Your online user registration system needs improvements. Here are some points/suggestions I would like to make:
1. The majority of our members don't use the user registration system, probably because they don't see the value in it. We used to be on NetCommunity where the member could tap in and see giving history, update his/her address, and see his/her membership status/expiration date. In Altru, users can't see anything. The only value for the user is getting a member discount. For most members, I don't think that offers enough incentive, especially since only about 20% of our members register for our programs.
For those who are willing to create an online account (plenty don't--I often hear "I have too many usernames/passwords as it is"), I think they want to go into an online account and view their history, see their status, see their benefits, etc, almost as if they were tapping into a bank account. But Altru's system doesn't offer anything like that. I have a hard time promoting it. I don't have a nice list of marketable reasons. So--they don't buy in.
For those who do buy in, I hear many remarks like "I couldn't update my address, I couldn't see my membership status, it didn't show me what member level I have right now, I didn't see the point, I was confused, was I actually signed in? I didn't see anything."
2. The value is only there IF the member is logged in and connected to the correct record. We continually get complaints from members who create an account and then they don't get their member discount because their data didn't match the correct record. Instead, a duplicate record is generated. Then we spend unnessary time merging duplicate records, giving refunds, etc.
Registrations need to link to correct records better. My suggestion is to provide a lmember ID# field so the liklihood of linking is more precise. I continually get members calling or emailing after renewing their membership online. They share comments like "I didn't trust that my membership renewed. it didn't ask for member ID#. It never asked if I was renewing. Here is my member ID#. Can you make sure my membership actually renewed and didn't create a new membership?"
I strongly encourage Altru to start designing a more beneficial user registraion expereience with a better linking system asking for member ID#.
The Online sales component of Altru is lackluster at best. Our customers get frustrated that they have to fill the registration information out every time they want to add another item to the cart. Why wouldn't it save the information throughout the entire checkout process? I understand that there are things like auto-fill that can make this less annoying but it just shows how there should be more intelligence built into this system. Most of our customers are elderly and don't know how to make use of auto-fill. As far as I know, there's no 3rd party option that ties into Altru so we're at the mercy of this system and the improvements that are deeply needed!
from the other comments, i agree with the one that says an email user name works...and it does for us...i just wish for a little more information to pop up once they do log in - their current level, expiration date and annual dues is good and a what we have on their record for home address a close second.
TWO YEARS AGO! All great points, thanks Laura. When was this reviewed I wonder....
This is an expectation anymore anywhere you have to login
Yes I would like to revisit this again. Especially because of the pandemic we are making it mandatory for members to login to their accounts in order to enjoy free admission.
Having the field for lookupid is very critical as it is often times how members identify themselves.
It was a hard transition from NetCommunity.
The backoffice cleanup for NOT having the profile functionality in Altru in HUGE! Way too many man hours fixing records and dealing with customer complaints. We also had Netcommunity with Raisers Edge before we switched and our customers are used to that, so we feel we have gone backwards in functionality.
Everything that Laura shared and Leah's comment below in this post from 2017 is still true today. Our members will call to renew because they don't see a way to renew on the website and don't trust they are renewing their membership and don't want to buy a new one. The value of creating a membership, other than the member discount, is nil. We switched from Raisers Edge and NetCommunity year ago and our members remember being able to see their information and giving history. I understand that Altru is different, but the web side of Altru seems to be NetCommunity. I don't understand why the same options aren't available. Using a member ID would be so much simpler and cut down on duplicate records that we have to clean up weekly.
I think signing in through primary's email is best, as it is now. I know I use this at other organizations, and it's much easier to remember than having to pull out a membership card each time.
The time suck that is merging and fixing records created by registered program events is huge. We love the revenue from summer camps, but dread the back office hustle as we are having to cleanup after a poorly designed web form.
Yes please add a member ID field AND and email field!
Yes please add a member ID field AND and email field!
Yes please add a member ID field AND and email field!
It seems like the obvious way to go here is to use member ID. It is frustrating that it didn't role out at the same time or before the login feature. It would be interesting to know who they are talking to before they start updates because it doesn't seem like they are talking to anyone at a cultural organization.
I'm aware this idea is over a year old, but I'm new to the community and need to voice my frustration with this issue and urge that it becomes a top priority for Altru to fix. We only recently started asking members to register and sign in to get members discounts (we formerly did it by the honor system, but found too many people took advantage). I am constantly fielding calls from frustrated constituents who have registered but their account did not link to their member record- increasingly common when people have multiple email addresses they use. Additionally, they are confused that when they do properly log in, the discount on the tickets does not immediately appear, and so the member tickets look to be the same price as non-member- discount only appears in the cart. I've edited webforms to indicate that the discount will appear in their cart, but again, this is extremely confusing. Please fix this Altru! I'm sick of getting calls from irate customers yelling at us about this system- it makes us look unprofessional, and is reflecting poorly on our organization, and I hate feeling helpless to make it better.
We have been considering using this option in order to validate membership status for member discounts, but with all of the headaches it is causing our peers, we are tabling this initiative until a better solution is offered. However, the alternative is that we have no gatehouse for keeping people from using a member discount if they aren't a member. We typically monitor this on small events like trips and small programs and tours, but can't possibly do anything for large events like lectures.In those cases we send out registration links via email to our members instead of publishing the registration link on our website. But there's nothing keeping them from forwarding the member registration link to non-members. We look forward to a system that allows members to login to a registration system using their member ID and view their member profile.
I agree wholeheartedly with all the points being made. We experience many of the same complaints. Please find a solution
All of these comments describe issues that we have as an organization with Altru login.
Our members are confused as to why they can't update their information on their own, and are apologetic that they have to take a staff member's time because they believe they just couldn't figure it out.
Our members often email me reservation requests, or leave voicemail. For high demand registration, this is problematic when online event registration does fill up faster than I can get through email and voicemail.
The error message that pops up with a member tries to login with their on-file email that hasn't been created into a username is incorrect. It indicates that they are putting in the wrong password, and when the "forgot my password" button is pressed, nothing is sent to their email. This is frustrating for our members.
I agree that the duplication issue would be largely resolved if Altru suggested US Post Office format addresses, or even had an example for proper format.
It is also an issue for us when an email address is added via online registration, and it is saved to Altru as a secondary email. Since it is the member's decision which email address we email, not the orgs, perhaps there could be a checkbox, "This is my unique email address. Please select this address when emailing me."
I feel like I could have written most of these comments myself. The points voiced are spot on for our organization. This time of year I am running duplicate processes twice a week to try to link everything properly before membership cards are processed, but I can't prevent online purchase issues with discounts. We have a very heavily senior membership base, so as if registering itself isn't confusing enough to them, they don't know how to tell if they've already registered or logged in. Without seeing basic account info like name and address, the process doesn't make sense to them and causes a lot of problems. I'd also love what someone else pointed out- that they be allowed to manage their basic contact info. When people provide new mail and email addresses, and we still send to their old addresses, we look bad and waste postage. I would certainly still have to clean new information that comes in, but at least we'd be contacting them at the appropriate places.
YES!!! Please do some work on this area. We are not able to use any of the membership discount or member only event features because we're worried about all the issues that we would face should we try to start using these accounts.
Thanks all for commenting on this idea. From time to time I circle back to it to check on status. I'm waiting for the No Status status to change too. It's got the most votes for any No Status ideas. Surely Altru will consider this soon? Share this idea with your colleagues and have more people vote for it is all I can suggest!