brief
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe. Its mission is to advance professionalism in public relations in the UK; this is achieved by setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance.
We partnered with CIPR in 2015 when their Drupal website was separate from their back-office payment system and membership database. This meant that new members were unable to join CIPR online and digital payments were impossible. As all processes were manual, member registration and renewals were also difficult and time-consuming tasks for the internal team. CIPR wanted expert integration of their systems and efficient online member joining, payment and information recording.
action
Whilst the idea of digitising member processes and integrating CIPR’s website with SagePay and Integra (database) seemed simple, there were several additional requirements which made the technical work more challenging. CIPR needed a workflow that allowed for manual approval of member submissions and a step for cleansing before data was transferred to its database.
Using our expertise in membership website design and systems integration, we created a seamless registration experience for new members in which they’re able to join CIPR and pay the relevant membership fee entirely online. The new member’s application is then held by the website in a pending state, where it can be viewed and amended by the internal membership team. Once it has been updated and approved by staff, data is submitted to the back-office membership system, at which point an automatic confirmation email is also sent to the member.
The new integrated Drupal website design and functionality has not only enabled members to sign-up for and renew membership digitally at their convenience, but also dramatically reduced administrative processes and increased internal efficiency.
impact
The impact of this project was immediately noticeable, with income collected within the ‘breaking in’ period exceeding expectation – a massive £5,700 was generated via online joining in the first four days. The majority of new CIPR member applications are now received online, saving invaluable time for both members and staff.
Since the website launch, we have continued working with CIPR, providing ongoing Drupal website support and WordPress website support as well as launching additional sites for the CIPR’s Excellence Awards and PRide Awards.
