There are many businesses and communities which have membership organizations. It might be small, with only a few people, 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 track of these things.
That is where Wild Apricot comes in. It’s one of the most well-known membership management software that can help you not only record and track but also build your website, and it even has some email marketing features.
In this guide, you’ll learn if Wild Apricot is exactly 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. Afterward, you will want to read the rest of the article for a more comprehensive review.
What’s Wild Apricot? Wild Apricot/Partners
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’s focused on keeping track of members so that nonprofit organizations and clubs can charge them for occasions and dues. It’s also used to notify them about these notifications.
It’s designed to be the solution to develop and manage a membership-based site by encouraging different applications. It’s built-in financial reporting and email marketing tools.
Who can use Wild Apricot?
Though it’s targeted at nonprofit organizations, associations, and clubs, it can be used by anyone who is looking for a software that can help them operate like a membership-based entity.
There are many ways to utilize Wild Apricot using its features. They also have a setup wizard that can help their users navigate the software with ease. You may also contact their trainers if you require assistance.
What are the features?
Wild Apricot offers features that 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 objectives from the dashboard.To give you an idea what Wild Apricot can offer, here are some of the software’s features.
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Website Builder
Wild Apricot has a site and hosting features done through AWS. They offer templates and drag and drop editors to help you create your own website.
If you do not have any experience making your own website, or if you do not have enough budget to hire an expert, this feature is very beneficial. It’s also perfect for those people who are working under a time constraint.
You can even create your own templates, aside from the customizable themes and templates that are available.You can even use the customized layouts as a theme and set it as your template. And to prevent confusion, your editing page will offer 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’ll need to upgrade your account to a paid membership.
Online Store Builder
Apart from building sites, they also offer other features like the online store and program builder.
With the online store, you can sell both digital and physical goods. You can set up the costs, discounts, and other deals.
For physical products, you can send them straight to Wild Apricot so that they can deal with the distribution procedure. They’ll monitor the process inventory and payments. However, you will be the one to deal with the logistics.
For now, the only downside for their online shop builder is that you can’t add shipping calculation tools or options to adjust the prices 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 app.
You’ll be able to access the information because it is stored in a cloud database. To make it easy, it is searchable, and you can use it to make membership levels and renewals customizable.
If you’re switching from a different management service, you do not need to worry about your old membership database. Wild Apricot will enable you to import your existing database into the program.
You can even create a member’s directory with your database so other members can look at other subscriber’s profiles. Wild Apricot/Partners
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Wild Apricot Payments and Donations
Wild Apricot can also manage online shop and member payments. Their payment gateway is easy and straightforward to use. All you need to do is create an account with AffiniPay, which is their payment processor. For the buyers, they will just need to enter their card details so their orders can be processed right away.
In addition to that, site owners won’t be charged contract fees or setup fees. Although they charge processing fees, it is pretty competitive, having just 2.9% and an additional $0.30 for each trade.
Take note, though, that the processor is available only to the American and Canadian Wild Apricot clients. Furthermore, the processing fees can be different depending on where you are. There are international processing fees for members that are based in different countries.
Wild Apricot also added a donations feature since they were mainly made for nonprofit. You may add a donation button and have a widget for the donation drive goals 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 lets you send newsletters, invoices, reminders, and even event invitations through their email templates and features.
If you prefer to start your work using a blank canvas, Wild Apricot also gives you that choice. If you’re worried that it will seem generic, you can customize the templates using their drag and drop editor.
You may also segment your mailing list. You may use your member’s database for targeting campaigns and to manage other tasks like 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 the feature.
Even if you’re using a free plan, your email address is the same as your subdomain. Should you upgrade to a paid plan, you can create a customized domain for your website and for your email.
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Event Management
Wild Apricot lets you make and share a calendar of any events you will be hosting. You could also use this to set up registration forms, process payments, as well as waitlists.
Wild Apricot Pricing and Plans
Wild Apricot has a free plan where you can have up to 50 members. If you’ve got more than that, you will need to upgrade.
In general, Wild Apricot has 7 strategies to select from. It is possibles to pay it monthly, annually, or every two years.
The cost of the plan is based on the amount of maximum members that you can have. As you increase the number of members, so does your price. 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 a month.
If you Pre-pay for 1 year, you will able to save 10%. Another payment strategy is to pay 2 years ahead, which makes it possible to 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/Partners
Pros and Cons
Before moving on to the final section, we will summarize the pros and cons of using Wild Apricot to help you decide.
Here are the Pros and Cons:
Advantages
Includes templates
Tons of videos and tutorials
Offers flexibility for clubs, associations, and nonprofits
Offers a free plan
Each paid plan has a free trial
Disadvantages
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 website, Wild Apricot is recommended. It was created to be used by membership associations and organizations, so the prices are not too high. They even offer a free plan and a free trial on their paid plans.
But if you are planning to use this for handling your business, it might be best to find a different platform. If you’re really curious, though, it wouldn’t hurt to use their free trial.
But even if it wasn’t made for businesses, it’s still able to perform well. You can use it to sell online courses, but you will need a link that will lead them to an external website. For businesses that have a lot of occasions, this is a excellent platform to operate and implement event management strategies.
Overall, Wild Apricot is a fantastic platform, especially for associations and organizations. It gets the job done without being too pricey. If that is not enough to convince you, you could always use their free trial to see for yourself.
FAQ Wild Apricot/Partners
Are there any system requirements?
For Wild Apricot to work well, your resolution should have a width of 1280 pixels.
Can it work on any browser?
Yes, Wild Apricot is supported by the most popular browsers. To avoid glitches, opt for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
Are there any tutorials to navigate the software?
Yes. Wild Apricot has many videos that will 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 doesn’t have extra transaction fees. You receive all the features whether you picked the paid or free plan. The only time you will pay for extra costs is when you use a third party payment provider for your online store.
