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Marietta Business Association (MBA) is the premier business organization in Marietta, Georgia. It counts the mayor, senators, congressmen, judges, city and county offices, and businesses large and small among its members. MBA had struggled with outdated member management software that required volunteers to spend more than 20 hours a month managing members. Since transitioning to memberplanet, it has seen a 29% increase in total number of members, a 49% boost in paid memberships, and a 167% jump in revenue for its annual event luncheon.  Everyone's Problem: Limited Time and Competing Interests Retaining, managing, engaging, and growing membership are challenges that plague most organizations. Limited time and competing interests contribute to this challenge for both members and those who manage them. Employing tools that help to engage and manage members while making the best use of time for everyone involved is a big win. Mobile, segmentation (the difficulty of reaching multiple generations that think and act differently), and social media add more layers of complexity to membership management challenges. Outdated software and disparate single-service features confound these problems by fostering disorganization and draining resources. A Colossal Waste of Time In 2016, MBA was struggling with “archaic” member management software, Angella Ocheltree, Vice President of MBA, said. “The former manager would spend twenty-plus hours a month keeping up with it, which is simply too much to ask of a volunteer.” Prior to using memberplanet, MBA attempted to implement another product, but due to poor communication between the new software’s transition team and MBA’s sales team, Ocheltree deemed the attempt “disastrous.” “I wasted so much time and all for naught,” Ocheltree said of the failed transition. She and the board of directors screened 15 other companies before memberplanet was chosen as the best solution for MBA. Service, price, and functionality were the determining factors. A Miraculous Transition memberplanet’s onboarding and engagement teams collaborated with MBA to make the transition as efficient as possible. The process took less than one month. “The implementation was seamless,” Ocheltree said. She was responsible for completing all tasks during implementation. “The transition was so easy, one could call it miraculous.” memberplanet’s support team also conducted trainings for MBA staff members, and provided an online support site tailored to MBA’s priorities. “The training offered was excellent,” Ocheltree said, “and we still tap into that resource.” Boosting Membership, Engagement, and Event Funds In just over one year, MBA has recognized a stellar 49% increase in paid memberships. Its number of total members increased by 29%, a number which includes non-paying members – perfect candidates for future conversion. “Our entire site – our website was built by memberplanet as well – the membership platform, and its functionality have streamlined our leadership team's ability to create events and manage them, to raise funds, and to communicate with our members,” Ocheltree said. Attendance at the association’s annual luncheon increased by 19%, which led to a 167% jump in revenue. Collecting electronic payments, sharing event sites, sending invites, and managing RSVPs are all tasks MBA’s volunteer admins completed from one platform. “We use both desktop and the mobile app to take payments,” Ocheltree said. “It couldn't be easier to set up or to pay!” One may think a platform that offers such a robust toolset for member management is complicated to use. The memberplanet staff prides itself, however, on building the platform with volunteers in mind. “The platform is user friendly – and the staff is even more so,” Ocheltree said. “If I cannot figure something out, I call or send an email. The response is always fast and friendly.” Ocheltree said she knows MBA is just getting started and is excited for the future growth and success its partnership with memberplanet has to offer. memberplanet’s streamlined membership management solution has already helped tremendously with member retention and recruitment. “We have even attracted the larger companies with our professional presence.” -Angella Ocheltree Vice President of Marietta Business Associaton Contact memberplanet today if you would like to see how your organization can put
this powerful platform to work.
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