Background

With 12 locations and more than 7,500 members and 1,500 volunteers, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue (BGCB) is one of the largest in the U.S. The Club was founded in 1952 with a mission to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. To achieve this mission, the BGCB is committed to providing high quality programs, such as Project Learn After School, as well as a variety of athletics, preschool and teen-specific programming. The BGCB is a national leader in creating innovative strategies and programs to ensure the success of members both academically and socially.

Challenge

With such a large volume of members and volunteers, and a wide range of programs, BGCB needed a comprehensive non-profit software solution to manage registrations, memberships, childcare and leagues. For several years, the Club used a custom-built software system that met most of its needs. However, it lacked the ability to produce attendance reports with integrated card scanning technology.

Solution

BGCB spoke with other organizations and clubs for software recommendations, and then invited a couple of vendors to demonstrate their capabilities. One of the companies was Active Network.

After reviewing the various software options, the Club selected Active Network’s ActiveNet system, a non-profit software solution that includes online registration, membership management, child care management and league management modules. “Out of all the software providers we evaluated, Active’s software was the best fit for us. The system’s functionality most closely fit our needs,” says Ryan Scott, Vice President/Chief Operations Officer for Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue.

Using ActiveNet, the BGCB would increase front desk efficiency and provide the staff with valuable reporting tools to monitor membership statistics. All 12 Boys and Girls Club locations in Bellevue would have access to a single, Web‑based platform to easily exchange data, track membership activity and administer financial reports.

Furthermore, Active was an established, financially secure company that would be a software partner with the BGCB for the long-term.

Implementation

The BGCB purchased ActiveNet in March 2009 and began a business process review with the Active team shortly thereafter. The purpose of the business process review was to evaluate the Club’s existing processes to determine if there could be a more streamlined and efficient process. It also ensured that the non-profit software set-up would be aligned with the Club’s business practices.

The data was transferred from the previous software system, and the BGCB went live with ActiveNet in August 2009.

“With 1,500 volunteers, multiple locations and over 7,000 members across various programs, it’s critical to have an integrated and flexible system like Active’s in place to store and share information,” explained Scott. “We process all our registrations online, so we have an obligation to provide the community with secure, userfriendly and immediate online registration. Active’s system and support allows us to effectively serve our families.”

Results

Today, the BGCB continues to process 100% of its registrations online. The Club’s members and staff have become quickly acquainted with the new membership management software system. Scott notes that the personnel are better versed in ActiveNet than they were with the previous system. “They have the ability to determine better levels of control with profile settings and this empowers directors to be more self-sufficient on reporting on attendance, bill payments, etc.

Adrianne Gordon, office manager for the BGCB adds, “ActiveNet is very easy to use, so that’s been helpful with transitioning and training new staff members as well.”

Still maintaining 100% of its registrations online, now when the registrations are processed, the Club has access to tracking data and insight that it did not have before. This improves programming, decision-making, and member communication, With the addition of the card scanning integration, the BGCB has increased visibility into who is entering the facilities and when.

“Out of all the software providers we evaluated, Active’s software was the best fit for us. The system’s functionality most closely fit our needs.”

– Ryan Scott
Vice President/COO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue