Club management software for people running a club, not a company.
Spreadsheets, a shoebox of checks and a Facebook group half the members never read. GatherAMS is membership management software that gives a volunteer treasurer one place for the roster, the dues and the email — and no markup on payments.
Approved in a day · 30 days free, spreadsheet imported for you
payment markup — your processor, your rate
from import to your first real email sent
automatic dues reminders, days before renewal
You are probably the treasurer or the secretary, you were elected rather than hired, and this is not your job. It is your Tuesday evening.
See it running for a club
These are screenshots of Cedar Valley Rowing Club — a real GatherAMS account with real records in it, not mock-ups. You can open the same one yourself from a link we email you.
Monday morning, the whole club
Who has lapsed, what is owed, what is coming — before you have opened a spreadsheet. The renewal-risk queue names the people worth a personal note this week.
The roster, with households kept together
Two adults, one membership, one renewal date. Partners hang off the primary record instead of being billed twice and counted twice.
Dues that chase themselves
Reminders go out at 30, 7 and 1 days without you remembering. Every payment lands in your own processor at your own rate — GatherAMS takes nothing.
The regatta, priced properly
Early-bird for members, a student rate, a visitor rate — all live at once, and everyone is charged the cheapest one they qualify for.
What you're leaving behind
A tab per season, a column called Paid?, and one person who understands it.
One roster with renewal dates, and reminders that send themselves at 30, 7 and 1 days.
A trip to the bank, then reconciling names to amounts from memory.
Members pay by card from a link. It posts to the right person automatically, and nothing is skimmed off it.
Announcements that reach whoever happened to scroll that day.
Real email to the whole roster or one segment, with open rates you can see.
What Clubs turns on
Everything in the left column ships in every edition. The right column is what this flavor sets up for you.
Your first week, specifically
Not a generic onboarding checklist — the path we built for a club.
One question on the homepage routes you here — no generic "membership software" signup form.
What kind of club you run sets your terminology (chapter vs. branch) and a starter email template pack.
The importer pre-maps common spreadsheet columns — "First Name", "Dues Paid Through" — so a treasurer migrates in minutes.
The checklist ends with one real email sent and your first dues invoice raised. Proof before the trial runs out.
Three things a spreadsheet and a payment link can't do
None of this is exotic. It is the work a volunteer treasurer does by hand every season, and it is the work that gets dropped when life gets busy.
Your spreadsheet, imported as it is
Whatever the last treasurer left you — a workbook with a tab per season, a Wild Apricot export, a list of names and renewal dates. The importer reads the columns you already have rather than asking you to tidy them first.
Support from people who have been the treasurer
Live chat 7a–7p CT, staffed by people who have kept a club's books on a volunteer evening. They know what a season looks like, and they will not send you a help-centre article about it.
Most clubs arriving here are searching for a Wild Apricot alternative after meeting the 20% servicing fee for using their own payment processor. GatherAMS charges 0% either way, and the importer reads Wild Apricot’s export directly.
Questions people ask
How do I manage club membership without spreadsheets?
Import the spreadsheet you already have — the importer reads common column names like First Name and Paid Through — and it becomes one roster with renewal dates, household links and payment history attached. From then on renewals, reminders and the member list maintain themselves, and any officer you add can see the same records instead of emailing the treasurer for the file.
How do we collect membership dues online?
Each member gets a payment link on their invoice, and dues are charged on your own Stripe account at your own rate — GatherAMS adds no markup and takes no cut. Members can also save a card so renewals charge automatically, and cheques or cash can still be recorded by hand next to the online payments.
Can membership renewals be automated?
Yes. Reminders go out at 30, 7 and 1 days before renewal — or whatever offsets you choose — members with a saved card renew automatically, and anyone who does not pay is lapsed on schedule and lands in a renewal-risk queue so a human can follow up while it still matters.
Is there free membership management software for nonprofits?
Genuinely free options exist but generally cap contacts or gate payment features. GatherAMS is not free: it is $45/month for up to 250 contacts with everything included, and approval starts a 30-day trial with no card. What it does not have is a payment markup — some platforms advertise a low subscription and then add 20% for using your own payment processor.
What does club management software cost?
Typical club platforms run roughly $50–$200/month depending on contact count, before payment fees. GatherAMS is $45/month up to 250 contacts and $89/month up to 1,000, with every feature on every plan, no setup fee, and 0% added to payments — the calculator on our pricing page shows the exact plan for your roster size.
What is the best membership software for small clubs?
The best membership software for small clubs is whatever a volunteer can run in an evening: priced for a club budget, no markup on payments, an importer that reads the spreadsheet you already have, and no training course. GatherAMS was built as small nonprofit membership software to exactly that spec — and the live demo club lets you judge it against those criteria before you apply.
How many members?
Most clubs land on Club or Chapter. There is no volunteer discount because there is no premium to discount — this is the whole price.
Everything: all modules, unlimited admins, live chat, any processor
Apply for accessNo setup fee, no onboarding engagement, no charge for support, and no markup on payments — your processor bills you at your own rate.
Apply as a club
Approved in a day · 30 days free, spreadsheet imported for you
How the parts you asked about actually work
Written for a club
Free, ungated, and useful whether or not you ever use the software.