NACPRO – MC | Job Board

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While NACPRO always had a job board functionality on their website, they weren’t able to manage it in an efficient way. Employers were also restricted in what they could self manage. NACPRO now offers better customer service, makes money outside of dues — $3,500 to be exact — and allows its one, vital employee to have the time to focus on growth and strategy.

Staff at the National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials (NACPRO) value efficiency just like all of us; consolidating and simplifying when possible. So when Executive Director Brenda Adams-Weyant was leading her organization through the MemberClicks onboarding process to get their association management system (AMS) set up, and found out that MemberClicks also offers a job board solution, she jumped at the chance to replace a previously manual administrative process.

”We’ve always had a job function on our website,” said Adams-Weyant. “I had an online form that I would collect the information on and then would post it to the website. So basically I had a regular, blank page on our website that I would post the jobs on and update them as needed, remove them as needed. So, you know, it was not all that sophisticated, but it did the job.”

Beyond Just Doing the Job

Getting the job done was okay, but by adopting MC | Job Board, NACPRO was able to experience and offer a more streamlined system to manage a high functioning job board. Given that NACPRO aims to advance the policies that promote county and regional park and recreation issues while providing membership with opportunities to network, exchange ideas and enhance professional development, an easy-to-use job board was certainly a key to realizing that mission.

For employers wanting to pay for postings online, they now enjoy a measure of self-service that NACPRO was not able to offer previously. Plus, the overall automation of tasks is something Adams-Weyant — who is a part-time employee — states is a huge influence on how she’s able to work toward her association’s goals.

“The automation has certainly saved me time,“ she said. “A big reason for my wanting to leave my old membership software was that it was too time consuming. I’d gotten to the point where I was really tired of the numerous work-arounds inherent in the outdated system. I wanted to be able to do things more efficiently so I’d have more time for other work. And the MemberClicks platform does that.”

Aside from saving time and offering better payment options, Adams-Weyant said her favorite thing about the Job Board is how simple it is for her to create a job post that presents nicely to her audience, inspiring confidence in the process on the employers’ part, and ease of use for the job seeker.

A big reason for my wanting to leave my old membership software was that it was too time consuming. I’d gotten to the point where I was really tired of the numerous work-arounds inherent in the outdated system.

“I like how once you put your information into the job post form, it displays it in a nice, neat fashion on the job page,” she said. “It’s easy to understand, uncluttered, and makes it easy for the end user to be able to find what they’re looking for.”

One additional problem MC | Job Board solved for NACPRO was the ability for employers to pay by check without delaying their job posting. Through the disbursement of a discount code for posters, Adams-Weyant unlocks the ability for the poster to post their job immediately, and then she invoices them for the cost so they can return a check in the mail.

“My old website wasn’t able to take checks online, and many of our members are from county governments and they still use checks a lot,” she said. “I didn’t accept payment on my previous form; I had radio buttons asking them if they wanted to pay by check, purchase order, or credit card and then I had to follow up with each to collect payment. This is a lot cleaner and it certainly requires less of my time to maintain now.”

Boosting Customer Service 

Over the years, even before NACPRO implemented MC | Job Board, Adams-Weyant has found that customer service is the key to seeing steady growth in job postings year-over-year. With the MemberClicks Oasis AMS in place and integrated with their current Job Board, the ability to be more targeted when marketing open jobs has been a key feature for the organization.

I like how once you put your information into the job post form, it displays it in a nice, neat fashion on the job page. It’s easy to understand, uncluttered, and makes it easy for the end user to be able to find what they’re looking for.

In order to ensure that job posters were getting the most bang for their buck AND that job seekers within NACPRO’s membership are aware of what jobs are available, Adams-Weyant went beyond simply having jobs on their website and created a job postings group in their AMS, which she uses to send members communications highlighting open jobs.

“With MemberClicks, I decided that rather than tell everyone that they’re subscribed to the job board, that I would create a group and let people know that if they wanted to opt out, I would take them out of the group so they could stop receiving those emails,” she said.

Fewer than six people, out of a total of over 1,200 individuals, have chosen to opt out of that weekly job digest email, which to Adams-Weyant is a welcomed indication of realized value.

“It’s affirming that we’re serving our members’ needs,” she said. “I know that emails are one of the more effective ways to reach members and prospective members. They may not have time to visit the website, so I make it convenient by delivering it right to their inbox.”

Making Money Despite Changing Climate

In addition to increasing value and creating efficiency, NACPRO’s Job Board is also generating an impressive amount of non-dues revenue. In the first three months after coming on board with MemberClicks, NACPRO streamlined processes via their AMS and chose to use the integrated job board, which yielded the association over $1,500. Since the beginning of 2020, the Job Board has brought in an additional $2,000. That’s a $3,500 boost to the association’s bottom line through a product that is largely hands-off.

Of course, as we all know, 2020 has introduced some unexpected challenges. In light of COVID-19, NACPRO is seeing a slight dip in job postings; about 20% so far this year. Adams-Weyant isn’t too worried about that metric, however.

Membership (dues) and job posting revenue is more than enough to fund our operations. We have a staff of one and a relatively simple suite of member benefits, so we will weather this storm with little damage.

“This trend may continue, but I don’t think it will drop much farther because we do specialize in executive level jobs, and I would think that many county and regional park districts will fill their executive vacancies, even if their park districts are not operating at full capacity,” she said.

While planned NACPRO events had to be cancelled or postponed, causing potential strain on revenue, Adams-Weyant gives credit to the revenue generated from MC | Job Board for keeping operations going at NACPRO.

“…Membership revenue is still strong and we do not anticipate any hardships due to the current situation in the United States,” she said. “Membership (dues) and job posting revenue is more than enough to fund our operations. We have a staff of one and a relatively simple suite of member benefits, so we will weather this storm with little damage.”

Scalable Solutions for Sustained Success 

Overall, NACPRO is in a strong position to continue offering its valuable services and benefits to its members, and a steady flow of job postings is a big part of that — both from a value perspective, as well as from an operational perspective.

I really feel that consistency in the service products MemberClicks sends out is important. Consistency of your products gives people confidence in us.

Adams-Weyant, who formerly worked for an association that used MemberClicks, was thrilled that the NACPRO board accepted her recommendation to move to MemberClicks without going through a competitive process. The board understood her need for a more efficient and time effective process. Being able to achieve goals through MemberClicks products in a way that is consistent and approachable — yet scalable — is a winning combination for NACPRO.

“I really feel that consistency in the service products MemberClicks sends out is important,” she said. “Consistency of your products gives people confidence in us. In our complicated world, I strive to keep things simple and intuitive — an easy to use website without a lot of layers — and that’s easily done with the MemberClicks platform. Most of us prefer websites that are easy to navigate — it does not need to be fancy with all the trendy bells and whistles — it needs to provide the information and resources your member’s need. With MemberClicks you can start in a very simple manner and grow as your comfort with the platform increases. The capability is there to do more if you want to, but you don’t have to…just start with what you can easily manage.”

Between the Oasis AMS and MC | Job Board, NACPRO is offering better customer service, making money outside of dues, and allowing its one, vital employee to have the time to focus on growth and strategy. Not bad for a few month’s work.