The short answer
General membership software is built for any club, so it covers members, payments and events well but leaves vehicles and log books to you. MemberCrew is built for motor vehicle clubs, so vehicles, log books and the yearly Scheme reports are part of it from the start.
If your club has many members on the Conditional Registration Scheme, that difference matters a great deal. If it has few or none, a general tool may serve you just as well, and may offer more in other areas.
This page compares categories, not named products. Tools in the general category vary widely, so check any specific product against the questions at the end.
What general membership software is
General membership and association software is designed for any member-based organisation: sports clubs, community groups, professional associations, hobby societies. It covers the jobs every one of them shares.
Those shared jobs are the core of the category:
- a member database with contact details
- membership types, renewals and payments
- events and bookings
- emails or newsletters to members
- often a website or member area
Because it is built for many kinds of organisation, it has to be general. Anything specific to one kind of club, such as vehicles, is usually left for the club to set up itself, often with custom fields.
What it usually lacks for motor clubs
A general tool usually has no built-in idea of a vehicle, a log book or the Scheme. The club can often add fields to hold the details, but the software does not understand them.
That gap shows up in a few places:
- A vehicle register. Motor clubs need each vehicle linked to its owner, with plate, make, model, year, VIN and other details. A member may own several vehicles, and a vehicle may change owners.
- Log books. Under the Code, a log book runs for up to three years from issue (clause 2.28), the club cancels it when a member resigns (clause 2.29), and a vehicle must not have more than one current log book (clause 3.5g). A custom field cannot track a lifecycle like that on its own.
- Lapsed members holding log books. A member who is no longer financial must not drive their Scheme vehicle (the Code, clause 3.11). Finding those members means joining renewal records with log book records, which general tools rarely do for you.
- The yearly Scheme reports. Clubs report to the Registrar and the Federation within set times after their financial year ends. A general tool will not know these reports exist.
Our Scheme guide explains these duties in full.
What general software may do better
General tools often do more for clubs whose needs go beyond motoring. It is fair to say so plainly.
- Integrations. Many general tools connect with accounting packages, email services and other software. MemberCrew has none today. Its first, Stripe for online renewal payments, is coming soon.
- Breadth of features. A tool built for many kinds of organisation may offer features MemberCrew does not, such as ticketing or extensive email marketing.
- Features available today. MemberCrew’s online renewal payments, club website, email to members and SMS to members are coming soon, not available yet. Today the treasurer records payments made by bank transfer, cash or cheque. A general tool may already take payments online.
- Clubs outside South Australia. MemberCrew’s Scheme features are built for South Australia. A club in another state gets less from them.
- Price at the small end. Some general tools have free or low-cost plans for small organisations.
If you choose a general tool
A general tool can work for a motor club if the committee sets it up with care. Plan the vehicle and log book records before you start, not after.
- Design the vehicle fields first. Decide which details you need (plate, make, model, year, VIN, Scheme category) and whether the tool can hold more than one vehicle per member.
- Decide where log books live. If the tool cannot hold them properly, keep a separate log book register and name one person to keep it in step with renewals. Our log book register template is a starting point.
- Build a routine for the yearly reports. Write down how to produce each report from the tool and the register, so the next registrar can follow it.
- Check lapsed members by hand. After each renewal season, compare unpaid members with current log book holders.
- Mind the five-year rule. The Code requires Scheme records, including membership records, to be kept for five years (the Code, clause 2.39). Check the tool will keep them, and that you can export them.
This approach costs volunteer time each year. Weigh that against the price difference when you compare.
Side by side
| General membership software | MemberCrew | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Any member-based organisation | Motor vehicle clubs, starting in South Australia |
| Members and renewals | Yes | Yes, tracked per club year |
| Membership types and prices | Yes | Yes, with life and honorary members deemed financial |
| Payments | Varies: check where money lands and any percentage taken | Bank transfer, cash and cheque recorded today; online payments into the club’s own Stripe account coming soon, no cut taken |
| Vehicle register | Usually custom fields set up by the club | Built in, linked to owners |
| Log books and their status | Usually not built in | Current, expired and cancelled, with history |
| Lapsed members holding log books | Worked out by hand | One list |
| Yearly Scheme reports | Not built in | Each in one click (the club sends them) |
| Roles and access | Varies | Each committee member sees what their role allows |
| Activity log | Varies | Every change recorded, who and when |
| Data location | Varies: ask | Australia (Sydney) |
| Integrations | Often several | None today; Stripe coming soon |
| Online payments, email, SMS and website | Often included | Coming soon |
| Pricing | Varies widely | Bands by current members, from $150 a month |
Questions to ask
Whichever kind of tool you look at, ask the same questions and get the answers in writing. These are the ones that matter most for a motor club:
- How would we record vehicles, and can a member have several?
- How would we track log books: issue date, expiry, cancellation and history?
- Can it show us members who are no longer financial but still hold a current log book?
- Can it produce the yearly reports for the Registrar and the Federation?
- Where do members’ payments go, and does the provider take a percentage?
- Where is our data stored?
- Can we download all our records at any time?
- Which features are available today, and which are planned?
Our guide to choosing club membership software has a fuller list and a checklist table for comparing providers.
Which is right for your club
Choose a general tool if your club has few Scheme vehicles, relies on integrations, or needs features MemberCrew does not offer yet. Choose MemberCrew if vehicles, log books and the yearly Scheme reports are a big part of your committee’s work.
Many motor clubs sit somewhere in between: a marque club, for example, where some cars are on the Scheme and many are not. For those clubs, the question is how much time the committee spends on vehicles and log books today. If it is a lot, see how MemberCrew handles vehicles and log books and the Scheme, check pricing, or compare MemberCrew with running the club on spreadsheets.