StarChapter Association Management Software

Pros

Starchapter is easy to use & they have the best tutorials too! The customer service is always there when you need them. I can definitely trust service!

Cons

I wish that they would have more options when it comes to page designs just to make our material look more appealing.

Gives us much easier to understand, hands-on control over the functions we need to run for our organization's operations.

Pros

The system allows us to easily set up events, run reports and add and edit web content. StarChapter's support system is the best I've ever experienced; I can't overemphasize the positive experience myself and many of my fellow site administrators have had interacting with the various support people, all of whom have been committed to resolving issues or helping us understand how to accomplish different tasks.

Cons

Though the support people are excellent, and the support ticket system works very well, some of the help files are hard to decipher or don't include certain answers, which leads to sometimes needing to involve a support person directly.

Pros

It is aesthetically pleasing to the person browsing. Information about events is relatively easy to find.

Cons

It is extremely complicated to use on the admin side. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time for something this tedious. It was sold to my organization as something easy to use and it is not.

Good question. I had never developed a website with an outside source before let alone able to actually program some things. I would say it's been an overall learning experience.

Pros

Some great options. I really don't know what else to say. In the beginning it seemed to start to come together but then our rep was gone and I just felt we missed out on days and time that should have been made up later. Not being able to talk to a person to walk you through is not the greatest support system. For them, they use it everyday to make changes and if changes were not needed ever then it would be fine but there is several areas a person with no technical experience could not achieve. Again, I am not downing any customer support person as I feel they are super friendly and get back to you but just not the support I expected after the initial ended.

Cons

Not user friendly. I feel like it was more than likely not really compliant with what we needed but I came on after the initial decision and realizing some options just did not work well for us. We have only kept this as we spent the initial money and I don't have time to go another direction.

WE LOVE HOW WE DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A IT PERSON TO USE THIS WEBSITE.

Pros

BLASTING EMAILS TO OUR MEMBERS AND REGISTRATION LIST READY TO GO. I REALLY LIKE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO PRINT OUR NAME TAGS.

Cons

I HAVE A HARD TIME WITH COPY AND PASTING WHEN MAKING EMAILS AND SOME OF THE PICTURES TO DOWN LOAD IS A LITTLE AWKWARD.

Website design matches our association branding perfectly. Membership information is automatically uploaded, registrations and credit card payments are seamless.

Pros

Works well with APICS branding, keeps tract of registrations and multiple logins. Easy to access from any web browser.

Cons

Learning curve was steeper than expected for some of my team members. Some of them aren't as techy, so even searching for help presented challenges for them.

Everything is under the one roof.

Pros

It is really robust and does not have system problems. And the response time are excellent. It is really easy to use after the initial set up.

Cons

I would like some small things to be changed or added.
1. Verbal access to the customer service people instead of via the ticket system only.
2. When the group sales are used the cost for the group is shown in the report as each and it should be for the whole group.

It is a good software for small trade associations that have members and dues and events. Nice that is al in one program.

Pros

Very functional and versatile. Overall easy to use and move around. It has a lot of features and benefits.

A more cost-effective website that has great functionality.

Pros

It is inexpensive and easy to train volunteers to use from the admin side. It enables us to take multi-seat registrations with ease.

Cons

Our initial interaction with the representatives was a bit off putting. It was not made clear as to the transition of our content and what would actually be moved for us.

Pros

Set-up process was seamless! Completed on time. Easy to use. Love the training videos and conferences that are continuously offered for better understanding.

Cons

I really dislike that I can NOT control the time the emails go out to our members and guest. This is causing me to use another vendor for this function as our members do not like email blast that go out at 5 in the morning.

Pros

The member management capabilities make it easy for multiple users to add content and manage subscriptions.

Cons

The payment system integration is lacking in customization and detailed reporting. Also, adding custom content to form pages is non-existent.

Database information, reports are limited but its better than nothing, which is what we had before. Ability to let my committees and board find out info without me doing or sending it.

Pros

Ease of use, ability to get a nicely designed website, database membership list upload and event management.

Cons

Limited email design capacity and metrics, limited ability to make changes to live events to tickets- if you have a change you have to recreate the ticket- very frusturating, the newsletter and emails are very hard to update and send. If it were like mailchimp or constant contact, that would be better.

The ease of use for people that are new to using the internet and other programs is great.

Pros

My favorite thing about the software is how easy it is to get things done. For our users, it is not time consuming for them to do what they need.

Cons

I would like to be able to flip the pictures inside Star Chapter. As it is now I have to flip them on my screen before uploading. It would be nice to be able to do this inside the program.

Automated features, centralized database, and communication from a single portal.

Pros

Has automated a lot of our day to day functions. Able to access from anywhere with an internet connection.

Cons

Does not allow for automated CPE certificates, otherwise I like all the functionality that the software has to offer.

Easier contact management and streamlining email, webpage, contacts, and payment processing all in one place.

Pros

I like that members are responsible for updating and renewing their own membership, it makes contact management and dues renewal a much easier and more efficient process.

Cons

It is hard to format and edit content that looks good in both the email and webpage version of your site. Meeting & Newsletter design distorts in email.

Pros

It is very easy to use and customer service has been very helpful. Would recommend to any company looking for website design.

After developing our own website on a very small budget, we found it difficult to recruit new members. Bookkeeping and membership rosters were difficult to maintain using a series of spreadsheets and other pieces of software cobblde together. We were so impressed with the demo by StarChapter, the implementation process, and customer service. Our website looks amazing, our reporting is so much easier, and we really feel like we get a fantastic product for a great price.

Pros

Ease of use, training readily available, and very responsive customer service.

Cons

N/A

Advice to Others

No

i led the effort to migrate to StarChapter last year. It was seamless and we could not have received better support and service.

Could not be happier with the timeline, support, and launch. Star Chapter is responsive and professionally addressed our every need, we will be telling others about how easy it is to do business with this company!

Since using StarChapter, it's been much easier to manage events (including payments) and communicate with our members. The cost is in line with other vendors, but you get more value with StarChapter. Online training is super.

Pros

Simplicity and functionality. Online training is helpful.

Cons

Initial set up of online payments via credit card could have been smoother.

Advice to Others

For other IABC Chapters, there's currently no direct feed from MMA, so membership management can be a challenge if you don't keep up.