Haiden Hibbert
If you’re looking for the best way to manage your high school or college alumni network, choosing the right alumni management software is key. Whether you want to host events, share job opportunities, offer scholarships and grants, or just build an online community of former students, having a dedicated membership platform makes all the difference.
That’s where MemberSpace comes in. It allows you to turn your alumni website into a fully functional membership site – complete with gated content, flexible payment plans, and communication tools – all while keeping everything on your own website!
Try MemberSpace, the Best Alumni Management Software
The easiest way to accept membership payments or one-time charges for digital products like communities, content libraries, and more — all from your own website!
Get started for free! 5 minutes to set up.
Table of Contents
What to Look for in Alumni Management Software
Easy Membership Management
Your alumni association software should allow you to manage members, events, communications, and payments all in one place. With MemberSpace, you can handle all of this from your dashboard while also using growth features like automated reminders, abandoned signup recovery, and more to boost engagement.
Gated Content & Exclusive Access
A great alumni association should provide exclusive resources to its members – whether that’s private networking directories, mentorship opportunities, or event access. With MemberSpace, you can restrict access to any page on your site so only paid members can view certain content.
Flexible Pricing & Payment Plans
Whether you want to offer one-time fees, monthly subscriptions, or multi-payment options, your alumni management software should support it all. MemberSpace lets you create multiple pricing tiers so you can offer free and premium membership levels, discounts, or even lifetime access.
Member Communication Tools
Look for a platform with built-in email tools or integrations . With our “Member Messages” feature, you can send newsletters, announcements, automated welcome emails, and even failed payment recovery emails – all from your dashboard.
Easy Website Integration
Your alumni management software should also integrate easily with any website builder -whether it’s Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, or Notion. With MemberSpace, all it takes is copying and pasting a snippet of code to your site, and you’re good to go!
How to Set Up Your Alumni Association Website for Members Only
You can turn your website into a members-only portal where former students can sign up, pay, and login to their accounts to access all your resources in just a few steps.
Step 1: Set Up Your Association’s Website
Your website is your alumni HQ – where people learn about the association, sign up, and access exclusive resources. If you haven’t launched a website yet, start simple with:
- A homepage that explains who you are and what members get access to.
- A membership page with pricing, benefits, and a signup button.
- A contact page so alumni can reach out with questions.
As your association grows, you can add more pages – like a donations page, an alumni directory, or even a section highlighting your board members.
Step 2: Add Membership Functionality
To to sell membership access to your community of former students, you’ll need to install an alumni association software, like MemberSpace. This will add membership functionality to your site, allowing your members to sign up and pay to join your association, as well as access your exclusive community resources.
Just add our snippet of code to any website in just 5 minutes, including Squarespace, WordPress, Notion, Wix, and more.
Step 3: Add Members-Only Resources
One of the most important parts of managing an alumni association website is offering exclusive content and resources like awards and scholarships, event information, or a blog. These are the exclusive resources that make it worth joining and paying for your community!
Just add these resources to pages on your website, and we’ll gate them in the next step.
Step 4: Gate Your Member Pages
With MemberSpace installed on your site, you can set up members-only access to any pages on your website.
All you have to do is go to your dashboard and tell us which pages you want to be gated, and a paywall will instantly appear on those pages. When someone goes to access one of those pages, they’ll see a pop-up like the one below requiring them to login or signup before they can access your content.
Step 5: Set Your Pricing & Membership Options
To accept payments and association dues, you’ll need to set up your pricing plan(s) in the MemberSpace dashboard. You can create as many membership plans as you’d like and charge your members however you want (one-time payments, recurring payments, free plans).
You’ll get a signup link for each plan you create that you can add to call-to action buttons on your site, making it easy for members to sign up for your various plans.
Take the Ruston High School Alumni Association for example. They have three membership levels, each offering different perks and benefits to its members.
Best Practices for Managing a Successful Alumni Association Membership
Once you’ve set up your members-only alumni website, the next step is keeping members engaged. Here are a few simple ways to make sure alumni stay active:
- Send regular updates – A monthly newsletter or email reminder keeps people in the loop.
- Host alumni events – Whether it’s virtual or in-person, networking events are a huge perk.
- Encourage members to spread the word – Once former students start joining your network, encourage them to invite other alumni to join.
- Offer real value – Make sure members get access to content, connections, and opportunities they can’t get elsewhere.
The key? Keep the community engaged year-round, not just when it’s time for a reunion.
Final Thoughts
Running an alumni association comes with a lot of moving parts, but having the right alumni management software helps you keep your members engaged, offer valuable resources, and manage everything in one place!
If you’re looking for a simple way to do that while keeping everything on your own website, try MemberSpace for free. It takes care of the membership side of things so you can focus on growing your alumni community. Good luck!
Try MemberSpace, the Best Alumni Management Software
The easiest way to accept membership payments or one-time charges for digital products like communities, content libraries, and more — all from your own website!
Get started for free! 5 minutes to set up.
