ClubRunner's Help Center

Did you know that you have access to a wealth of online resources to refer to for times when you need help with ClubRunner features?


From on-demand tutorials to recorded webinars; from download guides to short how-to articles, we have something for everyone!

Videos

While we host webinars every month, if for any reason you are unable to make it, you can watch its recorded version by clicking here. Need to watch a quick video on one specific feature? Check out our on-demand tutorials that cover everything from how to log in to how to create a bill.

Help Resources

If you would rather refer to instructions, everything from FAQ's to help articles covering all the features, the answers to all of your questions can be found on our knowledgebase. Visit www.ClubRunnerSupport.com to see more.

Service Updates

Did you know that we have service updates on a bi-weekly basis (every Thursday) through which we add product updates and enhancements to the ClubRunner system. You can read details on our knowledgebase by clicking here.

You can also submit questions and share feedback with our support team directly. Don't see a video or help article on a specific topic? Let us know!

Member Commitments on the Bulletin

You have a large event coming up and you want to remind members of their volunteer commitments as many ways as you can. Did you know that you can display member commitments on your newsletter on a per bulletin basis?

What does that mean? 

When you create or copy a bulletin, you will see an option to activate the 'Show Commitments' feature on the Properties page. If checked, each bulletin displays the member commitments whether that be:

• tasks assigned in the duty roster
• upcoming events they have registered for
• volunteer shifts they've signed up for
• tasks assigned within the new member program
• and more

If not selected, then the entire section is removed. 

How does this help me?

This is a great way to remind members of their upcoming commitments without having to keep track of their activities manually. The system does it all for you! 

Members only see their own commitments in the section along with details regarding what type of activity it is (example: volunteer shift, new member program, etc.)

Highlight Upcoming Day Speakers!

You have speakers join you for virtually every meeting and so you asked for a better way to showcase them on your site. From being able to display their picture to having some way to showcase them on the homepage, we've made it possible!

We've added new settings within the Speakers widget property that let you better promote your upcoming speakers. Now, when you go into the Speakers widget property, you will see three new
settings:

• Highlight Upcoming Day Speakers
• Show Photo of Highlighted Speaker
• Show Description of Highlighted Speaker

To reach the properties page, hover over the speakers widget and click on the cog icon.

By selecting the "highlight" option, the system will automatically apply a background color as per the website theme you are using, to have the upcoming speaker entry stand out.

By selecting the "show photo" option, we will automatically resize and display the picture of the speaker within the Speakers widget itself. Similarly, with the "show description" option, we will show the description that was added to speaker entry on the speakers widget.  This eliminates the need for the visitor to navigate to the Speaker Details page for more information.

These settings will apply to the current day's speaker, and will automatically also apply for all future speakers. Within the coming weeks, you will see more customization options related to showcasing your speakers including being able to define the color of the highlight property.

We're dedicated to improving the ClubRunner system would love to hear your feedback. Please continue to submit your suggestions.

ClubRunner recognized as one of Canada's Most Innovative and Fastest-Growing Companies

We are very proud to announce that today, Canadian Business and PROFIT recognized ClubRunner as one of Canada's top 500 Most Innovative and Fastest-Growing companies. This milestone has been years in the making and we could not have done it without you. Thank you for all of your support.

Published in the October issue of Canadian Business and at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT 500 ranks Canadian businesses by their advancement within the last five years in the industry that they serve by profiling the country's most successful growth companies.

This recognition is a testament to ClubRunner's vision which has always been to enable members of clubs to automate their membership management, streamline communication and boost public relations with an intuitive platform based on enterprise level technology. Built entirely on the cloud, our focus on ease of use and social engagement has allowed thousands of customers to continuously deliver better programs and services to strengthen communities around the world, while optimizing their communications to achieve their goals.

This achievement today acknowledges our level of commitment to our customers and confirms the value that integrated and relevant software plays in the modern organization.

To everyone that has supported us from when we began our journey in 2003, thank you. We aim to continue delivering innovative solutions that lead to your own success and growth.

Introducing the new Club Info Page!

Introducing a new club information page from where you can manage all the details relevant to your club.

While you have always had the ability to edit your club information such as meeting location, schedule, club motto and greeting, you can now define many more relevant fields that sync directly to Rotary International's database!

What's New?

The Club Information page will allow you to specify many additional fields including your club mailing address in addition to your meeting address, as well as your club phone and fax number, email address and website. You can also easily view which fields are integrated with RI as these will display a "syncs with RI" icon beside them.

Additionally, for your club meetings, ClubRunner will now automatically generate a venue map based on the address entered as well as define the latitude and longitude values - no more searching for location co-ordinates! Furthermore, you can even upload your own venue map should you choose to use an image instead, which will then be linked to the "Club Information" widget.

Currently only available on the Club Version, to view the new page, simply log in and click on the Admin tab on the menu bar followed by the "Club Info & Settings (Beta)" link. Please note, you must have an access level of 50 or better to access this page.

Introducing Calendar Items

You asked for a way to input items in your calendar directly.

You asked for a way to setup recurring events such as club meeting days in your calendar, so you wouldn't have to input each on a weekly basis.

And that's exactly what we did! We're happy to introduce the all-new Calendar Items feature. This module allows you to place one off or recurring items on the calendar without the need to create an event.

How do I access Calendar Items?

To access and begin adding items to your calendar, click on the Events tab on the top of the Admin Page and then on the Calendar Items (Recurring) Link.

 

How do I add items to my calendar?

Adding both one at a time as well as recurring events to your calendar is simple. Once on the Manage Calendar Items page:

1) Click on the "Add Calendar Item" button
2) Add your title and description
3) Next, simply fill in the remaining fields such as start date, end date, address, etc.

For recurring events, simply select "Recurring" as your option under the "Recurrence" section, and then select how often you want the event to appear on your calendar. That's it! It's that simple.

For detailed instructions, please refer to the following help article. This was just one of the many features you've suggested
that we're working to add. There are still a lot more on the way! Please continue to send us your suggestions at feedback@clubrunner.ca.

Site Highlight: Rotary District 5810

Since we released our next-generation themes (more on the way!), we've seen many clubs, districts and even zones create something unique by ultimately making these themes their own. With the array of page layout and customization options, there is so much you can do to your site to keep it looking unique and unlike others. This month, we're featuring Rotary District 5810 in Texas.

There are many elements that make up good design and we'll go over just a few of them, how District 5810 mastered those elements and how you can too.

Connecting with the visitor

Your website is a hub from where visitors can find all the information they need about your organization and proceed further. It is what connects you with your audience and is your chance to make a good first impression for those trying to learn more about your group. Connecting with the visitor is about forming that impression, creating the journey for the visitor to easily find the information they seek and engaging them.

The role of Districts is to support all of its club members and promote Rotary. As soon as you land on District 5810's website, you notice the carousel banner begins by showcasing what the Rotary family comprises of (Clubs, Rotaract and Interact). As you begin to scroll down, the personal video message from the District Governor both at the beginning and the bottom of the homepage is the perfect representation of attempting to form a connection with the visitor.  The entire website is geared for both members and non-members with information for both to read.

Check out this article to learn how you too can embed a video to your ClubRunner website from YouTube, Vimeo and other such services. This works on stories as well as custom widgets on your homepage and custom/site pages.

White space

Using the "Full Width Top Band + Rest Bands' page layout, they used white space to their advantage by aesthetically breaking their content up into blocks through HTML customization. But you too can achieve a similar look by using the built-in template blocks and tables.


White space is important as it gives your content some breathing room so that text and images together don't make your site look cluttered. By being able to effectively separate and distance the different content blocks/widgets, it becomes easier to allow the text to stand out on it's own.

The perfect balance

Balance refers to many design elements:

• a balance between imagery and text
• a balance in the aesthetics
• a balance of colors
• a balance in the weight of the elements
• and more

Today, it's become essential to try and keep your content simple yet informative. Many of us browse websites on our phones while we're on the go, and as a result tend to skim through information. The challenge that all website designs face is how to combat this - how to present informative content in the most effective way possible. District 5810 manages to balance the design by breaking the content blocks into rows and by size using what's known as a grid based layout.

Wondering how you too can create a band similar to the "20 Reasons to Join Rotary" as shown in the image above, without using HTML? Place your custom widget on your homepage, then simply use the editor to add a table. In the table settings, ensure you select 1 row and 1 column, select your background color and keep your table width setting at 100%. Then, simply type in your text into the table and link it to any page you'd want.

With a blend of text, imagery and videos, they make it easy to allow the visitor to get to what they want to read about. Even within each content block, they maintain a balance in the weight of the fonts, size and color so as to not overwhelm the reader.

Bonus tip! When you add widgets to your homepage, did you know that you can control the padding between the text and the widget borders?

Engagement - it's always changing!

This is what keeps the visitors coming back. The best websites are dynamic and are constantly being updated with content to reflect new priorities, showcase the latest projects, activities, and answer the latest questions members and non-members might have. Though this seems obvious, it's difficult to dedicate time to update the website but it doesn't have to be, and there are many benefits of doing so! For example, a website that is regularly updated with newer content is more likely to appear in the top results in search engines like Google and it also signifies that you are an active organization, which will come in handy for membership development.

Helpful tips from the community:

We asked clubs to share some tips on how they work on creating fresh content for their website and here is what they had to say:

• Page Owner: Consider giving 'page access' to a specific member without granting them access to the entire website. Doing so will allow the member to update the page with fresher content without affecting the homepage design. You can do this with both site pages as well as custom pages.
• Rotaract Volunteers: We begin forming a relationship with Rotaractors by asking them to volunteer some time for the club. They often help us edit videos from our meetings and club activities so we are able to post these on our site. Bonus? They get to know our club members so well that we know we have new members on the way!
• Team: We have a team of 4 in charge of the website. They split the duties of writing out meeting minutes, stories for the site, taking pictures at meetings, etc. and then save their content in draft mode on the site during the week. Every week, they just publish their stories, which the bulletin editor adds to the newsletter and sends away. Great because even if one member is away on vacation, we still have a team to fall back on.
• Source resources: For content, we use all the resources available to us. We share a lot of content from Rotary.org as our main focus is promoting Rotary. From videos to status updates on End Polio now, we always dip into the resources at hand.
• Involve family: Our club invites children to help volunteer. In Ontario, high school students are required to have 40 volunteer hours under their belt to graduate. We add them as honorary members to our club and they help us with our site - it's a win-win.

What does your club do to keep its site fresh? Click on the banner below to check out District 5810's site.

RI Integration Upgrade

A few months ago, we'd announced how we were working with Rotary International to implement a new API (application program interface) which would allow us to integrate many more fields automatically.

The wait is over, and the result is a much more stable, accurate and fully integrated connection with RI. We're happy to announce that as part of our latest upgrade, the RI Integration feature now supports the automatic transfer of additional fields such as:

• Date of Birth
  
• Sponsor
• Classification
• Work Website
• Club Website
• Mailing Address (home)
• Mailing Address (club)
• Club Fax
• Club Phone

To view a complete list of all integrated fields, please click here. Furthermore, now honorary member terminations are automatically sent to RI, which means there is no more manual intervention required. The system now also handles all data transfers automatically and in the rare occasion that an automatic transfer cannot be made, the system will initiate an email that will be sent to RI to document the updates made.

We also made a lot of changes on how the integration applies to new and transferring members. To learn more, please refer to the following help article.

We're constantly working to improve our system and are working on further improving the RI Integration feature. As Rotary opens more fields for us to integrate, we will definitely do so and announce these changes in our service updates.

ClubRunner Tip of the Week: New Member Program

It's Membership Month, and we're sure your club is outlining new strategies for the year for membership development. As you begin to welcome new members, do you have a set onboarding process? How does your club determine which member welcomes the newest addition to your club and who shows them the ropes?

Did you know that the built-in New Member Program lets you assign orientation activities to existing members in order to welcome new members?

A personal touch goes a long way compared to a booklet or an email briefing new members what they need to know. Rotary allows everyone that shares the same passion to do good for the community to come together, network and be part of something great. As such, we need to always try to make our new members feel welcome and part of the club. The best way to do that? Have existing members brief them on everything they need to know about the club! This allows them to get to know everyone on a personal level and get involved from the very beginning.

How do I add a new member activity?

1)  Select the newest member
2) Create a list of all your orientation activities (example: Meet & Greet, introduce new member to all club members).
2) Assign each activity to an existing member of your club

Members see these commitments under their Commitments tab on their profile as well part of every newsletter, should you include the commitments section.

To learn more about this feature, click here.