Your association LMS, or learning management system, helps your members develop valuable professional skills and progress in their careers by providing them with the courses they need to grow. You want to do everything you can to facilitate and keep track of your members’ progress as they use your association LMS.
You may be using an association management system (AMS) to manage your members in addition to using an association LMS to offer them continuing education courses. If so, you should be aware of the many opportunities that arise when you integrate these two valuable software solutions. You can use the features of your AMS to supplement those of your association LMS.
With more member information accessible via both platforms, you’ll be able to offer your members a more personalized and effective learning experience. By integrating your AMS and your LMS, your association will be able to:
- Store important information on your members’ learning progress in your AMS.
- Display learners’ certifications and other achievements in their member profiles.
- Simplify the event management and registration processes.
- Expand your eCommerce offerings.
- Send automated communications to your members.
Whether they’ve recently completed a course that certifies them to advance within their field or they’re looking for additional courses to take, it’s important that your association has gathered your members’ learning information and used it to update member profiles within your AMS. Let’s take a look at how integrating your systems can help you keep track of this valuable information!
1. Store important information on your members’ learning progress in your AMS.
Your member database is your association’s most important source for valuable information on your members that can help you communicate with them more effectively, plan events they’ll enjoy, and provide them with the resources they need to develop as professionals. Data from your association LMS is an essential component of the member information you’ll want in your database.
When all of your software systems are able to communicate with one another, you’ll be able to access member data from any of them without having to waste time manually inputting information, including learning data from your association LMS.
By choosing association management software that integrates with your existing LMS (and vice-versa), you’ll be able to augment your member information with relevant data such as:
- Changes they make to their profiles. When members log in to your AMS to update their profiles with information such as changes of addresses or jobs, your LMS will be updated automatically with this information as well.
- Their history of involvement with your association. As members participate in more of what your association has to offer, from attending events to joining regional chapters and taking continuing education in your LMS, they’ll build their member profiles within your AMS.
- Their learning progress. Look for an association LMS that integrates with your AMS so that all systems—your LMS and your AMS—will be able to communicate with one another, keeping you up-to-date on your members’ learning progress.
It’s essential for your association to keep an automatically updated member database detailing your members’ learning progress. It’s just as important for your learners to be able to showcase their achievements on their member profiles in your AMS.
2. Display learners’ certifications and other achievements in their member profiles.
One of the benefits of membership in your association is the opportunity to connect with others in your profession who may have valuable insight and opportunities to share. Within your AMS, members can create and update profiles showing their professional interests and achievements. These achievements include their completed courses and the certifications they have obtained.
When your association LMS and your AMS are integrated, members won’t have to make these updates to their profiles each time they complete a course. The system will add the information to their profiles automatically. This is valuable for:
- Your association. You’ll learn what courses your members are completing and be able to use that data to make instructional design decisions that make your LMS even more valuable to your learners.
- Your other members. They will be able to view their colleagues’ profiles and see whose certifications or learning experiences may make them valuable connections.
- Your learners. Their development or progression through certain professions often depends upon them reaching new levels of certification.
The member profiles within your AMS are a valuable resource for your association and all of your members, helping to foster professional connections that are further strengthened when learning data from your association LMS supplement the information in the profiles. You can check out Fonteva’s guide to association management systems to learn more about the ways in which member profiles can create a sense of community among your association’s members.
When your members are eager to learn, they’ll appreciate multiple options for doing so. You can use your AMS and association LMS to offer them additional opportunities for in-person learning and other educational events.
3. Simplify the event management and registration processes.
To foster stronger connections among your association’s members and provide them with additional opportunities to learn, consider hosting live training and other educational events at which your members will get to interact in person. Use your AMS and association LMS to facilitate the registration process and host the best possible event for your members.
One of the first and most important steps you can take to improve your association’s events is to simplify registration for your members and your staff. With integrated software systems, members who register for an event through your AMS will be automatically enrolled and able to access pre-event information in your association LMS. This way, you and your members can keep track of the events they’ve attended.
Your association LMS can help you create and carry out valuable events beyond the initial registration process. After members sign up to attend, they’ll be able to:
- Learn with other members. A live training event brings members of your association closer together, allowing them to gain and share knowledge and make valuable professional connections. Adding a discussion forum in the LMS for your live training events helps those connections outlast the in-person interaction, fostering further discussion between members.
- Develop or strengthen regional chapters and committees. The connections that your members make with others in their geographical regions don’t have to end once the live training event is over. Members who meet at learning events can stay in touch by forming regional chapters and committees within your AMS.
- Keep learning using associated online resources. With an association LMS that allows you to convert physical materials distributed at your live training event into online resources, members will be able to access content from the event after it ends, from wherever they are.
Live events are an important way to continue your members’ education and to bring your members closer together to further your association’s goals. You can use your association LMS and your AMS to strengthen your members’ connections to your association by expanding your eCommerce offerings.
4. Expand your eCommerce offerings.
From providing your members with more ways to learn to building recognition for your association, eCommerce offers valuable opportunities to both you and your members. Using your association LMS and additional features from your AMS, you’ll be able to sell courses and other products that your members want.
You can use your association LMS to enhance marketing by providing recommendations for further courses to purchase based on those your members have already completed. To reach even more members in more ways, you can supplement the eCommerce capabilities of your LMS with those of your AMS to:
- Develop the courses your members want and need most. When your association LMS can communicate with your AMS or another eCommerce platform you’re using as well as with Google Analytics, you’ll have a more comprehensive understanding of the learning opportunities your members are looking for.
- Offer additional merchandise related to your organization. Want to build excitement before an upcoming event or spread the word about your organization? You can use your AMS to sell custom merchandise such as t-shirts and other products for your members to wear and use. You can visit an online platform such as Bonfire to learn more about designing and selling these products.
The more you have to offer your members, the more they’ll be encouraged to take active roles within your association. To keep up with them even as your association grows, use your AMS to send automated communications regarding their learning progress and other important updates.
5. Send automated communications to your members.
Whether you’re reaching out to your members to share information about new courses available to them or you want to make the process of paying dues smoother, automated communications make it easy to reach a large number of members at once. Use the automated communication features of your AMS to encourage members to take part in the continuing education opportunities you offer them.
In addition to spreading the word about new courses, live training events, and other learning opportunities, automated communications let your members know when:
- They need to pay their dues. This necessary process becomes a lot less complicated and tedious when it’s completed automatically through your association management system.
- Your association is hosting a conference or event. You’ll increase attendance at your next educational or professional gathering when you use automated communications to keep all of your members in the loop.
- Regional chapters and committees have events or news to share. Smaller subcommittees can also benefit from automated communications to keep in touch with members.
With members who feel connected to your association and inspired to learn more through your course offerings, your association is sure to grow as a valuable professional resource. Helpful software solutions make offering more opportunities for your members convenient and effective.
Your association LMS is an important resource for your members as they seek professional development opportunities. When this system is integrated with your AMS, your association and your members will benefit from both systems’ features.
Author Bio
Jake Fabbri is the Vice President of Marketing at Fonteva with over 18 years of experience working in marketing management. He has experience with lead generation, content marketing, marketing automation, and events.