GrowthZone Software

We moved to GrowthZone from another Membership system, and could not have been happier. The migration of the front and back end info was seamless, the support is excellent - especially the chat functions. I am easily able to navigate and learn more about the backend without being a developer of any kind. It is easy for users and the front end is so nice for Members!

Pros

I liked the abundance of features that we are able to offer to the membership - from dynamic profiles, to group emailing, to social media feeds. Our Members gained a whole bunch when we moved to GrowthZone (formerly MemberZone)

Cons

I did not like that I could not fix Member's profile addresses myself. If they had a company name change, the old name showed up in the profile address unless fixed by their support. That should be something a back end user can fix easily.

Every time I've called their customer service, I've been helped thru the problem that I'm trying to deal with, but sometimes I've been handed over thru several different people on just one phone call. It's very time consuming so mostly I don't bother calling with questions unless I'm desperate. The online video tutorials are not very helpful for specific questions or problems. It's buggy. I still don't totally understand why so many of our members have trouble accessing their member hub pages and aren't able to update outdated info on their own.

Pros

Helps us track our 3 levels of membership and collect dues. We've had some success enrolling members into workshops with the option to pay online.

Cons

Where to begin...Back end is not at all intuitive with lists and committees that need to be populated in a separate setup in order to be functional.
We tried using their "event management" to sell and track ticket sales to a festival, which is our number one fundraiser for our non-profit of the year. It was near disastrous because GZ assumes your event is a business conference. We sold 2,000 tickets and had so many confused customers emailing us and calling asking whether or not they had actually purchased tickets. Many people said they never received any confirmation especially if they signed up on their phones. We will only use their event tool for in-house member workshops going forward and never again for a public event. We'll have to use Eventbrite or Brown Paper Tickets instead.
The Member Hub is clunky and not one of our 70 + members actually uses it. There is no cloud storage included so the only items we can upload to the member hub to share with our members are text forms. It's OK for meeting minutes, but if we really want to share ideas and interactions between members, this is not the place to do it.
The fees that GZ (or Stripe, which they partner with) takes out of online credit and debit payments are not clearly communicated. So for instance, the festival that we sold over 2,000 tickets for online...accounting for the money is a nightmare because there is no flat rate. The average rate was really high like over 5%!

It has some versatility! It functions well and does what we need it to.

Pros

We use it as a CRM, we are not a chamber. The price point is great and it actually works well for this. I love that I can email directly from the program. It keeps track of my emails and lets me set reminders. The reporting is pretty good too.

Cons

It can take a while for the customer service to return and resolve emails. I can't call in either for help.

Pros

Very easy to pull up members accounts, billing information, general contact information, and the reps information. Making membership mailing labels and membership reports is very easy with this software. I use this software to easily find any membership representative information I need. This software has also made it easy to look up and find a member.

Cons

The only con I have for this software would be the new update, i'm so used to the old version it'll take time to learn the updated.

Pros

There are so many things you can customize to your needs. Setting up an event is awesome, you can create a guest list, sponsorship goals, attendance goals, you can even create and invitation and send it out all in the same place.

Cons

Pros and cons are kind of like a double edged sword with GZ there are so many different ways to do things and so many options that taking the time to learn them all are a must, otherwise you'd be missing out on a lot of great features. Very time consuming.

Pros

It is fairly easy to understand
Transition to software was seemless
Functions are available to do great things
Fairly affordable

Cons

Does not come with any live training, online webcasts are difficult to watch then try to use
Does not integrate as well as I would like with quickbooks
Reduction in service limits its usage

A good face-to-the-customer - GZ makes our Trade Association look good!

Pros

After online education and some hands-on experience I enjoy utilizing this software. There is so much GZ offers - every day I learn something new. I am more engaged in website updates now more than ever, group emails are simple, and I enjoy getting creative with reports. Customer service is stellar.

We came out of the dark ages into current technology with a little bit of an investment but well worth it in the long run! Stay away from overpriced solutions. GrowthZone can do the same or more at reasonable rates.

Pros

Easy to learn. Flexible and forgiving. Easy set up and maintenance. Great web platform will make a rookie into a web master in no time. I'd recommend this for small to medium trade or professional associations in a heartbeat.

Cons

Some things are fixed and can't be customized. The member types are one of them but you can figure out a workaround for your particular situation.

Pros

I like the calendar that syncs with our website to tell members of our upcoming events. It is easy to input descriptions and details. I like that it's an easy template and that you can copy past events.

Cons

GrowthZone does not recognize our affiliate members. These are members underneath our associate or builder members. They are still part of our association and have to be manually added to all reports.

Pros

Very intuitive! The functionality around events management is great! The fact that members are able to self-update their contacts and information.

Cons

A dream would be for it to somehow link to event-bright.
I feel like I still have lots to learn about it's full-functionality.

Pros

Member Information Center - members can update their own information and post jobs, market place items, etc.

Cons

Project Management feature - doesn't have an alert for tasks, too many steps and staff finds it more too time consuming

Took my excel spread sheet membership list and made it look professional on our website.

Pros

Nicely laid out, easy access and workability within the system. It has great options, job postings, advertising and accounting access

Cons

Lack of hands on training, I am not good with the tutorials that you have to watch. I would prefer to have a local seminar where I can learn hands on.

I mostly use the program to manage our membership and representative directory, calendar events and registration, receive online payments. I like the calendar and online registration feature. I am learning to use the mailing/group lists, but wish it was a little more intuitive. I would like to have the option to add representatives by their titles or by a specific field. The customer service is great! They are very knowledgeable and quick to respond. Thanks!

Pros

Calendar, events registration, online payment option, directory, low maintenance database (MemberZone takes care of all the maintenance, yea!)

Cons

Not at intuitive for group/mailing lists. I would like a little more options for customizing fields.

My experience with MemberZone is primarily with the setting up events and the registration forms. It is easy to set up an event and have it appear on our website. Love the online registration! MemberZone makes it so much easier for us to contact our members and saves us time( No more printing and mailing out notices and registration forms)

Very powerful tool for Chambers and Associations looking to provide even better support for their members.

Pros

Very powerful with many tools. Integrates easily with our website and social media. Makes communicating with members a snap

Cons

Not quite perfectly aligned with NAHB but getting there. Still, way better than what we had been using and costs less.

We moved from an enterprise based software system to MemberZone and it was easy to do. More cost effective and the communication was great between us and the team.

My experience only includes creating events that youth register online using MemberZone. I have not been aware of any complaints of the families that I work with. I appreciate that MemberZone allows us to use less paper and get quicker responses than if we used traditional paper mail in registrations.

Pros

Online registration for events allows for immediate numbers and information when planning for events/

Cons

Navigation through event creation could be more user-friendly.

Excellent solution for our organization to consolidate website and database management. Easy to use, great training tools and excellent customer support. Looking forward to a long relationship!

It helps to have one program that provides a membership directory, event registration-with sponsors, and sale products.

I have overall happy with our experience with MemberZone. The new Report Builder has been a lifesaver to us. My only complaint is that I wish it worked better for Associations with member couples instead of Chambers. Many of the features don't apply to us and we have to do figure out a way to make it work for us.

Pros

Custom Reports

Cons

Not designed for Associations with members.