Learn how the Community Associations Institute Channel Islands Chapter is growing its memberships and increasing retention rates every year with Glue Up
About The Community Associations Institute
Community Associations Institute (CAI) is an international multi-chapter organization dedicated to providing education, networking, resources, and advocacy to community associations and the professionals who support them for over 40 years. The organization is made up of 63 chapters worldwide, including the Channel Islands Chapter that serves Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern Counties by providing its over 960 chapter members with education, resources, networking, and advocacy to further its mission of building better communities. The Channel Islands Chapter works with volunteers, board members, and community managers of homeowners’ associations as well as business partners who provide the products and services they need.
The CAI Channel Islands Chapter plays a unique role in its community by providing board members and community managers with the proper training and education required to successfully manage homeowners’ associations. Membership in this unique organization is open to board members of homeowners associations and their homeowners, builders/developers, community managers, management companies, public agencies and officials, professionals who serve community associations, and other interested individuals and organizations.
Leah Ross, the Executive Director of the CAI Channel Islands Chapter manages most of the organization’s day-to-day processes including managing member applications, renewals, email communication, and events. She describes Glue Up as the virtual assistant she needed. Read on to find out why.
Consolidating Multiple Systems with Glue Up’s All-In-One Solution
Before Glue Up, the CAI Channel Islands Chapter used multiple systems for its email programs, mailing lists, membership database, event registrations, and other marketing activities on our website. Managing these systems was confusing, difficult to manage, and time-consuming. The organization discovered Glue Up through a recommendation from CAI Chesapeake Chapter and this motivated the Channel Islands Chapter to conduct more research about Glue Up. After comparing different solutions, Glue Up was by far the most attractive because it was reasonably priced and user-friendly. Additionally, it enabled Leah Ross to market the organization’s events, easily track memberships, and event registrations, and send email blasts all under one umbrella.
A Virtual Assistant That Streamlines Membership Management
After a lot of research and many calls with different vendors, Leah Ross chose Glue Up because its backend is easy to use and also integrates with the chapter’s website without the need for knowledge on how to code or build a website. As a one-person office, Leah was essentially looking for a virtual assistant to help streamline membership renewals, database management, event registrations, and email blasts. Glue Up performs all these functions with ease and the platform also integrates well with the organization’s existing website.
"Thanks to Glue Up’s membership management module, I do not use excel sheets to keep track of our members anymore. Additionally, the Glue Up system sends out renewal reminders to our members through automated emails and push notifications. The Glue Up team is also very responsive when we experience any challenges and is always open to suggestions and different requests to modify the system," she says.
Streamlining Event Management and Member Communication with Glue Up
"Glue Up’s event management module integrates with the email campaigns module and this allows me to send email blasts about our organization’s events to different lists in just a few clicks. This also includes personalization where I can send customized emails to people who have registered for an event and those who haven’t. With Glue Up, I can also easily track members’ engagement using data on email opens, clicks, and event registrations."
The CAI Channel Islands Chapter launched Glue Up when it was getting back to in-person events.
CAI Channel Islands Chapter 40TH Anniversary Celebration in July 2021
Glue Up’s event onsite toolkit has been very useful during the CAI’s Channel Islands Chapter in-person events. With the onsite event toolkit, Leah prints name badges with QR codes that allow her to scan attendees as they check in to an event. During formal events, Leah includes dinner options in Glue Up’s customizable event registration forms. Moreover, she can also include different ticket price options and sponsorships.
"As a one-person office, Glue Up has really simplified my entire event process from event setup, marketing, launch, and post-event activities such as collecting feedback using surveys."
Connecting Our Member Community Through Automated Workflows and Mobile Apps
Glue Up has helped CAI Channel Islands Chapter look more professional to its members and the communities it serves. From automated welcome emails to seamless event processes, Glue Up provides its members and attendees with exemplary individual experiences on the platform.
"Our members feel more connected to the organization and have a strong sense of belonging to our community. Moreover, Glue Up’s event management and email campaigns module have helped me connect more with our members. Through Glue Up, the chapter is more accessible to its members through automated membership workflows, reminders, push notifications and so much more. The My Glue app also keeps our members connected to each other and to the organization."
CAI Channel Islands Chapter is looking forward to using Glue Up’s Community module to further engage its members and keep them connected online.
CAI-Channel Islands Chapter Takes Home Two Awards at CAI Annual Conference
Pictured: Tom Skiba, CAI-National CEO with Ryan Gesell, CIRMS, CMCA, 2022 Chapter President-Elect, and Jessica Towles, 2022 National President accepting the awards at CAI-National’s Annual Conference.
CAI Channel Islands Chapter received two CAI-National achievement awards in the 2021 calendar year. The chapter was awarded at the annual conference in Orlando, FL for Best Net Membership Grow Award (6.4%) and Best Net Membership Retention Award (92.33%). Glue Up played a role in this achievement and will continue to help the CAI Channel Islands Chapter grow its memberships and retain its members.
Glue Up’s Value-Adding Event Management Features
Glue Up’s event registration system has brought the most success to the organization. The registration process is simple and straightforward for its attendees and it also allows Leah to customize event registration forms and ticket prices. The organization’s sponsors are also pleased that Glue Up allows different sponsorship levels and sponsor logos that link to their websites. This provides recognition during events.
Additionally, Glue Up has many customizable event website page templates that Leah can easily use and duplicate for future events. This saves her time and has made event setup highly efficient.
Glue Up, A Great Virtual Assistant For A One-Person Office
“I would definitely recommend Glue Up because it has streamlined all our membership management and event management processes. As a one-person office, Glue Up is my virtual assistant. Glue Up is very user-friendly and has simplified managing our organization. I have no plans of leaving Glue Up! Whether you’re a small association with 50 members or a large organization with 5000 members, Glue Up is a great system to use for managing your database.”
Leah Ross, Executive Director of CAI Channel Islands Chapter
Grow Your Memberships and Retain Your Members With An All-In-One Membership Management Solution
Associations are natural communities as they are founded on shared interests, passion, purpose, and mission. The CAI Channel Islands Chapter is dedicated to building better communities by providing high-value memberships with renewal rates growing every year. With Glue Up, the association is connecting its professional community through webinars, events, email campaigns, and seamless membership experiences.
Get a demo and find out how Glue Up can help your organization grow its memberships and increase retention rates.
