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Recreation management software should be an all-in-one solution that gives park and recreation staff the ability to run every aspect of their organization smoothly and efficiently to deliver the very best experiences and services. From engaging the community and streamlining operations to managing participation, recreation management software should help your organization perform at its best. Ensuring the following features are included in your recreation management software can help you continue connecting with and supporting your community.

Activity and Program Management

Give your community on-demand access to all your programs, activities and classes with recreation management software that offers convenient and accessible mobile registration for both in-person and virtual classes. If the class is popular, you’ll want to be able to easily manage waitlists to ensure full enrollment and optimize class, camp and event space as needed, or even offer multiperson discounts for families registering more than one participant.

Membership Management

Manage all aspects of your member base though a single cloud-based recreation management software solution that saves crucial hours for staff, so they can focus on the community. Quickly and effectively manage memberships with a workflow that offers an unlimited number of membership types, passes and rates, and can issue multiple cards for family members.

Recreation management software should offer self-serve options online for members, process automatic renewals, offer pay-in-full or custom payment plans, send automatic email confirmations and accept payments.

Facility Management

Streamline the reservation process for your staff and community members by utilizing recreation management software that allows users to book facilities, lockers and equipment without having to leave the comfort of home. When staff can easily view, maintain and update a scheduling calendar, it helps to prevent double bookings. Through your software, you should be able to offer online reservations for your community that feature waivers and permit management.

Marketing and Communication Tools

Connecting with your community effectively should be a snap with recreation management software. An all-in-one solution should include the following:

• The ability to create highly targeted lists based on specified criteria, such as age, registration history and interests
• A customizable email tool
• Easy-to-use email templates
• The ability to send out texts to members about scheduling changes or facility updates
• Social sharing tools built into the registration process, so that members can share their plans or activities at your organization or virtually on their social media channels

The job of recreation management software is to be an all-in-one solution, so that park and recreation staff can focus on their community members. By utilizing recreation management software, you can connect with your members from their first visit through years of participation to give them quality service that makes them want to come back to your facility or participate virtually time and time again.

Gloria Walker is Director of Marketing at ACTIVE Network.