All organisations hesitate to push the Go-button when it comes to a major system implementation - and quite rightly so, as these decisions are likely to affect the business for the next ten years (assuming it is a good choice of system: much less if not!). For non-profits and charities the decision to commit can take much longer. 

Firstly, the key players - treasurer, membership administrator, publicity officer - may all be volunteers, needing to find time on top of their day jobs to become familiar with what's available and evaluate how different solutions would match their own needs. Free trials can be a great way of bringing everyone up to speed, but it helps if some prototyping can be done to customize data fields and set up basic membership types.

Secondly, a new system project might well be one of the biggest costs to be funded by an organization that prides itself on directing a high percentage of its funds towards the charitable aim. This is where infrastructure grants can be attractive as they defuse this issue. Be sure to include year-on-year costs of a service-based license as an alternative to upfront software purchase, but don't neglect help that may be needed to get-up-and-running. In the absence of a grant, calculate the costs as a percentage of each member's subscription that will go towards attracting, managing and retaining them.

Thirdly, the decision to go ahead with a new system should be confirmed by the trustees for a charity, or by a formal meeting of the management committee for a club. The reason for this is that adapting to a new system will never be plain sailing, and if there are hiccups, it helps to have a minuted decision. 

Finally, if there are secretariat staff involved, they need to be consulted and encouraged to buy-in to the selection process. Once the project goes ahead, they will also need a set of working procedures and suitable training.

If all of this sounds like too much hard work, bear in mind that the value proposition for membership of your organization is likely to be moving rapidly away from a regular printed magazine to informative email newsletters, a content-rich website, and well organised events. Your members will also be expecting to pay online and receive email reminders and follow ups. Managing all of this smoothly, attractively and legally without a robust membership, web and email management system is going to be much harder in the long run.