Warning: You Might Be Paying Too Much for the Wrong AMS Tier
- Sep 30, 2015
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 20
Fall Saturdays mean one thing to millions of Americans: College Football. But beyond the touchdowns and rivalries, there's a lesson in how the NCAA organizes teams into divisions.
Just like universities competing at levels matching their resources and capabilities, associations need membership software that fits their size and complexity.
With over 130 membership systems available today, how do you narrow the field?
That's where the tier classification framework comes in.
Why We Need a Framework
SmartThoughts developed this methodology over a decade ago to bring order to the fragmented AMS marketplace. Refined through hundreds of software selection projects, it aligns with how leading research firms like Gartner and Forrester segment technology markets.
Here's the key point: No tier is inherently "better" than another. A Tier I system isn't automatically the right choice just because it's enterprise-level. Think of it like college football divisions—Alabama doesn't play better football for a Division III school's purposes; they play a different game entirely.
Why it matters to your organization: Evaluating software in the wrong tier wastes precious time and resources. You wouldn't send a small liberal arts college to compete in the SEC, and you shouldn't evaluate enterprise software built for $50 million associations when you're running a $1 million operation.
Impact on AMS Searches: The right-sized system means your staff spends time serving members instead of fighting software limitations or drowning in unnecessary complexity.
Tiers, Levels, and Divisions of Membership Software
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the organization that is responsible for almost all inter-collegiate athletic competition. For some of you not as familiar with College Football, there are quite a few divisions, tiers, & levels which differentiate who plays who set by the NCAA. Now, without going into too much detail, there is Division I FBS, Division IA (FCS) Football Championship Subdivision, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and even another college authority called NAIA for the smallest colleges with their own segments.
Within the NCAA, Division I is the big leagues of college athletics. It is a heavily funded, scholarship dense, and usually publicly well-known organization (eg. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, & Oklahoma) that prides itself on having the best athletes.
Division IA FCS (eg. Delaware, Sam Houston State, North Dakota State Bison) resides directly underneath Division I. Division II is the middle child of the NCAA (Eg. Pittsburg State, West Texas A&M, Northwest Missouri State).
Division III (eg. University of Wisconsin–Whitewater or Mount Union Purple Raiders) is the lowest division that falls under the NCAA. It is considered by most people to be the most relaxed competitive experience of the three divisions, with a focus on the student aspect of a student-athlete.
What the heck does this have to do with Membership Software?
Well, just like College Football, it’s often helpful to categorize the hundreds of membership database software platforms into their respective segments. This is done in our effort to properly narrow down the software options. And, ultimately help align our association executive clients with the best suited fit from the various membership software options.
Now, before going into the descriptions. It’s important to note that the following are “rules of thumb” and like almost everything in life and especially software, there is nothing etched in stone. Rather, just a basis to put some sanity around the process of narrowing down the field of players.
Tier III. AMS Membership Software
With that said, here we go.
Let's start with the Tier III level. The products at this level are usually “All in One” entry-level packaged membership programs designed for small organizations (less than 2.5 million in operating budget) who need an integrated membership program to manage all facets of the organization.
They tend to satisfy many with limited budgets. In most cases they have good enough out of the box membership management capabilities (Database, WebSite, Communications etc.). However, in this category, you will likely experience a feeling of living “In A Software Box”.
Today, almost all Tier III systems are Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. In other words, they are cloud hosted online membership software services. These work very well for most small state and local associations. And, they do not require hardware, network costs, and usually charge for a license based on a very attractive monthly subscription fee (which includes start up costs). Your staff and members will access it via a web browser.
Tier III databases are a category above what we refer to as “Micro Membership Software” packaged programs designed for volunteer led organizations up to roughly 3 on staff. And, usually find a good match in organizations with more than 5 staff (sweet spot is in about the 6-15 staff range).
While the Tier III database software options can and do provide strong value propositions, you are living in the confines of the walls provided with limited capabilities in features areas such as accounting, customizing of the system, and/or advanced reporting. Further, an open API is usually limited to pulling data in rather than accepting back into the database.
Tier II. Membership Software
If you think of the College Football analogy above, these software programs would likely be more like Division IA Football Championship Subdivision FCS team. If you are a college football fan, think Tarleton University, North Dakota Sate, Montana State, and Idaho.
Again, in a broad stroke, they tend to open up and become more configurable, and have features required for mid-sized associations & membership operations. You tend to see richer CRM features, activity tracking and reporting capabilities.
Tier II options include advanced searching capabilities, along with a broad array of pre-designed reports. They tend to have some additional features to facilitate a more advanced use cases such as conference management abilities.
Professional Services (paid consulting engagements) are required for training and setup costs. The lines become a bit blurry in terms of functionality in the middle of the pack solutions in contrast to the Tier I brethren but more pronounced than Tier III. An open API is more open here which allows for 3rd party integrations to extend in needs required. Oddly enough, they drop some of the “all in one” aspects of the Tier III solutions and take a more “best of need” approach to solving more sophisticated needs (eg. Many do not provide a proprietary Content Management solution). Thus, are more expensive.
Tier I. Enterprise Membership Software
These are the well-known Division I programs. Regarding AMS systems, these established programs generally incorporate all the previously mentioned elements. However, they usually offer a wider range of information capture and data management features, along with more extensive tracking and analysis for specialized membership and development operations.
Most of the programs in this range offer an assortment of equally comprehensive add-on modules (generally for an additional cost) to address specialized needs like advocacy, learning management systems, volunteer management, special event management or social advanced networking community features.
At this price range you will find fully customized capable, proprietary systems or built on top of platform solutions for large national institutions or organizations. These membership platforms are designed to work with large communities of members, often in multiple geographic sites, that can manage massive amounts of data. These solutions often have very advanced functionality in CRM, data Mining, integrations, & customization capabilities.
These membership systems tend to integrate directly with other specialized systems used at the organization or institution. Again, they all require a consultant to install. There are usually many options for support partners including many professional service firms which specialize in one or more solutions.
Finding Your Division
Here's the uncomfortable truth: Even FCS teams occasionally beat FBS Division I teams on any given Saturday. And yes, Appalachian State famously defeated Michigan. But those are upsets, not strategies.
The bottom line: Figure out where you fit before spending time on the wrong field. Your $1.5 million association doesn't need (and shouldn't pay for) enterprise-level complexity. Conversely, your $10 million organization will quickly outgrow a Tier III "software box."
Consider these factors:
Operating budget and IT resources
Staff size and technical capabilities
Customization and integration needs
Member complexity and geographic distribution
Growth trajectory over the next 3-5 years
Remember, these are rules of thumb, not stone tablets. Outliers exist. Some organizations punch above their weight class; others prefer simplicity despite larger budgets.
The goal: Match your organization's needs and capabilities with software designed for your competitive level. That's how you serve members effectively while managing resources wisely.
Give us a call and we can help you narrow down the CRM Membership software options. Until next time, keep SmartThoughts in mind.
Association Executives: For even more granular details on the various Tier Levels, please request our full comparison report with valuable details including specific software examples by clicking below.
Comments