There are many industries and communities that have membership organizations. It could be small, having only a handful of individuals, or extremely large, having more than 50,000 members.
Tracking all the activities can make your head swirl. You need to check out renewals, contact information, participants, and even subscription fees. It’s a lot of work to keep tabs on these things.
That is where Wild Apricot comes in. It’s one of the most famous membership management softwares which can help you track and record. Not only that, it has email marketing features and it can even help you build your site.
In this guide, you’ll find out if Wild Apricot is what you have been looking for.
Before you go on, you may want to watch this video by Capterra on YouTube that gives a quick overview. After, you’ll want to read the rest of our article for a more comprehensive review of Wild Apricot.
What is Wild Apricot? Wild Apricot Event Creator
Wild Apricot is a Canadian software company that caters to small to medium-sized membership organizations. Personify, a Constituent Management and Engagement platform bought them back in 2017.
It is focused on keeping track of members so that nonprofit organizations and clubs can charge them for events and dues. It’s also used to inform them about these notifications.
It’s intended to be the solution to build and manage a membership-based website by encouraging different applications. It has built-in financial reporting and email marketing tools.
Who can use Wild Apricot?
Anyone can use the software. But it’s specifically designed for anyone who is looking for a software that could help them run like a membership-based entity, particularly non-profit organizations, associations, and clubs.
There are a number of ways to run Wild Apricot using its features. They also have a setup wizard that can help their users navigate the software with ease. You can even contact their coaches if you require assistance.
What are the features?
Wild Apricot offers features which may be accessed by every member, regardless of their membership level. From building your site to managing and creating events, it’s easy to navigate these tasks from your dashboard.Here are some of Wild Apricot’s features.
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Website Builder
Wild Apricot has a site and hosting features done through AWS. They provide templates and drag and drop editors to assist you create your own website.
This is very helpful if you don’t have any experience making your own website or if you don’t have enough budget to hire a professional. It’s also great for those people who are working under a time constraint.
Aside from the customizable themes and templates available, you can even create your own templates.These can apply the default layouts that you have set to your template. And to avoid confusion, your editing page will provide a green highlight to the changes that you’ve made to your work.
If you are using a free account, you get a free subdomain generated using the email address you registered when you signed up. However, if you would like to create your own domain name, you will have to upgrade your account to a paid membership.
Online Store Builder
Apart from building sites, they also offer other features such as the online shop and app builder.
With the online shop, you can sell both digital and physical products. You can set up the costs, discounts, and other bargains.
For physical products, you can send them directly to Wild Apricot so they can deal with the distribution process. They will track the process payments and inventory. However, you’ll be the one to manage the logistics.
For now, the only downside for their online store builder is that you can’t add shipping calculation tools or options to adjust the costs for certain product variants.
Membership Information Storage
Members will be able to access their profiles to update any changes. This is going to be in sync in real time across the site and the mobile program.
You’ll be able to access the information since it is stored in a cloud database. To make it easy, it’s searchable, and you can use it to make membership levels and renewals customizable.
You also don’t need to worry about your old membership database if you’re switching from a different management software. Wild Apricot will let you import your current database into the software.
You can even make a member’s directory with your database so other members can look at other subscriber’s profiles. Wild Apricot Event Creator
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Wild Apricot Payments and Donations
Wild Apricot can also handle online store and member payments. Their payment gateway is easy and simple to use. All you will need to do is create an account with AffiniPay, which is their payment processor. On the other hand, buyers will just need to enter their card details for their orders to be processed.
In addition to that, site owners won’t be charged contract fees or setup fees. Though they charge processing fees, it is pretty competitive, having only 2.9% and an additional $0.30 for every transaction.
Take note, though, that the processor is available only to the Canadian and American Wild Apricot clients. Furthermore, the processing fees can be different based on where you’re. There are international processing fees for members who are based in other countries.
Since Wild Apricot was mainly made for nonprofit institutions, Wild Apricot added a donations feature. You can add a donation button and have a widget for the donation drive objectives and progress. The database of the contributions you obtained is also exported.
Email Marketing
Emails are still a great, of not, one of the best way to keep in contact with your members. Wild Apricot enables you to send newsletters, invoices, reminders, and even occasion invitations through their email features and templates.
If you prefer to start your work using a blank canvas, Wild Apricot also gives you that option. If you’re worried it will look generic, you can customize the templates using their drag and drop editor.
You can also segment your mailing list. Throughout your member’s database, you may use it to target campaigns or handle other tasks such as confirmations, reminders, or account updates.
If you’re looking for metrics, Wild Apricot includes open trackers and analytical reports to make the most out of this feature.
The email address is the same as your subdomain, even if you opted to use their free plan. Should you upgrade to a paid plan, you can create a customized domain for your site and for your email.
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Event Management
To help you manage your members before and during events, you can make and share calendar invites for your upcoming events. You can also use this to set up registration forms, process payments, and even waitlists.
Wild Apricot Pricing and Plans
The free plan allows you to have up to 50 members. If you wish to add more members, then you’ll need to upgrade.
In general, Wild Apricot has 7 strategies to select from. It is possible to pay it annually or every 2 years.
The cost increases as you increase the amount of members. For starters, their Personal Plan can accommodate up to 100 members for $40 per month. The maximum amount of members Wild Apricot can hold is 50,000. This falls under the Global Plan, which costs $600 per month.
If you Pre-pay for 1 year, you’ll able to save 10%. Another payment strategy is to pay 2 years ahead, which helps you save 15%.
They offer competitive prices considering these include email management and website hosting. They also offer a free trial for their paid plans. Wild Apricot Event Creator
Pros and Cons
Before moving on to the last section, we will summarize the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing Wild Apricot to help you decide.
Here are the Pros and Cons:
Advantages
Includes templates
Tons of videos and tutorials
Offers flexibility for associations, clubs, and nonprofits
Offers a free plan
Each paid plan has a free trial
Cons
User interface is a bit confusing
No membership ID on the system
Payment gateway is restricted to customers from the USA and Canada.
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Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a platform that can help you manage your membership-based site, Wild Apricot is recommended. It was created to be used by membership organizations and associations, so the prices are not too high. They even offer a free plan and a free trial on their paid plans.
But if you’re planning to use this for handling your business, it might be best to find a different platform. If you are really curious, however, it wouldn’t hurt to use their free trial.
It’s still able to execute well even if it was not made for businesses You can use it to sell online classes, but you’ll need a link which will lead them to an external site. For businesses with a good deal of occasions, this is a great platform to operate and implement event management strategies.
Overall, Wild Apricot is a good platform, particularly for organizations and associations. It gets the job done without being too expensive. If that is not enough to convince you, you can always use their free trial to see for yourself.
FAQ Wild Apricot Event Creator
Are there any system requirements?
Your resolution screen should have at least a width of 1280 pixels for the software to work efficiently.
Can it work on any browser?
Yes, Wild Apricot is supported by a lot of popular browsers. To avoid glitches, opt for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
Are there any tutorials to browse the software?
Yes. Wild Apricot offers many videos to help you get started. Just go to their site to get a list of the tutorials and webinars.
How long does the free trial last?
Wild Apricot offers a 30-day free trial for their paid plans.
Are there additional costs?
Wild Apricot does not have extra transaction fees. You receive all the features whether you picked the paid or free plan. The only time you will pay for additional costs is when you opt for a third-party payment provider for your online shop.
