The Difference Between AMS vs CRM for Associations

To have any contact with people in your CRM, you’d most likely need to integrate it with another system for email, registration, etc.; most CRMs don’t have that functionality. There are companies and association chapters that use the terms interchangeably, which is a mistake if you have a specific goal you’re trying to fill with the platform. Yes, there is some overlap and there are similarities but there are also some very big differences between CMS broker vs exchange and AMS systems.

Why the CRM vs AMS Differences Matter for Associations

We think you’ll agree that a CRM alone is not designed to handle the range of functionality required by today’s associations. We’ve helped many organizations through their selection journey, and we’d be happy to discuss how we can be of value to you and your organization. If you have any questions or want to learn more about system https://www.xcritical.com/ selection, feel free to reach out!

HOA Software Brings Together The Best of Both Worlds

AMS can also send reminders to members when their subscription fees are due and flag lapsed subscriptions so that the sales team can act promptly. Assessing these factors helps an association determine whether AMS, CRM, or both are needed to effectively meet its unique requirements. The unique needs of an association determine whether they require AMS, CRM, or both.

Glue Up’s Approach: CRM-Based AMS for Associations

Additionally, your association can maximize non-dues revenue through Fonteva’s eCommerce tools and the ability to customize join and renewal workflows. Because we offer a CRM-based AMS, choosing Protech allows your organization to leverage both the data-tracking benefits of a CRM and the association-specific tools in an AMS. Today’s associations are complex organizations whose primary goals center on serving their mission and their members. Goals that require collection, tracking and reporting on relevant data about members, programs and finances. Your selection of customer relationship manager software,  known as a CRM, or an association management system, known as an AMS, is critically important both now and later. A great decision now will help make data collection, management and reporting easier from now on.

• Since AMS systems and CRM systems are both built to store data, the key difference between the two is the core purpose and focus of the system.
• We’ve created a chart to capture these differences and help you compare the options available to your organization.
• Modern ERP systems integrate with other specialized software to enable rapid logistical adjustments and forecast planning for core financial business processes.
• As you align the needs of the member, organization and business areas, a few contenders will rise to the top of the list.
• Jeff is the Co-Founder & CEO of Wicket, and a passionate advocate and change agent for software solutions available to member-driven organizations.

Look at what you’re doing now in those two areas and where you want to be and figure out what you need to get from point A to point B. Additionally, you need to determine the system’s main purpose and how many employees will need access. If your team’s goals can’t be met with one system, you may need to consider the other. Once you know where you are, and you know where you want to go, you’ll start to understand exactly what kind of systems you need to have in place. Most associations will need both Association Management Software and a Customer Relationship Management system to achieve their growth goals.

It’s not an easy question to answer for a lot of people, even experts that have used both for years. This might not seem like a big deal, but if you don’t understand some of the CRM vs AMS differences, it could lead to some serious headaches for your association. While a company’s ERP solution may contain essential data for managing your company’s operations, it might not have detailed information about your products themselves. That’s where Product Information Management comes in, providing a solution for storing rich product information, including digital assets such as images, media, and product descriptions that will be seen by customers. Storing this data in a central repository allows it to be accessed by your website or used in other marketing materials, such as print catalogs.

An AMS assists in data management and reporting, optimizing sales and marketing efforts, and streamlining member payments and e-commerce initiatives. We’ve written a lot about D365 Sales and D365 Marketing (now known as Dynamics 365 Customer Insights) features on our blog. One of the biggest benefits for associations we’ve found is that it’s best as an “all in one” platform where you can do everything in one place.

First, we need to be clear about what these two systems are and what kind of member data they process. But with the continual advancements from Microsoft and Salesforce, it’s tougher than ever for even the largest AMS vendors to keep up. No matter where you are in the CRM or AMS search, take a copy of our 2023 Buying Guide with you. It’s a serious, 51-page resource with our best practices, budgeting advice, insider questions for vendors, and more. I’ve been working in the association world (mostly on the tech side) since the mid-90s.

If you are actively shopping for an AMS system or new CRM system take a copy of our 2023 Association Management Software Buying Guide with you today. We packed it with insider tips and best practices that will help you at every stage of the vetting and vendor selection process. Spending just a little time with that resource will help you generate some great questions to ask as you are making your decision. There are some compelling reasons you should treat your association like a business, at least from an infrastructure and operations management standpoint. Both systems collect and store data, but the heart of a meaningful CRM vs AMS distinction is what data they collect … and why.

And occasionally, we hear nonprofit professionals use the terms association management software (AMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) interchangeably. This is a common misconception that clouds the real benefits that an AMS built on top of a CRM platform can bring to associations. Nimble AMS™ offers innovative association management software designed to empower staff and deliver a superior member experience. Built entirely on the Salesforce platform, Nimble AMS will help you streamline every aspect of your enterprise association. Expect continuous upgrades, AI and predictive analytics, robust reporting, and online communities to advance your association. Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs) have transitioned from being considered a luxury to an indispensable element in every marketing technology stack.

It handles membership applications, renewals, event registrations, dues processing, and communication blasts. This is also the reason we built our AMS system, Cobalt’s Engagement Dynamics, on top of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM platform. The integration of our refined tools for associations with the strength of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform as the driving engine for your core software stack is a tremendous asset for organizations. If the vendor you are talking to has proprietary CRM modules, spend extra time looking at the feature sets and interface and test-driving the usability. You can do free trials of all the commercial CRM platforms, so you can test drive the basics to get a sense of the baseline even before you contact a potential partner. Apparently, I’m not alone in this line of thinking, which is why more and more AMS vendors are touting and/or working to develop at least some basic CRM functionality in their offering.

An AMS is software that has been designed to manage the unique needs of running an association. If you’re a small association chapter organization with a limited volunteer board, you wouldn’t need a CMS and an AMS. CRMs, or Customer Relationship Management systems, provide companies and agencies like yours with a central location for all customer data. It lets you track various interactions, purchases, complaints, and other data for future reference. AMS and CRM are terms that many people use almost interchangeably, but they offer very different services that can benefit your company in different ways.

In many cases, eCommerce websites create and fulfill web orders through the eCommerce tools themselves. This, however, usually requires a manual entry into a back-end system, such as an ERP, to fulfill the orders and ship them to the end customer. This is where a seamless integration between your eCommerce website and your ERP’s Application Programming Interface (API) layer saves time and money. If your organization already has some kind of management software, many of these features might sound familiar. But if you’re managing your organization without the help of data and technology, it’s easy to see how both a CRM and AMS could dramatically improve your operations and reduce staff members’ workloads.

Dynamics 365 has specific sales and marketing functionality to make this even easier, with intuitive, bleeding-edge functionality (and AI-driven features). It’s designed to help organizations increase their member engagement and revenue growth. The choice between an AMS and CRM depends on your budget, requirements, and existing software landscape. While AMS delivers purpose-built association management tools, a CRM offers flexible contact management. For many membership-based groups, an AMS checks more boxes in managing members and governance needs. While not tailored specifically to associations, CRMs provide robust constituent relationship management capabilities that can also benefit many membership-based groups.

Both CMS and AMS systems focus on customers and maximizing the value you provide to them, and both allow you to collect information related to members and prospects. The key difference lies in how the systems allow you to use the information you collect. If you can afford it, it may be beneficial for you to invest in both AMS and CRM systems for your company. Each offers many benefits and can make up where the other leaves off, but as this is, by far, the more expensive option, take time to consider what it is you need, both now and for future growth. Look for HOA software that combines AMS tools with CRM capabilities for comprehensive community management.

In the early stages of launching a CMS-driven website, you might focus on tracking basic analytics and conversion rates to gauge web traffic and eCommerce effectiveness. However, as your business evolves, the need to deeply understand your visitors—identifying them by name, like “Chris Osterhout from Diagram”—becomes crucial. The capability to connect this rich, qualitative data with your marketing and sales strategies underscores the value of MAPs. Platforms such as HubSpot, Marketo, and Salesforce are pivotal in automating marketing communications, managing lead scoring and distribution, and uncovering insights about user engagement on your site. At Protech, we offer software that combines the capabilities of both CRMs and association management software.

In fact, they would have you believe that, as an association exec, you can choose either type of system — it really doesn’t matter. As you can see, there are many ways to establish the business ecosystem to support your organization’s needs. While there are advantages to using an enterprise CRM platform instead of an AMS, there are good reasons why your organization may need an AMS.

It also allows you to find new ways to market to current members, allowing you to diversify revenue streams. When using other software, your members’ interactions are synced back into your MDP so that you can maintain a single source of truth. Members can also enjoy a seamless experience with SSO and profile synchronization. They’ll only ever need to remember one username and password to log in to all of the experiences you offer. If they update their profile data in one tool, your MDP will ensure that the update is synched to the rest of your ecosystem of software as well. There are a lot of CRMs on the market, and competition has increased the overall quality of products available.