Technology
Websites, systems, automation and the practical tools that keep records, operations and people moving.
Explore TechnologyTechnology for membership organisations.
Independent advice and practical systems for industry membership organisations and trade associations.
Helping membership organisations with process and technology.
Boffins Ridge is a United Kingdom technology and business consultancy founded in 2016. We advise and build practical systems for membership organisations and rural businesses.
Every engagement starts with learning how your secretariat and members actually work, then we deliver through recommendations, roadmaps, builds, and ongoing support.
Advice
A clear answer to one technology question, with options you can act on.
Roadmaps
A written plan with options, sequencing and an indicative budget.
Bespoke Design & Build
A scoped project through to a working system in day-to-day use.
Ongoing Partner
Retained planning time and delivery capacity each month.
What we can build
Technology should only be implemented if it can make the business more efficient. This means understanding both how your organisation works and what the technology can actually do.
Where the available technology hits its limits, processes can be redesigned. Our expertise across both domains allows us to recommend the best way forward for you.
Business
Process clarity, day-to-day running and decisions about how the organisation actually works.
Explore BusinessBoffins Ridge provides business process and technology consulting for Membership Organisations and Trade Associations.
We recommend the software from across the entire marketplace that best fits your needs, tasks and business processes. We are independent and do not sell a Boffins Ridge platform, or take commissions from any software vendors.
We help teams identify what they don't know that they don't know, and then choose and connect the systems that fit how their organisation already runs. That can be advice, a roadmap or a full build and customisation.
We understand trade associations
Hannah has run two Trade Associations as CEO, transforming the organisations and ultimately winning Team of the Year. We bring this core expertise to every client, understanding the pressures and the processes.
Tobin is often on stage at Trade Association conferences, talking about selecting the right technology and digging into the detail of how it is actually used in practice.
Areas we know well
Members, leads & CRM
Current member status, who might join, and information about each member company.
- Company and contact CRM
- Join applications and eligibility
- Prospective member tracking
- Member directories and profiles
- Staff and secretariat profiles
- Multiple logins per organisation, with roles
Subscriptions & invoices
Tracking upcoming renewals, payments and invoices.
- Subscription invoicing
- Payment processing and accounting
- Renewal tracking and reminders
- Follow-up on unpaid renewals
- Tiers, fees and joining charges
- Invoice generation
Member area & paid content
Paid member content is straightforward to manage, from reports and training to standards and paid analysis.
- Private member portals
- Knowledge sharing and forums
- Training and CPD content
- Codes of practice and guidance
- Document libraries and briefings
- Access by membership tier
Events & conferences
Industry gatherings with programmes, sponsors and attendance records.
- Conference and roundtable programmes
- Speaker and sponsor packages
- Award ceremony voting and results
- AGM and committee meeting organisation
- Attendance records
- Event pages on the public site
Voice, press & partnerships
How the association speaks for the industry, and who it works with.
- Public association website
- Member and stakeholder mailing lists
- Press contacts and media bookings
- Rapid responses to press enquiries
- Policy positions and consultation responses
- Partnerships with sister and overseas associations
Secretariat, roles & sign-off
How a small office runs, from enquiries and permissions to who can sign off on what.
- Member enquiry handling
- Named roles for membership, finance and comms
- Multi-level sign-off processes
- Committee and board documents
- Documented handover between roles
- Reporting on membership, renewals and events
Typical membership systems
Typical work includes selecting a suitable company-and-contact CRM platform, creating forms and surveys for applications and renewals, and connecting subscription invoicing with renewal reminders.
A website overhaul would include a private logged-in members' area that holds reports and guidance, linked to a an members's subscription status.
See starting prices, how an engagement works, or questions we are asked.
We recommend well-known platforms
The only good software, is software that fits what you need it to do. We look across the market and recommend the software or range of platforms that best fits the task and the business processes you use. If you already have appropriate platforms in use, we can absolutely use them too.
Where a process needs extra connection, we use standard customisation tools and other well-supported integrations, so the setup stays straightforward to update as those products change.
CRM and records
Member, company and contact systems we can recommend, configure and connect to fit your business processes and in house knowledge.
CMS and websites
Public sites, private member-only areas, and content systems from widely used CMS and web platforms.
Integrations and automation
Industry-standard connectors that join the stack and keep customisations within tools that remain straightforward to update.
Email and communications
Inbox, mailing and delivery platforms already in wide use, reliably connected to your CRM.
Logos are trademarks of their respective owners. The right software combination depends on the organisation and the tasks it needs to do, and may not be shown here.
Running a membership organisation?
Describe the organisation and the friction you are seeing. We will suggest a sensible next step.