Choosing a member benefits platform is a decision your board will ask about and your members will live with every day. The sales conversation tends to focus on how many offers a platform has. That number matters less than how the program fits your association, who holds your member data and what it costs you over time.
Here are the questions we would ask any platform, including ours.
1. Whose brand do members see?
Members should feel the benefit comes from their association. Ask where the offers live: inside your association's own portal and member login, or on a separate site under the platform's name. Ask whether your logo leads and how large the platform's own mark is. A program that sends members to someone else's site builds loyalty to someone else.
2. How do members get in?
Every new account is a reason not to bother. Ask whether members can sign in with the login they already have, through your membership system or single sign-on, and what happens when someone joins, lapses or leaves. Access should follow membership automatically, without staff updating lists by hand.
3. Who holds the member data?
This is the question boards care about most, and the one to get in writing.
- Does member data stay with the association, or does the platform build its own list?
- Do vendors receive member names and emails, or only a reference that can't identify the person?
- Where is the data stored, and how does the platform handle PIPEDA, CASL and Quebec's Law 25?
4. What does it cost, and who pays?
Ask for the whole model in one sentence. Some platforms charge a fee per member. Some are free to the association but keep all of the commission. Some share the commission with the association. Ask how revenue is reported, how often it is paid, and what happens to commissions on returns.
5. Are the offers real and useful?
Look past the headline count. Ask which categories are covered and whether they match what your members buy: phone plans, software, insurance, travel, professional development. Ask who reviews offers before members see them, how terms are explained, and whether you can choose which offers to feature for your members.
6. How much staff time will it take?
Ask what your team does at launch and what it does each month after that. A good platform handles vendor relationships, tracking and payouts. Your team should spend its time telling members about the program, not maintaining it.
7. How will you know it's working?
Ask to see the reporting before you sign. You want to know how many members have signed in, how many used an offer, what they saved and what the association earned, in a form you can take to the board.
8. What happens if you leave?
Ask how the agreement ends, how much notice it needs and what happens to your member data and any commissions still owed. A platform that is confident in its value will make leaving straightforward.
How MemberLoop answers these
MemberLoop runs inside your association's brand and member login, and member data stays with your association. It is free for the association: vendors pay a commission, and a share comes back to you as non-dues revenue. You can see what members would find in the offer categories, and read our association agreement in plain language.
Ready to start?
Book a call and bring these questions. We'll answer each one for your association.