I often talk to small associations, clubs and charities who are looking to replace their membership management system, often referred to as the back-end or back-office. When I take a look at their website (or front-end) sometimes it looks in definite need of an overhaul, with too few pictures, dull text and not at all mobile friendly. Often, however, I see that the non-profit has already invested in a decent front-end website, most often these days using WordPress. 

If the website is out of date (or out of favour, or proving expensive to manage) it makes sense to pick a new membership management system that also contains a website-builder and CMS (Content Management System), and to re-build the front end to modern standards. They will then have a single go-to system to manage their website, administer their member logins and renewals, restrict member-only content, email their newsletters, and run events too. Most membership management back ends do not have an integral website builder, and so the choice for a UK organisation often comes down to Wild Apricot at the cheaper end of the market or iMIS for larger associations. 

If the front-end is a nice shiny new WordPress template, it makes no sense to replace it. It may be that whoever created their WordPress site has implemented a member login system using an add-in, or is using some other way to protect member-only data. It's unlikely, however, that this system will be connected to the membership sign-up or on-line renewal process. Events are likely to be on Eventbrite and emailing is via Mail Chimp, both involving spreadsheet exchanges for member discounts and newsletter mail-outs. 

Does this mean that Wild Apricot is no longer the best choice? Not necessarily. It certainly will open up more possibilities, but Wild Apricot still does lot's of things that can be difficult without some form of web-builder. Firstly, the member self-administration pages can be style-matched to the WordPress front-end - more reassuring than a complete change of context. Same with the member-only content pages. Events can be moved back on board, and there will be no additional charges for emailing. Wild Apricot now offers a built-in web-shop, so no problems with handling member discounts. 

There are also two levels of integration available between the front and back end. Most of the sites I've done have a simple mechanism of menu switching between the WordPress front-end pages and the Wild Apricot member-orientated back-end pages. It's not seamless, but it is easy to maintain. In effect we create a members' sub-site. Alternatively, Wild Apricot has created dedicated APIs specific to WordPress that allow a deeper integration of logins, etc. Either way, you don't have to scrap all the good work that went into the WordPress site, although over time it may make sense to successively migrate the content to Wild Apricot to bring it all under one roof.