For most associations, choosing an Association Management Software (AMS) is a task that’s not taken lightly. You’ll need a solution that can meet your needs both now and in the future. Because if you do your job right, your organization’s needs will grow as will your influence and contribution to your community. Here are 10 Questions modern associations need to ask before choosing an AMS: Why Do I Need an AMS? How Do I Choose? How Do I Implement? How Long Does It Take? How Can I Customize? What Can I Upload & Download? Who Sees What? Will It Grow With Me? Who Will Hold My Hand? What’s My Ongoing Relationship? 1. Why Do I Need an AMS? Imagine having all the technical functionality to manage your membership engagement at your fingertips. An AMS allows you to automate your back-end processes, including maintaining your membership database and communicating across the association, in one web-based system instead of using spreadsheets. 2. How Do I Choose? The goal of an AMS is to give you freedom from the mundane tasks. You’ll want to look at the different modules in the AMS. Membership engagement, collecting dues, renewals, conferences, event registration, continuing education, can all be managed within an AMS, the best fits depends on the size of your association. 3. How Do I Implement? Typically implementation is done in a series of phases, with the number of phases depending on the amount of modules your organization implements. Some associations choose to implement over phases, and others decide to go-live with a core set of functionality, launching after phase one and waiting to implement other modules as their organization is ready. 4. How Long Does It Take? On average, it takes three to six months depending on the features you need customized in your specific modules. The most efficient way to implement your new software is to ensure your executive team agrees on the requirements and scope of the project before implementation starts. Most AMS providers adhere to the modern model of software delivery. 5. How Can I Customize? You want to be innovative and serve your members, so your AMS should be flexible to meet your needs. If you have thousands of members renewing annually, you’ll need a system that can incorporate auto-renewals. Stop wrestling with the python of inflexible products and get ready for membership management software that was built for you. 6. What Can I Upload & Download? If you don’t already have an AMS, your provider should be able to upload all the data from your existing spreadsheets. If you have an old AMS, your new professional services team should be able to do the data migration, import it from all kinds of different systems, then QA the data to ensure it’s correct. You should be able to bulk import any record into the system and also export any amount of data out of the system. View the presentation to see the full 10 Questions your association should ask

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2. 1. Why Do I Need an AMS?
2. How Do I Choose?
3. How Do I Implement?
4. How Long Does It Take?
5. How Can I Customize?
6. What Can I Upload & Download?
7. Who Sees What?
8. Will It Grow With Me?
9. Who Will Hold My Hand?
10. What’s My Ongoing Relationship?

3. 1. Why Do I Need an AMS?
Imagine having all the technical
functionality to manage your
membership engagement at
your fingertips.
An AMS allows you to automate your
backend processes, including maintaining
your membership database and
communicating across the entire
association, in one web-based system
instead of using spreadsheets.

4. 2. How Do I Choose?
The goal of an AMS is to give you freedom from the mundane tasks.
You’ll want to look at the different modules:
• Membership engagement
• Collecting dues
• Renewals
• Conferences/event registration
• Continuing education
These can all be managed within an AMS,
the best fit depends on the size of your
association’s membership.

5. 3. How Do I Implement
Typically implementation is done
in a series of phases, with the
number of phases depending on
the amount of modules your
organization implements.
Some associations choose to implement
over phases, and others decide to go-live
with a core set of functionality, launching
after phase one and waiting to implement
other modules as their organization is ready.

6. 4. How Long Does It Take?
On average, it takes three to
six months depending on the
features you need customized
in your specific modules.
The most efficient way to implement your
new software is to ensure your executive
team agrees on the requirements and
scope of the project before implementation
starts. Most AMS providers adhere to the
modern model of software delivery.

7. 5. How Can I Customize?
You want to be innovative and
serve your members, so your
AMS should be flexible to meet
your needs.
If you have thousands of members renewing
annually, you’ll need a system that can
incorporate auto-renewals. Stop wrestling
with the python of inflexible products and get
ready for membership management software
that was built for you.

8. 6. What Can I Upload & Download?
If you don’t already have an
AMS, your provider should be
able to upload all the data from
your existing spreadsheets.
If you have an old AMS, your new
professional services team should be able
to do the data migration, import it from all
kinds of different systems, then QA the
data to ensure it’s correct. You should be
able to bulk import any record into the
system and also export any amount of
data out of the system.

9. 7. Who Sees What?
Since your AMS runs in the cloud,
providing a service to multiple levels
of your association on one platform,
you can set permissions for what your
members, staff, or officers can access.
For example, what your members see on your
website to register for an event should seamlessly
integrate with your internal back-end system used
to set up the event registration.

10. 8. Will It Grow With Me?
You’ll want to find an AMS
provider whose software can
scale as your association grows.
Use software that was made with you in
mind. Find a modern solution that gives
you the flexibility you need to serve your
membership this year and in the years to
come.

11. 9. Who Will Hold My Hand?
Modern technology companies
call their client services team
“Customer Success” for a
good reason.
From implementation to support, the
AMS you implement has to be
successful. Your members will
acknowledge how slick your new
software is, plus your staff will be
able to operate more efficiently.

12. 10. What’s My Ongoing Relationship?
After you’re up and running on your
AMS, you shouldn’t be left alone.
Your Customer Success Manager will check in
with you regularly, providing technology support
and additional training.
When it comes time to renew your AMS
subscription, you’ll have a chance to upgrade
your technology to fit the new requirements of
your association.

13. In Conclusion – How Did You Answer?
Do you have an AMS which answers all
of these questions, or is there an
essential piece that’s missing?
MemberSuite’s AMS comes equipped with dozens of
modules, a fully-customizable platform, and a
dedicated professional services team who can
provide your association with techonology for the
future. MemberSuite is changing the way modern
associations do business.
Request a demo of our technology today at
www.MemberSuite.com