Software for Club Management: Top Picks and Features to Know

As a student organization leader, you understand how challenging it can be to give your all to your schoolwork, extracurriculars, and social life, all while leaving a little time for self-care.. Between financial management, member engagement and communication, there are more than a few moving parts for you to keep track of.

Whether you’re on the executive board of a student-run campus club or a social fraternity or sorority, you need the best possible management software in your toolkit to help everything run smoothly. That’s where this guide comes in! We’ll review everything you need to know to pick student-run club management software, including:

• What is student-run club management software?
• Why is software for student-run organizations important?
• What club management software features should student leaders look for?
• Software for club management: Top providers
• How to pick club management software

As we dive into these tips, consider how your chapter, club or group currently uses management software. The best pick for you depends on your unique needs, daily activities and executive board’s experience with software, so be sure to hammer out these details ahead of making a decision. Let’s get started!

What is student-run club management software?

Student-run club management software is the technology that helps student leaders like you achieve your chapter’s short- and long-term objectives. You’ll use this software to manage daily activities and monitor your progress toward your goals. 

Software for club management doesn’t have to be created specifically for organizations like yours (though it’s certainly preferable and easier to use). For instance, you might have several systems that are made to accomplish different tasks, such as:

• Accounting 
• Event scheduling
• Communicating with members
• Assigning tasks to other club leaders
• Storing data
• Filing tax forms

Now that you know some of the options available to you, let’s go over the advantages of student-run club management software. 

Why is software for club management important?

Picking from such a broad range of options can feel overwhelming, but once you find the right solution, it can transform the way you operate for the better. Software for club management can help you improve:

• Transparency with members. Your members want to be in the loop about what’s going on in the organization. Management software allows you to spread important information quickly, answer your members’ questions and even provide waivers for activities if needed.
• Member experience and engagement. Your members will be more likely to stay with your organization if you make the experience easy and enjoyable. Features like member-facing bill pay allow them to keep up with their responsibilities, helping them stay engaged.  
• Financial management. Between collecting dues payments and balancing budgets, financial management can be difficult for even the most experienced chapter leaders. Club management software can point out any errors or missing information and help you stay on track.
• Record-keeping. Keep all of your most important data, such as member contact information and payment history, in one convenient online location so you can easily fetch information when you need it.
• Event management. Forget cross-checking complicated spreadsheets with calendars—software can help you keep track of your event logistics so everything runs smoothly on the big day.
• Scalability over time. Whether you aim to improve membership, programs offered or another aspect of your club experience, your organization has goals for growth. Software can help you pinpoint and act on your strengths so you can accomplish more.
• IRS compliance. Tax-exempt 501(c)(7) organizations such as sororities and fraternities need to fill out forms for the IRS each year to confirm they’re fundraising and spending responsibly. Some solutions can submit forms directly to the IRS and remind you of upcoming deadlines so you stay in compliance.
• Data reporting. Easily visualize relevant facts and figures with software that can automatically pull and display data via charts, graphs and tables.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to software benefits. The right solution can totally overhaul your leadership team’s efficiency and effectiveness—you just have to find the features you need at the best price point for your organization (more on that in a later section).

What club management software features should student leaders look for?

You might be thinking: all of the benefits sound great, but what features are going to help our team access them? Every organization is unique and needs different combinations of tools and capabilities, but here are some general features to help you get started: 

• Secure online bill pay that allows members to submit payments and check their account balances easily and safely.
• Ability to pay vendor bills and refund members with OmegaFi’s Payables feature.
• Budgeting capabilities that empower your team to understand revenue streams and create goals that align with your financial status.
• Integrated communication channels (like a mobile messaging app) that help you to get in contact with members anytime, anywhere
• Detailed member management where you can log each member’s interactions and activity with your organization
• Event management like volunteer sign-up, attendee registration and registration forms
• Data reporting that provides data insights through customizable fields and easily digestible datasets
• Mobile app accessibility so you and your members can interact with each other on the go
• Secure infrastructure so members can store sensitive data with peace of mind
• Integrations with other tools to facilitate data sharing between systems and decrease human error 
• Automated workflows so your team can easily collaborate with each other and nothing slips through the cracks 

Besides these helpful features, the best software pick for your organization will be tailor-made to fit your niche. For instance, many kinds of student-run organizations can leverage OmegaFi, but it’s made for sororities and fraternities in particular. 

To find software solutions for your organization, work together with supervisors who help run your chapter (such as your faculty advisor or national board) to research your options and try out different choices. Also, don’t be afraid to ask chapters at other schools or similar organizations that you have a relationship with for advice—after all, the best endorsements usually come from people you trust!

Software for club management: Top providers

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for—our top picks for the best student-run club management software solutions! Let’s review the top features, drawbacks and pricing of each solution so you can have all the context needed to make the right decision.

Best Student-Run Software for Club Management: OmegaFi

What is OmegaFi?

Why OmegaFi is Our Top Pick

• Many modules for managing all aspects of sorority and fraternity life, such as:
  • Member communication 
  • Online bill pay
  • Recruitment
  • Budgeting
• New FDIC-eligible Treasury Accounts for online money management
  • Physical or virtual Treasury cards that empower members to buy what they need, when they need it, in-app, in-store or online
  • Set Treasury card spending limits
  • Record-keeping that removes the need for receipt-tracking
• A mobile app for on-the-go chapter members and leaders
• Easy-to-read reports and data analytics
• Free resources and support for student chapter leaders
• Lowered risk against IRS fines or losing tax-exempt status
• Integrations with other powerful software solutions, like Smartwaiver
• Hundreds of happy customers and a 9/10 customer satisfaction score

Top Drawback

Treasury works best for those clubs with a balance of more than $1,000. 

Best Club Management Software for Member Relations: Join It

What is Join It?

Join It is a membership management platform that allows users to store member data, check members in at events and build a membership website, among other features. 

Top Feature

Top Drawbacks

• User reviews say the ability to email members is quite limited.
• The software isn’t made with student organizations in mind, meaning the features might not be tailored to your specific needs.

Best Club Management Software with a Point of Sale: Clubessential

What is Clubessential?

Clubessential is a suite of solutions for club management, featuring capabilities like a point of sale, AI-powered data reporting and website maintenance.

Top Feature

Top Drawbacks

• Users pay per solution instead of for a unified management platform, meaning costs can stack up quickly if you need lots of features.
• Similar to Join It, Clubessential isn’t made with student organizations in mind.

Best Club Management Software for Event Management: Springly

What is Springly?

Springly is a software for overall organization management, supporting marketing campaigns, event management and accounting.

Top Feature

Top Drawbacks

• Users say it’s less intuitive and more complicated than other similar solutions.
• Users report that there are very few live representatives available to help with troubleshooting.
• Springly is designed for nonprofits with membership programs.

Best Club Management Software for Workflow Management: Asana

What is Asana?

Asana is a project management software that allows users to delegate tasks to team members. 

Top Feature

Top Drawbacks

• Asana isn’t made for clubs and might have overly-complex features for students without professional expertise.
• Users report that configuring email notifications can be a pain and can clutter your inbox.

How to pick club management software

Now that you understand the top contenders in the space, you might be eager to dive into the software selection process. However, you should follow these standard steps to cover your bases and ensure that you make the best decision for your organization:

1. Gather input from trusted adults and student leaders. Your software will become a central component of your organization’s daily operations, so you need to loop in any important decision-makers on your team. Host a meeting with the other leaders of your organization and any trusted adults, like your faculty advisor, in which you determine your needs, budget and other deciding factors. 
2. Thoroughly research the options available. Many solutions will have similar capabilities, such as member data management and payment processing. The best options will be those that are made for your organization’s niche (such as OmegaFi for sororities and fraternities). If you have any connections with other groups in your organization’s niche, consider reaching out to them to ask about their experiences with management software and any recommendations.
3. Evaluate cost-effectiveness. Ultimately, you need to find the software solution that gets your organization the most bang for its buck. Evaluate the solution’s price versus the features you need to determine which solution will provide the most value. Don’t forget to factor in the solution’s potential scalability into your calculations (i.e. if you can use the software long-term) because that can greatly impact its value to your team.
4. Request free demos and trials. Before spending on your software, try it out first to make sure it’ll be a good fit for your needs. If possible, book a walkthrough with a product expert so you can get your questions answered. 
5. Make a decision. It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for! Once you’ve found the best fit for your organization and have bought a license, it’s time to implement it into your management practices. Set aside ample time to train people who will be using it often, such as other student leaders in your organization, so that you can get up and running as soon as possible.
6. Gather feedback. Check in with your fellow student leaders, members and other users to understand their perspectives on the platform. You could send out a survey every month for the first six months of using the software and then lighten it to every quarter once everyone’s used to it.

Your process might look slightly different from this, but these general guidelines can help you stay on track, no matter your goals. Be sure to communicate frequently with your faculty advisors or national contacts throughout the process to share how the process is going. 

Incorporating new software is a work in progress. It can seem overwhelming at times, but with some teamwork and smart planning, you can find the software for your student-run organization that allows you to reach new heights. To learn more about picking the right software, check out our additional resources below.

Additional Resources

• The Best Fraternity & Sorority Management Software. Learn more about OmegaFi, the top software solution for sorority and fraternity management.
• Fraternity & Sorority Management Software 101: A Guide. Want to learn more about specific software needs for fraternities and sororities? This educational guide has you covered.
• Key Sorority & Fraternity Apps for Effective Management. Are you an on-the-go fraternity or sorority chapter manager? These apps can help you stay organized wherever you go, whenever you need.