What is Membership Management? Basics Explained

What is a membership organization? What does membership management entail for organization leaders and members? And what kind of software do membership organizations require? Let’s talk about it!

What is a Membership Organization?

Before we discuss Membership Management, we first need to define what a Membership Organization is. While the legal definition varies by country, generally, Member Organizations (also called Associations or Clubs) consist of groups of individuals who engage in a shared interest, activity, industry, or profession. The size and interests of these groups vary widely – organizations can be large and international like the United Nations (UN) or local and completely casual like the Ann Arbor Area Crappy Camera Club (A3C3). 

Inside a Membership Organization: Leadership and Member Responsibilities

Membership Organization leaders typically perform many of the same core responsibilities regardless of organization type or size – let’s list some of the most common ones. Membership Organization leaders must:

• Create and maintain a membership structure and benefits
• Attract and retain members
• Promote and market the organization

In other words, organization leaders typically handle the high-level aspects of membership management. To perform these tasks, leaders need powerful, flexible software that can be tailored to their organization’s specific needs – the UN certainly has different software requirements than the A3C3! 

Understanding the dynamic requirements that membership organizations have, AdvantageCS provides a highly customizable membership management platform designed for the tasks listed above (and many, many more!). Organizations large and small can use Members Advantage as an end-to-end solution to manage all aspects of the membership lifecycle, including applications, communications, payments, self service, and marketing.

For an expansive list of Members Advantage capabilities, click here to learn more!

Now, let’s talk about the typical responsibilities an organization’s constituents might have. Defining responsibilities for membership organization constituents is a bit more difficult, since these are usually defined by the leader and are unique to each organization. With that being said, for most organizations, the following responsibilities are typically handled by constituents:

• Purchasing, renewing, reviewing, and cancelling memberships
• Opting in or out of promotions and communications
• Updating their online profile
• Making donations or paying dues to the organization

While Organization leaders or admins can directly interact with their membership management software to perform these actions, constituents usually aren’t granted this type of access. This means that constituents need a way to access and manage their memberships outside of the software being used. 

One solution to this problem is Members Advantage’s Cider Plus eCommerce platform! Organization leaders can take advantage of Cider Plus’s member self-service capabilities to allow constituents to perform these day-to-day tasks from desktop or mobile web browsers. Cider Plus is highly customizable, and leaders can easily design their organization’s membership experience with minimal technical know-how. To learn more about Cider Plus, check out our blog post on improvements we’ve made to Cider Plus in 2024 or download our free whitepaper!

Conclusion

So to recap what we’ve discussed in this article:

• A Membership Organization is an organization of individuals with a shared interest. The size, interests, and requirements of these organizations can vary widely.
• Both Membership Organization leaders and constituents are involved in membership management. Depending on the organization, constituents may be allowed to manage certain aspects of their own membership. 

Because each membership organization has unique software requirements, choosing a membership management platform can be a quite a difficult task! For helpful pointers to guide this selection process, check out our blog post on how to choose a membership management platform. And if you’d like further information on AdvantageCS’s Members Advantage or Cider Plus eCommerce platforms, check out our free whitepapers or contact us today!