This is the first in the Striving for Success series of blog posts featuring excerpts from our 2022 Chamber Success Competition entries. We hope you enjoy (and can relate to) hearing from our customers and how they are reaping the benefits of using GrowthZone’s software solutions to grow member value, increase productivity, and boost revenue.
In the Success Competition entry form, we asked “Explain how using ChamberMaster or GrowthZone software has benefited your chamber and/or members.” Responses relating to member engagement included:
“Since using GrowthZone, we have seen an increase in revenue since members can now conveniently pay online. Prior to using GrowthZone, our chamber did not take credit cards. Many of our members instantly pay when they receive their invoices. Our members love being able to register online for events and we love having a downloadable list of attendees.
Our membership has increased by 20% since we signed up. GrowthZone has brought the Rosemont Chamber of Commerce into the 21st century! After getting started with GrowthZone, we created a brand-new website using the web content. Billing has never been easier and has helped us to efficiently track outstanding invoices. Our members like that they can view open and closed invoices in their portal. The mobile app allows us to check in members at all of our events.”
Melissa McIntyre
Executive Director
Rosemont Chamber of Commerce
GrowthZone user
“For the first time ever, we have gone over 500 Chamber members! Being able to invoice via email and having a link to pay online has been a great asset. We have taken another organization under our umbrella and have helped them with events, registration, managing their membership, etc., and their events have never been larger. Being able to allow our membership to update their information online has been a huge success – now we don’t have to wonder if their membership information is up-to-date on our website where potential customers can find it.
GrowthZone has been a tremendous asset to our Chamber – almost like having an extra employee.”
Sandi Campbell
Associate Director
Loudon County Chamber of Commerce
GrowthZone user
“Using the notes and follow-up tools really helps our staff feel like we all know what is going on. When one staff talks to a member and puts the details in ChamberMaster, we can watch the trail of engagement ultimately leading to member retention and also event sponsorships.”
Kimberly Caughell
Director of Business and Community Engagement
Greater Summerville/Dorchester County of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“Member engagement has improved, and the member portal is a huge plus! We’ve been able to utilize reports to gather stats to present to our members regarding our membership and revenue, this has helped us segment our membership. The member portal provides the members access to their information as well as our events, etc.”
Taleigh Gorman
Accounting Specialist
Lubbock Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“Using ChamberMaster has not only increased our revenue, but it has also improved our member involvement. Our members can log on and customize the way they want their business represented.
I also love the way ChamberMaster integrates with Facebook, this lets everyone know of new members without me having to post it. It also picks up all our events and posts them on Facebook. Once people start realizing just how much the Chamber does, they want to join.
One of the other features that are HUGE for us is on our website we have a “Find a room” which allows anyone that is looking to visit our town to go in and select what type of accommodations they need. Chamber Master will then match it up with a Chamber Member that has the specific lodging requirements. We get “kudos” on this feature very often.”
Kellie Fryman
Chamber Administrator
Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“As a President/CEO, the power to create accurate, detailed reports to present to the Board of Directors has been so much easier and saves me valuable time. With ChamberMaster, our billing is entirely streamlined. The integrated one-time and recurring payments and credit card processing have reduced staff work and allowed us to spend more time serving our membership.
I seriously do not know how we ever did without ChamberMaster. We have reduced staffing needs and freed up valuable time for existing staff thereby reducing expenses and at the same time driving growth and increasing our revenue stream. This has allowed us to provide more benefits to our membership. I truly believe 90% of that is due to having management software that provides invaluable information, streamlines our workload, and enhances our service to each and every member of our organization.”
Alita Bagley
President/CEO
South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“ChamberMaster gave us the opportunity to make our ‘member-to-member’ deals go digital. By having a system that allows us to personalize and digitize our member rewards, we have been able to completely revamp our rewards program. We have been able to make it user-friendly, easily manageable, digital, and more professional looking. The deals and member discounts offered in the back end of ChamberMaster/GrowthZone have also provided an opportunity for us to show real-time value in presenting our members the opportunity to access their MIC (member information center) to add deals and discounts on their own and connect with other owners.”
Kathryn Hlavay
Membership Coordinator
Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
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“One of the most beneficial features of ChamberMaster has been the graphs and visual aids which are automatically produced, on the dashboard, and in the stats section on the member pages. We have been able to show our members how their company is performing on the web through the search displays and the clicks. This is extremely helpful when showing members that their presence on out web page is beneficial to them and generating view to their own pages.”
Bethanie Peterson
Director of Membership Operations
Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“Our member retention rate has increased dramatically because our members feel like they own a piece of the Chamber. I’ve used other Chamber software systems and ChamberMaster is hands down the best.”
Bonnie Grady
President & CEO
Charles County Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“With GrowthZone, we were able to engage better with our member companies and their employees by creating our Member-to-Member Benefits Program. All employees from each member company have been assigned an identification number and have been encouraged to download the MemberPlus app to access the member deals that are synced with the list on our website. We have thousands of individuals in our database that now can receive push notifications, view member deals and specials, access Chamber news and events, or use our directory.”
Jaclyn Casil
Operations Manager
Guam Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“ChamberMaster is a great tool for membership engagement/retention. We use ChamberMaster as a way to show members how many times their member page has been viewed and we see this as a huge benefit! We can easily access their account and answer so many questions quickly. We LOVE the e-referral part of ChamberMaster. This is such a great way to send as much information, as we choose, to the member to show they were just referred to a potential customer. We can even send this to potential members to show them the benefit of what membership in the Roane Chamber could bring.”
Lindsey Stevens
Chamber Manager
Roane County Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
“As an organization that advocates all levels of government on behalf of 640+ member businesses representing 10,000+ employees, we often need to check in with our members to see how they feel about hot topics. In 2022, we sent “pulse checks” to all members about minimum wage, COVID-19 restrictions, mandatory vaccinations, municipal elections, and more. Form Builder allows us professional appearance, easy use, and quick distribution to ensure we are constantly in lockstep with our members and providing them the support they need.”
Amanda Eid
Manager of Communication and Engagement
St. John’s Board of Trade
ChamberMaster user
“The ChamberMaster Member Information Center is the main focus of our benefits that we share with our PNB’s (potential new members) and they LOVE it! We call it the ‘Super 6’ marketing tools: Events, Hot Deals, Member to Member, Job Opportunities, Member News, and Commercial Spaces. These are fully accessible to our members and when they submit one, it automatically posts to our Chamber webpage, Facebook & Twitter, reaching 7-10k subscribers and followers of the chamber! By training our members to use these tools, we are not losing our staff time, and wages, by posting their information for them. The Super 6 is also a BIG selling point by our ambassadors who use the tools regularly!”
Darlene Larsen
Executive Administrative Assistant
Renton Chamber of Commerce
ChamberMaster user
To learn more about the 2022 Chamber Success Competition, read the news release. Wake Forest Area Chamber was awarded the $500 grand prize for sharing how GrowthZone software has helped make a positive impact on their office functions.
Regardless of size or location, one of the biggest challenges for associations is member engagement.
Our Member Engagement Resource Guide includes specific ideas and strategies to drive member engagement.
It includes:
- Recruiting and Keeping Volunteers – A practical guide for associations
- From Introverts to Extroverts – Ideas to keep all members engaged
- The Member Information Center – A powerful, members-only benefit
Don’t miss out, read the Member Engagement Resources Guide now.
