Guides

A little guidance. One less thing to figure out.

Practical guides for the people who run membership organizations — no jargon, no fluff, just how to get it done.

Talk with our team Find a guide

Board & governance

3 min read

What happens to our records when the board changes?

Nothing leaves with the board. Members, dues history, minutes and the website stay in the organization's own account — not on a departing volunteer's laptop or in one inbox. Positions carry their open work forward, so a new treasurer or secretary inherits the job already in progress, and the new board can ask the record a question and get an answer with the meeting it came from.

3 min read

How does a lodge or service club keep minutes when the secretary changes every year?

By separating the writing from the person. On SorrelSites, forward the meeting recap or paste your notes and Sprout drafts the minutes with the motions and votes on the record; whoever holds the secretary title that year reviews and approves them, and approved minutes lock — so next year's secretary starts from a real archive instead of a folder of old newsletters.

3 min read

How do we hand the treasurer's job to someone new without losing anything?

Attach the work to the title, not the person. On SorrelSites, dues, payment records and open follow-ups belong to whoever holds the Treasurer position, so electing a new one moves the access and the open items with the title — not a manual handover of logins, spreadsheets and half-remembered habits. The new treasurer signs in to the same record the last one used, with nothing to migrate.

4 min read

How do small boards keep good minutes without losing an evening?

Good minutes need three things: motions and votes on the record, an approved copy nobody can quietly edit, and follow-ups that chase their owners instead of dying in the notes. On SorrelSites, Sprout drafts the minutes with motions and votes on the record for the secretary to fix and approve — and approved minutes lock.

Websites

3 min read

How does a neighborhood association collect voluntary dues online?

The same way any membership organization does: members join and pay on your website, with a card or a bank transfer, whenever suits them — no envelope, no spreadsheet of who paid and who didn't. On SorrelSites, dues land in the association's own Stripe account, renewal reminders go out on their own, and the roster updates itself as people pay, instead of a volunteer reconciling a shoebox of checks every spring.

3 min read

Can a historical society run its archive and its membership in one place?

Yes. A historical society, a friends-of group, or a museum-friends organization can keep its member roster, its dues, its events and its archive — photographs, newsletters, records — in one account, and ask the archive a question in plain words instead of searching a folder by hand. The membership side and the archive side stay connected: an event announcement can point straight at what it's about, and a member looking something up doesn't need a second login.

3 min read

Do we need a tech person to run our non-profit's website?

No. A volunteer-run organization should be able to keep its website current without anyone technical: on SorrelSites you describe the change you want in a sentence, see a preview, and publish when you're ready. And when you move in, Sprout reimagines your website as three new designs built from your own writing and pictures, for you to choose between — so you don't start from a blank page.

Choosing

3 min read

What software does a small club need — and what can it skip?

A small, volunteer-run club needs exactly four things: a place to collect dues online, a member list that updates itself, a way to run an event without a spreadsheet, and a website somebody without a technical background can keep current. Everything past that — a full accounting system, a branded app, a learning-management platform — is solving a problem most small clubs don't have yet, and paying for it early is money that could have gone to the club instead.

2 min read

Do our members need an account to pay dues or register for an event?

No. A member can pay dues or register for an event as a guest, with just a name, email and a card — no password, no account to create first. Making an account is optional, for members who want to come back and manage things themselves later; it is not required to complete a payment.

4 min read

How do we choose membership software our volunteers will actually use?

Judge tools by your least technical volunteer's Tuesday night, not the feature list: can they do the five common jobs — look up a member, take a payment, put up an event, change a website page, send a message — alone, on a phone, without calling anyone? Then check what happens when your most technical volunteer leaves, and what the real all-in cost is.

Money

2 min read

What does "your funds in your own account" mean?

It means dues and event payments land directly in the organization's own Stripe account — kept apart from any other organization's money, and not held by SorrelSites on the way there. SorrelSites charges one flat monthly price for the software; it does not take a cut of the dues or event payments passing through, so what a member pays is what the organization receives, minus only the card processor's normal fee.

4 min read

How much should a small non-profit pay for membership software?

For a volunteer-run organization of a few hundred members, a fair all-in price is one predictable monthly number with no setup fee and no cut of your dues. SorrelSites charges $99 a month for up to 100 active members, $199 up to 300, $399 up to 750, and $699 up to 2,000 — month to month, counting only active members, never every old contact.

Events

4 min read

A simple guide to running your first online event

A friendly, step-by-step look at putting up your first event, collecting sign-ups, and checking people in — without a spreadsheet or a stack of emails.

4 min read

How do we plan this year's big event without starting from scratch?

Stop re-deriving the event every year. The knowledge is already in last year's planning spreadsheet — on SorrelSites it becomes a live checklist with owners and due dates, so this year starts from what worked instead of a blank page. On the day itself, one screen runs the door: check-in by QR code, announcements, live polls, and floor Q&A.

Switching

4 min read

Wild Apricot raised its prices — what are our options?

You have three real options: stay and trim your plan down, move to another established tool, or move to SorrelSites — where moving in is free, the price is month to month, and only active members count toward your plan. Whichever you choose, start by exporting your member list and checking your renewal calendar; both make every option easier.

4 min read

How do we switch membership software without losing our auto-renewing dues?

Saved cards live with the payment company, not the membership software — no tool can carry them to a different one. The move that works: members save their card again, once, and the change is timed around your renewal calendar so nothing lapses. That is how you leave without missing a single renewal — and it is true whichever software you pick.

3 min read

When is the right time of year to switch membership software?

Count backwards from your renewal season. Most organizations have one heavy renewal month — often January — and the move should be settled well before it: list and website moved in a quiet month, members invited with runway to spare, renewals landing in the new home on their normal dates. For a January-renewal organization, autumn is the window.

4 min read

Is it worth leaving software we've used for years?

Sometimes the answer is no. If the price fits, volunteers manage the common jobs without calling for help, and the website stays current, staying is a fine decision. It stops being fine when the renewal letter stings every year, every change waits for one person, or the tool is the reason things don't get done — familiarity is not the same as working.

Let's work through your next step.

Bring a question about your members, your records or the work on your list. We'll look at it together.

Talk with our team Or start free