[Case study] Membership, accounting, communication: how do you manage your association?

It's vital to simplify and optimize the management of your association. Communication, accounting, membership, cash flow... the various modules of an organization can be difficult to manage, especially as the association grows.

AssoConnect is the solution. This all-in-one web platform lets you manage your association entirely online, with no need for technical expertise.

Used by over 50,000 association managers, it represents a real performance lever for associations. Here's a closer look at 3 case studies that have considerably improved their association's management thanks to AssoConnect.

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1 - Club Iris Hockey Lambersart centralizes and organizes memberships

Presentation of the association

Founded in 1941, Club Iris Hockey Lambersart now has over 450 members. It's a dynamic club built around values such as conviviality, friendship, family and tolerance.

Over the years, the club has expanded to include new teams, such as wheelchair field hockey and the women's team.

Membership, a headache every new sports season

Before the switch to AssoConnect, the membership period was a moment dreaded every year by Sandrine Louis, the club's employee.

In fact, she was in charge of registering all the members on file. Hundreds of registration forms had to be entered manually, late members had to be identified, cheques and other cash payments had to be recorded, and so on.

Athletes couldn't join online, nor pay by credit card. I managed the registration forms and various payment methods, cheques and cash, by hand. I had to make numerous reminders before I could collect all the membership fees.

The meeting with AssoConnect was arranged by the region's president. A survey of club needs carried out in 2018 highlighted the need for the club to help Sandrine with membership management.

It was then decided to test the AssoConnect association management software.

The transition to AssoConnect

The transition to AssoConnect was simple and efficient. The software features a function that enables club files to be imported directly from the platform into a centralized database.

From her AssoConnect platform, Sandrine creates a website for her field hockey club and completely rethinks her membership system.

For the transition, we imported our members directly into AssoConnect. This year, over 200 sportsmen and women used the website for their membership, which means I didn't have to collect and enter registration forms manually in Excel. And over half of them paid by credit card: that's over 100 cheques I didn't have to manage!

Result: less manual management, and a lot of time saved

• Online memberships are automatically recorded in the software, and Sandrine doesn't have to do anything special.
• For members who don't wish to use the Internet, Sandrine can collect the registration forms and transfer them to her platform.
• What's more, the AssoConnect software makes it easy to keep track of members.

This customizable function gives administrators an overview of the information collected on members. In the case of Club Iris Hockey Lambersart, this feature indicates which course the member is taking, or whether the required parental authorization has been provided.

For Sandrine, the switch to AssoConnect has meant a lighter workload: a hundred fewer cheques to manage in the first year, and more time to devote to higher value-added tasks.

A national partnership after the local one

It is thanks to this positive impact on the club that AssoConnect and the Hauts-de-France Hockey League have developed a partnership in 2019.

This successful cooperation paved the way for a partnership between the French Hockey Federation and AssoConnect. Now, like Sandrine, all FFHockey-affiliated clubs can enjoy the benefits of AssoConnect at a reduced price.

2 - Boxe Académie simplifies association accounting management

Presentation of the association

Created in September 2019, the association aims to promote sport and culture through boxing. La Boxe Académie is an association under the French law of 1901. Despite the health crisis, it has demonstrated its values of sharing and cohesion by enabling its participants to practice boxing even during the period of outdoor confinement.

But the organization of the association was becoming increasingly laborious for the volunteers. The organization was divided into 3 distinct modules:

• communication, website and emailing,
• membership linked to the website with online membership,
• accounting.

Initial problem

The company was faced with a number of organizational difficulties, particularly in terms of cash flow. Indeed, the president wanted the treasurer to concentrate on his added value, i.e. applying for grants and optimizing the association's cash flow, without necessarily calling on the services of an accounting assistant.

The solution: AssoConnect

The association turned to AssoConnect. The software, equipped with a complete and efficient accounting module, considerably improved the association's organization on several points:

• invoice management has been optimized: purchases, services from various suppliers, etc. Invoice creation can be customized to reflect the association's image (logo, wording, etc.),
• cash management has been greatly simplified : everyone has access to invoice creation, and the treasurer no longer has to wait 6 months to manage all invoices; he can access them at any time and in real time,
• general coordination is much improved: as the association is based on a collegial organization, decisions are taken by all members. The accounting module has reinforced this cohesion by providing access to data for all participants.

With AssoConnect, all the treasurer has to do is run a check to make sure that the invoice corresponds to the right account in the accounting records, and organization is considerably improved!

Short-, medium- and long-term results

In addition to improvements in accounting organization, the results of using AssoConnect are relevant:

• considerable collective time savings,
• some ten hours of useless exchanges avoided, since everyone can now enter and access the information they want,
• better visibility of the association's activity, enabling decisions to be made on the basis of reliable data.

I can't wait for the accounting module to be used on the back-to-school membership system!

3 - Rugby Club Thonon Chablais adapts its email communication in Covid time

Presentation of the association

Founded 100 years ago, Rugby Club Thonon Chablais Leman has been through many adventures. Opened in 1922, then mothballed during the Second World War, the club was finally revived in 1947. It offers its players an ideal setting to share their passion for the oval ball. Christian has been following the club for several years.

Prior to AssoConnect, communication was poorly adapted to the club's different audiences

Christian's involvement with the club began as a parent and supporter, and he became president before stepping down as treasurer in 2017.

When he took up his post, data on the 350 members was stored in Excel files. Unfortunately, this organization is not sufficient to keep in touch with all the members and people involved in the club.

Members are only part of our community. We have between 120 and 140 sponsors, not counting friends of the club! So we need to communicate with them too, because they're essential.

Indeed, communication with sponsors is essential, and nurtures trust between the two parties. A breakdown in communication would put an end to this mutual trust and lead to an inevitable decrease in funds.

A new dimension in communication with AssoConnect

When looking for a tool to improve the situation, Christian quickly discovered AssoConnect and took the plunge.

It was a smooth transition: he easily imported data from his Excel spreadsheets into the software and scheduled a daily email campaign.

This communication enables the club to distribute news of matches and other events to as many people as possible in the blink of an eye.

What's more, AssoConnect's Emailing module makes it possible to tailor the campaign and target certain members according to criteria such as the category to which they belong, or the team concerned.

AssoConnect's Emailing module enables us to keep in touch with our various audiences, which is essential!

An unexpected slowdown with Covid-19

The health crisis brings club activity to a halt in March 2020. With matches cancelled, Christian drastically reduced his newsletter.

With his team, he demonstrates his inventiveness by developing a partnership with a local bakery for Epiphany. Each purchase of a galette at this bakery enabled the Rugby Club Thonon to recover one euro.

Here again, AssoConnect's emailing module provides invaluable assistance to the club in orchestrating its communications.

Naturally, we communicated the ins and outs of the partnership via our newsletter to all our contacts. I think we can say that this cooperation was a success. Everyone was happy: the bakery multiplied its sales of galettes, and for the club, it brought in extra cash!

Rugby Club Thonon Chablais Léman is very active on the platform, creating a unique link between the association and its various stakeholders.

The club recently opened an online store via the AssoConnect platform. Stay tuned!

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AssoConnect, the ideal partner for all types of association

AssoConnect is positioned as the universal software to help all associations change the world.

This mission is supported by a number of key features that enable the platform to truly transform and simplify the daily lives of volunteers and employees.