Phi Kappa Phi Gives iMIS Top Honors for its Web-Based Functions

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective honor society. Its chapters are on 312 campuses across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and approximately 30,000 members are initiated into the organization every year. Phi Kappa Phi remains focused on recognizing and promoting academic excellence in all fields of higher education, and engaging the community of scholars in service to others.

The Challenge:

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi previously maintained a cumbersome paper-based system for managing its local chapters and more than 1.5 million members. Staff were bogged down with collecting hard copies of chapters’ enrollment forms and initiation checklists, and manually entering only very basic member information, such as names and contact details, into its database. Phi Kappa Phi wanted to offer web functions to support its day-to-day activities, including interaction with its members. The organization needed a flexible, automated web-based solution that would enable it to better manage its data and gain operational efficiencies—and provide greater services for its chapters and members.

The Solution:

Phi Kappa Phi selected iMIS to take advantage of all of the web functions the software solution had to offer. The honor society was able to have its local chapters update their own information and upload all of the necessary forms via the web, and encouraged individual members to enroll and pay their dues online, nearly eliminating the cumbersome paperwork. Phi Kappa Phi was also able to collect and track more demographic information, such as current affiliations and dual memberships, with iMIS. Using the upgradeable, single database system, the organization established a fundraising program and began accepting online donations, as well as managed its events and registrations.

The Results:

With the implementation of iMIS, Phi Kappa Phi has seen its online activity skyrocket. About two-thirds of members currently join via the web, and the organization hopes that it will see a 100% online enrollment rate by the spring of 2011. This, combined with automated, online membership renewals and resources for chapter self-service, has helped eliminate a significant amount of manual data entry and paper, and improve employee productivity with the time savings. The honor society was also able to increase its fundraising capabilities—allowing it to better track donor data and engage in more frequent, targeted communications; Phi Kappa Phi has since realized a growth in online donations. With the help of authorized iMIS solution provider Avant-Garde, the organization plans to further leverage the software solution’s web functionalities and implement its content management tools.

"Prior to deploying iMIS, we didn’t have a web presence, proper communication with our members or a structured fundraising program," said Tammy Gates, database administrator at The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. "The software has provided our organization with the core, online capabilities we required; it has helped us streamline our data management processes, better manage our relationships with our local chapters and individual members, and maximize efficiencies."