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The Ultimate Guide To Start An Online Coaching Business
Since the pandemic has turned our lives upside down and changed everything, we have all been moving to online spaces to connect with each other and grow. One of the most popular forms of online connection has been online coaching platforms. Regardless of time and space, you can educate your audience and help them reach their goals with the right software. And if you’re one of these people that want to start up your platform, monetize it, and help others, you’re in the right place to start!

In this article, we have listed important things you should know about, from what an online coaching platform is, to the features and the benefits it brings to your business. Then, we move on to your options, the best online coaching platforms on the market with their pros and cons, so that you can make the right decision for you. Make sure to keep reading to learn more!

What is online coaching?

Online coaching often refers to helping and guiding someone for physical practice routines. It usually consists of fitness, yoga, cross-training, or other types of sports. It could also be nutrition coaching, as in regulating someone’s diet so that they live healthier and reach their goal weight.

You can also regularly go to the gym and connect with your online coach to talk about your process. There are popular online coaching platforms out there that people join internationally, and keep in touch with their trainers online. After all, the pandemic has shown us that you don’t need to be next to someone to learn from them.

While it is rarer, there are also other types of coaching, for important exams or deadlines. An academic coach will help you keep up with your goals and help you manage your limited time so that you can reach your goals.

And of course, online coaching through emails and SMS is tedious, to say the least. While you can use a lot of programs to reach out to your students, it will be difficult to keep track of different tasks, various students, incoming payments, and so on, since each would be managed from a different program. This is where online coaching platforms shine, which we will be talking about in the next paragraphs.

What is an online coaching platform? What features should you look for?

Online coaching software is basically an all-in-one platform where you can manage everything you need easily and quickly. Rather than sending emails from one software, collecting payments from another, and hosting classes from yet another platform; you can use online coaching software to take care of it all.

Here are some online coaching software features that you absolutely need to get started:
- The ability to send mass emails and SMS messages
- Calendar feature for scheduling, for example, Google Calendar integration
- Collecting online payments, can be recurring or one-time fees
- Contracts, ie. “Terms of Use” that you share upon application
- Event organization, either one-on-one or for groups
- Ability to host these events online, and also share other recorded or written content
Other Features That Will Help Your Journey:

Here are some other features that you might not think of at first. However, they will empower your business and help you reach your full potential:
- Discussion forums so that your members can talk and connect with each other
- Integration with iOS or Google Health apps
- A mobile application, so that your members can reach out to you on the run
- Membership tiers for seasoned members or those who try out different types of plans
- The ability to create special and locked posts for different tiers
- Collecting data so that you know where your customers come from and what they enjoy
- Google Analytics and Google Ads integration so that you can continue growing
10 Types of Coaching Business

Instead of being general life, health, career, and financial coach, people now specialize in particular areas of online coaching business.

The following are a few of the most popular coaching model types:

Life Coaching

A life coach is a someone who physically helps you overcome any and all barriers that stand in the way of attaining your goals in life (often, even helping you identify what those goals could be!). A life coach works with you on all aspects of your life, including your profession, relationships, finances, etc., to help you find more purpose in each day. Being a life coach might be the finest thing you can do to assist the many individuals in today’s world who are trying to change their lives.

Meditation Coaching

It offers a welcoming and secure place where you may practice meditation. Since most of us are not accustomed to silence and stillness, beginning a meditation practice can be difficult. Additionally, it might be frightening to practice stillness when there is so much noise around. Here’s where your meditation coach comes in to provide you all the encouragement and direction you need to develop a fruitful meditation routine.

Career Coaching

This particular branch of coaching aids individuals in picking a professional path. These are skilled coaches that can help you every step of the way, from helping you locate the job you want to giving you the tools you need to ace the interview.

Relationships Coaching

The focus of this type of coaching practice is on getting to know and work with individuals. Some of the skills these coaches excel in include assisting clients in finding partners, forming new relationships, or just helping them better comprehend the people in their life.

Whether it’s a sexual connection, another type of personal interaction, a family tie, or a relationship at work, a relationship coach may help you strengthen or maintain your relationships in life. It is not just applicable to romantic partnerships.

Business Coaching

A business coach helps entrepreneurs define their company’s aims and objectives and helps them create realistic targets. Because it keeps the business owner responsible, business coaching is successful.

This group of trainers has everything working professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners need. Due to the fact that the majority of these coaches have some past experience in their areas of specialization, they are more sensitive to the demands of their customers.

Debt Management Coaching

A person with knowledge of consumer law, banking, and credit is a debt management coach. They assist you in managing your debt, whether it relates to credit cards or a mortgage. On your part, they will also bargain with your creditors. They’ll also advise you on which debts are the most pressing and should be paid off first. These instructors occasionally offer guidance on the best course of action to follow moving forward.

Health and fitness Coaching

These coaches take care of practically every aspect of your health and wellbeing, from helping you develop healthy habits to assisting you in reaching your physical objectives.

A fitness coach is someone who works with you to meet your objectives, no matter what they may be. Many people have a desire of improving their health and fitness, and they believe that examples of this include reducing weight and toning up. A competent coach has a wealth of experience working out, reading people’s brains, and guiding people. This allows them to know what their athletes are capable of before even beginning them on a difficult exercise program.

Transformational Coaching

Life coaching and transformational coaching are both forms of coaching. A transformational coach, on the other hand, concentrates on assisting clients in altering their perspectives about themselves.

Life, career, business, leadership, and other areas may all benefit from transformational coaching. A coach’s job is to aid their client in enhancing personal growth, performance, and development.

Birth Coaching

A birth coach is someone who supports a woman in achieving her objectives for the birthing process. They accomplish this by offering each woman the specific assistance she needs in terms of physical, emotional, and informational requirements. Birth specialists are aware that a mother’s delivery is a significant moment in her life each time. They support women in feeling more assured about what they need and desire throughout labor and delivery.

Mental Health Coaching

This specialized group of trainers is expanding quickly due to rising mental health awareness. These coaches assist their clients in regaining, maintaining, and improving their mental health by using a variety of tools and strategies.

Your intended objective for your mental well-being is guided, empowered, and motivated by a mental health coach. They use behavioral and cognitive strategies to do this. A mental health coach may be your support system and assist you in getting outcomes that last when you have specific identified illnesses. It is crucial to have good mental health, and mental health is just the person you need for that.

7 benefits of online coaching

The benefits of online coaching are numerous. Now, let’s discuss a couple of them.

Access to data and simplicity of feedback

Participants and coaches may quickly and simply record notes and feedback on a secure platform using virtual platforms. Managers and coachees can obtain individualized summaries of their development, aptitudes, dispositions, and areas for improvement. It’s simpler to keep an eye on one’s progress, seek out assistance, and even swap instructors if necessary.

Enhanced location convenience

Locational independence is a fantastic advantage of online tutoring. Online coaching is incredibly convenient since it allows you to participate in sessions from practically anywhere. If you have a computer or mobile device, as well as a strong, reliable internet connection, you may access your online coach. In other words, you can still receive coaching sessions practically anywhere you choose to be. This entails the convenience of being able to conduct coaching sessions either at home or at work for many people.

Accountability and encouragement

With consistent assistance, you could hold yourself more accountable and inspired than ever. Get weekly progress updates, check-in emails and texts, and other forms of communication to make sure you’re on track and obtaining the outcomes you desire. Additionally, a coach is always at your side and walks every step of the route with you.

Flexible hours and schedules

You can work out whenever you want, around your schedule. Unlike in a 1-on-1 situation, you won’t have to follow your coach’s schedule. You may organize your training around the time that you have available each day, even if you are called in to work earlier than expected or your meeting lasts later than you had anticipated.

Saving time

You’re empowering yourself in a big way toward realizing the objectives and ambitions you’re working toward via your online coaching sessions by reclaiming even just one or two hours from eliminating travel. One of the few things we cannot get back is time. Which is the main motivation for most people starting coaching programs in the first place. They want to get more done in the time they have. Better outcomes are made possible by having the capacity to concentrate better, channel their energy more effectively, and use their mental resources to ever higher abilities. Coaching so makes better use of time.

Anonymity

For those who want it, online tutoring also offers the luxury of anonymity. Your online coach is aware of who you are, of course, but the best chance for success comes from being honest with coaches. The anonymity refers to whether or not anyone outside the coaching dynamic are aware that you are receiving coaching. People will take note of face-to-face coaching, when you meet your coach at their coaching office or they come to your workplace to conduct coaching sessions. The majority of people won’t be concerned. For other coaching clients, though, it’s simply the knowing that someone else witnessed them seeking coaching or meeting with a coach. Something that can cause worry to spiral out of control and make people feel bad.

Feeling of security

Gaining access to the advantages of online coaching that make such liberty possible requires first being able to get over fear and safety-related worries. It is so wonderful that you may interact with your online coach while remaining in a setting where you feel secure, enabling you to get empowering coaching. One of the advantages of online coaching that some people will experience more strongly than others is an empowered sense of environmental safety. However, it may greatly empower coaching clients who require it.

Top 5 online coaching platforms

These are some features we recommend that you look out for when choosing the perfect software. Now, you might ask: what is the best software, then? What do people prefer? And no need to look further, because we have prepared that list for you as well! In the following lines, you will find the 5 best online coaching platforms, from 5th to 1st, as well as their pros and cons. Make sure to keep reading!

5. Nutrium

Let’s talk about Nutrium: a platform specifically created for nutrition coaching.

Undoubtedly, this is a great solution if you’d like to run a nutrition practice online. Their features are designed to keep track of each of your clients, their process, and what they are eating every day.

Their features include a direct messaging feature, the ability to keep track of appointments via a calendar, and more technical features. There are other features that are about specific meal planning and “anthropometry”, which is your physical measures.

Unfortunately, they do not have a free plan and their cheapest plan starts at $35.5 per month.

They have 4.2 stars on Capterra, which shows an overall satisfied customer base.

The negative reviews map out their cons, and one of them is their lack of accessibility when it comes to other languages. They only offer five languages, which might be restrictive for international clients.

Users have also complained about the difficulty of accessing patient information, and that the platform doesn’t make it easy to talk to patients about certain diets.

Nutrium also expectedly falls short when you want to try any other type of coachings, such as fitness and yoga.

4. Satori

Satori is an all-in-one software that’s built for online coaching. One of their benefits is undoubtedly the ability to create different types of coaching programs and bundle them into different groups to market them better.

They also have important features such as branded client platforms, mass messaging systems, and online fee management. As we have said before, it is important that you are able to collect money from the very same platform you use, which you can do so with Satori.

However, they do not have a free plan and their cheapest plan starts at $39 per month.

When it comes to their reviews, they have received 4.5 stars on Capterra, which sounds great.

It’s easy to find the negative sides of their platform from their negative reviews. The first one is that the platform is not easy to use and that it will take time to get used to it. The users complain that it is not intuitive enough.

Another vital con is that there is no Zoom integration, which makes things especially challenging as you have to navigate between platforms daily to connect with your clients.

3. Coach Catalyst

Coach Catalyst offers solutions for a variety of online coaching types. As you can see from their dynamic web page, they aim to help nutrition coaches, gym owners, personal trainers, and health coaches.

Their features focus on connecting you with your members and keeping track of all client processes from one platform. As such, one of their most important features is their client results. With different data tables, you will visually see how a client is faring, and be able to interfere and talk to them accordingly.

They also offer features such as sharing different types of content easily, workout builders, as well as platform customization according to your brand values.

Once again, they do not offer a free plan, and their cheapest option starts at $39 per month.

They have 5.0 stars on Capterra, which is a stellar result. However, it shouldn’t go without saying that this is out of 20~ reviews, which is not a lot.

When it comes to their cons, users have complained about their communication features.

As we have said before, if your clients can keep in touch with each other and share their own journeys, this will undoubtedly help your business. Users have found Couch Catalyst lacking on this front, as they do not have discussion forums.

They also found it difficult to use their messaging feature in general, and difficult to integrate into their existing practices.

2. TrueCoach

TrueCoach is designed for personal trainers who want to coach online.

While it’s restrictive for other types of coaching, their specific features for personal training make TrueCoach a good option. One of their most important features is their workout builder. You can design and deliver personalized workout routines to your clients according to their wishes. Next to workouts, you can also track their nutrition intake and assign goals.

They also offer a video exercise library, which is a great asset as clients can look back at your older lessons and learn from them at the same time.

Moreover, they also offer vital features such as direct messaging to keep in touch with your clients.

TrueCoach has a 4.7 rating on Capterra. While it might seem that TrueCoach has lower ratings than Coach Catalyst, it must be known that this is out of 352 reviews, while other platforms had 30 reviews maximum. This number shows that the rating is reliable, as Capterra has also put them down as a Top Performer of 2021.

When we switch to their cons, we see that some users have found the platform difficult to use. They have said it is “clunky” and not very intuitive.

There is also no progression feature available, which makes it difficult to look back and see how your client has been doing. Clients also have to manually enter step data, which is difficult in the long run.

1. Raklet

Let’s talk about Raklet! While Raklet offers a variety of solutions for many different organizations, you can easily launch your online coaching business with Raklet.

As we have talked about in an early section, Raklet offers many important features that are both needed as well as beneficial for your business to grow.

Raklet Features:

You can send out mass emails, SMS messages, and use our discussion platforms. This way, not only can you directly communicate with your clients, but they can also share their journey with each other.

When it comes to scheduling, we offer a Google Calendar integration through Zapier, so that you and your clients don’t need to go back and forth between emails to figure out when you have scheduled your next class.

For monetizing your platform, you can collect payments directly from your Raklet platform. These can be either memberships or one-time fees. There is also the ability to use membership tiers and unlock specific content depending on these tiers.

When it comes to event organization, Raklet also shines in between its competitors. We offer the ability to host online and physical events and help you keep track of them easily. When it comes to online lessons, you can both use a Zapier Google Meets integration or a Zoom integration to connect with your clients.

Your clients can also use our mobile application on the go so that they don’t lose time worrying about switching to their computers. If you’re passionate about having your own application, we can also do that and in a few weeks, you can launch your own app on Apple Store and Google Play Store

For more Raklet features, check out our features page!

Raklet Pricing and Reviews

Different from its competitors, Raklet offers a completely free plan! There is no undertaking: you can use Raklet free, forever. You can learn all about our plans right here.

As you can see, Raklet has received great reviews from all around the world. We are passionate about helping organizations grow and reach their full potential! Accordingly, we also update our platform regularly to keep up with the latest requests from our clients.

Launch your free online coaching platform today, and if you have any questions at all, you can schedule a demo. We would love to answer any questions you might have and learn more about your business!

If you’d like to learn more about club membership platforms, make sure to check out these articles below:
Top 10 Church Management Software Guide for 2023
If you need an efficient way to handle all your church management needs, then church software might be the right choice for you. Read our article and find out what church software is and why it’s beneficial, and also check out our curated list of recommendations down below.

What is a Church Software?

A church management software (sometimes also known as CMS or ChMS) is software that helps you manage your religious organization or community. It will help you handle all the tedious work, and give you more time to focus on other activities. It’s a great way to manage your members and volunteers, organize events, and collect donations all from one place.

What Can a Good Church Software Do?

With extensive church management software, you can do many things. Some of these are:
- Storing easily filterable membership/volunteer/congregant information,
- Creating and accepting applications through custom forms,
- Collecting one-time or recurring membership fees,
- Collecting donations from supporters,
- Building and sending emails and SMS to keep your community updated,
- Creating in-person or online events for your members,
- Managing event attendance and ticketing,
- Accessing and analyzing real-time community data,
- Giving your community a place to communicate via discussion boards, forums, private messaging, etc.
- Automating repetitive management tasks,
- Having a branded mobile app for added accessibility.
For more detailed information about church management software features, read another one of our relevant articles: Top 5 Features to Look For in Your Church Management Software.

Why Should I Use a Church Software for My Community?

Especially after the pandemic, the importance of online communication is being rediscovered. Creating a virtual community for your members, volunteers, and church attendees can help strengthen bonds. They can access announcements and membership information whenever and wherever they want. You will also be able to store member and donation data on a secure cloud platform — say goodbye to Excel spreadsheets!

There are many possible benefits to having an online platform for your community, like the ones we stated above. Of course, you don’t have to look for all of them in your software of choice. Maybe you just want to collect donations or have an online community platform. The important thing is that you decide on your preferred features, and review your options. To start off, you can look at our curated list of 10 church management software below:

The 10 Best Church Software of 2023
- Church Community Builder
- Realm
- Chmeetings
- Planning Center
- SimpleChurch CRM
- Servant Keeper
- Church Windows
- Breeze ChMS
- Tithe.ly
- Raklet
10. Church Community Builder

Best for: All kinds of churches mostly focused on team-based organizing and management.

Features: Event attendance tracker, individual membership profiles, check-in, online calendar, donation management, group management, follow-up streamlining…

Rating & Reviews: 4.3/5 on Capterra. The most common complaints are about the difficulty in software usage, and extracting targeted data reports.

Free plan?: They don’t offer a free plan, but there’s a free trial. (The trial period hasn’t been specified by CCB.)

Pricing: No pricing information is given on their website. You have to personally contact CCB to find out.

9. Realm

Best for: Church staff looking to manage small groups.

Features: Volunteer management, mobile app, member directory, fundraising, event management, and check-ins…

Rating & Reviews: Realm was the highest-rated church management software of 2020 on Capterra. It currently has 4.4/5 stars. The fact that it isn’t user-friendly, and that it doesn’t offer many customization options seem to be common complaints.

Free plan?: No free plan. Free trials haven’t been specified.

Pricing: The cheapest plan is $29/month for a maximum of 50 attendees.

(Sidenote: The creators of Realm, ACS Technologies, also have another church software titled ACS OnDemand. It’s very similar to Realm overall but has a few different features. You can check that platform out as well.)

8. Chmeetings

Best for: Churches of all sizes, looking for a quick and cheap solution for their basic church management needs.

Features: Email & SMS, event tracking, ticketing, membership management and grouping, data reports, donation management, custom forms, mobile app …

Rating & Reviews: With 4.9/5 on Capterra, Chmeetings has the smallest number of reviews on the list, which makes their rating somewhat unreliable in comparison. Most customers are overall very pleased with the software, but there are a few mentioned hiccups. These include a lack of flexibility, documentation, and customization.

Free plan?: There is a free plan for up to 100 members, with very limited features compared to other plans. There is also a 30-day free trial.

Pricing: The smallest paid plan is $10/month for up to 250 people. In comparison, unlimited members will cost you $40.

7. Planning Center

Best for: Churches of all sizes looking for customizable software, where you can choose which tools you want to use.

Features: Event scheduling calendar, service planning, donation management, CRM, custom website and app, community organization, …

Rating & Reviews: They have a 4.7/5 rating on Capterra. Though most are happy with the platform, some reviewers have complained about the hardship to use for people who aren’t tech-savvy. Another common issue was the difficulty in running reports.

Free plan?: There’s no free plan, but they have a 30-day free trial for their software.

Pricing: Starts at $14/month per feature, and depends on the number of people. For example, 20 event attendees + 50 daily check-ins + up to 125 group members will cost you $42/month.

6. SimpleChurch CRM

Best for: Small to medium-sized churches focused on volunteer and event management.

Features: Worship planning, donation and donor management, volunteer scheduling, CRM, background checks, event check-ins, mobile app, …

Rating & Reviews: 4.6/5 stars on Capterra. Generally, users have expressed difficulty in performing detailed database searches and using the interface.

Free plan?: There is no free plan, but as you can see from their website, they offer a 30-day trial.

Pricing: Their pricing changes depending on how many people your church has, with all features and a mobile app always included. (For comparison’s sake, a 100-person church comes down to $47.70/month.)

5. Servant Keeper

Best for: Churches that prefer one-time license fees and downloadable software.

Features: Relation-based member data collection, donor and donation tracking, mobile app, sacrament management, etc.

Rating & Reviews: With a 4.7/5 rating on Capterra and over 600 reviews in total, it’s clear they’re preferred by many churches. However, there are many written complaints about the impracticality of having to download the software to use it. Other complaints include their insufficient onboarding training and clunky mobile app.

Free plan?: No free plan, but they offer a free trial (period unspecified).

Pricing: The Cloud Plan costs $599 for a one-time license payment (comes down to $299 if you’re a small church). The Local Plan is the same price, but it has fewer features and requests $50 per every additional computer added to the service.

4. Church Windows

Best for: Churches looking for variety, because it has both a desktop version and a web version, as well as a version specifically for small churches.

Features: Membership database, budget and donation tracking, payroll, email campaigns, schedule and event management, …

Rating & Reviews: With 4.3/5 on Capterra, the lack of a desktop version on Mac seems to be the biggest issue among users (The desktop software is currently only offered on Windows). Other general protests are about slow customer service and insufficient training/lack of user-friendliness.

Free plan?: They have no free plan, but there is a free trial for their service. The trial period hasn’t been specified on Capterra, or on their website.

Pricing: Church Windows is split into four modules: Membership/Scheduler, Donations, Accounting, and Payroll. Each module costs $379 at a flat rate. If you want all of their modules and features, it will cost you a whooping $1070 in total.

3. Breeze ChMS

Best for: Small to medium-sized churches that are looking for ease of use and flexibility.

Features: Membership/group management, communication directory, online donation collection and tracking, events, check-ins, mobile app …

Rating & Reviews: As you can also see on their homepage, Breeze was rated the most user-friendly church management software by Capterra users with 4.9/5 stars. But this doesn’t mean everyone is fully content: You can find negative reviews about lack of financial and accounting management, difficulty in data extraction, etc.

Free plan?: Although there’s no free version, Breeze offers a free trial to test the software.

Pricing: The monthly flat rate is $50 for all features and unlimited users. They don’t have multiple payment plans — you have to pay the full price, even if you’re not using all the features.

2. Tithe.ly

Best for: Churches of all sizes that want to only pay for the features they’re using.

Features: Worship service management, mobile app, donations and events, website builder, member messaging, …

Rating & Reviews: Their ChMS, titled Elvanto, has 4.5/5 on Capterra. Many have stated that data migration is hard and that the platform is glitchy on Mac OS & iOS.

Free plan?: Available for free if you just want to collect donations. However, they have paid add-on features.

Pricing: Unlocking all applications (messaging, website, church management, etc.) costs $99 per month, as well as $149 for the setup charges.

1. Raklet

Best for: Churches, associations, nonprofits, clubs, etc. of all sizes looking for an all-in-one platform.

Features: Member directory, membership fee and donation management, digital membership card with check-in feature, unlimited event and fundraising creation, email and SMS, discussion boards, paid newsletters, mobile app, …

Rating: With 4.8/5, Raklet has been featured for Ease of Use on Capterra in two different categories. Our user base overall is very content with the software.

Free plan?: Yes! Raklet offers a forever-free plan for up to 50 members — there is no catch. There are also free trials available for all of our paid plans.

Pricing: $49/month for the Essentials plan. For more details, see our transparent pricing page.

Check out more of our articles:
10 Quick and Easy Virtual Fundraising Ideas
After more than a year of lockdowns, most nonprofits are striving to use virtual fundraising to raise money for their cause. But what is virtual fundraising, and what exactly can you do with it? Keep reading to see our 10 quick and easy virtual fundraising ideas that we curated just for you.

What is Virtual Fundraising?

Virtual fundraising is the act of organizing online fundraiser events for your nonprofit. You can have virtual fundraisers for a specific cause, or to raise money for your organization in general. This allows people to support you from all around the world.

Since the world is changing so quickly, adapting to current circumstances is a must. Most nonprofits are switching to virtual fundraising campaigns to reach more people. Even if you have a small and local community, an online platform would highly benefit your growth.

Virtual fundraising is a way to access more people.

How Virtual Fundraising Can Benefit Your Nonprofit:
- It’s convenient. You can use a nonprofit fundraising software to build event pages with a few clicks, and collect donations from within your platform. Virtual fundraising ideas can easily help you expand your reach.
- It’s accessible. Supporters can view, join, and donate to your campaigns from wherever they are. You don’t need to limit your reach to your local community anymore — you can reach anyone, anywhere. All you need to do is share the link!
- It builds connections. Most people prefer online communication over face-to-face contact. Because you can create online fundraisers easier and more often, you can also quicken and strengthen in-organization communication. Give your supporters and volunteers an easier platform to bond through.
- It’s diverse. Nowadays, face-to-face fundraisers are getting dull and repetitive. There are many unique virtual fundraising opportunities for you to try.
Check out the list we curated for some fun examples:

10 Quick and Easy Virtual Fundraising Ideas You Can Try Right Now

1- Online Course, Class, or Workshop

Creating online classes is one of the most tried-and-true virtual fundraising ideas. And for good reason: They always get attention if done right.

Online classes allow your supporters to learn new things while supporting you. Invite people who know a lot about a certain subject as guest instructors, and make them give lectures on their area of expertise. Make sure to pick a subject related to your nonprofit, or one you know your supporter base will be interested in. Then, add a certain attendance fee or create limited tickets. You can host these classes using online meeting software like Zoom or Google Meet very easily.

You can also send out completion certificates via email to those who complete the courses. This will increase the sense of importance for your event, and make attendees feel achieved.

Online classes are one of the most popular virtual fundraising ideas.

2- “Donate Your Day” Campaign

Depending on your nonprofit’s main cause, “donate your day” might be the right choice for you. These are made to encourage people to donate on important personal dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries.

You’ve probably seen couples who donate to nonprofits instead of doing a wedding or going on a honeymoon. These campaigns are similar in nature, only on a smaller scale. You can create an individual event page to advertise your “donate a day” for a limited time, or have it be always available. You can also send out celebratory ecards that include how much people donated, and what date they wanted to commemorate. This is a great way to encourage donations because it adds sentimental value.

3- Virtual Tour

If your nonprofit has an office or a facility, consider hosting a virtual tour of your dedicated place. This will provide a closer look at who you are, what your organization does, and how you operate. It will also make you seem more human to far away supporters who’ve never seen you in person.

Show around your office, explain certain items related to your cause that carry value. You can introduce your staff and volunteers along the way as well.

4- Online Book Club

Organize a virtual book club with monthly or bi-monthly virtual meetings. This is a great virtual fundraising solution for smaller groups looking for an excuse to read more books. These events will help you build a sincere community and have direct conversations with your supporters.

You can pick books based on your nonprofit’s area of interest, or have themed months for diversity. Another option is to read your supporters’ favorite books one-by-one. Don’t be afraid to unleash your creativity to come up with books, themes, or other related ideas.

Some organizations vote against book clubs because they believe they aren’t profitable. Though you can’t exactly ticket them, building strong relationships within your community will surely encourage more donations to come your way. Trying it can’t hurt!

5- Online Movie Night

In the same vein as book clubs, another one of our virtual fundraising ideas is to host virtual movie nights. You can pick out a movie about your fundraising cause for added interest. Ticketed admittance and/or a “donate as much as you like” event will work well with this idea.

Watching a movie together with many people on a platform like Zoom may be difficult for many reasons. Instead, you can try an approach similar to a book club: Everyone can watch the movie on the same day, and have a discussion group session in the evening, for example.

6- T-Shirt Fundraising

Having branded merchandise for your nonprofit is important. It increases bonds between your organization and your supporters, as well as creates a point of conversation outside of your circle. Increase your recognition by creating merch for your organization and selling it to your supporters online. The most popular form of this is called “t-shirt fundraising”, which is done by all reputable organizations today.

7- Merch Design Contest

If you’ve read the previous suggestion and don’t know where to start with your nonprofit merch, look no further. An idea you can implement to fix this is to run a merch design contest among your supporters. This is a fun idea that will increase engagement and create entertainment.

Make sure to contact your sponsors beforehand, so that the winners can get prizes. Then, you can even use their designs as your actual merch! — With their permission, of course.

8- Matching Gifts Program

A “matching gifts program” is when an employee donates to your nonprofit, and their company matches their donation. This doubles the amount you receive, as well as helps corporations and their employees support causes they believe in. It’s a great way to earn more to grow your organization.

If you’re interested in learning more about this program, check out one of our other blog posts that details the process.

9- “A-Thon” Event

“A-Thon” events (also sometimes called “Donate-a-thons”) are like a marathon for fundraising, as the name suggests. It’s a long form of crowdfunding event where you’re trying to reach a certain total of donations. They usually continue until you reach your goal, or are pleased with the outcome.

To make this long process more fun, a-thons are usually accompanied by an activity. Participants either join in on the activity and donate when they reach benchmarks, or simply watch and donate if they’re enjoying the content. Some examples of popular a-thons are read-a-tons, push-up-a-thons, walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons, or even code-a-thons.

10- Virtual Quiz/Trivia Competition

Strengthen your nonprofit bonds with virtual quiz shows!

Try hosting a quiz competition for your nonprofit. The questions can be about your nonprofit, your cause, or just general trivia. You’ll see how playing into people’s competitiveness is a sure way to increase your donations. It will give them a reason to want to support your cause.

Of course, to host all of these events, manage attendance, and collect online payments, you will need an extensive nonprofit software solution.

Best Virtual Fundraising Software for Your Nonprofit: Raklet

Raklet’s all-in-one nonprofit fundraising software will help you with all of these virtual fundraising solutions, and do even more. Use our software to streamline all your nonprofit management needs. Our powerful integrations and easy-to-use interface will provide you with the best platform you can use.

Raklet’s comprehensive platform with a sleek design.

Check out how Achilles International uses Raklet to maximize their fundraising efficiency.

Try out Raklet’s robust software with our forever-free plan, then make use of our 50% discount for nonprofits. Create your account now to see how Raklet can help your nonprofit thrive.

Read some of our other related articles below:
Timothy Oulton Chose Raklet for Owners’ Club Management

Communities are more important than ever, as they provide brand loyalty and a way to increase engagement with customers. Knowing all of this, Timothy Oulton decided to create a community and use club management software. As a solution, Raklet took the stage and helped Timothy Oulton create an on-brand, well-presented, functional platform to direct their customers to.

Timothy Oulton and Their Needs

Timothy Oulton is a British furniture brand that focuses on the recreation of antique pieces from a modern viewpoint. They have customers from all around the world and they set up different events to increase the satisfaction of their customers. However, it is not easy to organize such events and sell tickets in a digital environment. And it is not easy to maintain the appropriate brand tone without professional support for club management.

Therefore, they wanted a proper system for club management where they can invite owners, send reminders, track attendance and do some post-event recaps with images or highlights. They also needed support to set up and customize the platform that enables them to sustain their brand tone.

How Did Raklet Help Timothy Oulton in Club Management?

1. Customized Page for Their Brand Tone

Timothy Oulton started out by creating a Raklet site with a custom domain. Throughout the entire site design, they use specific fonts and dark themes reflecting Timothy Oulton’s corporate identity. Thus, the brand tone is continued on their Raklet page. Raklet provided a header and a footer that include their social media icons. The social media icons added to their header and footer directed their customers to Timothy Oulton’s social media accounts. This made the page not only stylish but also functional.

2. Easier Event & Club Management

Timothy Oulton wanted to work with Raklet because they wanted event management in a simple, all-in-one platform.

First, they directed their customers to open a Raklet member account. When they opened the account, Timothy Oulton greeted them with a customized membership form. Then, data was created with the information of the members, so it became much easier to announce the events. In a nutshell, they systematized their events by using Raklet as their club management software.

Now, all members who have an account can see an event post on the Raklet page and quickly register. Timothy Oulton can also sell event tickets for a fee, thanks to our Stripe integration.

Also, with the Zoom integration that we provided, Timothy Oulton can track the attendees and hence create a segment to send a “thank you for joining the event” email post-event. In short, Raklet’s automated processes made their work much more manageable, rather than doing all of it manually.

3. Effective Communication with Members

Raklet helped Timothy Oulton divide their members into various segments, and send automatic emails to those segments.

Timothy Oulton now successfully manages this process by sending different content emails to different member groups.

How About the Results?

Timothy Oulton has created a successful owners club with Raklet’s professional support.

On this members-only platform, they organize Monthly Lotto Events and offer their customers the chance to meet founder Timothy Oulton in person. This beautiful event, which enables them to increase engagement with customers, is organized in a professional way with the features offered by Raklet such as Zoom integration, ticket sales, and automatic reminder emails.

Also, Timothy Oulton offers special previews of new products and access to unique limited editions exclusively to Owners’ Club members. Additionally, they present regular email updates with the latest news and first-priority invitations to the events for their members. With these advantages, Timothy Oulton has a membership community for the owners.

Create a Members-Only Platform Using Raklet as a Club Management Software

If this story of Timothy Oulton has inspired you, what you need to do is very simple. To use Raklet as club management software, try our free version to get started. It supports up to 50 members and you can use it as long as you want. Start collecting new applications and payments while experiencing Raklet’s features by yourself. If you want, you can schedule a free demo here so that we can introduce the platform to you in more detail. You will discover the secret of Timothy Oulton’s success.

Other case studies that might interest you:

– See How Palliative Care Queensland Uses Raklet

– Share Architects Use Raklet to Build a Membership Community

– The Best Beach Club Membership Software for Faster Member Check-in Process
Corporate Sponsorships: The Ultimate Nonprofit Guide
What is a Corporate Sponsorship?

Corporate sponsorship can be defined as the payment a business makes to a nonprofit to aid the nonprofit’s mission. Sometimes, it’s just a philanthropic act made in support of a specific cause. However, it’s usually a mutual deal that benefits both parties. We’ll explain how it works exactly in the next section.

Remember that receiving corporate sponsorships might change tax regulations for your nonprofit, even if you’re otherwise exempt from paying them. Check your country’s laws on corporate sponsorship income to be sure.

Why Do Corporations Sponsor Nonprofits?

We mentioned that corporate sponsorships could be made purely in the name of goodness. The most obvious upside to them is that they offer funds for organizations that achieve great things. Having a corporate business for support is beneficial for nonprofits. However, that’s not all there is to it! There are almost always added benefits for businesses to do this as well.

Corporate sponsorships are crucial for nonprofits to aid their mission.

Perhaps the most crucial benefit is a general advertisement. Usually, the nonprofit acknowledges that they received support from the company on their website, through newsletters, etc. Sometimes they even include the business logo on their official merchandise. This creates a connection to a charitable cause for the corporation, which is obviously good for them: It helps attract brand recognition. There is no doubt that this type of added reputation is in corporations’ favor.

Another benefit is about increasing customer awareness. Nowadays, the majority of people (especially Gen Z) want socially conscious and responsible businesses to work with. Being able to see their core values can be a deciding factor in working with that company. That’s why most corporations now find sponsoring nonprofits (and advertising it) necessary for their business.

Now that you’ve learned what corporate sponsorships are, why they happen, and how they can help you, it’s time to learn how you can get one for yourself!

How To Get a Corporate Sponsorship for Your Nonprofit in 4 Easy Steps:

1. Know your organization and your audience.

The most important step before venturing into the world of corporate sponsorships is to be familiar with your organization, as well as your audience. Your top priority should always be their benefit since they’re your loyal supporters and volunteers that help grow your organization.

When choosing companies to contact to request funds, think of them along with yourself. How much funding do you usually need, and how much of it do you already get from individual supporters? What are your expenses? Which type of companies does your supporter base usually prefer to work with? Are there any specific items you can use for events that your sponsor can provide for you? Consider these before moving on to our next point.

2. Determine which companies to reach out to and conduct detailed research.

Conducting detailed research about the possible companies that will provide corporate sponsorship for your nonprofit is an essential step.

After you’ve generally determined some potential sponsors, it’s time to narrow down the list. You can send proposals to however many companies you want, but there’s a good chance that you won’t hear back from them if it’s a bad match. So, your job is to determine those that might be good ones!

Here are some things to think about while choosing:
- After you’ve got a general feel of the company, do you have any doubts? Do they have any core values/stances that don’t match yours?
- What is the scope of the company? Are they local, national, or international? How much do you think they can provide for you based on their scope?
- What is their field of work? Is it in the same general field as yours? (Believe it or not, this is a determining factor for most businesses.)
- Are they sponsoring any other nonprofit organizations? Are they similar to your area of work? If so, do you think they would sponsor another organization with the same mission?
- What does the company want back from a sponsorship? Can you give it to them?
3. Create your proposal. Convince them.

With your list of potential sponsors in hand, you’re now ready to write sponsorship proposal letters to these companies. These are usually sent as emails, but it’s also possible to deliver them and talk with the company in person.

In your proposals, you must explain your nonprofit’s mission, what you do to achieve it, and how much funding/what kind of supplies you will need. Be as direct and specific as possible.

Read one of our other articles for more information about the subject: “Getting a Nonprofit Sponsorship 101: Make Them Say YES!”. It also includes other added resources that can help you write the best sponsorship proposal.

And finally…

4. Spend your gains in an intelligent way.

You’ve convinced a company (and maybe even several!) to become your sponsor; now it’s time to utilize the funds. Many nonprofit managers don’t consider what comes next after the 3rd step, but in fact, the aftermath is almost as important as the before.

Businesses want to be able to see that their contribution helped. It gives them the feeling of having made a difference by helping you. Keep the promise that you’ve made in your proposal, and be clear about what you spent your money on. Use your newfound funds creatively. Also, be sure to mention and thank your sponsors often. Show them that they’ve improved your organization, and make them feel part of your community. Personal connections are essential in guaranteeing long-term sponsors.

Raklet: All-In-One Nonprofit Management Software

Since you know all about corporate sponsorships, you can start looking into other things to help you’re nonprofit thrive –and Raklet is one of them!

Raklet’s nonprofit management software can help you run your organization smoothly. Our all-in-one features include event creation and ticketing, fundraising and donations, CRM, custom digital membership cards, real-time data processing and exporting, discussion boards and private messaging, and more. Check out a list of our extensive features for more information.

IPCEF’s nonprofit membership platform was created through Raklet.

Our software makes it easy to collect donations, automate processes, as well as manage your supporters and volunteers. We also offer a 50% discount to nonprofits at our already low prices. Be sure to schedule a demo with us to learn more about our platform.

Launch your free nonprofit platform today to help your nonprofit organization grow.

Read some of our other related articles:
Nonprofit CRM 101: Make the Best of It
Managing a nonprofit is no easy task. There are a lot of challenges along the way, from launching your organization to maintaining it and making sure it reaches its full potential. You will need to seek volunteers, manage their information, and assign them tasks. When it comes to financing, you will need to accept donations, create fundraisers and promote your organization. And of course, you will need to keep track of every data along the way, so that you can optimize your performance in the future.

In the following article, you will find an in-depth collection of our articles that aim to help nonprofit organizations every step of the way. From how to motivate volunteers to fundraising tips, we want to help your organization evolve into its best shape. We also talk about the best nonprofit CRM you can use to achieve the best results, tips, and tricks, as well as other organizations that have succeeded using our advice. Make sure to continue reading for more!

Table of Contents
- What is a Nonprofit CRM?
1. Tips for Nonprofits
2. How to Decide: Nonprofit CRM Features
3. Raklet as a Nonprofit CRM
What is a Nonprofit CRM?

CRM stands for customer relationship management, and a lot of nonprofits use CRM software tailored to their needs. This is so that they do not need to use multiple programs to take care of their numerous tasks. These types of CRMs have a variety of features, which we will list in the upcoming articles.

One of the most traditional features of a nonprofit CRM is a central database. Every member, volunteer, and donor is listed here, so that you can manage your contacts easily whenever you need to make announcements, create events, fundraisers, and more. Another important feature of good nonprofit software is detailed recording systems so that organizations can plan their next move. Other features include the ability to collect donations and throw fundraisers, as well as create online and offline events.

More CRM features and examples can be found in these articles below!

1. 5 Tips for Motivating Nonprofit Volunteers

Volunteers are the backbone of your organization; they willingly work to help your cause and do their best to help achieve its goals. As such, it is your responsibility to make sure they are happy and motivate them accordingly!

In this article, we have compiled a list of 5 tips to motivate your volunteers, so that they can continue changing the world. Check it out right here.

2. Nonprofit Management Solutions for the Pandemic

It is no secret that the pandemic has changed the way we live and how we perceive the world around us. Morale has been at an all-time low, and it became impossible to meet in person to hold meetings, discuss and have a cup of coffee over discussions. However, this does not mean that we should give up! This is a time where it is even more important to make changes in the world, and your nonprofit organization is a part of that change.

In this article, we talk about how you can continue working on your nonprofit organization during the pandemic. Make sure to check it out right here.

3. Getting a Nonprofit Sponsorship 101: Make Them Say YES!

Another way to get funds for your nonprofit organization is through sponsorships. Undoubtedly, looking out for sponsorships can be intimidating when you do not know where to start. However, this is where we come in! In this article, we have explained how to get nonprofit sponsorships from A to Z.

If you’d like to learn more about nonprofit sponsorships and how to get them, check out our article right here.

4. How To Empower Your Environmental Organization

If you are managing an environmental organization and trying to reach more people, you will need the right tools to promote yourself. In this article, we list important features to look out for in nonprofit CRM software, so that not only you can reach more people, but also better communicate with your contacts.

Check out our article to learn more.

5. How to Increase the Income of Your Organization

If you’re just starting out as a nonprofit organization, it’s likely that you have ambitious goals, but nowhere near enough funds. Changing the world is admirable yet challenging at the same time, which is why we want to help you along the way

In this particular article, we have listed ways to raise more online funds through donations and fundraisers, which you can find right here.

6. Create an Impact With Our Top 4 Tips for Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits

One of the main ways to raise funds for your organization is through fundraisers. In order to raise a good amount of money, you will need to reach out to the right audience, send reminders and talk about your organization. Most importantly, you will need to convince them that you will use their money for a good cause and that you will make a change in the world.

We have made a handy little list of tips for you to help you host effective fundraisers! Check it out right here.

7. Successful Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofits

Another important aspect of fundraising comes from reaching the right supporter profile and asking important questions. In this article, we talk about what you should prioritize when preparing for a fundraiser, as well as tips and tricks to make sure you succeed.

If you’d like to read more, check out our article right here.

8. Top 10 Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas to Generate Sustainable Revenue

If you’re at a loss when it comes to unique fundraising ideas, we’re here to help! We know how challenging it can be to come up with new ideas all the time, so we have compiled a list of different fundraising ideas for you to try out for your organization.

Make sure to check them out here!

9. How Raklet Can Take Your Fundraising to the Next Level

As we have said before, fundraising is extremely important for nonprofit organizations, but can also be very tricky. In this article, we explain how a good nonprofit CRM can help you achieve your fundraising goals. See progress with your own eyes! Raklet can help you change the world.

For more information on how good nonprofit software can impact your fundraising processes, read our article right here.

10. Using a Free Fundraising Thermometer for Your Nonprofit

Fundraising thermometers are extremely useful when you’re trying to reach a certain goal. They motivate donors as well as volunteers to pitch in a bit more and promote the fundraiser in various ways.

In this particular article, we have listed free fundraising thermometer tools so that you can reach your own goals when fundraising! Check them out right here.

11. Empower your Organisation with Google for Nonprofits!

When it comes to helpful tools for nonprofit organizations, Google offers many valuable programs. From Ad Grants to detailed tutorials, we have listed Google programs geared towards nonprofits and what types of benefits they can offer your organization.

Make sure to check them out right here!

12. Google Nonprofit Ad Grant: How to get $10,000?

In this article, we focus on Google’s Nonprofit Ad Grant. They offer up to $10,000 to help you promote your organization with Google Ads and reach a wider audience. This is certainly a great opportunity for nonprofits all around the world to promote their goals and get more help as they change the world.

To find a detailed step-by-step guide on how to get this grant, check out our article right here.

13. Alternatives to PayPal for Nonprofit Organizations

Donations are the backbone of a nonprofit organization, and there might be a lot of questions in your mind about how to receive them. Some organizations even want to accept donations internationally, which might be tricky and costly if you stick to traditional methods.

One of the most popular options out there is PayPal, but even though it’s popular, it might not be the right choice for your organization. In this article, we have compiled a list of PayPal alternatives, so that you can learn more about payment gateways and find the perfect one for your needs. Check out our article here!

14. The Best CRM for Nonprofit Organizations to Grow Your Fundraising

A good nonprofit CRM will not only help you with organizing your contacts database, but also make the fundraising processes much easier. In this article, we have compiled a list of 5 tips before you choose your software.

From planning peer-to-peer fundraisers to properly marketing your online campaigns, finding the right software is very important, so we hope that this article will help you on your journey. Make sure to check it out!

15. Drive Positive Connections with Online Donor Management Software

A good nonprofit CRM also helps you drive positive connections with your donors. As we have said before, you can manage your contacts with good software, which also includes your donors. There are a lot of ways you can use a good nonprofit CRM to reach out to your donors, which we talk about in this article.

You can find it right here!

16. Nonprofit Association Management Software: Create a Better Event Experience for Your Members

Another feature of a good nonprofit CRM is the ability to host events. You can create events, track guests, create digital cards, and much more. Of course, these can be fundraising events, in which you can also use the same software to receive online donations.

In this article, we talk about which event features to look out for when you’re picking a nonprofit CRM. Check it out right here!

17. What is the Best Software for Nonprofits?

Choosing the right software for your nonprofit can be tricky. There are a lot of nonprofit CRM out there, each with different capabilities and limitations. In this article, we have talked about which features are important for a nonprofit organization when picking the right software.

In the end, we also talk about how Raklet checks all of those boxes and can help your organization reach its utmost potential! Read more right here.

18. Raklet Chooses 360MatchPro by Double the Donation as Exclusive Matching Gift Software

Raklet and Double the Donation work together to raise funds to help nonprofit organizations! We have come together to help organizations earn more revenue through employer matching gifts, one of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy.

Double the Donation integration is available in your Raklet admin panel app store. Check out our article to learn more!

19. Raklet is Always Here to Support Refugee Organizations

As a cloud platform developed for NGOs, Raklet helps organizations that support and empower refugees. Communication with volunteers, refugee registrations with custom fields, or public donation campaigns are the most useful features of Raklet for refugee organizations.

If you’d like to learn more about how Raklet can help refugee organizations, check out our article right here.

20. IWRA Success Story: Membership Management Software for Nonprofits to Administrate Member Activities Effectively

As we have said before, Raklet helps many nonprofit organizations all around the world. International Water Resources Association is one of them! In this article, we talk about how Raklet has helped them achieve their goals, simplified their application progresses, created journal integrations, and much more.

To learn more about IWRA and how Raklet has helped them as a nonprofit CRM, check out this article right here.

21. NPedal Has Cycled From Istanbul to Paris and Raised Funds for Scholarships!

NPedal, a nonprofit organization, has organized a cycling tour to collect donations for the scholarship fund of Galatasaray Educational Foundation (GEV). They used Raklet to organize the event and collect donations!

If you’d like to read more about how Raklet has helped them organize this fundraiser, check out our article right here.

22. Scalable Solution With Raklet’s Nonprofit Fundraising Software: Achilles International

Achilles International is a nonprofit organization that offers regular training sessions for people with disabilities. They chose Raklet to manage their members, create social network modules, create fundraisers, and much more!

If you’d like to learn more about how Raklet has helped them achieve their goals, check out our article right here.

23. IPCEF and Raklet: A Nonprofit CRM Software for All Your Needs

IPCEF is another nonprofit organization that has used Raklet and achieved great results! IPC Education Foundation (IPCEF) aims to create career opportunities for students and build awareness when it comes to electronic manufacturing practices.

Raklet’s various features have made it easier for them to deal with many tasks behind the scenes. To read more about them, check out our article right here!

Are You Ready to Choose Your Nonprofit CRM?

Now that you know more about nonprofit CRM and how it can help you reach your utmost potential, are you ready to choose Raklet?

As we have mentioned in our articles, Raklet offers a great range of features for nonprofit organizations, from the ability to collect donations, host fundraisers to creating events and managing every contact easily and seamlessly.

Make sure to check out our nonprofit organization page to learn more. You can also schedule a demo with us so that we can understand your needs better and help you accordingly!

For nonprofits, we also offer a 50% discount on our Professional and Premium annual plans. For eligibility requirements please reach out to us at support@raklet.com!
6 Ideas for Providing Unique Content on Your Membership Site

Building a business is not easy, especially if you’re starting from scratch with little funding. It takes time and effort to grow and have a stable economic condition. What keeps small organizations standing is their audience’s support. This is why you need a membership site: To gather your supporters and help them help you.

A membership site is a member-only space for an organization or a person. It helps unite people interested in your work and allows you to reach them easily. Most of the membership sites offer membership tiers for their members. This way, you can have a small income while you focus on your work. But how to convince people to buy these membership plans?

This content could be about the solution you’re offering, the product you’re making, or keeping them informed about the process you’re going through. The key goal is to maintain people’s interest in the unique content you’re providing.

What Can You Offer On A Membership Site?

1. More Content

Don’t forget that people are already interested in what you are doing, whether it is a fundraising campaign, a social network, or an event. You have managed to gather a group of people together around your work, and they wouldn’t stick if they were not interested. All you have to do is a little push. Offer them more. Are you a creator? Publish member-only extra content. Is this a social network? Organize new online and physical events. Are you trying to raise funds? Open private campaigns with benefits for your members. Doing what you do best for a special, more interested group of people is both encouraging and profitable.

2. AMA’s

Ask Me Anything (AMA) events are a great way to bring your community together. It makes you more accessible to people, and all you have to do is be there and answer questions. Personal interaction is always a good idea to help grow your business. Putting a face to the name helps people see you as a genuine person rather than just a name on a website.

3. Discussion Boards

Engagement is the key, especially in digital communities. You shouldn’t only limit this to manager-to-member interactions but encourage member-to-member engagement as well. Using discussion boards is a great way to help people talk to each other, exchange ideas, and get involved in general. They can create boards based on specific topics, react to and engage with each other’s posts, and stay informed about their community.

4. Special Events

Pizza parties, movie nights, interviews… The only limit is your imagination! Organize events that will excite people to maximize engagement and the sense of community.

Your special events can be thematic to your member organization. Are you a yoga instructor? What about an online event where people can come together to do yoga?

You can also try to organize an interview with a prominent name from your industry. It’s a great way to bring together people with someone they couldn’t contact normally. This kind of special event raises interest and curiosity and thus increases the number of paid members.

5. Newsletters

Newsletters are more important than you might think. They keep people updated on the recent events within the organization or just on your site. Make sure people know what your recent changes, product updates, upcoming events, and plans are. This will also help you remind yourself of these periodically and prevents them from slipping away among your members.

You can add extra content to these newsletters and announce upcoming events too. Personalize and customize them however you want. Just remember: Consistent communication is key for engagement.

6. Courses/Lessons

This is one of the most popular options other membership sites offer. Whether they are small tutorials on how to do things or multiple guides that cover a lot of topics, courses are a great way to encourage engagement.

Providing your members with lessons they couldn’t normally reach, as well as a place they can come back to refresh their knowledge later, is a great idea in general. And if you combine your lessons with topical discussion boards, you can create an atmosphere of a cozy workshop with your members.

Raklet helps you achieve these and more. You can create member-only boards, posts, events, and announcements. You can set up different tiers of membership and collect recurring payments from your members. This all-in-one platform supports you while you grow your community!

Discover how you can use Raklet, our all-in-one management software, as an essential tool for your business and community management. Schedule a demo with us now to see how we can help you.

Launch your free platform today to try Raklet out or talk to a professional.
The 5 Best Club Management Software of 2023
Club management is a tricky business, especially nowadays. Keeping up with the changes and staying up-to-date is a must. If you want to reach your members online, securely store all club data, and be able to organize events, you will need club management software for your organization to do that all with ease.

In this article, you will find necessary information about club management software along with the 5 best club management software. Let’s dive in to learn what club management software is, its benefits, and its must-have features!

What is a Club Management Software?

Club management software, also known as club membership software, is a platform that helps clubs to manage their memberships, payments, events, and data from a single place. Ideally, it should also create a platform to encourage communication between members while you can manage important tasks effortlessly.

Club management software is an all-in-one platform that offers useful features for better club management and engagement.

Who Can Use Club Management Software?

There is no limit on who can use club management software. Most software options target gyms and sports/fitness clubs, but don’t let that discourage you: they can easily be used for all organizations. Other examples of club management software users include associations, book clubs, car clubs, film clubs, yoga studios, martial arts studios, etc.

Benefits of Using a Club Management Software

Using a club management platform can bring so many benefits to both your organization and your members. Let’s go through some of them:

1. Automates tasks

Club membership software will automate time-consuming tasks like payment processing, debt reminders, registering new members, checking into events, and more! This way, you can focus more on your club activities. This will surely increase efficiency and productivity.

2. Provides more secure data management

A good club management software will store all your data and run your organization’s management needs from anywhere. It gives club managers access to real-time membership and payment information, which allows them to analyze & export data easily. An online platform will give secure cloud storage for information, analytics, and transactions, for example, the credit card details of members. Advanced security features guarantee that only authorized individuals gain permission to access sensitive information.

3. Enriches communication and engagement

Increases accessibility and eases communication with the ability to reach your members online. You can easily create and promote in-person and online events. It also provides a place to share announcements and to have your club members communicate & discuss. Increases member engagement with discussion boards and events.

4. Increases member satisfaction

Your members can use portals and online forums made by your club management software to share their experiences with various potential members. They can also reach out to you whenever there is a problem. Moreover, they can change their personal information without any help on their own.

What Should a Comprehensive Club Management Software Include?

There are must-have features for better club management to grow your organization, such as tools for administrative tasks, finances, communication, and organizing events. These features are needed including:
- An exportable CRM/contacts database,
- Engagement options for between-member and member-to-manager communication (email, SMS, instant and private messaging, discussion boards, etc.),
- A mobile application for on-the-go engagement,
- Annual or one-time membership fee payment collection,
- Event management options with online event support (i.e, a Zoom integration),
- Scannable membership cards with quick access to member profiles,
- A detailed reporting system for getting the right data and information about your members.
These are just some integral features that you could want for your club. Of course, there are many more tools and abilities you may want based on your club’s needs. For example, if you’re a fitness club with instructors, payment options and online class booking will be a must. Do your research well to see which software is best for you. You can start with our compiled list of suggestions down below:

The 5 Best Club Management Software of 2023

Now that we know all the essentials about club management software, it is time to see the best of 2023. We listed the bests according to their categories for you to ease the decision-making process.

Best for Scheduling: TeamUp

Teamup is a cloud-based group calendar application that offers comprehensive calendar management and scheduling for your club, business, studio, or organization. You can easily manage all your gym/studio customers’ data all-in-one tool, streamline your admin and marketing activities and optimize your sales processes.

Features: Teamup offers 11 different calendars for each of your needs. They put a calendar URL for each access, with or without a user account, configurable with 9 levels of access permissions. You can attach pictures and files on calendars, create virtual events, and send emails for coming events.

Reviews: Teamup received an almost perfect score, 4.9 stars, on Capterra by its users. Clients are happy with the customer service and ease of use but there are some complaints about Teamup being a bit pricey and the need for an improvement in the reporting system.

Price: Starts at $8/mo in annual billing, $10 as monthly billing. They have a free plan and a 3-day free trial.

With Teamup, you can create various calendars for your club that are highly customizable and useful for scheduling, but if your club needs more than time management tools, you might need other solutions.

Best for small organizations: Club Express

ClubExpress is advertised as an ideal solution for smaller groups and associations between 25-5000 members, which makes it perfect for a club.

Features: It includes all the best qualities you could ask for in a club software: Communication channels, event calendar, membership management, direct payments, mobile app, etc.

Reviews: Capterra reviewers gave 4.2 / 5 stars to the software. As you can see, the most common issue was the ease of use. Many reported that new tools are always very different and cause adaptation problems. There are also other complaints about their outdated interface and some general design hiccups.

Price: Starts at $40/month for up to 100 members. Their pricing model is per active member. There is no free plan, but they have a free trial.

ClubExpress is ideal for small organizations due to its pricing model and features. Are you looking for more? You can check other alternatives!

Best Specialized Software: Perfect Gym

A perfect Gym is a software that is more targeted towards running gyms and fitness/wellness centers. Their customers are fitness clubs, yoga studios, dance studios, and even trampoline parks.

Features: They’re more of an online class booking & membership app. They might be the right choice for you if you’re looking for powerful club membership management features, a client portal, CRM, as well as the ability to automate tasks to ease your management process. They also offer a mobile app with push notifications and a mobile event check-in feature.

Reviews: Perfect Gym has the lowest star rating, which is 4.1 stars on Capterra, among our recommendations, but it’s still considerably high. Reviewers were generally discontent with the high price of the software, as well as with their slow technical support and sometimes unhelpful customer service.

Price: Starts at €129/month. Can increase depending on what features you want. They have a free trial available, but no free plan.

If your club needs also marketing tools, you can move to the next one.

Best Marketing for Clubs: Vagaro

Vagaro is also a scheduling and management software like most options above. They’re mostly targeted toward salons, spas, and fitness centers.

Features: In addition to all the other alternatives, Vagaro also offers an online store option. You can also put managers/instructors/etc. on the payroll through their software. These set it apart from the previous options, and make Vagaro a unique solution to consider.

Reviews: Vagaro is overall very comprehensive and easy to use, according to their reviewers. It has very high ratings overall and is one of the most preferred software of its kind. Some complained, however, about the slow payment processing, limited client-to-manager contact options, and lack of customization for applications.

Price: Starts at $25/month for one employee/manager, with a free one-month trial. Every employee adds $10 to your monthly plan.

FAQs about Club Management Software

What is club management software?
Club management software is a specialized tool designed to streamline and automate administrative tasks for membership-based organizations or clubs. It helps manage member registrations, payments, communication, and other operational aspects.

What are the benefits of using club management software?
Club management software offers several benefits, including efficient member registration and onboarding, automated payment processing, event management, communication tools, and reporting features. It simplifies administrative tasks and enhances overall club operations.

How do I choose the best club management software?
When selecting club management software, consider factors such as your club’s specific needs, budget, ease of use, available features (e.g., membership management, payment processing, event management), customer support, and integration capabilities.

Can club management software integrate with other tools?
Yes, many club management software solutions offer integration with other tools and platforms. Common integrations include accounting software, email marketing services, payment gateways, and event management platforms. Check the software’s documentation or contact their support team to learn about available integrations.

Is club management software secure and reliable?
Reputable club management software providers prioritize security and reliability. Look for software solutions that offer data encryption, regular backups, secure payment processing, and compliance with industry standards such as GDPR. Additionally, read user reviews and testimonials to gauge the reliability of the software.

Best all-in-one software: Raklet

Raklet is an all-in-one club management software to fulfill all your needs. You can easily manage your club’s membership and event details, analyze securely stored data, collect fees, as well as streamline and automate all your repetitive tasks — all from a single platform.

You can facilitate member engagement with our digital membership cards.

Reviews: Raklet is one of the highest-rated software on this list and among the highest-rated on the market. We are proud to provide one of the best platforms to our users, and we take their feedback very seriously. Customer happiness is our top priority at all times.

Price: Raklet has a forever-free plan for one site admin. Paid plans start at $49/month, with a 14-day free trial available. See our transparent and detailed pricing page for more details.

Still not convinced? Then, read about how Raklet helped UN-PORT as their preferred club membership management software.

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