Member portals can be a game changer. Simply put, a portal is a web interface requiring sign-up that can act as a central hub to access features such as self service account management and member services and benefits.
They provide all manner of new opportunities both internally and externally, and today we’ll be taking a look at four of the reasons they can make such a difference to membership organisations.
1. Access anytime, anywhere
According to the Digital Excellence (2023/24) Report, ‘inadequate online member self-service functionality’ rounds out the top 5 challenges facing membership organisations as they try to focus on their priorities of growth, retention and engagement. The easiest answer to this challenge is to get a portal.
Directly integrated into your CRM, a portal can provide 24/7 access to your services and resources, allowing self-serve account management like updating contact information and accessing invoices.
The potential time saving for your team not having to deal with such queries anymore is massive. But just as importantly, you’re actively improving the member experience. Their questions can be answered quicker and they have more visibility over your services. By giving them better access, you’re making it easier for them to engage with you at their own pace.
2. Engaging members with personalised experiences
One of the best ways to make a member feel valued is to make them feel seen by you, ensuring that you tailor their experience of your organisation. And portals help you do this. They allow you to present your news and events to your members in a dedicated interface, with the ability to customise what they see depending on membership tier. It’s easy to prioritise news stories they’ll care about or highlight exclusive member only events for them.
Equally, member portals are a great starting point for building a broader member community, and you can launch membership directories or even have dedicated committee areas within them, facilitating networking and collaboration, which can also help with reducing admin burdens to staff.
3. Simplify sign up & onboarding
With new member acquisition being the top priority over the last year, making it easy to sign up is incredibly important. If you’ve got a more involved membership application process, portals can be an invaluable tool in your arsenal. You can manage your whole application process through your portal, whether you have a simple one or a complex one requiring multiple stages and approvals.
Once members are signed up, it’s also important to stop them from feeling overwhelmed after the initial welcome email. Providing a central hub, with answers to basic questions and more information on any services you offer, can be a valuable addition to your membership package all on its own. Making a positive first impression is priceless and sets you off on a good path for future retention.
4. Improve retention and renewals
Talking of which, it’s absolutely essential to retain all those new members you’ve acquired. Portals can offer a fantastic user friendly interface to make those all important renewal payments. With options to change their existing payment method, change tier or even include potential add-ons to their membership, portals can give amazing self-serve flexibility letting your members renew immediately and easily after they get your email reminder.
Beyond this you can also set up notifications to appear within a member portal highlighting the individual member’s renewal date, giving you an additional channel to remind them.
Summary
These are but a few of the ways a membership portal could enhance your member experience and improve efficiency for your organisation. They provide a personalised interface to keep your members engaged while also reducing your administrative workload. As we get deeper into 2024, now is the perfect time to look at portals and the vital role they can play in your membership engagement plan.
CiviPlus is the all-in-one membership management platform specifically designed to be the digital backbone of all types and sizes of membership organisations at an affordable price. If you’re interested in learning more about how CiviPlus could help your membership organisation, you can find us at [email protected]
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