Adding to the strategic challenge of getting more sign-ups, you also have the added friction of the sign-up process, which also happens to be the first interaction that your constituents have with your platform. We have gone back to our drawing boards to re-think the signup process; to not only make it easier than ever to sign up, but also remove any inhibitions they might have about joining the platform.
Registered users probably are the most important stakeholders in your road to better engagement. Adding to the strategic challenge of getting more sign-ups, you also have the added friction of the sign-up process, which also happens to be the first interaction that your constituents have with your platform.
We have gone back to our drawing boards to re-think the signup process; to not only make it easier than ever to sign up, but also remove any inhibitions they might have about joining the platform.
So here's what has changed.
Close to 50% of your users will be reading their invite emails on their mobile devices, and therefore try to sign up right on their mobile device. We've tweaked the design and the flow of the registration page to make for a great mobile sign up experience.
Dedicated sections of the sign-up flow can be set up to showcase the value of registering on the network. You can use this space to display information like how they are going to benefit from the network, how they can give back, how they are a valued part of the network, etc.
Your alumni can now set their communication preferences during sign-up. Your alumni can pick and choose how they would like to receive emails, phone calls or mailers to express their opt-in and adjust their preferences.
Long and boring forms have lower conversions. So how do you capture all the information you need, without frustrating the user?The new sign up flow has taken a stepwise approach that allows you to ask all the required details from the user, in shorter forms. The multiple stages make the user feel like they are making progress, keeping them engaged. The approach has been tried and tested to work better.
Let's take a peek at what the new sign up flow looks like.
All the mandatory fields required to create an account are included in this step. The details captured here, are used to create the user's account on the platform.
All the secondary information like the user's phone number, city, class etc., are captured during this step. The stepwise approach helps the user visualize their progress, keeping them engaged with the flow.
Here is where the user can express their Opt-ins for communication and select how they would like to give back. The opt-ins notably adhere to GDPR guidelines.
Here users can connect their Facebook, LinkedIn or google plus accounts on this step to instantly update their profiles with more information.
After the registration process is complete, the user is redirected to the Groups. This is where they can select the groups they would like to be a part of. You can also redirect them to their newly created profile page, to complete their entire information.Yes, we have changed a lot in the sign-up flow. But what we'd love now, is for you to share your valuable feedback with us!Got an idea to make the signup process on Almabase even better? Feel free to drop us an email on support@almabase.com.
Table of Contents
Subscribe
See how modern advancement teams bring alumni engagement and fundraising together.
As we continue our focus on user engagement, we are today laying the foundation for what we envision to be one of the primary drivers of engagement on your platform... Feeds!
Feeds have been around on Social Media for almost as long as they have existed — so it is by no means a new concept. Over the next few quarters, you will start to see your Almabase platform utilize feeds as the primary driver for engagement and user-generated content.
This is just the beginning and there is a long way to go. But we are excited to announce that Starting today, our first version of feeds will be available on all events on the new events module. Over time, users will be able to interact with the feed on other features such as Groups as well.
1. User-generated content that other users can comment or like.
2. Admins can delete any post or comment at any time.
3. Users can report violations or abuse on any content created by other users.
4. Users can now share photos to the feed.
5. Only logged-in users can post content.
6. Administrators can hide the entire feed if required.
Feeds are finally here.
Feeds have been around on social media for almost as long as they have existed — so it is by no means a new concept. Over the next few quarters, you will start to see your Almabase platform utilize feeds as the primary driver for engagement and user-generated content.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Events have been around on Almabase for a while now and has grown to be one of among most utilized channels to engage constituents offline. As usage grew, the kind of events that needed to be created grew diverse and the more we realized that most event solutions out there, are not meant to handle the kind of complexities that come up during reunions - while considering engagement data to manage.
So, we went back to the drawing board to redesign events and we're excited to roll it out today to all platforms.
While a whole lot has changed (we will be covering more in our support documentation), here's everything you need to know :
We've completely redesigned the interface and experience for the user. Each event also now lives on its own page – free from unnecessary navigational options.
Additionally, the admin side for events is now entirely mobile responsive. Which means you can create an event, add photos, add guests, check-in guests, record payments, export, and everything else you needed to do from your computer, now on your mobile device.
Need to accommodate for change of plans? different tickets? additional guests? Not a problem. Each registration can now be edited both by the guest and event admins.
Guests can now also respond with a 'Maybe' or 'Not attending' during their registration.
You can now assign tickets to your event schedule (previously called 'Agenda') which will then appear to your guests in chronological order as they select the tickets they require. Great for grouping sub-event tickets and displaying tickets in the same order as that of the event schedule.
You can now select one of three types of tickets based on your use case.
1. Mandatory Tickets behave like base fares that need to be applied to every guest on the registration (including accompanying guests).
2. Seated Tickets behave like reservations made for a particular guest. Use seated tickets when the person needs to be physically present at the event, or when you need to know exactly which guest is attending and not just a number, like at an award ceremony or dinner. Seated tickets also work great with guest forms - more on that later.
3. Open Tickets behave like anonymous tickets that can be bought in any quantity by the buyer. Works great for t-shirts, tours etc.
Oh, and tickets now also support images for that homecoming merchandise :)
Previously, you could add a 'Registration Form' that was asked once per registration. With the new events, you can add 'Guest Forms' – a form that asked once for each guest mentioned on the registration. Works great if you need to know the dietary preference of every guest that will be attending.
Events now support in-page payments without ever having to leave your platform using Stripe. Additionally, guests can pay on their mobile devices using Apple & Google Pay for one-touch payments.
Support for Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) coming soon.
The new events have a few tricks up it sleeves when it comes to discounts:
1. No more remembering or pasting discount codes with public discounts that anyone can use as they register.
2. Discounts applicable only to paid members of your organization with Member discounts.
3. Discounts applicable only to certain affiliations like student.
While paid events have a reasonably predictable turnout, free events have a large problem with no-shows. Which is why we built an automated event reminder that is sent a day before the event to your guests that remind them of the event and nudge them to modify their registration if they won't be able to make it.
Events : Here's what's changing.
The Events module has been around on Almabase for a while now and has grown to be amongst the most utilized channels to engage constituents offline. While a whole lot has changed (we will be covering more in our support documentation), here's everything you need to know.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
The long-awaited upgrade to our giving module is finally out, and we've brought in some major upgrades.
To help ease things for you, we've put together a list of questions we often hear about our giving module.
We understand how complicated it gets to move a whole system that’s been in place for years. To lessen the burden somewhat, try the giving module in a phased manner. Try it for a small campaign, or maybe even set it up just to drive a few donations to fund your alumni website itself. We’ve seen a few of our partners try this out successfully!
Think of this as an additional channel for revenue, rather than a replacement. Also, we’ll be there to help you all along, so feel free to reach out.
Those of you already using Almabase will attest to how easy it is to use the tools we build if you spend 10 minutes to understand how it works. Akin to our other tools, we’ve built this to make it as easy as possible for you to manage your fundraising workflows.
As for shifting process - you don’t need to think about it until you’re comfortable with the new system. Try it out with something small, and see how it works for you.
We’ve heard this before. Be assured that what we’re providing to you now is the experience of a far better system. We’ve done our research over the last few years, and guarantee a better user experience, faster donations, and an integrated reporting system.
Also, we’d not recommend a full switch of systems till you’ve run some tests on the test mode that we’ve set up for you and feel confident about the new system. For those of you who already use Almabase, this comes at no additional cost. So feel free to try it out for your next campaign, and let us know what you think.
It’s wonderful to hear that you’re reaching your goals! The new giving module, however, goes beyond that to provide your donor with enriched user experience. It is our guarantee that this new giving module will make the giving experience for your donors, much more easier and faster than any system out there. What we’re focusing on is not just the amounts, but also on giving your constituents a pleasant, personal giving experience.
Think of this as an additional channel for revenue. You don’t necessarily have to make a switch if you’re already using Almabase. Since the giving module is a part of the standard plan, you can use it even if you're already using another vendor for giving. More importantly, the giving module automatically maps payments to your constituent records on Almabase. This makes it easier than ever to get a 360-view of each constituents engagement history across emails, events and donations, and pull reports that consider all this information.
We’ve built in powerful export-import capabilities to the new giving module. You’ll find it easier than ever to import gifts into your database using a mapping template and export file that we’ll provide. For those of you using Raiser’s Edge NXT, we’ll be building seamless sync with your database as soon as Blackbaud rolls out a few updates that let us do so.
Almabase has the capability to store all your records. Using our ‘enlist’ feature, you can hide records from the public alumni directory, but still have access to them and all their data on the back-end. You can even send email campaigns to them using the Almabase communication center. In addition every event they sign up for, and every gift they make through the Almabase events or giving module will be automatically mapped to their record.
We strongly believe that you’re never too small to start. Grassroots fundraising does wonders. If you already have a payment processor that you use (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, BBMS, Auth.net etc) then it takes you less than 5 minutes to set up a campaign. We’ve worked with alumni offices who ran a small campaign to fund the alumni website itself - you could try it too! If you need any help, let us know.
This is one of the key reasons why we built Almabase - to be an integrated all-in-one tool for engaging your constituents. The giving module is heavily integrated into the Almabase ecosystem. In addition to constituent data, event attendance, and email and online engagement data - you’ll also have online gift data now to give you a more complete snapshot of each constituent than ever before.
That is definitely understandable. We wouldn’t want you to miss out because of your tough schedule. If you see value in this and don’t have the time and energy to convince your colleagues, introduce us to them. We’ll be happy to work with them and set up a trial version that they can try out and then make an informed decision.
As with every other feature on Almabase, we make sure that every piece of sensitive information is encrypted using the best security protocols. In addition, we do not store any credit card details on our system.
For those of you using Almabase, let us know whenever you’re considering this. As this is a fresh upgrade, we’re dedicating additional resources to work closely with you to help set this up. A few months down the line, might not be able to promise the same level of support to help you set up since this is built to be a self-served giving management tool.
Nothing, if you are already using Almabase, it comes as a part of Almabase’s standard plans and is included from the basic tier itself.
Other than an enriched user experience for your donors, you’ll be able to measure how your alumni engagement efforts impact payments. You’ll also have fine-grain configurability and control over your giving channels - set up recurring gifts, configure giving forms, use company gift matching, and be able to sync all this with your external database.
FAQs: About our new Giving module
Almabase provides mobile and online fundraising solutions for a new generation of donors with end-to-end digital fundraising software that is easy, fast, flexible and built exclusively for nonprofits.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
.svg)
.webp)
.webp)
%20(1).webp)