Choosing technology for your association. CRM or AMS?

For associations reviewing their current systems and considering an investment in new technology, it’s a big decision. 

Today more than ever, associations face rising pressure to optimise spending, deliver tangible ROI and keep up with rapid advances in technology and data security requirements. 

So, whether you’re aiming to improve the member experience and deliver more value, lift efficiency in the performance of everyday tasks or better manage your member data, it’s important to do your research, ask the right questions and ensure the solution you choose is right for your needs.   

What do we need? A CRM or an AMS? 

Currently there exists some confusion and common misconceptions about the differences between a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and an AMS (Association Management System). This is due to a number of factors: 

• There is some overlap in functionality between the two systems. 

• CRM is a more widely recognised term in the business world whereas AMS is more niche. There may be an assumption that a CRM is a standard solution for all relationship management and data needs. 

• Some CRM vendors market their systems as being suitable for membership organisations based on the presence of the shared functionality. 

This article aims to demystify the differences between the two systems and remove the ambiguity so you can better understand what to look for in choosing technology to support your association. 

What are the differences? 

Fundamentally, it all comes down to the unique purpose of each system, what your organisation does, and who your audience is. Associations have members, businesses have customers. These relationships are as different as the tools needed to deliver your services.  

Businesses and companies use CRMs for the sole purpose of generating sales of products or services over the customer lifecycle. A CRM is geared towards discrete transactions – a monetary exchange at the time of purchase.   

In contrast, associations charge members a fee in exchange for ongoing value over the duration of the membership period - the measure of value being highly subjective based on the individual needs of a member.  

An AMS is therefore geared towards ongoing member engagement and is built to deliver a multitude of value-add services via a range of association-specific functions and tools, all housed within the system. 

CRMs and AMSs do still have some things in common. They both gather, store and use customer or member data for tracking interactions, communications and relationship management. But ultimately there are significant differences between a system built for a sales-focused organisation versus one that’s member-led. 

In addition to managing the member database, an AMS offers association-specific functionality and a fully integrated association website for online joining and renewals, event management, financial transactions, member communications and more. All for the purposes of serving members better.

The differences summarised 

What’s wrong with using a CRM to manage member information, and other systems to perform other association functions? 

1. Budget wastage & inefficiency.  

Associations may invest (often very large sums) in a CRM to manage their member data and then realise it doesn’t handle tasks such as membership renewals, event management or CPD tracking. 

Example: An association invested heavily in a leading brand CRM only to find that automation of member renewals was not available. So upon spending $300K on their new system, the staff are still taking credit card renewals from members manually over the phone. All while placing member data at risk of security breaches that commonly occur when moving data between systems.  

2. Often the CRM isn’t set up for integration with other systems. 

If an association needs to use other systems for association-specific tasks, this usually means passing data around between the multiple systems via Excel spreadsheets.  This results in a number of problems – and risks: 

• No single source of truth - Associations can end up with multiple files and spreadsheets containing member data.  There is no single source of truth. No confidence in which file holds correct and current data. 

• Inefficiency - Updating a member’s details means making changes in multiple systems – performing the same task manually, multiple times and with higher risk of errors. 

• Increased costs - Manual processing and lack of automation increases overheads. 

• Data breaches - The vast majority of data breaches today, are due to taking data out of systems. Moving data around via Excel spreadsheets creates a serious data security risk. 

3. Missed opportunities to lift performance. 

The association misses out on the specialised features of an AMS that significantly improve operations. 

What are the benefits of having a single system purpose-built for managing associations? 

• Peace of mind that your data is secure. With a fully comprehensive AMS like Membes all business functions are connected and centralised. All data stays on the system, or flows to other integrated systems, via a supported and maintained secure API. 

• No more switching between systems. Saves you time. Your member database, association website and CMS, and all the core functions in managing the operations of your association are accessed via a single integrated system. This makes it easier for your team to perform everyday tasks 

• Automation of tasks. Reduces overheads. Reduction in manual tasks, admin and duplication of effort means time savings, less errors, greater efficiency and lower costs – freeing you up to focus on member engagement. 

• Tools to help associations continually deliver value and engage members, in a scalable, low-cost way.   

As research continues to report lack of member value and budgetary constraints as the top reasons for member non-renewal, this is more important than ever. This is what members expect, this is what an AMS is designed to deliver.   

Identifying the best system for your association 

Some CRMs may offer features that are more sophisticated in terms of data management – after all, that’s their sole purpose. But it’s important to consider the cost/benefit trade-off and the bigger picture. Are these the features that will have the greatest impact on the effectiveness of your association, and the experience and engagement of your members? 

When investing in new technology, make sure your association has the right tools for the job.  

Ask yourself these questions to ensure you make a decision that’s right for your needs and goals: 

• What does success look like? 

• What’s important to our association, our members and stakeholders? 

• What functions do we need to perform to achieve our goals?  

• Which system has the capabilities and tools that will best help us deliver on this? 

If member engagement, ROI, data security, more efficient work practices, tools and resources that members can access at any time, new revenue opportunities, and a team that’s freed up to focus on new ways to provide member value, are important to you, then it should be an easy answer.  A CRM will help you manage and use your member data, but with an AMS you can have all the extra benefits that only a purpose-built system can provide.