Simple Membership Management Software
Simple membership software for clubs, associations and community groups run by volunteers. Members join and pay online, and renewal reminders go out without anyone chasing them.
- Dues paid online by card and deposited to your bank
- Simple enough for a volunteer treasurer on their first day
- A members-only member directory, searchable by name
Powering 500+ community organizations
Plans, status, and renewals due
Membership Software Simple Enough to Run Without Training
Adding a member, recording a cheque, checking who has lapsed. Each job you do every week should fit on one screen, and none of them should need a manual.
Add a member in minutes
Signing up a new family at the front desk should not take a wizard. Add them, then assign a plan in one dialog and record what they paid, by card, cash, cheque or e-transfer.
Take dues online
Cheques and e-transfers end up reconciled by hand, at night, by you. Members pay by card, the money lands in your bank through Stripe, and the record updates itself.
Numbers you can read at a glance
The board asks how many members you have and you go build a pivot table. Instead, filter the member list to active or expired and export it, and the Active Memberships report shows the trend month by month.
Membership reportingNobody chases renewals by email
Renewals That Chase Themselves
- Reminders go out before each membership expires
- The email links members straight to renewing online
- Members on auto-renew are charged on their saved card
- You can see who lapsed instead of guessing
Read more about automated membership renewals.
No plastic to print, mail, or replace
Digital Membership Cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet
- Added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet in one tap from the email
- Carries the member's name, plan, and expiry date
- Updates itself when they renew, so nobody reissues a card
- Scanned at the door to check a member in
More on digital membership cards, and on membership check-in at the door.
Nobody gets charged the wrong rate
Set Up Your Plans in an Afternoon
- Individual, family, senior, student, and seasonal plans
- A household joins on one payment, with no math to do
- Discount codes handle the exceptions your board votes in
- One public join page, so nobody has to ask you the price
Charging residents and non-residents differently? See regional pricing.
Built for volunteer-run organizations
Most organizations running Communal have no full-time staff. A treasurer, a secretary, and a board that turns over every couple of years. The software has to survive that handover, so it has to be obvious to the next person who inherits the login. If you are a registered charity, start with nonprofit membership software instead.
Clubs
Dues, renewals, and a member roll a curling club, a lawn bowls club, or a knitting guild can hand to the next secretary.
Club membership softwareSports and recreation clubs
Season passes, family plans, and player records that carry from one year into the next.
Sports club membership softwareCommunity associations and neighbourhood groups
Household memberships, resident rates, and a directory the block actually uses.
Community associationsAssociations and chapters
Branches that collect their own dues while the parent organization sees the whole roll.
Chapters and branchesHow Setup Works
Three steps, and our team will do the first one with you if you would rather hand it over.
Import your members
Send us the spreadsheet you already keep. We map the columns to member fields with you, and our team runs the import.
Configure your plans
Set your membership types, prices, family rules, and discount codes. Still deciding what to call each level? Try these membership level name ideas first.
Launch your renewal flow
Turn on reminders, offer auto-renew to members who want it, and start taking dues online. See how automated membership renewals work.
When free tools stop being free
A spreadsheet holds a few hundred names without complaint. What it cannot do is take a payment, send a renewal reminder, or tell you who paid last year and not this year, so each of those jobs lands back on a volunteer. Our guide on spreadsheets versus membership software walks through where the line usually falls.
Our roundup of free membership management software covers the tools clubs try first, and the version written for volunteer boards is on our club membership software page.
Simple Membership Software Pricing
Communal starts at $75 per month flat for up to 250 members, and that covers renewals, online dues, digital cards, the member portal, and reporting. Programs and events are a $50 per month add-on. There are no per-member fees.
No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time.
Communal Compared to a Spreadsheet
What a spreadsheet leaves for a volunteer to do by hand, and what Communal does instead.
| Feature | Spreadsheets | Communal |
|---|---|---|
| Membership renewals | Manual tracking | Reminders + auto-renew |
| Member self-service portal | None | Renew, pay, update details |
| Digital membership cards | Not possible | Apple + Google Wallet |
| Payment collection | Cash/cheque/separate system | Stripe, direct deposit |
| Membership history | Overwritten each year | Kept on each member record |
| Reporting | Manual pivot tables | Live report + exports |
| Member directory | Not available | Members-only, names only |
Comparing named platforms instead? Read the ClubExpress alternative, the Join It alternative, or the head to head on Communal vs Wild Apricot.
Switching From Another Provider?
Moving from Wild Apricot, Member365, or another membership platform? Our team scopes the move with you and imports your members, their current memberships and family members, so everyone renews on the right date after the switch.
Talk to us about migration →Who Uses Communal for Membership Management?
Any group that collects dues and keeps a member list: a knitting guild, a community league, a recreation center.
Nonprofits & Charities
Nonprofit membership software that combines dues collection with donor management and volunteer coordination. Automate renewals and tax receipts so your team can focus on impact.
- Automated renewals with online dues collection
- Donor management with automatic tax receipts
- Volunteer hour tracking and scheduling
Community Associations & HOAs
Membership management software for neighborhood associations, community leagues, and HOAs. Handle geographic memberships, resident verification, and community event registration.
- Region-specific pricing for residents vs non-residents
- Searchable member directory with privacy controls
- Community event registration and facility booking
Recreation Centers
Recreation facility membership management software that handles member check-in, program registration, and facility scheduling. Built for centers juggling thousands of members.
- Digital membership cards in Apple & Google Wallet
- Program registration with automatic member pricing
- Facility booking and rental management
Cultural Clubs & Arts Organizations
Membership management software for cultural centres, arts councils, knitting guilds, and heritage organizations. Manage memberships, workshops, and community events in one place.
- Flexible membership tiers for individuals and families
- Workshop and event registration
- Member directory for networking and collaboration
Clubs
Club membership software for volunteer-run clubs: curling and racquet clubs, rowing and lawn bowls clubs, cultural clubs with a hall, and hobby guilds. One roster, one calendar, and a handover that is a login.
- One member record that outlasts the volunteer who set it up
- Dues and renewals collected online with reminders
- Court, ice, and hall booking on one calendar
Sports Leagues & Youth Organizations
Membership management software for sports clubs, youth leagues, and athletic organizations. Handle seasonal registrations, team rosters, and family memberships with ease.
- Family and group membership support
- Seasonal registration with early-bird pricing
- Digital waivers and emergency contact collection
Professional Associations
Membership management software for professional associations and industry groups. Manage chapter-based memberships, continuing education, and member directories across regions.
- Chapter and regional membership management
- Searchable professional member directory
- Event management for conferences and workshops
Connected to your entire operation
Members shares one database with every other module. No duplicate entry, no data silos
Powering 500+ community organizations
We love hearing from our customers and are proud to have helped 500+ organizations drive more impact and grow their communities.
We are finally able to communicate with our members, run booking software and a program payment platform all in one application. The cost to our Community is very reasonable and the team is fantastic to work with.
My experience with the software and the team has been overwhelmingly positive. We switched from another provider and the difference was night-and-day!
Revenue from membership sales and renewals increased, and we save a significant amount of staff time and paperwork. The customer service is outstanding and the team at Communal continues to add helpful features.
See Membership Management in Action
How organizations like yours run memberships on Communal with less admin.
Membership Management Guides
Longer reads for planning a renewal season or choosing software.
Simple Membership Software
What to look for, and the kind of complexity that makes more work.
Read Guide →Complete GuideDigital Membership Cards
How wallet cards work, and how clubs use them for check-in.
Read Guide →How-To GuideAutomate Membership Renewals
Set up automated renewals without losing the personal touch.
Read Guide →Planning GuideMembership Level Name Ideas
75+ membership tier name ideas, plus how to choose names that members understand.
Read Guide →Retention GuideMembership Retention Strategies
Why members leave, and what brings them back each year.
Read Guide →ExplainerNonprofit CRM vs Membership Software
Which one you need, decided by where your revenue comes from.
Read Guide →Simple Membership Management Software FAQ
Simple membership management software lets you do the weekly jobs without training: add a member, record a payment, see who has lapsed. If a routine task needs a support ticket, the software is not simple, however many features it lists. A good test is whether the next volunteer treasurer can inherit the login and run renewal season without a handover meeting.
Free tools exist and they work for a while. What they do not do is take a payment, send a renewal reminder, or tell you who paid last year and not this year, so that work stays with a volunteer. Most clubs move once the chasing costs more hours than the software costs money, and we compare the free options for volunteer boards on our club membership software page.
Members do not install anything. They get a member portal that works in a phone's browser, where they can renew, pay, update their contact details and see their membership history. Their digital membership card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, so the one thing they need at the door is already on the phone. Administrators work in the same system from a laptop.
Yes. Members get a reminder before their membership expires, follow the link in the email and renew online in a few taps. They can also save a card and turn on auto-renew, so next year's renewal happens with nobody involved. Staff see the result in the member list and the transaction list.
A spreadsheet stores names. Membership software stores the same names and acts on them: it knows when each membership expires, sends the reminder, takes the payment, issues the card and updates the record. In Communal the membership database and the renewals run on the same record, so there is nothing to keep in sync. If your list never changes and nobody pays you, a spreadsheet is enough.
Communal starts at $75 per month flat for up to 250 members, and that includes renewals, online dues, digital cards, the member portal, and reporting. Programs and events are a $50 per month add-on, and facilities are priced by the number of bookable spaces. There are no per-member fees. No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time. Full detail is on the pricing page.
Yes. Send us the spreadsheet you already keep, and our team maps the columns to member fields with you and runs the import. Current memberships with their expiry dates, family members, tags and notes come across, and from then on every renewal and lapse stays on the member record.