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Before you begin
You do not need technical skills. If you can use email and a web browser, you can set up Etribes. Setup is a few guided steps, and most of the work is deciding things your committee probably already knows.
Gather these before you start, so you can finish each step in one sitting instead of stopping to ask someone.
- Your organisation's name, logo and contact details, exactly as you want members to see them.
- Your membership plans: the levels you offer, the fee for each, how long each lasts and what it includes.
- The documents you ask new members for, such as a business registration certificate or proof of a professional qualification.
- Any extra information you collect from members or their companies that a standard form would miss.
- The email account you want messages to come from, and the WhatsApp number your organisation uses.
- Your online payment account, and your bank details for members who prefer to pay by bank transfer.
- A list of the staff, volunteers and committee members who will help, and what each of them needs to do.
Setting up as an administrator
Follow these steps in order. The order matters: members should only arrive once your plans, forms and messages are ready, so their first experience is a finished one.
- Set up your organisation. In Settings, enter your organisation's name, logo, contact details and group details.
- Connect your email and WhatsApp. Link your own email account and your WhatsApp so Etribes can send messages on your behalf. Members then receive email from your address.
- Set up payments. Add your online payment account so members can pay online, and add your bank details for members who pay by bank transfer. The money goes to your organisation's own account.
- Create membership plans. For each level, set the fee, how long the membership lasts and the benefits it includes.
- Customise the forms. Add your own questions to the member and company forms, so you collect the information your organisation needs.
- Choose document types. Decide which documents members must upload when they register. You can then check each one before you approve the member.
- Invite your team. Create staff accounts and give each person only the access they need: what they can view, add, edit and delete in each part of the system.
- Customise your emails. Pick a ready-made template or design your own with your logo and wording, then send yourself a test before anything goes to members.
- Start inviting members. Share your registration link. New members wait for approval, and you approve each one as they join.
- Publish your first event and turn on automatic reminders. Use the default reminder schedule or set your own, such as 3 days before and 1 hour before.
What your members do
Once you share the registration link, this is the path each member follows. It helps to send these steps in your first message to members, so they know what to expect after they register.
- Register with their details and upload the documents you ask for.
- Wait for approval. An administrator checks the details and confirms the membership.
- Pay the membership fee online from their own account, or by bank transfer using the bank details shown.
- Complete their profile, add their business and publish their public page, so others can see what they do.
- List their products or services on Vocal4Local, the community marketplace, where other members can find them and send enquiries.
- Book events, check the calendar and get reminders before each event.
- Connect with other members through the member directory and the job board.
- Share their digital visiting card with anyone, by link.
Tips for a good start
A few habits in the first weeks make the rest of the year easier.
- Keep member details up to date. Renewal reminders and certificates depend on them, so a wrong date or a misspelt name shows up later in front of the member.
- Send one welcome broadcast on day one. A single clear message to all members, explaining what Etribes is for and how to register, saves many individual replies.
- Review pending approvals and grievances every week. New members should not wait long to be approved, and a concern that sits unanswered does more harm than the original problem.
Related Etribes features
- Membership managementOnline registration with approval, a searchable directory, document checks and your own plans.
- Payments and renewalsOnline fee collection, renewals from the member's account, payment history and renewal reminders.
- CommunicationBroadcasts, circulars and newsletters by email and WhatsApp, with templates and delivery checks.
- Events and attendanceEvent calendar, recurring series, automatic reminders on your schedule, attendance and certificates.