“Reliable.” “Trustworthy.” “Flexible.” When we sat down with Dante Preciado, Vice President, Engagement and International Affairs at the American Society for Nutrition to hear about his experience with MC Professional, these were the words he used over and over. The American Society for Nutrition’s search for Association Management Software Although they did have an AMS already, there were several flaws with it, and Dante and the team at the American Social for Nutrition began the journey of searching for a new AMS in early 2018. “We were looking for a stable solution for our membership database. Before my time, we had invested heavily in an AMS that did everything under the sun. It did meetings, learning management, board management, committees and everything else… but it didn’t do any of it correctly. [It was] unreliable, unstable and we were spending thousands of dollars annually for programming services to make it work like we needed it to. We paid for ‘top of the line’ and it still didn’t do what we needed it to.” Finding an Association Management Software that fits your needs “We originally reviewed six AMS companies, focusing on our needs rather than their features.” This is an excellent point that Dante spoke to often in our interview; what’s the point of buying all the bells and whistles when they either don’t work, or you don’t need them? Keeping your must-have needs top of mind can help you find the best software fit for you. “We first narrowed the list to four and eventually to two. In the end, we chose MC Professional based on the sales approach and confidence of the technical staff we interviewed. We also spoke to two of their references and we found two others independently on our own. They all spoke very highly about MemberClicks, which helped strengthen our decision. “ Seeking a software partner that invested in them One of their top priorities when looking for a new AMS was to “work with a company whose core competency was in working with associations”. “With MemberClicks, it was down to earth, if somewhat more basic. If we had a check box list with 10 things, MemberClicks did 10/10. The others may have done 50 things, but only…3 of them were accurate. We’re not a business, we’re not a for-profit, we’re not a trade organization. We needed a software that worked with associations and really fit our needs. MemberClicks fit us like a glove.” What made MemberClicks stand out for the American Society for Nutrition? “As basic as it sounds, our number one need was reliability. We needed to have [software] that we trusted, [for] the quality of the system to be there. We hadn’t had that. It's a big deal when you’re dealing with not only memberships, but people's money. That aside, our biggest need was automation. We needed to be able to be automated enough that things could be done for us, that we could program ahead, such as renewal notices, notifications, welcome emails… things that we need to communicate with our members… In order to do that across 8000, it takes a lot of effort. If it’s automated, it’s much easier. The automation tools in MemberClicks are easy to use.” Their experience with MemberClicks support team “Through the years of using MemberClicks, we’ve sometimes stumped the programmers at with our needs. Amazingly enough, they’ve either come up with a solution, placed a fix on their roadmap or come up with a workaround to help us solve it…That approach of crowdsourcing is what we need… it works really well.” Having a support team behind you as you grow your organization can provide a peace of mind that can’t be measured. “It makes us very comfortable, from an administrative side, to make any changes because we have a reliable partner with software that works for what we need.” 40% membership growth since joining MemberClicks in 2018 Since moving over to MC Professional in 2018, The American Society for Nutrition has seen a 40% increase in their memberships. “We now reach members in 120 countries which is important because there are certain concerns with affordability or not being able to pay in US Dollars. And MemberClicks gives us that ability to be flexible and work with who our members are.” A flexible system that works for you “Flexibility – this is where MemberClicks has paid for itself and then some.” Dante described a unique situation that came up at the beginning of the pandemic that really highlighted how we help MemberClicks clients get what they need from their AMS. How MemberClicks helped in a moment of crisis “In 2020, the pandemic hit which forced us to move our [annual] meeting from in person to online. At that point, online registration, online meetings or hybrid meetings were unheard of or few and far between. We could have invested $20,000 – $30,000 for a platform that would allow us to run an online meeting. Instead, we were able to do this all within MemberClicks. We always charge for our meetings, but [in 2020] we ran a free meeting which grew registration from 3,500 to 30,000. We were able to collect all these contacts’ information and market to almost 27,000 people we hadn’t touched before. And we were able to convert people who came in from that free meeting and turn them into members. We also asked for donations from those who attended since we didn’t charge for the meeting and we actually ended up earning more revenue in donations than we normally would have. Without MemberClicks, if we would have paid for another software, that revenue wouldn’t have accounted for much.” This flexibility allowed us to pivot and adapt. There’s a creativity that exists in MemberClicks that we’ve enjoyed since day 1.” MemberClicks' flexibility lets it integrate with other tools MemberClicks is a Personify product. Both MC Professional and MC Trade integrate with other membership engagement tools like CommUnity, Job Board, Classroom LMS, GTR Events and the Conference App. This is great for associations who aren’t yet ready for extra features as you don’t have to pay for it if you aren’t going to use it. “It’s easy to add and integrate so you’re not paying for something you don’t really need.” When you are ready for it, our team is here to support that integration and help set your staff and members up for success. Would the American Society for Nutrition recommend MemberClicks? “Yes, we would gladly recommend the MC Professional solution to other associations. If your needs are to have a… solution for membership management, which integrates with meetings, education and other programs, MC Pro may be the right solution for them. While we realize there are many other AMS’s in the market that may have other capabilities, the price for MC Professional is right and their features [work] for our organization.”