membership management software can solve your organization’s problems, you have to try it for yourself! Create a free account today and take the first step towards simplifying and empowering your group. 

What are you waiting for?! Add your group now!