The emerging (or already emerged) trend of software is to be web-based, as a seasoned web developer who can read the trends, I cannot emphasize enough how important web-based software is. I am already in the market for a web-based recruitment management software, in which I compared PC Recruiter and Taleo(and I chose Taleo), and I am currently in the middle of developing a realtor’s website management platform.

And along comes Wild Apricot’s online membership and payment management system, geared towards organizations and other groups with memberships and recurring payments/donations. The moment I saw www.wildapricot.com, the first thought to my head was “Darn. They beat me to it.”

This software’s concept is simple : manage memberships of any sorts online. It could be used for a political clubs, charity groups, religious groups, student groups, sport groups - anything. The entire software is web based which means it automatically hooks into a website template that they can provide, or you can customize through custom CSS handling. The software also includes functionalities for automated membership renewals (which means you collect money online easily), and also is capable of accepting donations at will, as well as event management and notification functionalities!

The problem with many online software, or off-the-shelf CMS’s is that they are either too complicated in order to include all the possible functionalities people may want, and once you get into plugins that may conflict with each other, it becomes a headache. That’s why I don’t use Joomla. But this Wild Apricot software is something that I definitely can use without too much headache - it has a clearly drawn line of what it does, and if that’s what you need it for, go for it. It’ll only cost you $25/mth. If that saves you 1 hour of time updating your membership list manually and printing it out, it’s already paid for itself.

Just in case some people are unaware, let me explain the advantages of having such software running online :

1. Directly hooked into the database, which means upon member sign-up and renewal, the membership list is automatically updated.
2. Easy payment processing - if it’s online, it can take credit card payments instantly without having to hassle you.
3. Data is accessible anywhere. Since it’s online, you can log in and get your membership list and member details immediately.
4. Since the data is already online, publishing a website using that data is very easy.

Wild Apricot seems to be a phenomenal software that is targeted very precisely and can do its job very well, without too much bells and whistles or clutter.

The web page editing is very easy and intuitive as well - seriously, a housewife with very little web development knowledge could play with this platform and manage her charity club. I’m not kidding you - look at the following screen :

If a person knows how to use Word, they can use Wild Apricot. Get your 30-day trial now, to see for yourself what this software can do.

Things I like about the Wild Apricot platform are the following :

• Intensive use of AJAX to speed up page editing, event posting, etc.
• A very wide variety of pre-configured CSS for those groups that cannot afford the time/skill/money for a customized website. Even the included themes look wicked!
• Very easy menu navigation system - the whole theme is for this software to be easy to use and they’ve got that down right!
• The simplicity of it’s functions - less bells and whistles means more membership management

Things I question are the following :

• I don’t see any connection between the title “Wild Apricot” and online membership and payment management. I wonder why the picked that name… Well, if this software takes off, this can be a very unique name that actually makes them stand out, so who knows, it could work out to their benefit.
• The website color scheme makes it look more like some kind of an environmental activist group rather than an online software platform. I can understand why one would like to use fades and vibrant colors to get the whole Web 2.0 theme going, but my idea of a good software sales website is not this. Something that looks a bit more professional, but not too rigid would have been amazing.

Things I encourage them to do are the following :

Create a Facebook Application called “Mygroups” or “Advanced Groups” that steps up the current “Groups” section of Facebook - add the function to collect dues online while advertising Wild Apricot link somewhere in a corner. That might generate some business for those groups who are serious about moving over to their own stand-alone platform. Or maybe it can provide a great source for advertising income as well!

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 11:01 pm and is filed under Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.