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Anyone who’s ever tried to manage an organization knows what a pain it can be to keep everyone in the loop, no matter how big or small the group is. And in an age when life is becoming increasingly paperless, a digital solution to managing group actions and activities is a no-brainer. Stepping up to serve that need is MemberPlanet, a cloud-based management platform that launched yesterday out of a yearlong beta.
With $2.5 million in seed funding, also announced this week, and findings from a beta test that included 4,000 groups with over 1.3 million members, MemberPlanet has refined its platform and opened its doors to organizations of all sizes. From PTAs to businesses, MemberPlanet allows users to organize, manage and update their groups using a free, cloud-based platform. Advanced features are available for a fee.
"All of [the beta] groups have something in common: they wanted to simplify and make the management processes more efficient,” said MemberPlanet founder and CEO Rob Hammond in a statement. “Now with everything they need in one place, they're able to ease the administrative burdens and focus on engaging their members. We are excited about today's launch and look forward to helping the rest of the world discover the benefits of our platform."
MemberPlanet aims to provide a sort of command center for group organizers. Through a single dashboard, users can create email campaigns, event notices, surveys and discussion board. They can also enable photo sharing and accept donations or funds through integrated payment processing gateways. Not only that, Twitter and Facebook hookups mean groups can stay connected via social media as well.
According to VentureBeat, MemberPlanet’s seed investors “include Dann Angeloff, the president of the Angeloff Companies; Russ Epstein, the former global chief information officer for CBRE Global Investors; and Mark McKinley, the cofounder of Equator and former president of HomesDirect, which eBay bought in 2002.”
For membership-based groups such as alumni networks, school-based organizations, sports leagues and more community-driven groups, MemberPlanet offers a streamlined, easy-to-use management portal. If you’re a group leader, you should probably set down your lasso and head over to your laptop, instead.
