Client Success with iMIS

National Recreation and Park Association

National Recreation and Park Association Success with iMIS Membership Software

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is the leading advocacy organization dedicated to the advancement of public parks, recreation and conservation. Their mission is to advance parks, recreation, and environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people. NRPA has more than 40,000 members, primarily parks and recreation professionals.

“NRPA’s ability to more than double its membership in just 16 months -- while still maintaining excellent customer service -- is attributable in part to our use of iMIS. We now have the tools in place to maximize staff efficiency and make sound business decisions about future initiatives.”

Challenge

The organization determined there was a need to boost their presence in the market and increase membership -- so they created a new agency-based membership package that allowed for greater inclusion of parks and recreation professionals. The upside potential for this initiative was huge and they needed a system that would support a surge in members but also maintain quality customer service.

To accommodate the new members, they knew they needed a website with the latest self-service tools -- and it was vital to the organization that all NRPA-related purchases flow into a central checkout basket. NRPA also needed to be able to easily report on the progress of their initiatives.

Solution

NRPA was already a heavy user of iMIS and knew its expanded use would help them better deliver products/services to customers while reducing the burden on staff to perform routine tasks. They created automated processes to generate everything from support emails for membership, certifications and meetings to follow-up letters, coupon codes, reporting, CEU Audits and staff notifications.

NRPA also increased member self-service with web offerings to join/renew, donate, buy products, maintain CEUs, and register for events -- and they could process all NRPA purchases through a single checkout. NRPA was also able to create integrated reports on the status of their goals using key performance indicators such as membership counts, revenue, renewals, market penetration and engagement.

Results

Within 16 months of starting the new initiative, NRPA membership more than doubled -- from 19,100 members to 40,000. Yet, the organization only added one new customer service position to keep up with the increased demand. With iMIS, they have streamlined their processes and freed up customer service staff to focus on the organization’s mission and work directly with members rather than on manual tasks.

Members enjoy a convenient, seamless experience and staff is able to quickly mine data to make more informed decisions. With the core systems in place, NRPA is confident about their ability to continue to grow and support their membership going forward.