As more and more nonprofits are focusing their fundraising efforts towards online campaigns, the versatility and functionality of donation buttons has grown.

The features required of these buttons have shifted as online fundraising has increased in popularity, but how can you know which product is right for your nonprofit’s needs?

We’ve chosen 10 of our favorite online donation buttons and explained the best features, so you can choose which donation button is right for you.

Use the navigation tool below to make finding what you need even easier.

• Double the Donation – best matching gifts donation button
• Fundly – best crowdfunding donation button for groups
• DonorBox – best recurring gifts donation button
• Snowball – best text-to-give donation button
• Bonfire – best merchandise fundraising donation button
• Qgiv – best all-in-one online donation button
• Donately – best custom donation form builder
• iDonate – best donation button for large nonprofits

If you’re ready to learn more, let’s get started!

Congrats! You’re now prepared to choose the right donation button for your nonprofit. If you’re interested in learning more about some other fundraising best practices, don’t hesitate to check out these additional resources:

• 10 Best Salesforce Apps for Nonprofits. Step up your tech game with these great apps. Take any strategy, from charity auction management to accounting and beyond, to the next level with these suggestions.
• 15+ Best Crowdfunding Websites. If you’re looking for more information on Fundly, or on any other crowdfunding websites, check out our list of favorites for more options and information.
• Online Petitions Guide. If you’re engaged in any sort of advocacy, you’re going to want to read this guide from Salsa on the 5 best tips to building your electronic petition. Don’t miss out on these smart strategies!

Did you know that 360MatchPro can be integrated into your Luminate Online pages? Check out our integration guide!

Luminate Online Marketing is a comprehensive online fundraising and marketing solution that can equip your nonprofit with the tools to better understand and engage supporters as well as enhance your online fundraising performance.

As you likely already know, Luminate can help organizations like yours do a lot.

But when you know how to maximize your Luminate experience, you’ll be able to get even more out of this expansive platform—and you’ll have the fundraising results to show for it.

In this post, we’ll walk through 5 steps to get the most out of your Luminate Online platform:

1. Start with a clear plan for using Luminate Online.
2. Clean up and migrate your data effectively.
3. Take advantage of Luminate add-ons.
4. Customize your Luminate Online platform.
5. Thoroughly train your staff on Luminate Online.

With our help, you’ll be a Luminate Online expert in no time!

1. Start with a clear plan for using Luminate Online.

Before you can get started with using Luminate, you need to know exactly what you want this software to do for your nonprofit.

Because Luminate is so multifaceted, your nonprofit must develop a plan for how the platform will support your goals specifically. This plan will not only give you a starting point for using Luminate, but it will also provide a clear direction for any customizations or integrations that you’ll require.

To devise your Luminate Online fundraising strategy, get together with your nonprofit team to answer the following questions:

• What are our fundraising goals? In addition to an overarching monetary goal, your organization should also set secondary fundraising goals for each quarter, specific campaigns, or fundraising events.
• What online fundraising tools will help us meet our goals? Do you need customizable online donation or event registration forms? What about more specific giving channels, such as eCommerce stores, peer-to-peer fundraising, or mobile giving? (Hint: you may need to integrate solutions to build your ideal platform.
• What aspects of our current strategy have worked in the past? Which need to be revisited? Generate reports on your most recent campaigns to analyze where you’ve fallen short and where you’ve exceeded expectations. Then, determine which Luminate Online features you’ll use to enhance (or refocus) your existing fundraising strategy.

If you have a general idea of your fundraising goals but aren’t sure where or how Luminate can fit in, consider seeking the help of a specialized nonprofit technology consultant.

A consulting firm with experience helping nonprofits utilize Blackbaud products (particularly Luminate) can provide the insight you need to map out a strategic plan for your new software.

Plus, your nonprofit tech consultant can help bring that plan to fruition by helping you customize, develop, and implement Luminate to meet your unique needs.

2. Clean up and migrate your data effectively.

Data is at the core of nonprofit organizations.

Think about it: without accurate, complete sets of data, it’s almost impossible to understand your supporters and design engagement and fundraising strategies that respond to their lifestyles, preferences, and goals as a part of your organization.

With that in mind, your organization should take the Luminate Online data migration process very seriously.

As you transfer constituent information from your existing fundraising software or CRM to Luminate Online, you’ll inevitably run the risk of losing or damaging data. To mitigate that risk, there are a few considerations to keep in mind prior to the data migration process:

• Work with a data migration specialist. Especially for larger organizations with massive stores of donor information, the data transfer process can be complex. By working with a nonprofit tech consultant who focuses on data migration, you’ll alleviate some of the stress associated with migrating data.
• Clean your database beforehand. Transferring messy data (such as outdated information, duplicate profiles, or lapsed donor data) will only set you up for more work going forward. You should go through your data with a fine-toothed comb before migrating any profiles to your new Luminate system.
• Establish data entry best practices. When multiple staff members are responsible for inputting data, there’s always a chance that their practices will differ, leading to a greater chance of inconsistencies and errors. Combat that by creating a well documented data entry standard and training staff on your current best practices.

When your data is neat and well organized, you’ll easily be able to use it to inform your fundraising strategies. And after all, what good is data that you can’t use?

3. Take advantage of Luminate add-ons.

Luminate Online is highly versatile on its own, but you still may find that you need more specialized online fundraising features than what the base product provides.

If that sounds like your nonprofit, you’re in luck! Luminate Online offers helpful add-ons to expand the core product and give organizations like yours exactly the tools they need for fundraising success.

If you’re a veteran Blackbaud user, you may already be familiar with these add-ons, but let’s recap what the tools can do:

• Luminate Advocacy was designed for nonprofits with grassroots fundraising initiatives in mind. With this add-on, you’ll have access to tools such as the letter-to-the-editor generator, integrated vote data, and personalized action centers for your supporters.
• TeamRaiser is Blackbaud’s powerful peer-to-peer fundraising platform. With tools to help you plan your peer-to-peer event, communicate with supporters, and personalize your fundraising pages, TeamRaiser can connect with Luminate or be used on its own.
• Luminate Content Management System offers a fully integrated web design and content manager for nonprofits using Luminate. With Luminate CMS, you’ll be able to holistically manage your web presence alongside your other online fundraising efforts.

Because these add-ons were built to work seamlessly with the Luminate Online system, you won’t have to worry about cumbersome integrations or headache-inducing data migrations. The platforms will naturally sync up to your existing Luminate platform and extend its functionality without any extra work on your end.

Bonus: Like the rest of your Luminate system, you can customize your add-ons to develop a personalized fundraising experience. Learn how to get started with TeamRaiser configurations by reading this resource from DNL OmniMedia!

4. Customize your Luminate Online platform.

Established nonprofits need unique solutions to meet their digital fundraising and marketing needs. Enter Luminate Online!

One of the greatest perks of the Luminate platform is that it can be customized to meet your organization’s needs in a truly unique way. Essentially, there are two paths through which your nonprofit can adjust your software:

• Configurations, i.e., developing a custom solution by making adjustments in the backend of Luminate Online.
• Integrations, i.e., combining your Luminate Online system with other Blackbaud solutions or third-party platforms.

You’ll likely need to implement both types of customizations to develop the most well-rounded solution.

But before you get started shopping for new software to pair with Luminate or making changes in the software, you should make sure your nonprofit can answer these important questions about how you’ll handle the customization process:

• What configurations or integrations will you implement? Common integrations include nonprofit CRMs and dedicated fundraising software, but you’ll need to assess your own organization’s specific needs to determine what customizations are most important to achieving your fundraising goals.
• Who will take the lead on customizing Luminate? For both configurations and complex integrations, you’ll need the help of either a robust IT department or an experienced nonprofit tech consultant.
• Can your budget accommodate the customizations? Not only will you need to purchase any external software you want to integrate with Luminate, but you’ll need to ensure you can afford a web developer or technology consultant to help manage the process.

Once you’ve adapted your software accordingly, your nonprofit will be left with a totally one-of-a-kind software solution that was built to meet your needs and help you achieve greater success than ever before.

5. Thoroughly train your staff on Luminate Online.

Some lightweight online fundraising solutions are easy to find your way around with little-to-no guidance; generally speaking, Luminate is not that software.

While Luminate Online is certainly user-friendly, your organization will almost definitely need some assistance when you implement the platform and begin to use it for the first time.

Look at it this way—with software that can do so much, wouldn’t you feel more comfortable knowing every member of your staff is well-versed in how to make the most of it?

Luckily, training doesn’t have to be a guessing game. There are a variety of resources at your nonprofit’s disposal to learn everything you need to know about using Luminate:

• Blackbaud training. Blackbaud offers specific training courses to help nonprofits of all skill levels understand and implement their products. By subscribing to Blackbaud Learn, your organization can gain access to on-demand training videos and online classes.
• Online community and support. For one-off questions or implementation help, you can crowdsource support through the Blackbaud community forums. Or, seek help from Blackbaud’s team of experts via their online support chat.
• Nonprofit tech consultants. If you’re in need of comprehensive training to get up and running on Luminate, your nonprofit would likely benefit from working with a nonprofit tech consultant who can train your staff on any and all areas of the Luminate system.

Without some form of training and expert counsel, your nonprofit won’t know the extent to which Luminate can impact your fundraising strategy—and you won’t be able to reap all the benefits!

Luminate Online is a powerful tool for your nonprofit (if you know how to get the most out of it).

With these tips, your team should be well-prepared to implement Luminate and propel your organization to total success. Now it’s time to start fundraising like never before!

Author Bio

Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with on-going web development projects. Together, DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals. As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues.

An association management software purchase isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly. Your nonprofit, organization, or association needs to find a solution that can provide smooth operations and a positive member experience.

One of the first ways to ensure that you’re getting the best software is to look for solutions that other associations like yours have found success with. In your search, chances are you’ve come across Aptify.

As a firmly established solution on the market, Aptify is a popular choice for association management! But before you make your decision, make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed choice.

In this post, we’re going to discuss:

1. An Aptify review, complete with history and features.
2. Common shortcomings of Aptify software.
3. Our top pick for associations looking for an alternative.

Ready to get your facts straight? Let’s jump into it!

Aptify Review

Founded in 1993, Aptify is one of the more established legacy AMS options on the market.

The solution’s main selling point is its flexibility. The way the software works is pretty simple, in theory: the entire system is built upon the Aptify Rad platform, which never changes. This platform allows your association to store and search member data, create reports, and sell merchandise online.

From there, associations can add on a total of 21 applications, including:

• CRM
• Accounting
• Committees
• Events
• Subscriptions
• eCommerce
• Fundraising

Another key feature of the Aptify AMS is its permissions. Data housed in the system is available to all administrative users, for them to create reports and use to make informed decisions from as they wish.

As you can see, Aptify provides an immensely powerful software solution! But it’s a double-edged sword.

As is often the case with such wide-ranging legacy programs, Aptify’s extensive library of complex features can lead to some significant drawbacks for users. Keep reading to see if your organization or association would run into common problems that Aptify users face!

Shortcomings of Aptify Reviewed

Overwhelmingly, Aptify users discover that while they want to take advantage of the software’s flexibility, they aren’t able to. That’s because it’s difficult to navigate the software platform without extensive IT knowledge, which many nonprofit and association administrative teams don’t have.

This difficulty extends beyond the modules that come with the Aptify AMS platform. If you encounter a need that these pre-built modules can’t meet, you’ll need to consider third-party applications.

Aptify has launched a beta version of the Aptify Marketplace, where the team has put some of their point solutions up for download. Since it’s a beta platform, not all the kinks have been worked out, including kinks in the installation process. As such, your team will still need extensive technical expertise with SQL to install these extensions on your own.

Not sure you have the capabilities to customize the Aptify platform yourself in-house or the resources to outsource this complex process? Why not consider a solution that promises no coding necessary for out-of-the-box features or third-party extensions?

Top Aptify Alternative: Fonteva

For ease of use and ease of customization, the top association management software solution on the market is Fonteva.

Fonteva is true-cloud association management software built entirely native in Salesforce, the word’s most popular, innovative, and secure cloud CRM. That means you can reach your member data anywhere, any time.

The software is highly user-friendly, with drag-and-drop reporting and configurations making it easy to customize the platform to your association’s needs through simple configuration — no knowledge of coding needed! 

Even if you discover that you need to meet a specific need with a third-party application, you don’t have to worry about messy coding and troubleshooting just to make the integration happen. Fonteva is built native in Salesforce, so any of the thousands of apps on the Salesforce AppExchange will integrate as easily as any other.

Still worried you might not be able to customize the platform exactly to your needs? Don’t worry! When you implement Fonteva, you can rest assured you have world-class support in your corner, including:

• Online documentation, including free online training videos.
• Onsite training and classroom training to fit your schedule.
• Fonteva’s full in-house, on-call customer support team.
• The online Fonteva Users Network success community (see screenshot below!).
• Salesforce documentation, user support forums, and customer support.

These resources give your association the support and confidence to get exactly what you need out of your association management software solution.

Every association’s needs will be different, so it’s worth taking the time to find the perfect solution for your association, organization, or nonprofit. The most popular solution isn’t always the best for everyone!

Thinking about other association management software vendors before making a purchasing decision? Check out these additional resources before going too much further:

• Best Membership and Association Management Software. Get your search started with the best association management software on the market! We’ve reviewed the best of the best for you.
• MemberClicks Reviews | Our Rating and Alternative Solutions. Considering MemberClicks for your membership management needs? Make sure to read our review before committing!
• iMIS Software: An Overview and Top-Performing Alternative. iMIS software might be on your shortlist. Be sure to check Fonteva’s review of the popular solution and discover their top alternative.

The search for the perfect association management software solution is a major undertaking for your association. You want to ensure your team has plenty of features at your disposal, but you also need a sleek solution that won’t bog you down or blow your budget.

When reading MemberClicks reviews, you might think you’ve found your solution and stop looking. As one of the major players in the association management space, MemberClicks offers many associations the database, communications, and events features they need.

But did you know that there are plenty of incredible association management solutions out there that might serve your association better? 

Before you make an important software purchase, make sure you actually understand what your options are. In this post, we’ll review the following association management software solutions to help you decide which providers you should reach out to in your search:

1. MemberClicks
2. Fonteva for Associations
3. Salsa
4. Doubleknot
5. MIP Fund Accounting

It might seem overwhelming right now, but choosing association management software becomes so much easier once you have a shortlist of vendors to consider. With these top providers, you can’t go wrong!

Let’s get into the reviews to guide you to the best fit for your association.

1. MemberClicks Review

MemberClicks was founded in 1998, making it one of the most established legacy AMS products still on the market. In its lifespan, the software has expanded, bringing on a diversity of features that serve as the software’s main selling point.

The associations that find the most success with MemberClicks are those with the smallest staff. This AMS provides everything a small association needs in one package, which is much easier to keep track of than a constellation of separate systems that might or might not integrate properly with one another.

The MemberClicks solution is also highly customizable. Associations using the software are able to include their branding on their website, email campaigns, applications, and events pages. Many MemberClicks members feel overwhelmed and confused at the beginning, but with time and support, they are able to adjust to the level of customization available:

Top Software Features

MemberClicks provides small associations with:

• A membership database
• Renewal and application automation
• Organizational memberships
• Email marketing
• Event registration
• Member-facing website
• Reporting, accounting and payment processing

Of course, this wealth of options comes with a downside.

A common complaint among MemberClicks customers is slow load time. With this many features packed into one locally hosted solution, it’s no wonder that MemberClicks can be clunky and slow down associations’ operations.

2. MemberClicks Alternative: Fonteva for Associations

In contrast, Fonteva for Associations is a lean, streamlined software solution that offers customization and breadth of features without slowing down essential business operations.

The speed can be attributed to true-cloud hosting. The Fonteva for Associations platform is built completely native in Salesforce, the world’s most popular cloud CRM. That’s why enterprise-level associations with members and chapters all over the world choose Fonteva instead of a locally hosted solution.

With Salesforce, your member data and operations are hosted in the cloud. That means:

• There’s no limit on your storage space like there is with legacy AMS, no matter how many profiles or events you host at once.
• Updates are pushed through the cloud without having to take your local servers offline and disrupt your operations.
• Your information is safe, since Salesforce is the most secure cloud CMS in the world.

Besides, though Fonteva for Associations comes fully equipped with the most common modules needed by large associations, you have access to the Salesforce AppExchange with your Fonteva license. Instead of cluttering your core platform with point solutions, Fonteva gives you the opportunity to browse the AppExchange and Fonteva Marketplace to complete your software package. The Fonteva User’s Network can give you some ideas of what other users have done to customize the software to their needs:

Top Software Features

Fonteva for Associations offers enterprise-level associations access to:

• True-cloud Salesforce hosting
• Member-driven communities
• Events management
• eCommerce
• Drag-and-drop reporting

The best part? You don’t need any technical coding knowledge to customize and implement any of these features.

But if you need to reach out for assistance, you can always take advantage of Fonteva’s world-class training and customer support team, as well as all the support materials Salesforce has to offer.

3. MemberClicks Alternative: Salsa

Some specific member-based associations and organizations need specialized solutions that can meet their unique needs.

If you’re a nonprofit that works in the arts and culture space, your members are your donors. You need a solution that understands constituents in both categories at once, like Salsa.

Salsa CRM, a top nonprofit CRM, integrates seamlessly with Salsa Engage, a digital marketing, fundraising, and advocacy platform that brings your association, nonprofit, or organization closer to your members.

The most important advantage Salsa’s suite of products offers to nonprofits and associations is its integrated marketing features. Without close member communication, you can’t push your campaigns forward and build a strong, sustainable member community. Salsa makes it possible to always know where you stand with your campaigns:

Top Software Features

With Salsa, you can take advantage of:

• Member profiles
• Donation tracking
• Donor communications
• Performance dashboards
• Advocacy campaigns

Whether you’re supporting your members in fundraising, advocacy, or community engagement, Salsa makes it possible to track all your supporters’ activities in one database.

Instead of importing data after an event or major campaign, let the software do the work automatically so your records are ready to inform your next campaign — marketing campaign, fundraising campaign, advocacy campaign, or otherwise!

4. MemberClicks Alternative: Doubleknot

Visitor-serving nonprofits run very different membership programs than trade associations and arts and cultural nonprofits. For museums, science centers, zoos, and aquariums, specific administrative software like Doubleknot can take care of the unique challenges faced.

One main difference between visitor-facing nonprofits like museums is the motivation behind membership. While nonprofit members may join to support a charitable cause and trade association members may join for professional networking and advancement, museum members most often join to take advantage of specific member benefits.

Whether your museum offers discounted admission, invitations to special after-hours events, or gift certificates to the gift shop, your membership management software needs to be able to prioritize the ease of providing those benefits to the proper members at any time, on any device.

Doubleknot makes museum membership programs beneficial for members and profitable for your institution. Plus, through Doubleknot museum management, your programs become even more engaging for the greater member community. Centralize all you need for museum management in member profiles:

Top Software Features

Doubleknot offers museums and science centers:

• Automatic membership benefits
• Gift memberships
• Membership cards
• Automated renewals

Arguably the most important feature on this list are automatic membership benefits.

If a museum member buys an admissions ticket, item from the gift shop, or camp registration, the system should automatically apply any appropriate discounts of special permissions.  The system should also allow nonmembers to purchase membership and take advantage of their new membership benefits in the same transaction, both online and in the gift shop.

5. MemberClicks Alternative: MIP Fund Accounting

One integral element of the association management process that you absolutely don’t want to overlook is the accounting process. Keeping your membership fees, fundraising opportunities, and expenses organized is key to a successful association. 

Associations don’t focus on making a profit, but providing effective services for their members, making their accounting needs very different than your typical for-profit business. That’s why it’s important to invest in accounting software specifically designed for associations. 

MIP Fund Accounting offers a fund accounting solution so that associations can provide financial transparency with their members and make smart financial choices.

With a completely configurable ledger, your association will be able to track funds from the time they enter the system until they’re spent on the services you provide. You can track funds based on restrictions and specialized fund groupings, making it easy to determine the next best steps for investments.

Top Software Features

MIP Fund Accounting offers the features your association needs to make smart financial decisions. For instance: 

• Multi-dimensional charts of account
• Audit trail and fraud protection
• Built-in FASB-compliant reports
• Unlimited budgets
• Human resources tools

One of the most unique features offered by MIP Fund Accounting is the ability to choose between hosting the software on-premises or in the cloud. 

You may choose to host the software in the cloud if you prefer a more modern UI, have reliable internet connectivity, have staff in multiple locations, and prefer access from anywhere at any time. Meanwhile, those who choose on-site hosting may have specific IT policies, have a primarily co-located staff, have in-house IT staff, or prefer manual control over updates.

Having this option shows that MIP Fund Accounting understands that different organizations and associations have different needs. And you can make the best decision based on where your association’s priorities lie.

Association management software solutions should make membership management easier, not harder. Choose the solution that simplifies your association’s operations, and you can’t go wrong!

If you need some more information before embarking on the software search, start with these great additional resources:

• Top Membership and Association Management Software. Need a more exhaustive list of the top membership management software solutions? Head over to our reviews of the best on the market!
• Aptify Review | Our Assessment and Software Comparison. Looking at Aptify for your association management needs? Don’t move forward without reading our review and our comparison to a top alternative.
• iMIS Software: An Overview and Top-Performing Alternative. If you’re considering iMIS for your association, don’t pass up this review by Fonteva before you make a commitment.
• Association Management Software: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide. Are you at the very beginning of the software purchasing process? Let Fonteva walk you through your software purchase with their ultimate buyer’s guide to association management software.

Supporters who make it all the way to your membership application are the superstars of your nonprofit. They care about your organization so much that they don’t want to just donate — they want to make a long-term commitment to your mission.

The last thing you want is for your membership application form to be so burdensome that it breaks that momentum. It happens more often than you might think!

To ensure that your nonprofit can bring as many members as possible on board without incident, you need to craft a membership application form that gets your constituents excited about joining, not annoyed at the effort necessary to complete the form.

Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered with these top five changes you can make to your application form to boost enrollment in your membership program:

1. Ensure easy access to your membership application.
2. Implement intuitive formatting on your membership form.
3. Include the right balance of application form fields to fill out.
4. Optimize the design of your membership application form.
5. Follow up with those who complete the membership application.

Ready to revamp your form? Pull up your nonprofit’s membership or association management software, and let’s dive in!

1. Ensure easy access to your membership application.

The most basic hurdle your potential members have to cross before they even reach your membership application is finding it. Why make it hard for them?

Depending on the type of form you’re using, you have a few options for getting it in front of the right supporters:

• Paper form: Send paper membership application forms in the mail to engaged donors, and ensure you always have some printed out at the ready at your front desk and at any events you host.
• Online form: Link to your online form in emails, on your website, on your social media profiles, on event registration pages, and on your donation page. Some web-based membership application forms even embed directly into a website or email.

Online forms are much easier for your nonprofit to process, but you might appreciate having paper forms available in some situations (e.g., at fundraising events).

A majority of your members who fill out an online form get to it through your website instead of an email or social media post. You should pay special attention to your membership application’s location on your website. It should be hosted prominently, with its own tab in your main navigation bar, a link in website footer, and a plugin on your membership program information page, like in the following example image:

Another highly effective place to include your membership form is your online checkout, especially if members in your nonprofit receive benefits such as discounts or priority registration for events. The right membership management software can integrate your membership application into the checkout process, applying any relevant benefits to the same purchase when membership is added to the cart.

Takeaway: Make sure your supporters can find your membership application without having to search for it.

2. Implement intuitive formatting on your membership form.

Once your members land on your form, the challenge becomes keeping them there.

The easier you can make your form to complete, the fewer potential members who will abandon it.

With a paper form, you should make instructions as simple and direct as possible so you don’t have to waste time sending it back or calling to follow up on improperly formatted answers. In as many cases as possible, provide a discrete set of options for applicants to choose from instead of leaving them an empty field to fill out. Checking a box leaves less room for error and wasted administrative time calling to fix the problem.

See how a paper application form formatted with boxes where possible, like the following, would leave less room for error? When your staff is inputting the information from the paper form into your membership management database, they’re less likely to need clarification from the applicant:

An online form offers many more opportunities to make application easy for your members and your administrative team. Your membership application form might be able to support some intuitive features but not others, depending on the software used to build it. If possible, though, you should try to include:

• Conditional logic. Skip pages or populate information based on answers to previous questions on the form.
• Auto-population. Fill in information automatically from a donor profile or the supporter’s browser.
• Long time-out. If your supporters have to leave the form without completing it, make sure they can pick back up later where they left off.

The trick is to collect the information you need without asking too much of your members.

Bonus! These are also great features to include in your membership renewal application. To learn more about membership renewal, head over to Doubleknot’s guide to membership renewal letters.

Takeaway: Don’t make your membership application form too hard to fill out.

3. Include the right balance of application form fields to fill out.

So what information is it you’re looking for? Since you know the value of a comprehensive member profile for future solicitations, you want to gather as much information as you can about your members from the get-go.

But if you overload your membership application form with too many fields to fill out — especially if you ask for information your members would have to look up instead of knowing off the top of their heads — supporters will simply abandon your form.

Striking the proper balance is key. Ask for enough information to inform your membership engagement strategy, but not too much to deter your supporters from completing the form.

Every nonprofit is different, but chances are, these are the only key pieces of information you actually need to start building a member profile:

• Contact details (name, mailing address, phone number, email address)
• Payment information
• Membership level
• Chapter affiliation, for larger nonprofits

See how manageable the application form below looks? It fits on one page on a standard laptop screen! With fewer fields to fill out, applicants are much less likely to abandon the process:

Don’t worry if there are other bits of information you might want to have, such as employment information or the name of who referred the new member to your membership program. You can always follow up later on and gather this information, like when it comes time for membership renewal.

Takeaway: Don’t flood your membership application with too many fields.

4. Optimize the design of your membership application form.

Now that you know which fields you need to include on your membership form, it’s time to get into the design.

There are a few best practices you should follow no matter how you’re distributing your form, whether that’s on paper or on your website:

• Brand your application to your nonprofit.
• Emphasize benefits of membership on the form itself.
• Keep your form short, no more than one printed page.
• List contact information for questions that arise.

For online membership application forms, you might want to consider other kinds of design elements. For instance, including a progress bar so supporters can see how far along they are encourages them to complete the application.

Also dedicate some time to mobile optimization. You want your members to be able to complete your form no matter how big or small their screen is.

First, ensure that your form is mobile-responsive — that is, that it will automatically resize itself when displayed on a smaller screen. This mobile view should increase the size of fonts, buttons, and input fields to make it easier to read and click with a finger instead of a cursor. You should also use as many drop-down menus as possible (e.g., state, country, membership level).

Splitting your application into multiple short pages instead of one long page, like in the example below, also helps keep mobile applicants moving through the process:

If you think you’ll need some outside help with this type of coding, reach out to a nonprofit IT consultant. It’s worth taking more time now to boost your membership program later!

Takeaway: Design your application with online and, especially, mobile views in mind.

5. Follow up with those who complete the membership application.

Your relationship with your members begins with your membership form, but it doesn’t stop there! You have to show your members that you appreciate their commitment and that your nonprofit is up to the task of managing their membership well.

An integrated membership application form sets your nonprofit up for success from the moment new members hit “submit” by:

• Sending automatic welcome emails. The right software can pull contact information from the application form and populate the email with your new member’s name and membership level.
• Populating a member profile. Especially if you provide a member directory and public milestone badges to your members, you should automatically set up a member profile for your new member and send them a link to begin personalizing it.
• Streamlining payment processing. If you wait to process membership fees, you’ll appear unprofessional to your new members. Link your application form to your chosen payment processing solution to begin the process automatically.

The most effective (and popular!) of these strategies is a welcome email, like the one below:

While your membership application form itself can’t send emails or process payments, you can integrate your application form with other features through the right software solution.

Takeaway: Make sure to follow up with your new members right away.

With these membership application form strategies under your belt, you’re ready to overhaul your application and boost participation in your program! Don’t forget to download our free membership application samples below.

For more on membership, check out these additional resources on the topic:

• Best Membership and Association Management Software. A great membership application is only the beginning of a great membership program’s operations. Make sure you support your program with the best membership and association management software!
• Doubleknot’s Membership Renewal Letters Guide. Now that you’ve worked on recruitment with your membership application form, it’s time to devote attention to retention with your membership renewal letters. Check out this ultimate guide from Doubleknot for strategies and samples of the perfect membership renewal letter!
• Doubleknot’s Member Engagement Guide. The team at Doubleknot can help keep your members in your program in more ways than one. Read up on top member engagement strategies with this essential guide for visitor-serving nonprofits like museums, zoos, and science centers!
• Fundly’s Ways to Enhance Your Membership Renewal Letter. Can’t get enough about membership renewal letters? Head on over to Fundly for examples and tips to help you craft the most effective renewal letter for your membership-based nonprofit.