Problem

When members visit society pages, they can purchase a membership but receive no additional information. This means many end up lost, believe the society is dormant, or become disinterested (or at worst feel scammed). This is a technology issue with measurable consequences, and it needs to be improved.

 

1. save committee time (tens of thousands of cumulative hours) who want to focus on providing the best activities, and on our studies

2. improve student experience...

 

...by improving digital processes for (at a minimum) onboarding, and ideally outreach.

 

Early on into launching Investment Society a year ago, I started receiving emails from people who were confused about how to get involved with society. If these aren't replied to, and the person bounces or loses interest, it can kill a new society, or make an established one struggle to deliver or maintain consistent experiences for members.

 

How is it currently?

When you buy a membership, the purchaser is not notified of their next steps, nor the committee notified of a new membership until they check the dashboard. The purchaser just receives a receipt.

If this happend to me online, I would feel scammed. 

Seeing how many people were confused or wanted to enquire, I integrated a webform on our page

Investment Society

which automatically opens a widget that an enquiry and N number can be entered into, and a query. I then manually copy and email people who are interested, or have recently joined. 

We gained 171 enquiries from people who would have bounced. That is 171 people this simple free widget saved from confusion, and this simple free solution has contributed to a cumulative membership of nearly 200 people for 1 year and 3 weeks since launch. 

 

Request for change

Can we have a solution, even a simple solution. 

 

Here is the one I used: 

https://forms.app/en/help-center/integrations

which can integrate with Teams meaning replies could be messaged directly on there with the click of a button. 

 

This or a tool with an equivalent effect, even at an enterprise grade, would be a cost-effective solution which could deliver huge benefits. 

 

Anything else is a nice-to-have. 

Suggested by: Jaedon Munton - a student who has spent an estimated 250-300 hours navigating and circumventing the NTSU website for 2 societies contacting new/existing members.