Ben 4219Mar 27
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 threadSimonaMar 27

@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 Mar 28

@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 threadSimonaMar 28
@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-TrauringMar 27
@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 Mar 28
@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-TrauringMar 28
@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)Mar 27

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

Automatic texting is the tricky part, I think.

Show threadCMDR Yojimbosan 🅅⁂Mar 27
@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 FrankeMar 27
@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 Mar 28

@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 RadtkeMar 28

@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 threadScott Murray Mar 28
@RadtkeJCJ this is great! Thanks!
Show threadStephan HeuelMar 28
@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

Show threadScott Murray Mar 28
@ping13 Thanks for sharing this! Looks like a really nice platform. All our events are free, however, and Tito looks set up for fee-based (ticketed) events. Thanks!
Show threadStephan HeuelMar 28
@scott geobeer.ch events are also free. Tito helps to limit the number of people by issuing free tickets because demand is usually higher than the available seats per event. Maybe @rastrau can comment on his recent experience. AFAIK we never paid for tito.
Show threadScott Murray Mar 28
@ping13 @rastrau oh wow that’s great. I just looked at their pricing and so assumed it wouldn’t make sense for free events. 😁
Show threadRalph Straumann (@rastrau)Mar 28
@scott @ping13 I like it, although we don't use all features and thus could do with a (even) simpler experience. It's completely free to use if you don't charge for your events. Redistributing cancelled tickets, changing quotas, waiting list, custom messages to ticket holders and waitlisted people are all possible.