(a) When does my free period begin?
Your free period begins the instant you click the "Get Started" button and runs for 30 days from that date. Your initial copy
of Membee will contain some sample data so you can play with it while you’re preparing
your data for its initial import into Membee.
(b) Data Import Consult with a Dedicated Implementation
Specialist
Bringing your data into Membee from your existing system is an important part of
your Membee implementation. We've got resources including a real live human (details
below) in place to help you. Membee's data import process is designed to insure
that your data is laid out in a manner that guarantees Membee will work reliably.
Fancy features aren't worth a "hill of beans" if you can't rely on your data.
There is no restriction on the number of rows of data you can bring in. Member,
non-member, it doesn't matter to us. Membee's data import process requires your
data be laid out in a single Excel spreadsheet which meets a few requirements. We are
here to help in this process, so we make some great resources available to you which
are the helpful byproduct of having assisted a few hundred organizations bring their
data into Membee.
First, there is Membee's Data Import Guide which details how you arrange
your data in an Excel spreadsheet in preparation for its initial import into Membee.
In the Data Import Guide, we provide an Excel Workbook for download that actually
uses a macro to walk you through the steps of preparing your data for its initial
import into Membee.
Second, we're helping a couple organizations a week get their data ready to come
into Membee so we've got some experience to share. During your 1-hour data import
consult, we can make suggestions on how to organize your data in that spreadsheet
to turn on some features in Membee to make it even more effective for you right
from the outset. You are assigned an implementation coordinator who is your dedicated
contact about anything related to your Membee implementation throughout the "free
subscription" period. While we allocate 1 hour for data import consultation, your
implementation coordinator is there to answer any and all your questions. Just click
the "Support" link in Membee and ask away!
Once your data is ready for import, just click “Support” in Membee to let your implementation
coordinator know that your data is ready. By the way, when we import your data,
we'll do it as many times as necessary (as many as 3 times) to get it just the way
you want it. It is not unusual to want to make some changes to your spreadsheet
once you see your data in Membee. Just make the changes and we’ll bring it in again.
The goal is to get it right!
(c) 1-Hour Follow-up Consults
Membee is powerful and has a ton of features and while this is great, your organization
is often going to want to discuss internally how to best take advantage of some
of these features. For example, deciding to launch the Member Profile on your site
so members can update their own information for your approval is often a no brainer.
Deciding which fields to expose to the member, which fields to designate as mandatory
or need custom "help" message, and how to communicate this new feature to membership
may take some time and may not be something you decide on when you're launching
Membee.
That's where this 60 days in 1-hour consult is invaluable. With a senior Membee
Implementation Specialist by your side, you can launch any Membee feature inside
one of these 1-hour consults. This takes the pressure off you and your staff at
the time you implement Membee knowing that you can use these consults to launch
your highest priority Membee features if you don't get to them during the initial
implementation.
Using the consult for a general "Q&A" session is also great way to go since they
let pick the brain of the Membee implementation expert so you are getting the most
of Membee while moving your efficiency and levels of member service to new levels.
We'll take care of contacting you to schedule each of the four consults on a date
and time that works best for you. So we invest our time helping organizations get
the most out Membee and not "coordinating", once a consult is booked, we can't reschedule
it and if it's missed, it's lost so use them!
(d) Member Feature Setup - Ready for Your Website
No matter what content management system (CMS) or platform your organization's website
is developed upon, you can easily launch Membee's feature-rich lineup of member-facing
features on your website. All you or your website developer need to do is create
a new page on your site and paste the appropriate Membee feature widget onto the
page when you decide to launch the feature.
For example, if you want members to update their own information on your site, you
would create a new page on your site called "profile" (or whatever) and in your
copy of Membee, configure the member Profile widget so you may then paste the two
lines of code from Membee into the new “profile” page you created on your site.
Poof! You've launched the Member Profile feature on your site.
Thanks to Membee's superior design, you can change the settings of the feature at
any time without having to re-embed the feature in your site. For example, maybe
you want to expose another field to the membership in the member Profile, just activate
that field in Profile widget in Membee, hit save, and the next member to access
their profile on your site will see the new field.
The easy to follow notes in Membee’s “Help From the Hive” knowledge base takes through
process of any one step at a time.
What Membee widgets can I launch on my site? Good question. Here's the list with
brief explanations:
- Member Directories - either private (members only) or
public
- Event Display & Registration - full event descriptions
and registration with online payment capability
- eBilling - let the members pay their membership renewal
invoice with online payment capability
- Member Profile - field-by-field control over which fields
the member can update and you approve their changes
- New Member Sign-Up - automated member signup process
with online payment capability
- Feeds - completely CSS - ready automated lists for your
site that include automatic Tweet capability
- Upcoming Events Feed - visitors click through to the event's details and registration
- New Members Feed - visitors click through to the member's directory listing or website
- Member Special Offers Feed - visitor clicks through to the member's directory listing
containing the offer
- Sponsored Listing Feed - visitor clicks through to the member's directory listing
if it is designated as a "sponsored" listing
- Featured Listing Feed - visitor clicks through to the member's directory listing
if it is designated as a "featured" listing
- Member Login - control access to site content for all
members and/or specific groups of members with full social network login capability
(Depending on your site, your web developer may need to make some minor changes
to your site)
Training Options - Getting Up to Speed Your Way
Below you will find an unmatched lineup of Membee training options no matter your learning style or budget:
- FREE! "Help From the Hive" knowledge base: Everything a membership professional needs to learn Membee and implement all of its features is just a click away in this constantly updated knowledge base. In the knowledge base you'll find dozens of detailed step-by-step articles and 100+ movies (6+ hours of video) to step you visually through nearly everything Membee does.
- FREE! Mastering the basics webinar series: This series of 8 one-hour webinars is designed for new users and covers the basics in all of Membee's feature areas.
- Inexpensive advanced webinar series: With a different lineup each month, these advanced webinars focus the additional ways Membee can create more non-dues income and cut costs for your organization.
- One-on-one consulting customized to your training needs: If your time is tight and you need to get up to speed at faster pace then spending some “one-on-one” time with one of our expert Membee staff consultants/trainers is the way to go. We offer two-hour training sessions in 10 different areas as the starting point for your custom Membee training agenda. A bundle of 4 X 2-hour sessions that you can bank for future use is available at a discounted price.
Click here for all the details for all of your Membee user training options.
Implementation & Subscription FAQs
How do I determine the # of users I need?
Generally, you don't need a user subscription for each staff member. We do need to know who each user is (their email address specifically) since Membee notifies users frequently with importance information, marks a note-to-file as entered by a specific user, etc. So, think about the number of staff who need these types of capabilities.
Do my members need a subscription?
No! Members visiting your site looking to register for an event at member rates, update their member profile, or even access "members only" content on your site don't need a subscription.
Can I increase or reduce the # of subscribed users?
Yes, at any time simply by clicking on the "Support" tab in Membee. The changes are applied to the next upcoming quarter.
Billing Method
We charge your credit card for ongoing admin user subscription fees. We accept VISA and Master Card. We'll contact you to gather your credit card information after you start the sign-up process by clicking the "Get Started!" button above. Please note that your credit card information is fully secured by our payment gateway provider, Authorize.net.
Billing Frequency
Even though your admin users' subscription to Membee is monthly, to reduce everyone's administrative overhead, we transact once per quarter charging your card on the first day of the upcoming quarter's subscription for your number of admin users.
What if I need a paper invoice?
We can set that up for you but there is a difference in cost to administrate. To figure out your monthly subscription cost, just choose the number of admin users times the $55/admin user/month and add 10% to that amount - 5% to us for administration cost and 5% to our annual contribution to the Pollinator Partnership. You will receive your quarterly invoice in advance for the upcoming quarter via email. You then have the option to pay it online (yup, we use Membee's eBilling functionality ourselves) or you can send us a check.
Try Before We Buy?
You bet! Just click on the "Get Started" button above and complete the information form and we'll setup a copy of Membee for you right away which will include a some detailed sample data to play with. You get the chance to play with Membee's features minus the boring task of entering some "play" data. This is a full copy of Membee including access to Membee's top notch customer service team. When you decide to implement Membee, all of the sample data in your trial version is overwritten with your real data. To get going on your Membee implementation for real, just let Customer Service know by clicking the Support link on any page in Membee. We'll get right back to you with assistance to import your existing member data.
Cancellation
You can cancel at any time. Every bit (data bit that is) of your data belongs to you and is returned to you in XML format upon cancellation. All we need is 30 days notice so that we can make the transition as smooth as possible for you.
Subscription Agreement
For all the details on things like how we guarantee Membee's up time and leave no doubt that your own you data, check out the Membee Subscription Agreement.