One of the most powerful things you can do to strengthen and grow your union is to have the right labor union management software in place. Doing so can help you to:
- Continue to attract new members
- Engage and retain the members you have
- Work more efficiently so you can do more for your members
In this guide, we’ll look at what union management software is, what it can help your union achieve, what to look for in union software, and examples of organizations using union software in the real world.
What is union management software?
What union management software can help your organization achieve
9 things to look for in labor union software
Examples of using union management software in the real world
Examples of using union management software in the real world
What is union management software?
Union management software includes union-specific capabilities to make it easier to attract and retain members, manage your membership data, and organize and unite union members. Choosing the right union management software gives you:
A full range of union functionality to help you easily find, engage, and organize members
One convenient and cohesive system to manage your organization’s data and processes, including:
- Capturing and tracking member data securely
- Processing dues
- Managing grievances
- Coordinating events
- Tracking and managing local unions
- Running the reports you need to track progress and make informed business decisions
The flexibility to work anytime from anywhere and adjust and expand processes while maintaining data integrity and accurate reporting as your union grows
As an industry leader with more than 23 years of experience, Aptify by Community Brands is robust and feature-rich membership management software for labor unions and associations. In addition to its full set of “out of the box” functionality, the Aptify architecture enables it to be easily configured and expanded to meet virtually any business process requirements for your organization.
What union management software can help your organization achieve
Selecting and using the right union software can help your organization work more efficiently and effectively. Here are three specific and practical ways that union management software can help your union grow and thrive:
Attract more members. Continually attracting union members is critically important to growing your organization and keeping it strong for years to come – especially when union membership rates are in decline. Today’s members and prospective members expect to be able to easily interact with organizations (including their labor union) online. For example, to provide a modern experience that continues to attract new members, you can use your union software to:
Aptify makes it easy for you to allow members to easily engage with your union from their mobile devices through a member-facing portal with single sign on access from your website.
Engage and retain members. An active and engaged member is more valuable to a union than someone who just pays their dues. That’s why collecting, tracking, managing, and measuring your member data is crucial for strengthening your union. It gives you the power to connect with, organize, unite, and retain members. Union management software gives you:
Customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities on the back end of your software so that your leaders can use the information being collected on your website and by activists in the field. The right union membership software is flexible and allows for easy configuration of fields, records, and online forms.
The ability to create and manage targeted communications and campaigns that help you reach members with important information and inspire them to join together to advocate for the union and for themselves.
Aptify allows you to send text messages to your members to remind them when it’s time to sign their union authorization card. This approach helps you to retain members and maintain your union qualification requirements each year
The ability to measure and score member engagement. This functionality allows you to define key performance indicators (KPIs) and assign weights to member engagement based on those KPIs. Then, you can automatically assign engagement scores to each member, giving you insights that can help you identify opportunities, spot potential challenges, and adapt to changing member preferences and needs. Examples of insights include:
- Which members are most engaged and least engaged
- Engagement trends; for example, if you are losing or gaining engagement among a specific member demographic
- Who might be emerging leaders and key activists in your union
Free trial – Consider offering a free trial option that offers a free month of membership, allowing members to try before they buy.
A la carte – Offer a membership that allows members to choose only the services they want.
Bundling – If your organization offers a wide variety of services, resources, and events, bundling might be the perfect approach. With this model, specific benefits and services are grouped together with organizational membership.
Aptify allows you to automatically score members based on KPIs and then schedule automations and actions based on the scores. The functionality is flexible, allowing you to set up any number of automated actions based on criteria you determine.
Work more efficiently and get more done for your members. Using disparate tools or software with poor functionality for unions will only slow you down. With the right union management software, you’ll have a single system for your member data and processes, as well as process automation capabilities, to keep you running smoothly and efficiently. Plus, everyone in your organization – from locals to national leadership – can access the data they need, when they need it, from any device.
Here are some specific ways that union management software can help you work more efficiently:
- Centralized data – Using multiple, disparate systems to store data and manage processes can waste time, as your leaders and staff must track down and compile information from multiple systems just to manage daily processes. Union management software allows you to manage member and financial information in one convenient location.
- Anytime, anywhere access – The right union management software will allow you to find and organize members using a mobile app, giving you access to the information and analytics you need, when you need it.
- Streamlined processes – Union management software includes functionality for your entire organization. So not only is your member data in one place, but your organization also has a single system to manage tasks – from billing and dues processing to grievance management – so your leaders can spend more time providing valuable member support. It also allows you automate processes, which frees up time for higher value work.
- Efficient reporting – You can view, report on, and interact with data in real time. So, instead of spending time pulling together information from multiple systems, you can quickly view key organizational metrics each day. You’ll have the business insights you need at your fingertips to help you make faster, more informed decisions that drive your organization forward.
Aptify allows you to enable self-service for your local organizations. They can pull reports and access content through the online portal, making them more self-sufficient and better able to organize locally.
9 things to look for in union management software
Your union’s ability to grow and thrive depends heavily on the union management software you choose. Your union software should include both membership management and union-specific functionality.
Here are nine specific things to look for in union management software:
Comprehensive functionality for unions – You should have all of the functionality you need to manage your union’s processes, from accounting/ dues processing and grievance management to membership and local/affiliate management – all in one system.For example, Aptify comes with 21 applications. That means you get an enterprise-level solution with the foundational membership management functionality your union needs.- A single, centralized database – Make sure the software allows you to collect and track membership and financial information in a single database so that you always have access to a complete and accurate view of vital data.With Aptify, for instance, you can capture and track member and financial information in one system. Aptify’s powerful search functionality allows your team to search for member information across the entire database. The result: Your organization works more efficiently by using one access point to all of your member data.
- An easy-to-use system – Even non-technical staff shouldn’t need to be IT pros (or need to ask your IT team for help) to access data and complete day-to-day work.For example, Aptify makes it easy to run reports, create dashboards, and manage member data so your staff doesn’t need IT assistance just to manage processes and access the data they need each day. That means non-technical staff can work more efficiently while your IT team can stay focused on ensuring your systems support your business processes.
- Mobile access – Look for a system that gives you and your members access to data and process management anytime from anywhere. For example, with Aptify’s mobile app, your staff has quick and convenient access to data from the office or the field.
- E-business capabilities – The system should allow you to manage payments, orders, and member preferences; offer discussion forums; conduct member polls and surveys; and even enable self-service for local unions – all through an online portal.With Aptify, for example, you can bring Aptify’s full set of features to your members’ online portal while securing data based on each member’s level of access.
- Process automation – Look for a system with easy-to-use tools that allow you to automate manual processes, giving your members a more streamlined experience while giving you more time to focus on higher-value work.For example, in addition to the efficiency of using one system to manage operations, Aptify’s drag-and-drop process flow editor allows you to easily automate processes, such as incoming inquiries and grievance management.
- A flexible platform – As your organization evolves, so must your technology. Look for a platform that can handle even the most complex business processes to meet your union’s changing needs.For example, Aptify is highly customizable. It allows for easy changes and upgrades, increasing the speed of development for configurations and new applications — helping your IT team work more efficiently to meet your organization’s growing demands for application configuration and development.
- Efficient, reliable reporting – The system should allow you to easily view, report on, and interact with data about your union’s activities, local unions, events, and more. Look for built-in reports and dashboards that allow you to drill down into data for more details.For example, Aptify includes more than 250 built-in reports and dashboards, many of which allow you to drill down into each piece of data directly from the dashboard for more details.
- Security – Look for union management software that keeps your data safe with solid backup and disaster recovery plans.
Comprehensive functionality for unions – You should have all of the functionality you need to manage your union’s processes, from accounting/ dues processing and grievance management to membership and local/affiliate management – all in one system.For example, Aptify comes with 21 applications. That means you get an enterprise-level solution with the foundational membership management functionality your union needs.It’s important to let your members know you have data privacy and security standards in place. Be sure to explain how the information you collect will be used for a better and more personalized experience, and your members are more likely to trust you. That trust will then lead to a longer, more productive member experience.
Examples of using union management software in the real world
It can help to understand the capabilities and value of union software by seeing how other labor unions are using it. Here are two examples:
Air Line Pilots Association
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) represents and advocates for more than 61,000 pilots at 34 U.S. and Canadian airlines, making it the world’s largest airline pilot union. In partnership with Aptify, ALPA provides solutions that allow its staff to work more efficiently and members to more easily access membership benefits and participate in union-sponsored programs.
With the help of Aptify, ALPA automated processes to synchronize employment records, reconcile monthly dues bills, and provide accurate and timely bills. Working with Aptify, ALPA developed a customized solution to streamline the process around union-sponsored insurance products. Here’s how they adjusted the program:
Made it easier to maintain the plan participation record
Created a premium calculation tool based on plan logic and member characteristics
Automated the update process to adjust the policy based on available discounts and changes in participant eligibility
Created a daily sync of information from Aptify to the third-party member insurance portal to provide the most current information to users
In the past, ALPA staff members had to submit requests to the IT department to develop the reports and data they needed – frequently resulting in delayed responses to member inquiries. Today, staff can easily and quickly develop reports that allow them to respond to information requests in a fraction of the time.
Learn more: Read the ALPA case study.
Find the right union management software for your organization
With the right technology, you can help to ensure your union is ready to grow and thrive. Aptify is built for union organizations like yours. It’s configurable, flexible, and powerful membership and union management software that fits the way your organization works.
Take the next steps to find the right union management software for your union. Let us show you how Aptify can support your passion. Request a demo today.
