What is Digital Engagement?

COVID has shifted the ability for many gatherings to meet in person while other events are virtual by nature. Either way, a virtual event takes time and strategy to do it well. It might be simple to slap up a pre-recorded session or live stream a Zoom meeting but it takes a lot of work to host an excellent virtual event. Let’s unpack what it takes to host a really great virtual event.  

#1 Determine the type of virtual event.

There are three major types of virtual events that you could host, which is best for you depends on your bandwidth, skill, and community needs.

• All Live: running the full event live on the day(s) of the event
• All Pre-Recorded: having all your video elements locked and loaded so your virtual event is essentially watching a pre-made video
• Mix of Live and Pre-Recorded: mixing pre-recorded items like keynote sessions while having live items such as studio intermissions and workshops. 

It’s totally up to you for how you design your virtual event. I’ve seen all three types of events done well. You just need to have a plan and anticipate the work that each type will require

#2 Build your value proposition.

Before you do anything to schedule and plan your event, you need to determine your event’s value proposition. What do I mean? I mean, map out the core promises you are going to make to your event attendees.

Discuss how you can communicate these promises, how you’re going to reinforce in the event, and how you can use these ideas to evaluate your event once it’s all done. Keep these core promises in front of you as you brainstorm and select the next items that are going to make your event successful. 

#3 Potential event elements.

Next, you need to brainstorm and select the type of elements you’re going to have in your virtual event. You should build a healthy list of ideas so you have items you need to cut rather than trying to find ideas to fill time later.  

Here are some suggested event elements: 

• Keynote Sessions: bringing in your key speakers to present keynote sessions.  
• Breakout Sessions: host expert-led sessions where people can engage in real-time (through a Zoom or live-chat) with session speakers
• Working Groups: Host working groups where people can split into smaller groups to tackle a problem
• Exhibit Hall: host an exhibit hall where people can connect with exhibitors to help them on their journey
• Connecting Attendees: connect your attendees with each other since we’re all wired for relationships 
• Exercises: give people individual or group exercise projects to do throughout the event to they feel they are completing something

#5 Determine time blocks and select the best.

Be sure you assign time blocks to each of the ideas you’ve had so you can see how much total time they would take.

Select the items that would get your audience most excited and work down your elements to fit your event schedule. Make sure you consider intermissions, breaks, announcements, and any other time blocks that might also require scheduling.    

#6 Pre-production

Now that you have a plan, it’s time to start work on all of your pre-production items to make this thing happen. Make a task list of all the things you need to do. Then, assign dates and times for when these need to happen. Lean on others with the right skill sets to make things happen that you might not know how to do. 

#7 Go to market.

It’s time to create a launch campaign. Create a launch marketing campaign with videos, site advertisements, email communications, social media messaging, and more. Think about how you’ll find your attendees. I recently wrote a post about how to get more people to attend your events. Consider several marketing channels to get the word out. Leverage all of your communication channels and those from your partners to share the news. 

Create a communication calendar. Don’t forget to create a work-back schedule from the time of the event until today. This will save you time and stress each day.  

#8 Preparing your attendees.

Guide every single step. Step into the role of guiding your attendees and expect they will need you to explain every step of the process. Over-communicate at this stage.

Communicate value and goals to your attendees. You’ll want to communicate over and over the goals for your event and what they can expect. You should consider creating a Preparation Guide—something to help your attendees prepare for your event. Start by asking all the things you would want to know if you were attending.

And, don’t forget to encourage watch parties. Encourage people to join together with friends to attend your event so they can process with people and create some shared accountability.  

#9 The actual event.

Be fully present during the event on social and other live-feeds so that your attendees know they are not doing this alone.

Build a team to help you run the virtual event with assignments for key roles (like social media, event chat, tech support, video management, and so on.)

Make the event as interactive as possible. Build as many interactive points as you possibly can for people to digest the content and connect with others. 

#10 Post engagement

Don’t forget this. What will you do after the event to engage folks? Depending on your event management software, there are a few things you should consider doing to follow up after the event. Create a communications follow-up plan for after your event to evaluate the event and glean feedback for the future. Continue to guide them on how your community has things to help propel them forward.

Consider the next steps you would like folks to know about. Be sure you have a list of suggested next steps locked and loaded. Don’t make them find them on their own…give them options to choose from.

#11 Rules of engagement.

Finally, expect fatigue. Expect that people will get tired during your event. There are so many virtual events and Zoom meetings. Just accept this and make your event better than an average Zoom call. This will take being creative with how you design your event and what you offer.  Think outside the box to present things that no one else would think about.  

Doing these things will have you well on your way to having a successful virtual event that truly helps and connects people.

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.

When it comes to knowing how to create a website, there’s a lot of information out there. Some good. Some bad. Some just plain ugly. I’m going to give you ten (10) steps for how to create a website that are tried and true. I know, because I’ve tried them and found them to be true! Here we go...

Step #1: Brainstorm 

Start by thinking about all the things you want to want to put into your website. Do NOT. I repeat: DO NOT start building your website in some software. Hold your horses. You’re just putting down ideas at this first stage. We’ll get there soon. But you can’t rush this step. It’s critical you start with a plan which starts by knowing what all you want to put into your site. 

Step #2: Refine 

With your long list from step one, it’s time you focus on the items that matter to others, will generate sales, and—listen to me—not focus on needless information you want to share about yourself. That sounds mean—but it happens. 

It’s important to stop and ask what your community and followers need at this stage. This will help you hone your list from step one a great deal. You might think it’s important to share your vision, your history, your experience, and many other things about yourself. But, more often than not, those things don’t generate business. 

Protip: Cut most of the ideas from step one that revolves around you. Keep the ideas from step one that revolves around helping others.

Step #3: Collect Examples 

Take a look at other websites in your industry, and other industries as well, to determine some of the things you like (and don’t like). This is a never-ending process. But, to get started, here are a few ways to keep track of what you like and what you don’t: 

• Capture screenshots—keep a folder on your phone or where you browse online and screenshot things that inspire you. The point here is to keep ideas in one place for reference. You’ll want to access these things later.
• Make a browser favorites list. If you like more than just an image from a site—keep a list of sites bookmarked for constant inspiration.

What elements do you like from each of these sites? Keep notes and links to these ideas somewhere. Perhaps it’s a tool like Evernote or another platform, but again, you’ll want to have a running list of inspiration—things you can start on soon—and be able to keep longer-term ideas. 

Step #4: Structure your Site 

Every site needs an overall layout plan, it’s like your site blueprint. It’s your plan for what you’ll have on your site and where those things will live on your site. 

For example, start with your main navigation: Where do your key navigation buttons lead? To your landing pages? Your blog? Your products? Your methodology? You get the idea. 

Map out direct pages from your key navigation and other hidden pages. What pages do you need to communicate your vision? This step is where you’ll want to hammer these things out.

Step #5: Sketch it out 

This is often known as wireframing your website. Get some paper, the trusty whiteboard, or your iPad pencil, and sketch out your key pages. Start with a list of all the things you want on a page. 

Make a small sketch of each of those items. Then, it’s time to prioritize the order all of these items would go in. Finally, make a final sketch of the full page now that you’ve thought it out from every angle.

Step #6: Call to Action 

Make sure you have clear calls to action throughout your website. These are often referred to as CTA’s. Don't miss having CTA's to help monetize your website as well. From every place on your site, you’ll want to help point or pull people to the next step. 

Here are a few thoughts related to call-to-action best practices to keep in mind: 

• Keep one CTA consistent per page
• Repeat CTA multiple times per page
• Make your CTA’s easy to understand (and their offer appealing)
• Make sure to have a call to action that’s making the sale and another that’s giving something away to let them get to know you better.  

Step #7: Design Your Site 

Now, it’s time to begin building your website…told you we would get back to this! Happened sooner than you thought, right! 

With this step, here are a few things to keep in mind: 

• Learn how to use your website builder software
• Consider hiring a professional designer
• Leverage tools like page templates and Unsplash images
• Leverage the work you did in your wireframes (just bring it to life now on your actual website)

Step #8: Launch your Site 

With these steps completed, it’s time to launch your site. Yes, it’s time. You won’t feel ready. That feeling means it’s time to launch! : ) It’s a simple click of a button but it sure might feel like a lot more. 

Here’s the thing: launch your page (even if you still have things you want to do)—it’s best to simply get your site out there. Remember, you can always improve your site. But, you have to launch it first! 

Ask for feedback and testing from a few people after you’ve launched. This is another step that should happen continually. But, it’s good to gauge what others think at this step. Of course, you’ll want to carefully review your site and look for typos, broken links, bad images, and so on. But, at this step, you’ve looked at your site for so long, it’ll help to have new eyes review it for these errors. 

Step #9: Track Engagement 

Now that your site is live, let’s track engagement for how people are using the site. Now, you don’t have to freak out at this step. Don’t overcomplicate it. 

The simplest tool for tracking visitors is Google Analytics. With a few steps, you can embed tracking on your site and start capturing a few key things like:

• How much time people are on your site
• Most and least popular pages
• Where people are dropping off your site

In a short time, you can be creating content that Google will start ranking you for. You got this!

Step #10: Rules of Engagement 

There are a few rules of engagement to keep in mind when it comes to creating a website and getting more followers. Here are just a few to add to your checklist: 

• Repeat your Call to Action often
• Focus on what the person needs (and not what you want to tell them)
• Focus on a single message per page
• Make certain site works well on a desktop and mobile

If you do all of these steps and make time to review and improve these items, you’re well on your way to not only have created a website but owning a website that is helpful and thriving—fulfilling its intended goals. 

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.

Maybe you’ve heard about the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to launching membership sites. I want to talk about the things people forget about when it comes to launching a membership site. 

In many cases, we skip right through all of the work that goes into launching a membership site. These are the things folks often forget. The things that make membership sites successful. Hear that? I said “successful”. I didn’t say easy. Doing all of these things won’t be easy. But, doing them will set you up for success. 

Here are 10 things people forget about launching a membership site:

#1 Forgetting to have a plan.

Most people I talk with about membership sites start at the wrong place. They buy domains and spend all kinds of money. Listen, don’t start working on building out your site. If you are doing that now—stop! 

Where should you start? Whatever type of community leader you're looking to be online, start with pen and paper and design your plan. You must start with a plan before you make too many other steps. What should be part of your plan? I’m glad you asked. In creating a plan for your membership site, think through and list out your goals, your audience—who you’ll want to attract to your site, revenue structure, messaging, onboarding, and so on.

#2 Forgetting to clarify membership offerings.

Here’s what I often see: people are in love with what they do. Great, it’s your passion. I appreciate that. But, we often get too cute. Don’t make things too cute. People won’t understand.

For example, title your membership tiers as something people would identify themselves and not something that you understand for backend office terminology. I see this way too much. Err on the side of descriptive when you can’t decide. Be LESS creative if you need to! 

Also, be sure, somewhere on your site, show a list of everything they get for that membership tier. Use a bulleted list if you have to. But, be clear and take time to clarify your offer to followers. 

#3 Forgetting to welcome followers well.

Once you have a customer, it’s easy to think you’re done. But, you can’t think this way. Getting a customer is just the start! Seriously, just go ahead and assume buyers' remorse and your great effort to combat that remorse. 

Want to know a few things worth remembering once someone becomes a paying customer? Welcome the new customer quickly to say thanks for joining. You’d be amazed at how often communication stops for customers. Show your new customer right away the value and the next steps they should take. Try and focus on two or three key next steps. Don’t overcomplicate this process. Make it as simple as possible for your buyer. Remember, they are new and they don’t know their way around yet. It’s your job to teach them and order their steps so they get the most from your site. This is a great way to get more followers on your site.

#4 Forgetting to explain the value of the membership. 

Here’s what I mean by this: tell folks what they get when they sign up! Create a list to show people the value of your membership. Spell everything out! Make a dedicated page to explain the value of membership. Too many details are a good thing here. 

Protip: add member testimonials. Make them short and sweet. But, show them on your site! This step is one many people often forget. You can’t forget it. Do it!

#5 Forgetting to share testimonials from members. 

Now that I mentioned testimonials. This, if remembered, is often done incorrectly. Be sure you capture testimonies from people in your community. I know, that should be standard. You’d be surprised! Here’s what you need to remember: show the testimony with a photo to make it more personal and real. 

Use testimonies both for selling memberships but also for reinforcing the purchase people have made. Recall step three of this list—or have you already forgotten?! 

#6 Forgetting to make it simple. 

I can’t stress this enough. Make the process simple. Direct visitors to the “Join Now” button all over your site and in your navigation. Yes, it’ll feel salesy. But, it’s not. It’s helpful for interested visitors. It's literally how you can make money with your site. They need to know where to go to join. Also, try not to ask too many questions when inviting them in to join. We want this to be a simple process. Protip: Make sure you’ve walked through the process yourself with a different email. Test. Test. Test.  

#7 Forgetting to repeat the offer often.

Make the offer early and often. Make it look consistent through your website and emails. Don’t assume people see or catch the idea the first time around. It’s said you need to see something or hear something seven times before it sinks in. Let that sink in!

#8 Forgetting to offer gifting options.

If your site is done well. Customers will want to give it to others as a gift. Plan for that! Allow people to give membership to your community as a gift. Make sure your members know they can gift it to others. Run promotional campaigns to customers at key times of the year about your gifting options. 

#9 Forgetting to pick the right platform.

The right platform is the one that fits your needs. Choose the online membership management software that can help manage and automate as much of the steps in the post as possible. Consider all the things you want to offer your members when selecting a platform. Make a list. It’s much easier to have it all in one place. For example, member content, courses, events, groups, email automation, you get the idea. Keep the list of your priorities handy. 

#10 Forgetting to launch with a marketing campaign.

Launch a marketing campaign around your membership. Plan to run that campaign more than once, think of doing it seasonally. You’ll be tired of hearing your campaign before others are tired of hearing it—hopefully! Consider what’s new. You’re working on your site all of the time. Get everyone excited about what’s new in your membership offering for your next campaign. 

Bonus: Forgetting to make a checklist. You have to have a checklist. Or, you’ll get lost on the newest, most expensive platform with all of the promises. We have you covered here. Grab your pre-launch checklist. Happy launching!

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.

Event management isn’t easy. Event management software can be even more difficult to grasp. Things change so much and so often. I want to give you a look behind the curtain of event management software for this post. 

When it comes to event management and software, there are seven secrets I want you to be aware of. I think knowing these seven secrets will give you the advantage you need to thrive with your ministry or business. 

7 secrets behind the curtain of event management software 

Secret #1: Ask the right questions. 

You no doubt have lots of questions when it comes to event management and software. Let I talked about recently when it comes to online membership management software, asking the right questions for you and your ministry or business is important. Asking the right questions early and often can set you on the right course for success—and have you not get on the wrong track to start with!

Here are just a few questions you should be asking:

• What do I need my event software to do most?

• What experience do I want an event attendee to have?

• Who all is involved in my event—from attendee to manager to post-event?

• What is each person (or group) at my event looking for?

• How is my event different from other events?

• What tools do I need for my exhibitors?

• What tools do I need for my speakers?

Secret #2: Know the features that matter to you. 

With so many unique features to look for, what should you look for and what features are the things you might consider as part of your event strategy? 

I have a few ideas of some features that are both important and what features that might matter to you: 

• Turning event attendees into members (memberships)

• Keeping them engaged after the event in a group

• Ability to recommend content, exhibitors, and other attendees to participants

Secret #3: Know the tools that get the job done.

There are so many tools. Depending on which software you’re using, it’s tough to know what’s most important. Here are a few tools I’d consider to be core event module tools that are worth your time to review:

• Analytics and Reporting

• Financial Management

• Attendee Registrations

• Exhibitor Registrations

• Speaker Management

• Volunteer Management

• Email and Communication

• Live or Virtual Facilitation

Secret #4 It’s about your attendee's experience.

From the start of marketing your event, through the actual event, and on to post-event experience for your attendees, there are many things that are a must for your attendees when it comes to the event experience. 

It’s important you know what type of experience you’re hoping to deliver to your attendees. Here’s teh way to frame your attendee’s experience. I think of the experience in three stages: 

1. Preparing people well before the event

2. Creating a great live/virtual experience

3. Following up well after the event

Secret #5 Have the bigger picture in mind.

This is big! Is what you’re planning just an event or are you inviting people into more? I asked this to a 20,000 person event a few years back—one that has a global legacy—and they said they were simply an event and not a movement. Sadly, I think most events think the same way.  

But if your event is leaving a lasting impression and building a tribe then you certainly might have a movement on your hands. It’s all a matter of perspective. Is your event only about getting the most people to attend that you can? Is an event a one-and-done experience for people or some obligation or is your event a stepping stone to what’s next? Challenge yourself to consider shaping your events for the purpose of creating a movement. What do you have to lose?

Secret #6 Integrations are important. 

Integrating data is important. I’ve listed here a few vital questions worth your time at this state. 

What data do you need to bring over from your events to systems like CRM or automated marketing tools?

How is that data going to move from the event to the other system?

A few examples of what you might use are as follows:

• API

• Zapier

• Manual export and import

What data is actually needed? Seriously, ask yourself what you’re going to do with each and every piece of data before building any integrations. Unless the data is useful, you can get in trouble and spend lots of money and not have useful insights.

What best practices will you want to follow -- that will need integrations?

• Email automation: Create attendee drip campaigns once registered

• Contact information: Logging attendee data in your CRM system

• Text: Sending attendees text messages

• Event to CRM: Adding attendee to general marketing communications

Secret #7 Know your budget. 

I saved the best for last! Setting a budget is the best thing people forget to start with when it comes to event management software. Don’t start shopping before you have a handle on your budget. Keep that figure close in your pocket. 

Every event platform is different in how they charge, some things to consider:

1. Subscription costs - monthly, quarterly, annually -- many cases -- the longer you subscribe the lower the expense. 

2. Contract lengths

3. Per ticket charges

4. Exhibitor lead capture charges

5. Number of contacts expense

6. API charges

7. Zapier charges

So, we’ve covered a ton in this post. Did these secrets spur you to think? Trust me, if you start with asking the right questions, if you know the features that matter most to you, if you know the tools that fit your needs if you make things about your attendees' experience, if you start and keep the bigger picture in mind, if you understand the importance of integrations, and you keep your budget in front of you, you will thrive knowing you have done your due diligence when it comes to event management software. 

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.

When it comes to online membership management software, there are a lot of things to consider. Let’s look at five key things to think through. 

First, we’ll examine the key tools you might need. Second, we’ll look at how you will evaluate the software—what will be your most important features. Then, we’ll look at integrations you will use most of the time. After that, I’ll point you to thoughts on whether you can manage an all-in-one vs. cobbled together and some pros and cons. Finally, I’ll ask you to consider the sun in your ecosystem. What is “the thing” you are known for or the thing for which most of your brand should point to. Let get after it.  

Here are five (5) things to consider with online membership management software: 

#1 Examine the key tools you will need.

To start this whole process. I find it most helpful to review the key tools I love and the tools I actually use the most in my arsenal. Once you know that, you’ll be less likely to get interested in the bells and whistles of features that you won’t ever use. 

For example, these are a few of the key tools I’ve found useful in dealing with many clients: 

• Member Directory - directory of members to connect with each other

• Member Management - dive into member details and history

• Direct Messaging - means for members to engage with each other

• Member Stories - ways for members to share personal stories with a community

• Payment Processing - managing membership payments and discounts

• Access Restrictions - limiting access to membership levels

• Privacy Management - ability to set personal profile privacy and access

• Comment Management - tools to allow members to comment on content

• Discussion Boards - ongoing conversations around key topics

#2 Consider how you will evaluate the software.

When it comes to picking a member management software. Consider what features you need most? Are there features you simply can’t live without? Make sure you note these things so you don’t lose sight of them in your research.

For example, if how a membership software integrates with your other systems is a priority, write that down—and ask those questions early and often. Trust me, it will save you a ton of time in the process. You won’t waste time on things that look great—but actually aren’t a good fit for you. 

#3 Consider integrations you will use most. 

Many membership management software will say they integrate with everything. But, it's easy to jump to the next step and miss this. Integrations are helpful but there must be a balance. Your membership management software should carry a lot of the heavy lifting and already bundle a number of key features together. There likely isn’t a one-stop-shop solution for your needs but you can mitigate the number of integrated tools.

For instance, I've written before on plugin alternatives to WordPress. So, as you review this list, understand it's vital to come at this with a list of your own, much-needed integration questions.    

Here are a few of the most common integrations to consider:

1. Salesforce - moving member data into a CRM system like Salesforce 

2. WooCommerce - housing sales from product to orders is vital

3. WordPress - migration and connecting blog and website is crucial

4. ActiveCampaign - connecting member data to automated marketing systems

5. MailChimp - sync with an email management system

6. Twilio - leverage text messaging to reach out to members

#4 Consider whether you can manage an all-in-one vs. cobbled together software.

What’s your budget and what do you really want to spend your time doing? There may not be one perfect solution for your needs but you can get at this better by thinking through a few things at the start. My opinion is, try to minimize cobbling together as much as possible. 

In an ideal world, you have as few logins and connections as possible. Maybe you have a member management software, CRM and/or automated marketing, and a text notification system. Now, if that’s all you need, your budget may thank you. 

But, the more you grow your followers, the more your budget starts to grow. Each strategy has its benefits and challenges. Here’s how I find it helpful to think about it: 

• Highly cobbled allows you to have more features per individual technology but you may need an engineer to build the integration for you and there’s the chance of integrations breaking as each technology changes.

• All-in-one allows you one or fewer key platforms to manage but you may have fewer features. Here you also have fewer systems to learn, log into, update, and manage. Most people don’t use all the robust features of each platform and would prefer to reduce the stress of having a lot of things working together and those complications.  

#5 Consider the sun in your ecosystem. 

Maybe it’s been a while since your last science class. That’s okay. I’m here to help! Everything revolves around the sun. At least most people agree with that last sentence! : ) It’s no different when it comes to your community. 

Every community technology plan has some central “sun” or the thing everything else spins around. Do you know what that thing is? It might be your CRM, folks attending your events, email, blog, or memberships. If memberships are a core part of your strategy then I recommend that your membership software be the key epicenter to your strategy.

Integrating a membership site into another website or platform can cause user confusion and frustration—both for the user and for you. If this is part of your strategy, you want to create and offer a seamless, great experience for your members.

As you can no doubt see, when it comes to online membership management software, there are a ton of things to think through. These are just five things—whew! We looked at key tools you might need, how you might evaluate the software, what your most important features are, vital integrations, whether you should manage things in an all-in-one package versus cobbled together, and finally, we looked at what the sun in your ecosystem is.

Now that you have a good grasp on what you should consider in thinking through your membership software, you’re well on your way to getting more done—and faster. 

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.