Membership websites

Who it’s for

A membership website is for any group that people join: professional associations, councils, clubs, networks, communities and member-funded publications.

It helps most when membership is run from spreadsheets, payment links and email chains. Someone has to check who has paid, send renewal reminders by hand and remember who should get which newsletter. A membership website does that work for you.

What you get

• Online sign-up with membership categories, such as individual, student or organisation
• Card payments and renewals, with reminders before a membership lapses
• A members’ area with private resources, news and downloads
• Event registration with capacity limits and cancellations
• Opt-in newsletters, so members choose what they hear about
• Admin screens for your team to manage members, events and content
• A design you see and shape before any code is written

How it works

Every project starts with discovery by email. We work through who your members are, how they join today, what they pay for and what your team spends time on. From that comes a written scope with the screens, features, timeline and price.

You then see the design of the key pages, such as joining, the members’ area and the admin, and can shape it before anything is built. The site is built in stages so you can check progress, tested on real devices, and handed over with notes on how to run it.

Built around how your group works

Every association runs membership a little differently. Some approve new members by hand, some have several fee levels, some run events that non-members can also book. A custom build follows your rules rather than asking you to change them to fit a plugin.

Examples

Cultural Leadership Council is a membership web app for an association of arts, culture and heritage practitioners. It brings annual memberships and renewals, a members’ area, event registration and an online-sessions programme into one place.

Makevellum is a publishing platform where a reading membership unlocks advanced guides and member files.

Why work with an independent developer

The person who scopes your membership website is the person who designs and builds it. When your rules change next year, you are talking to someone who already knows how the site works.

Questions

What is a membership website?

A website where people create an account and join, usually with a fee, to get things the public can’t see, such as resources, events, discounts or a members’ directory.

Can members pay and renew online?

Yes. Memberships can take card payments through a provider such as Stripe, with renewal reminders and a record of who is paid up.

Can we manage members ourselves?

Yes. You get admin screens to see members, change their status, export lists and publish members-only content without asking a developer.

Why not use a membership plugin?

A plugin is a good start for simple needs. A custom membership website makes sense when your categories, renewals, events or approvals don’t fit what a plugin offers, or when you are working around one already.

Do we need to have a call?

No. Everything happens by email, including discovery, at a pace that suits you.

Related work

• Cultural Leadership Council: A membership web app bringing association renewals, event registration and online session proposals into one place.
• Makevellum: A publishing web app where makers share projects and guides, with a membership model for deeper reading and downloads.

Further reading

• How to manage memberships and renewals for a small association
• Membership renewal reminder emails: when to send them, with templates