Scott Murray 

#AskFedi — Looking for a platform recommendation!

I help lead a small nonprofit supporting #neurodivergent #students and #parents. We are 100% volunteer, and we produce a few different series of events throughout the year.

We need better ways to communicate with (paid) members and (unpaid) “friends”.

What platform/tools could I use to, for example, let someone RSVP or express interest in an event series, check the box to get auto reminders and text notifications re: all events in that series. For example: “event is tomorrow at 9am. See you there!” or “it’s raining! We’re meeting at x instead.”

Ideally this platform could also do email. One-off campaigns/blasts with simple segmentation (members and/or friends) and maybe some automations (like a welcome flow for new members).

We can pay a reasonable amount; doesn’t have to be FOSS/self-hosted/linux/etc. 😜

(I’ve asked a similar question here before, but I think we have made progress clarifying our specific needs.)

Mar 27 at 9:16pmWeb
Show threadSimona16h ago

@scott I’m interested too, it might be helpful with a project I collaborate with (@thetoylibrary).

It makes me think of Circle. Or Discord/Element, but Circle feels easier to join for non techy people.

Curious to know about other options/opinions!

Show threadScott Murray 13h ago

@simona Ooo @thetoylibrary sounds great!

Could you share a link to Circle? (I haven’t heard of it, and I am having trouble searching for it…)

Show threadSimona8h ago
@scott @thetoylibrary
Sure, here it is :)
https://circle.so/
Circle | The complete community platform

Build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand.

Show threadItamar Turner-Trauring16h ago
@scott ActionNetwork maybe, it's kinda janky and annoying to use, but at least one of the plans isn't super expensive because it's pay-per-message. And I _think_ it has some sort of texting add-on though I haven't used it.
Show threadScott Murray 13h ago
@itamarst Wow thanks! It definitely does texting. At a glance this looks very advanced and like way overkill for my tiny group. But I’m going to look into it more. Thank you!
Show threadItamar Turner-Trauring13h ago
@scott It's a lot, been using it for local political group with thousands of people on the list. But it does technically do this.
Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)16h ago

@scott OH, something like meetup, but not garbage? That'd be cool!

Automatic texting is the tricky part, I think.

Show threadCMDR Yojimbosan 🅅⁂15h ago
@ajroach42 @scott Most companies that provide SMS gateways handle things via email, so you send email to "[email protected]" and they send an SMS with the body of the message to the number; with some steps taken for authentication/billing on the way of course.
Show threadCarsten Franke15h ago
@scott we are using clubexpress for our rocket club. It hosts a website, you can have members or friends, you can do events with sign up, and do blast emails to all or to segments. They have a onboarding flow to become a member. Cost is minimum $30 per month, or about $0.40 per member per month. It can do txt, but I am not sure what the cost is. The backend is a bit quirky. But it works.
Show threadScott Murray 13h ago

@carstenfranke oh wow, this looks great! Thank you so much for sharing!

(Also: how cool that you have a rocket club. 😎)

Show threadJennifer C J Radtke6h ago

@scott We've been using membermojo for a similar set of requirements, also including managing memberships. I'm not sure if it can do text messages but it definitely does email :)

https://membermojo.co.uk/#

Show threadStephan Heuel4h ago
@scott with #geobeer in Switzerland, we use https://ti.to and it has served us well. Currently no events planned at https://eobeer.ch though
Tito

Simple, powerful, event registration software