Features of Association LMS that your Association should have

One of the difficulties that associations face when selecting an association learning management system (LMS) feature is determining what is required to serve their members’ educational needs best. With over 125 LMS systems today, this cannot be very clear. Some cater to specific niches, while others have numerous bells and whistles.

There are several ways to pick the wrong LMS for your company. With so many options, it’s easy to lose sight of the overall goal the association set out to achieve and end up with an association LMS feature that could be better. So, what are the required features of association LMS?

Before answering that, you must know the prime differences between a regular corporate LMS and an association LMS. Let’s get on with it.

How does an association LMS stand out from a regular employee based LMS?

Providing educational opportunities to members is a valuable service and a significant source of revenue for associations. However, a traditional LMS differs from one focusing more on compliance. So, let’s look at how an association LMS meets the association’s specific business requirements.

• With an association LMS, members can browse the association’s education and professional development offerings using an easy-to-use course catalog.
• A good association LMS will enable the association to sell online and offline content and offer attractive special pricing for discounts and bundled content offers.
• Members and non-members can efficiently complete purchases thanks to built-in shopping carts and integrated payment gateways.
• Many LMSs let you track CE credits or certificates earned, but only a few let you manage complex continuing education requirements and credential maintenance in one place.
• Association LMS lets you quickly design programs to assess learners’ relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies.
• Features of Association LMS provide data transfer bridges between the LMS and the association’s member database (such as Personify, iMIS, and others).

Must have features of association LMS that you can’t neglect

The global LMS market is expected to grow by more than 50% by 2025. The ideal LMS has many features that allow professional growth and meaningful membership experiences. We’ll look at some distinguishing features of association LMS today.

1. E-Commerce

Profit is the goal of any business. However, associations are not the same. Your membership is the most important thing to you.

Even so, associations do not operate for free. Dues alone will not be enough to keep them afloat. According to ASAE, they contribute only 45 % of an association’s annual revenue.

The LMS can also generate a fantastic partnership with non-dues revenue. For example, consider a platform that offers full e-commerce capabilities so you can monetize events, courseware, and other materials however you like.

2. Integration of Events

Events are crucial for non-dues revenue. Combining virtual and hybrid events with your education opens revenue possibilities you may not have considered before. When you run events through your LMS, they become a perpetual revenue opportunity instead of a one-time event. You can monetize the recording long after the event ends, providing your members with an invaluable educational experience.

It’s time to look at your events and educational initiatives from the same perspective. They are now treated as two sides of the same coin by technology.

3. Singular Login  SSO

Associations rely on various software to provide an exceptional experience to members. As a result, you may have more passwords than you can recall, aggravating you and your members.

SSO connects your LMS to your existing software ecosystem. As a result, your members can easily access your online learning platform, resulting in a more consistent user experience. SSO is beneficial to any association. It is, however, a requirement for associations.

4. Integration with AMS

Remember the importance of integrating with association management systems before we lose sight of seamless integrations.

Your AMS is responsible for various membership functions, including payments, contact information, and areas of interest. This information is essential for e-learning initiatives and is shared with the AMS-LMS integration. It’s only a suitable LMS if it integrates with your association management system.

5. Online Social Networks

When people learn together, they know better. Our belief in learning as a social act. But, in an increasingly virtual world, is social learning possible?

Your learners will benefit from a great LMS for associations that do more than host traditional, self-guided courseware. It will be a focal point for engagement and interaction throughout the year. Look for a learning management system that includes forums and other ways for your community to communicate and interact. A suitable LMS can help associations connect their members, which is one of their main goals.

6. Solid User Management and Tracking

Members and learners need to know their training progress, whether through a course, certification program, learning program, or other required training. Therefore, an LMS that provides this level of user management will benefit its users and encourage them to return to the system to review and manage their training regularly.

7. All Types of Content Can Be Delivered, Managed, and Tracked

For your training to be engaging and relevant, it must support a variety of delivery methods and content types. For example, your LMS should be able to track and manage a virtual classroom, online webinar, on-the-job, testing, external training, blended learning, and other types of training.

The system must also support a variety of content types to support these training formats, including audio, video, text, webinars, HTML, recorded web sessions, and so on. Keeping these training modes and content while adhering to educational content standards ensures that your members and learners receive engaging training.

8. Certifications

An LMS serves many purposes for associations. One of the most important is providing continuing education to members.

It is just one of the differences between an LMS designed for associations and one intended for businesses. Of course, learning and development are critical in the workplace. However, every dollar you spend on learning and development ultimately invests in your company. In the association space, things are different. Yes, you do benefit from the CEU distribution. But, in the end, it isn’t about you. It’s all about your customers.

9. Member Learner Collaboration and Communication

Social media tools are increasingly becoming a requirement for member collaboration, necessitating the formation of discussion groups, forums, and interest communities.

Enabling these tools in your LMS will allow your association members to form relationships with other members in the same class, belong to a specific group, share similar interests, and communicate for various reasons related to learning from within the LMS.

In addition, this feature will give your members yet another reason to return to your LMS, as it will serve as a form of informal learning support, mainly for members dispersed across a large geographic area.

10. Make Your Courses with Course Authoring

The courses you offer your association’s members must be right for them! When choosing the association LMS, pick one that lets your team design and create courses inside the system. It means your course content stays safe and looks great, all in one place.

Here’s what to look for in the course creation tool:

• Adding videos and pictures to make things more visual
• Including fun games to help with learning
• Easy drag-and-drop tools for building your courses

More people will join your courses when you create courses using an LMS made for associations and focus on making them user-friendly. It helps keep your members engaged and eager to learn. So, choose an LMS that enables you to create courses that match your members’ needs perfectly!

11. Handle Advanced Continuing Education

Many associations need to certify their members. It often involves completing various online and offline educational tasks to earn continuing education (CE) credits, which come in different types and combinations to meet certification needs.

With this system, associations can streamline the certification process, ensuring members meet all requirements efficiently. It’s about ensuring your members can easily maintain their credentials, helping them stay up-to-date and competent in their field.

While some LMS platforms can track CE credits or store certificates, only some can fully manage complex CE requirements and credential upkeep. A top-notch association LMS feature lets you design programs to assess learners’ knowledge and skills more effectively. It simplifies certification management, from registration to assessment, certificate printing, and even alerting members about renewal requirements.

12. Secure Hosting Options for Enhanced Data Protection

When choosing an LMS, it’s crucial to prioritize data security to safeguard sensitive company information. Single-tenant hosting solutions offer maximum security by dedicating a server exclusively to one customer, ensuring their data is isolated and protected.

Single-tenant hosting provides greater control over data access and storage than multi-tenant systems where multiple customers share the same server space. With a single-tenant setup, your organization can implement customized security measures tailored to your needs, reducing the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.

Businesses can mitigate security risks associated with shared server environments by opting for a single-tenant hosting option. Knowing that your company’s data is stored in a secure and isolated environment offers peace of mind, minimizing the likelihood of security vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance with industry data protection and privacy regulations.

Wrapping Up

Faced with uncertainty and the absence of a critical medium, associations are rewriting their short—and long-term content playbooks and embarking on the transformation necessary to reclaim their leadership position.

It includes the business case, requirement definition, RFP, contracting, deployment, content development, and improvement. Some associations are better prepared to make this transition than others. Not only to go online quickly but also to outperform for-profit continuing education providers. An excellent place to start is with a foundational association, LMS.

Choosing the LMS with the right features of association LMS helps focus resources in the appropriate training stages, accelerating and improvising member training in the long run. If you would like to know more about Association LMS and the features of association LMS should have, Book A Demo today.