Webinar: Best Practices Series: Building the New Season
Unless you are hosting a one time event or tournament every organization has some form of “seasons”. In the class and event space we might call them sessions. Our next webinar shares best practices recommendations for how to easily and simply build your next season.
Some of the topics we’ll be covering include:
-Determining key dates and prices before you start
-Copying from last last season or session
-Archieving prior seasons or sessions
-Website clean-up and update
-Webstore clean-up and update
-Using newsletters to generate demand
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
The format is about 45 minutes reviewing the items then about 15 minutes answetring questions. We promise it will be a good use of one hour of your time!
Date: Wednesday December 15, 2010
Time: 12pm PDT
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/510642849
Space is limited.
Webinar: Best Practices Series: Institutional Knowlege
Anyone who has ever taken over someone else’s job – as staff or as a volunteer – knows that transferring instutional knowlege is huge. If someone explains what you need to do and how you do it the work is easier and everyone is happier. If you have to invent everything from scratch then your learning curve will be the proverbial “drinking from a firehose”.
There are a number of steps your organization can take to develop, transfer and safeguard institutional knowlege. Here are several of the topics we’ll discuss:
-safeguarding key documents and records
-ensuring easy transitions from year to year
-protecting your organization from the loss of key people
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
The format is about 45 minutes reviewing the items then about 15 minutes answetring questions. We promise it will be a good use of one hour of your time!
I gave this webinar for Rainier Software on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 from 1:30PM – 2:30 PM PST
and recorded it so anyone could view it later. Click on this link to view it: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/168859720
Terry Drayton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/terrydrayton)
Webinar: Best Practices Series: How To Create a Newsletter
Newsletters are an inexpensive and effective way to communicate. This includes letting people know about upcoming activities and events, acheivements and recognition and to solicit volunteers, donations and merchandise sales.
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
The format is about 45 minutes reviewing the items then about 15 minutes answetring questions. We promise it will be a good use of one hour of your time. Attendance is free.
I gave this webinar for Rainier Software on Wednesday October 27, 2010 from 11am to 12pm PDT and recorded it so you could watch it later. Please click on this link to view it: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/ojoin/909395905.
Terry Drayton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/terrydrayton)
Webinar: Best Practices Series: How To Make Money Selling Merchandise
Most sports organizations sell merchandise to make money. Unfortunately the experience of most is that their “profits” are tied up in unsold or unpaid merchandise and it’s a tremendous amount of work. No one volunteers to be the VP, Merchandise for a second year. This webinar shows you the best practices you can easily follow to avoid that.
Learn from the best practices of others how to:
- keep 1/3 of the proceeds of your merchandise sales as profit
- avoid buying inventory or doing fulfillment
- keep prices low so half of your participants buy something
- sell during online registration and in a 7/24 webstore
- use newsletters and samples to drive sales
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
I gave this webinar for Rainier Software on Wednesday October 13, 2010 from 4pm to 5pm PDT. Please share it with friends and colleagues. Here is the link to view it: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/259798761.
Terry Drayton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/terrydrayton)
Update: Pay As You Go now 6.5% including credit card costs!
Less than a month ago Rainier Software introduced a new payment option: Pay As You Go. The response was great but what everyone asked for was a flat percentage rate with the absolute minimum in upfront and monthly payments. We listened and are pleased to offer a revised option!
Here is how the new Pay As You Go works. The client signs up with Rainier (free) and with Pinnacle Processing for credit card processing($100 upfront plus $10/month). All online payments with Visa and Mastercard cost 6.5% plus 10 cents. As with other Rainier options all funds flow immediately and directly into the clients bank account with this fee deducted before the balance is deposited. Online registration with payment by check costs 4.25% and is billed monthly by Rainier. This pricing is very competitive and still less than our major competitors like Active who also provide significantly fewer features.
You can learn more about this new option by clicking here.
Contract Buyout: How to move to Rainier immediately
In response to questions from prospects who are so unhappy with their existing online soccer registration provider they want to move immediately to Rainier Software we’ve added a formal policy that we will “buy out” clients from their existing contracts with competitors. We’ve always done this informally but now it’s easy and fast to do.
Interestingly the flurry of recent cals to move is related to two issues. First, ownership of registrant, volunteer and sponsor data. More and more organizations are upset that the various Active Network brands – regonline, thriva, camp register, etc. – sell their data and spam their people. Second, handling of online payments. The high cost of using the credit card processor dictated by some competitors plus the 2-4 week delay in receiving ”our money” were oft cited.
With Rainier neither are an issue. Clients own all their data and Rainier cannot use or sell it in any way. Clients set-up their own credit card processing with one of many vendors and their money is immediately and directly deposited into their bank accounts. Rainier negotiated a uber low rate of 2.19% from Beanstream that’s less than half what regonline charges.
How it works is if they sign-up and pay for an Annual Service Agreement, set-up their own payment processing then we’ll get them up and going on Rainier. To buy transactions from us during the transition phase we’ll give them a credit for whatever remaining amount they have pre-paid to another supplier or for the equivalent number of transactions if they have to pay their other supplier. To give Rainier time to recoup the credit the term of their agreement is extended by the same amount. That way it doesn’t cost them any more than staying with their current supplier.
Rainier will give a firm quote to any organization considering a move.
Webinar: Best Practices Series – How to Find Out What They Really Think
Would you like to know what your participants are thinking? Tips for what you could improve? Tips for what services are really important and which ones aren’t? Are you curious how people actually find out about your organization? What search terms they used?
Learn some tips from some of the masters. Learn how you can use online surveys, Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools to easily find out. Here are several of the topics we’ll discuss:
-online surveys
-what Google Analytics can show you
-what Google Webmaster Tools can tell you
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
I gave this webinar for Rainier Software on Wednesday September 22, 2010 and recorded it so anyone who was interested could view it later. Please share it with friends and colleagues. Here is the link to view it: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/196641080.
Terry Drayton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/terrydrayton)
Don’t like contracts? Try “Pay As You Go”
Rainier Software is known as the industry innovator with many first, best or only (“FBO”) features and services. They just introduced a new one: Pay As You Go.
Previously Rainier clients signed an Annual Service Agreement that provided a number of included services (eg, first 100 transactions for free, waiver of the upfront credit card set-up fee, four hours of free additional support, transactions never expire) and a volume base pricing schedule. A number of prospective clients, including several recent referrals, signed-up with alternative providers even though they were considerably more expensive and had far fewer features. This was confusing, especially to the clients who referred them, so we dug deeper and learned that many organizations just don’t like contracts and are willing to pay more for less to get that flexibility. The consistent analogy provided was contract free cell phones which is the fastest growing segment of the market.
Accordingly Rainier has introduced a new Pay As You Go option. Clients selecting this option can cancel at any time. They do not receive any free transactions, pay $100 for the upfront credit card set-up fee, do not receive any free additional support and their transactions expire after one year or if they move to an alternative provider. The biggest difference is that they pay $2 per transaction more for all Transaction Bundle purchases. This pricing is competitive and still less than our major competitors Active and Cvent who also provide significantly fewer features.
You can learn more about this new option by clicking here.
September 2010 Newsletter
Where did the summer go? The kids are headed back to school and we’ll soon be heads down and working hard until the holidays. Fall is a wonderful time of the year and for many will be a welcome break from the HOT weather. In this third issue of our monthly Rainier client newsletter we’ll be talking about:
- September’s Special Offer
- Client “Tip of the Month”
- Upcoming Webinars
- New Software Releases
- New “Pay As You Go” option
- New Transactions Tab and 50 Transaction Bundle added
September Special Offer! September is a great time to get ready for holiday shopping! Branded merchandise is a great holiday gift so get your webstore up and running today. Existing clients adding the recommended merchandise already receive 50 free transactions (worth $237.50) which will cover your first 100 merchandise purchases, as merchandise sales use just half of a transaction. All you need to do to get started is send us the logo you’d like to see on your merchandise. Existing clients who sign-up for the recommended merchandise in September also get three free months added to their annual service agreement ($248.75). Please click here to sign-up for the recommended merchandise offering or contact your relationship manager at 1-800-576-7966.
Client Tip of the Month! Check out the new “Productivity Tips” section in the latest version of the online help for the Desktop. Some of the great time saving ideas include adding a Rainier icon on your start menu, adding a Rainier shortcut, customizing the desktop navigation, customizing grids, adding cc emails and using the new dashboards to share results with your team. Online help for the Desktop is easily accessed by clicking on the help link or on any of the top 3 questions that are displayed under “Help and Resources”.
Wednesday Webinars! Please join us for informative webinars. Our focus this month is on best practices with two sessions. Wednesday Webinars are a great way to learn from the experiences of similar people.
Topic: Best Practices Series – How to Fundraise!
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT
Reserve your FREE webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/160177953
Topic: Best Practices Series – How to Find Out What People Think!
Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Time: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT
Reserve your FREE webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/196641080
New Software Releases We appreciate the positive comments on the v2.1.4 platform release on August 17th. The new photos and dramatic Team Builder improvements received the most comments. We are very excited to let you know that we did a new “website only” release on August 30th that included publishing the new online help for your websites, adding a new built-in search box for your websites, adding more places where the map link and driving directions are displayed and enhancing the calendar on the program standings page to include all game events and program events. Here are details:
- A Help link has been added to the navigation on all websites. The online help for your website includes most major topics such as registration, volunteering, membership, donations, my account and team pages. We’ll continue to update and improve this and appreciate any feedback you have in that regard. Our objective is to make it easier for your participants to use the great features we provide and to reduce any support you need to provide them.
- A Search box has been added to the navigation on all websites. This allows an easy search to find programs and locations. In future releases we’ll be increasing the search terms to find more results. Again our objective is to make it easier for you and your participants.
- The Map button, that also provides driving directions, has been added to a number of locations including all calendars and event listings. This adds it to the program standings calendar on the Teams navigation and to Events on the Team Pages. This will make it much easier for your participants to get to their event locations and without having to call you.
- The calendar on the Program Standings page in the Teams navigation has been enhanced to include all game events for all teams plus all program events. This information is provided without the need to login making it a quick and easy.
We’ve had quite a bit of excellent feedback asking us to enhance a number of highly used features on the Desktop like modifying web content and newsletters and “tweak” a few things on the website like My Account and Team Pages. As we’re heading into the busy fall season and all of these features will provide immediate benefits we’ll be doing another desktop release v2.1.5 on September 15th. Here is a list of some of the improvements:
- New Web Content Editor – You asked for a faster and easier way to modify website content using the Desktop and we’ve found a way to do that. A new button will be added on all website pages called “Modify Web Content”. This will bring up a new editor that’s faster and easier to use. The new editor will also be used for modifying web content in other areas like programs (using the same Modify Web Content button) and in creating content for all emails. It will also no longer be necessary to create a separate text version of emails as that will now be done automatically for you. Note that the existing website page editor will be renamed “Web Page Layout” and will still be available and used to change the layout, hide content blocks or add additional content blocks to any website page.
- New Newsletter Functionality – The newsletter capability has been extensively enhanced. This includes using the new web content editor referred to above. Using the Desktop clients will be able to choose from several different templates or use HTML generated from other software programs like Dreamweaver or Publisher. Newsletters will be able to be saved and worked on before sending them out. A new website page will be created for newsletters that will allow them to be displayed directly from the website. Previous newsletters will be automatically listed on this website page and similarly accessible.
- New RSS Feeds – The two existing RSS feeds allow team members to follow recent activity (typically game scores) and upcoming events for their team. These can be subscribed only by team members when they are logged in to their Team Page. You asked for a way to subscribe to RSS feeds for all teams in a program, for all teams in the organization and for a way for non-team members to be able to subscribe to both. New RSS feeds have been added at the organization level (ie, all teams in all programs) and at the program level (all teams in one program). Recent activity and upcoming events can now be subscribed to from the Teams navigation for all programs or for one program on the Program Standings page.
- Tweaks to My Account – Clearer and consistent wording explaining how to use the features has been added throughout.
- Tweaks to Team Pages – Clearer and consistent wording has been added throughout.
As with all releases, Rainier will be down for maintenance on Tuesday September 21st from 10-12pm PDT. Desktop users will automatically be logged off and the newest version will be automatically installed. A webinar demonstrating the new features will be held on Tuesday September 21st from 11am-12 noon PDT. Click here to register.
New “Pay As You Go” Option All Rainier clients currently have an Annual Service Agreement that provides a number of included services (eg, 100 free transactions, waiver of the upfront credit card set-up fee, four hours of free additional support, transactions that never expire) and a volume base pricing schedule. A number of prospective clients, including several recent referrals, signed-up with alternative providers even though they were considerably more expensive and had far fewer features. This was confusing, especially to the clients who referred them, so we dug deeper and learned that many organizations just don’t like contracts and are willing to pay more for less to get that flexibility. The consistent analogy provided was contract free cell phones which is the fastest growing segment of the market.
Accordingly Rainier has introduced a new Pay As You Go option. Clients selecting this option can cancel at any time. They do not receive any free transactions, pay $100 for the upfront credit card set-up fee, do not receive any free additional support and their transactions expire after one year or if they move to an alternative provider. The biggest difference is that they pay $2 per transaction more for all Transaction Bundle purchases. This pricing is competitive and still less than our major competitors Active and Cvent who also provide significantly fewer features. Please note that pricing is unchanged for Annual Service Agreement clients. You will notice a number of wording changes on the transaction bundle purchases and prices. As this option costs more we don’t expect existing clients to choose it but that option is available. You can learn more about this new option by clicking here.
Transactions Tab and 50 Transaction Bundle Added To make it easier for clients to purchase additional transaction bundles we added a new Transactions tab to the navigation. This saves clients three clicks and a scroll. We’ve also added a new 50 Transaction Bundle priced at $4.75 per transaction or $237.50 for clients with an Annual Service Agreement.
Recommended Merchandise Consider signing up for this month’s special offer for existing clients. Selling branded merchandise is a great fundraiser! You’ll make 33.3% profit or an average of over $10 on each item sold and you don’t have to do anything! Just send us a logo and we’ll do all the rest. All items are shipped directly to the purchaser so you don’t even have to handle it.
Webinar: Best Practices Series: How to Fundraise
It seems like volunteers and staff of most organizations spend more time fundraising than doing anything else. Unrelenting budget pressure to do more with less is just part of the new economic reality.
Learn tips from some of the masters. Learn how to spend less time fundraising and generate more money. Here are several of the topics we’ll discuss:
-selling merchandise
-team sponsorship
-website advertising
-donations to fund acivities for those unable to pay
This new webinar series focuses on the best practices “how to’s” that are more about process than features. Please join us for a discussion and demonstration of some best practices that we’ve learned from helping thousands of different organizations over the past 10 years. We know these can benefit your organization today.
I gave this webinar for Rainier Software on Wednesday September 8, 2010 from 11am to noon PDT. It’s recorded so you can click on the link to view it: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/160177953.
Terry Drayton (http://www.linkedin.com/in/terrydrayton)
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