Running a nonprofit takes a lot of work. And when it’s a nonprofit with members involved, it can be a real challenge to keep track of everyone, not to mention creating an amazing experience for them that will keep them coming back.
That’s where software can help. The right membership software can help you manage your member experience, keep your members engaged, create vibrant membership communities, and run virtual events.
In this article, we’re going to introduce you to some of the best membership software for nonprofits. Each of these has a different focus and different set of features, but using one – or even a couple – of these could radically transform the way you reach and serve your members.
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1. Mighty Networks
Ranked #1 Best Community Management Software by G2
Mighty Networks is a powerful, all-in-one cultural software platform that brings together content, courses, community, and commerce.
Mighty offers flexible Spaces that bring features like forums, courses with pre-recorded or live teaching, live events, live streaming, custom course communities, messaging all members, a ton of content options, plus Q&As.
Mighty Networks is an all-in-one membership community platform and is a comprehensive membership software for nonprofits. Plus, it has a full set of member management tools including fees and bundles, tracking members near you, full member profiles, and detailed analytics.
Let’s break these things down a bit.
First of all, the live events feature in Mighty Networks is completely built-in. You can create events, add details and descriptions, and collect RSVPs. The chat is also built-in to each event space, you can add discussions and polls & questions before, during, and after an event. As we mentioned above, every Mighty Network has native live streaming which is an awesome tool for events. But if you prefer Zoom, it also has one-click Zoom scheduling through a built-in Zoom integration.
If your nonprofit has a mandate to educate, the built-in course platform (LMS) on Mighty Networks is versatile and powerful. It lets you run a live format, cohort course (synchronous). Or, you can use it to build beautiful, pre-recorded courses. With the subgroup features, you can divide your members up into different chapters, regions, by interest, or any other category you want. Each subgroup comes with all the features of the main network, including the community space, 1:1 and all-member chat, dedicated live streaming, and events.
You can customize and host your Mighty Network under your own personal brand, creating your own visual style for your community. And every single Mighty Networks plan comes with an app – the Mighty Networks app. You can find it under the Mighty Networks brand in the App Store or Google Play Store.
If you want a totally custom, premium, white-label app we also do that! With Mighty Pro, we build branded, membership community apps for nonprofits. This is an app that lives completely under YOUR brand in the App Store or Google Play Store.
Basically, you bring the idea and we’ll work with you to create a totally custom app of your choice – you do the dreaming, we’ll do the building. We’ve built branded apps for TED, Fortune, Lifebook, and the University of Cambridge. It’s a great solution for a nonprofit. If you want to see what we could build together with Mighty Pro, schedule a call with us.
Otherwise, you can try Mighty Networks free for 14 days, no credit card needed.
2. Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot is another one of the best membership software for nonprofits. Built to run alumni communities, Wild Apricot works for different types of nonprofits too. It gives you membership management software that lets you build web and landing pages with a simple drag-and-drop page-builder. You can choose from pre-built themes or start your own, adding your own branding to the membership platform. Wild Apricot’s landing pages are also mobile-friendly.
With features like membership applications, automated renewals, and a membership directory so that your members can find each other, it’s a good membership management option for nonprofits. One of the neat features of Wild Apricot is the fact that you can use it to create independent spaces for local associations or regional chapters. So, if you’re a big nonprofit with subgroups or local meetings in different places around the country, each can create its own site and also manage its own membership roster.
Wild Apricot is fairly limited for virtual events, with no real integrations for video meetings (they recommend posting a Zoom link into the event notification). It’s missing features like live streaming, and even the event scheduling system feels clunky.
Wild Apricot is much stronger for in-person events, where it gives you the ability to have members check-in, print badges, and register in advance for the event.
Wild Apricot is good in member management features, but weak in community and event features. The fact that it’s built for nonprofit membership management earns it a spot on this list, but compared to other community management options it only ranks 20th easiest to use by the software review platform G2. It would be best for someone who just wants a page builder and membership tracking software.
3. Hivebrite
Hivebrite is a membership software that can work well for nonprofits. It was designed for alumni management, but they’ve evolved their market to address most types of communities, including nonprofits.
It has a built-in CRM that works for tracking membership and donors, and it integrates with native email software so that you can run campaigns, promote events and special offers, and reach your members. Members can find each other too, which can work well for both virtual and in-person networking.
Hivebrite has a built-in community too that functions as a discussion board where members can come together for conversations. It also has messaging functions. The CRM integrates well with the community, responding to triggers there. So, for example, it can send annual reminders for people to renew their membership or welcome new members via their inbox.
Like Wild Apricot, the thing Hivebrite is missing is event software. It’s missing native video and live streaming, and to run a virtual event your only real option is to link out to other platforms like Zoom or YouTube. So HiveBrite would be best for someone who wants a good CRM with a built-in forum but doesn’t need much in terms of events or content.
4. Join it
Join it is a membership software that can work well for nonprofits in helping them automate processes. While others on this list take a community and forum-based approach to bringing members together, Join It works primarily for simplifying the management of membership at the admin level. This means that you can do things like categorizing, sorting, automating renewals, and managing payments and cancellations. You can also download membership analytics.
As a membership software, most of the Join It features aren’t customer-facing. It’s primarily a membership database software that lets you collect money, organize, and email your members. So, if you’re looking for membership software for nonprofits that’s exclusively for tracking and tidying up a list of your members or supporters, it’s a good option.
5. MemberLeap
Finally, let’s talk about MemberLeap. MemberLeap is another membership software for nonprofits that gives you the tools to manage members and plan events.
For member management, you can run your membership database, and handle automated billing and renewal. It comes with a CRM for tracking interactions with members. And, it gives you the possibility of bringing regional membership data into a national database – you can sync between chapters. You can send emails and newsletters from the broadcast tool, and even add text messages. And, though it’s missing most community features, it does let you add a message board.
As far as events go, MemberLeap lets you handle event registration, add virtual events and a Zoom interface, you can add virtual exhibit booths, and manage CFPs. Although MemberLeap does have an app, it’s limited, primarily working for a live event and allowing members to access their itineraries.
Ready to start?
If you’re ready to start managing your members, create a beautiful space they’ll love, and bring them together for conversations and live events, come try Mighty Networks! It’s a powerful, all-in-one membership software that Hosts love.
You can try it free for 14 days – no credit card required.
