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What is association management software (AMS)?

Association management software: Everything your association needs to know about an AMS

Association management software (AMS) is an all-in-one software package, which provides professional and trade associations with the necessary features to run their organization. AMS is an acronym that may refer to association management software or association management system.

Association management software (AMS) can be invaluable for organizational leaders, helping you empower your entire organization.

With AMS software, medium to large associations can streamline organizational processes like member renewals, analytics reporting, revenue tracking, and more. Association management software helps manage your membership pipeline, throughout the entire member journey.

Here’s why enterprise associations choose association management software:

Automate labor-intensive manual tasks

Ensure consistent member communication

Enhance member database with user-friendly reports & dashboards

Boost member engagement with an online community platform

Optimize sales and marketing efforts

Streamline event organization

Build effective boards and leadership committees

A 360° view of member engagement

And more

With Nimble AMS, you’ll get these key association management software features and more.

Enterprise associations choose Nimble AMS to optimize operations and provide superior member support. Nimble AMS empowers medium to large organizations to build lasting member relationships by creating a personalized experience.

With Nimble AMS exclusive tools, offered at no additional cost, you can create customized member resources to increase member engagement and member retention. Leverage templates and other professional association resources to optimize your member management processes and member outreach. Working with our association management software consultants will help you leverage the necessary tools to scale your organization and boost your ROI.

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What comes with association management software?

Association management software offers a variety of features and functionality. Enterprise-level associations should look for the very best in their AMS software. Consider an AMS built on customer relationship management (CRM) software to address your organizational needs.

Look for these must-have features:

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Membership database

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Dues and subscription management

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User-friendly reports and dashboards

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Online community platform

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Committee organization

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Conference and event planning

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Modern e-commerce

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Continuing education integration options

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Financial features

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Web-based member portal

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Mobile-first

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Membership database

At the core of all AMS software is the ability to manage information on individuals and organizations. Look for a robust database solution to empower staff as they work with complex membership structures. Give staff access to manage constituent records, including contact information, demographics, certifications, and transaction history.
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Dues and subscription management

Dues are the lifeblood of an association. Association management software assists with the critical task of dues billing and collection, empowering staff through automation. Most AMS systems accommodate a variety of types of billing including annual, anniversary, sliding scale, and pro-rating dues depending on when the member joins. AMS systems can also streamline the management and billing of subscriptions for newsletters, journals, and more.

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User-friendly reports and dashboards

Become a data-driven association with powerful analytics and user-friendly reports and dashboards. Leverage an AMS to visualize key business metrics and spot trends with pre-built reports and personalized dashboards.

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Online community platform

Look for association management software that provides a built-in online member community to drive engagement.

Boost member connection and retention with personalized digest feeds, networking opportunities, and unique member groups.

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Conference and event planning

Manage your upcoming event from start to finish, ensuring registration, payment collection, and event organization is streamlined. Your AMS should help you sell sponsorships and exhibitions, as well as manage attendee data.

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Modern e-commerce

Diversify your organization’s revenue streams with a modern AMS that offers e-commerce solutions. Look for an AMS that helps you boost revenue with abandoned cart reminders and cross-sell opportunities. Make constituent payments easier with options like Apple Pay, One Payment, and Express Payment options.

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Committee organization

Association committees are key to proper governance. AMS systems enable staff to track committee and sub-committee members and boost committee communication by recording meeting minutes.

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Continuing education integration options

Choosing an innovative AMS ensures you’ll have many integration options with advanced learning management software (LMS). Advance your learning program with an LMS integration that makes it easy for members to enroll in courses and tracks continuing education credits and certification progress in an online member profile.

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Financial features

Association management software operates as a sub-ledger to handle the billing, invoicing, and receipting of all transactions involving constituents. Look for an AMS that integrates with your bookkeeping tool to streamline your accounting processes.

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Web-based member portal

Associations need to support members 24/7. With an AMS member portal, constituents can customize their member experience by updating their profile, paying dues, registering for conferences, purchasing products, viewing certification status, and more.

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Mobile-first

Look for an AMS that is mobile responsive, ensuring your data is easily accessible across web-enabled devices. With a mobile-first AMS, both staff and members can connect whenever and wherever they want.

Trends in association management software

Staying up to date on industry news is essential to establishing your enterprise association’s credibility and expertise. Staying ahead of the curve as new technologies and methodologies develop will ensure your organization offers a superior member experience and meets its goals.

The following association management software trends point to innovative developments in the future:

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Continuous innovation

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Artificial intelligence

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Predictive analytics

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Cloud-based software

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Data security

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CRM-based AMS

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Continuous innovation

Innovative association management software offers worry-free, seamless updates. Getting routine software upgrades ensures your staff and members always have access to the latest technological advances. With regular updates, all users are guaranteed to be on the latest software version.  
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Artificial intelligence

Advanced AMS systems offer artificial intelligence (AI) to make your association smarter. Use AI to deliver member predictions and recommendations, driving a superior member experience across your organization.

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Predictive analytics

Leverage predictive analytics in association management software to anticipate member behavior and guide staff actions. For example, your organization can use predictive analytics to uncover any at-risk members and act before they lapse.

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Cloud-based software

Being in the cloud means that the association management system and its data are hosted online, versus a local server. Cloud-based software offers increased functionality, allowing vendors to release software quicker and easier. It also allows all software users to be on the latest version and take advantage of all of the latest features. Another perk of cloud-based software is the lower cost of ownership because vendors are responsible for updates, security, and performance monitoring.

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Data security

By choosing an AMS hosted in the cloud, you can rest assured that your member data is backed up on a rotating schedule, so you never lose records. An innovative AMS will prioritize best-in-class security practices and compliance and offer live status details on service. Look for an AMS provider that complies with data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, and PIPEDA) and offers an in-house security and compliance team.

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CRM-based AMS

Every association needs to process association-specific transactions like dues, event registrations, committees, and more. With an AMS built on customer relationship management (CRM) software, you have features like lead and contact management, reports and analytics, process automation, and artificial intelligence. Leveraging these features in your AMS will help you achieve your goals, improve your member experience and become a data-driven organization.

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How to research association management software

When determining the best option for your enterprise association, you’ll want to carefully compare AMS vendors. Consider your unique organizational needs and key criteria to find the association management software that best fits your requirements. Investigate AMS reviews to compare software capabilities.

Whether you need more flexibility or scalability, customization or specific features, keep a few points in mind:

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Costs

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Requirements

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Comprehensive offerings

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Membership Management

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Online Community

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Event and Exhibit Management

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Process Automation

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E-Commerce

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Financial Management

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Analytics and Personalized Dashboards

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Artificial Intelligence & Predictive Analytics

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Continuous Innovation

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Open Platform

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Costs

Research the AMS operating costs over time. To get a holistic picture of the long-term investment value consider support fees, hardware costs, and customization expenses.

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Requirements

Work with your board to assess your organizational goals and determine your priorities and requirements to measure AMS options against your needs.

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Comprehensive offerings

Be aware of hidden system costs and choose a system that offers a comprehensive estimate of all required work. Search for an AMS vendor that provides an association resource center to guide your research process.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an association management system?

An association management system (AMS) is software associations use to manage member engagement and provide resources to grow new and existing member relationships. In today’s data-driven world, many associations have turned to AMS to act as a framework for membership growth and retention.

What is association management software?

Association management software (AMS) is a system that provides professional and trade associations with the necessary features to run their organization, enhance the member experience, and boost ROI. 

What can association management software do?

Association management software can help associations manage constituents, track dues and subscriptions, organize and host conferences and virtual events, develop association committees, and provide continuing education and certification resource for members. An AMS offers advanced analytics and user-friendly reports to ensure stakeholders can make data-driven decisions.

What does AMS stand for?

AMS is an acronym for association management software or association management system.

What can an AMS do?

An innovative AMS helps associations manage the membership pipeline, throughout the entire member journey. With AI, predictive analytics, automation, user-friendly reports, and more, your association can enhance its member experience, exceed organizational goals, and boost ROI.

What is an AMS built on Salesforce?

An AMS built on Salesforce is association management software built on the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. Nimble AMS is built on Salesforce, allowing associations to leverage the powerful Salesforce data management and automation tools to better manage their associations.

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