If you are reading this CARA blog entry you likely have noticed that we launched the new CARARuns.org this week. The project has been in the works for over one-year and was motivated by the vision of improving members' online experience, increasing administrative efficiencies, and decreasing costs. While the site you see now is just the first phase of this project we believe we have already taken great steps to accomplishing these goals.
CARA's goal of improving its online presence began more than four years ago. Then board member Michael Davies and his company AlphaZeta helped deliver on the CARA web site we have been fortune to work with until our recent launch. I could not discuss our new launch without first thanking Michael for his vision and contributions to CARA's ever improving online presence.
Just over a year ago CARA began researching options to take our online tools to the next level. One of our previous challenges was the number of different online tools needed to operate CARA. In addition to a web site, CARA requires various tools for a membership database, program and event registration, communications, surveys and more. Many of the tools we were using, especially our membership system, where outdated and no longer able to serve the organization as needed. We hoped a consolidation of these tools would make for a simpler and smoother member experience online, a more efficient administration of CARA online, and ideally a reduction in costs.
After considering several options CARA chose to partner with "The Driven", a company that specializes in club based web sites and member systems. With the help of The Driven we have accomplished our goals and with great cost savings. This savings allows CARA to focus more of its funding on our first priority, the mission and our members!
The entire CARA staff and Board of Directors have been involved in this project. Key to the project were former Executive Directors Ed Zylka and Kevin Jermyn. Former staff member Johnpaul Higgins was the driving force for the development of the new web site. He worked with The Driven to fine tune our needs and develop a set of online tools that will benefit CARA for many years. CARA also could not have made a smooth integration to the new platform without the work of CARA's Organizational Manager and Membership Coordinator Astrid Grimes. She has been working tirelessly over the past months to work with The Driven to transfer data and ensure CARA has all of the tools it needs for its membership database.
Some important features of The Driven include an integrated web-site, membership system, and registration system. No longer do members need to be transferred to third-party web sites to complete registrations. A key improvement is the ability for participants to register for membership during their program/event registration so they can take advantage of member discounts immediately. Members will also see their new memberships and renewals take immediate effect. Under our old system CARA staff had to take manual steps after each new membership or renewal before members saw their profiles become active. We have also been able to add the ability for participants to register multiple registrations under a single transaction, making it simpler for families and friends to register for CARA programming.
A new and improved race calendar, simpler web site navigation and easier access to member race and partner discounts are also part of the new web site (look in the top level menu). As our transition continues we will be able to integrate The Driven's communication tools to improve our communications with members and the local running community.
Internally this new web site allows CARA staff to spend more time working directly with members, rather than on behind the scenes administrative tasks. It allows us to communicate with members and the local running community more efficiently. And it allows us to take advantage of cost savings that allow CARA to focus its funding on the mission and our members.
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Greg Hipp
Executive Director
