Fonteva Reviews

“powerful association tools but too demanding

Pros

Managing several organizations under a single business account has been a big advantage for our association/non-profit management company. We're able to support databases for as many as eight organizations in one place which makes it much easier for sub-teams to share knowledge, ideas and training. On the staff side, the interface feels much more engaging than many association databases which often come across as stiff, outdated and difficult to use. Another thing I really appreciate is the object-based, interconnected setup. Contacts, Accounts, Items, Sales Orders, Payment Methods and other objects all connect to one another which creates far more flexible use cases than a limited system. Instead of a basic static form tied to an annual conference page, members can go through a more interactive and customizable registration process. It's possible to build as many ticket types for an event as needed and link different registration forms to different ticket types. Tracking detailed data is also very useful. If I need to see which payment method was used for a purchase and at what time, I can drill into the sales order, then the related e-payment, then the payment method and review each piece of information directly. That relational database structure creates a lot of opportunity for stronger reporting and a better member experience overall. Reporting can be very powerful as well. You can combine fields from multiple objects to identify member companies that joined after January 2023 and are based in Florida, attendees with a certain certification who attended the last two annual conferences, members serving on committees and plenty more. The platform can handle most areas of association management, including membership, events, e-store, online communities and beyond.

Cons

That flexibility also brings a lot of complexity and at times it turns into a real headache. The system can be so involved that troubleshooting, glitches and other issues become overwhelming for both staff and members. Having a dedicated IT or technical staff person to manage the platform and act as the internal liaison feels absolutely necessary. We regularly deal with problems related to flows, especially when trying to trigger a chain of actions in the database, like having a membership purchase automatically activate the membership and send a welcome email. On top of that, there are random software issues that are hard to explain, such as the front-end purchasing page taking several minutes to load for members and event attendees. Reporting, while powerful in some ways, also has frustrating limitations because it depends on preset object templates. For instance, if you're using an "Accounts with Contacts" template, you can only pull fields tied to those object types. You wouldn't be able to include something like Attendee IDs, so staff has to be very careful to choose the right template before spending time building a report. When specific data requests come up, we often have to export multiple reports into Excel and manually sort or combine the information ourselves because the available report templates are limited. It would be much better if reporting allowed access to all relevant data in one place and reduced the amount of manual Excel work required.

“flexible association tools

Pros

Managing an association has become much more aligned for me since everything, from memberships to events and financials, sits in one place. I've found the Salesforce integration especially valuable for strengthening CRM capabilities and the reporting tools make it easy for me to track trends and pull insights when needed.

Cons

That said, the platform can be challenging to learn, especially for users who are not very comfortable with technology. Getting everything set up and customized at the beginning takes a fair amount of time and it may require hands-on help from the IT team. On top of that, some of the more advanced features seem a little expensive when compared with other options on the market.

“powerful all-in-one platform

Pros

What I appreciate most is having everything centralized in a single platform which simplifies my workflow. The level of customization available has been a big plus for me and working within Salesforce makes handling CRM data much more efficient.

Cons

Initial setup can be a bit complicated, especially for someone from a non-IT background or with little to no Salesforce knowledge. Because it has so many features and customization options, the setup process is also fairly lengthy, so implementation takes time and feels complex.

“reporting freedom and useful history

Pros

We've started building a strong base of historical data with this system and I've noticed that reporting is now something we can handle independently without relying on external support.

Cons

At this point, I really haven't run into any major downsides. We only went live in September 2021, so we're still shaping the system around our specific requirements and are currently in phase 2. The one area that could use more support is training around report creation.

“membership and event app delivers

Pros

Running our membership and event app through this platform has worked out well for me. The tools feel practical and easy to use and setting things up didn't require much effort from an admin perspective.

Cons

One thing that would make it even better is more documentation covering the different features in the community platform. It would also help a lot if the documentation were easier to search with a wider range of keywords.

“salesforce flexibility pays off

Pros

Working within the Salesforce environment has been a major advantage for my team. I've found the flexibility extremely useful for solving different business needs and it has noticeably reduced the time we spend on routine tasks.

Cons

This isn't the kind of platform you pick up in a day or two. Your team really needs to invest time in learning the structure before taking on major configuration or custom work. In most cases, it's also smart to bring in a third-party expert to help align the setup with your business goals and make sure the platform is configured the right way. One other lesson: try to stay away from custom code whenever possible, because as you learn the system better, you'll usually find that Salesforce's out-of-the-box tools can handle more than you first expect.

“powerful membership management range

Pros

The range of solutions available for membership management has stood out to me and I've found it covers a wide variety of use cases.

Cons

At times, customization can be a little difficult.

“flexible community personalization

Pros

Building a member community site has been much easier for me with this platform. I like being able to tailor the experience for different users, especially with features like role-based access that keep content relevant.

Cons

There's already a lot of flexibility when it comes to customizing the member community site but it would be even better if there were more customization options for membership dues.

“powerful features with room to grow

Pros

Getting started was fairly simple for me, although I did notice that some features required additional customization to fully match our processes which can make upgrades a bit more involved.

Cons

One noticeable gap is the lack of membership retention tracking. Sending emails from within the database also has issues, especially when the formatting ends up getting messed up. We're also looking into using more of the available tools, like campaigns but at a basic level it can still be a bit tricky to understand and navigate.

“flexible fit for associations

Pros

Using the software day to day has been easy and I've been able to adapt it to fit our specific association needs without too much difficulty.

Cons

There's still some room for improvement. We've run into a few issues with the join and renewal processes that could be refined and the finance side would be better with improvements to scheduled payments and lockbox functionality.

“user-friendly setup and training

Pros

Navigating the platform feels simple in my experience and I've benefited from both Salesforce training and the platform's own learning resources when building things out.

Cons

The IT environment does need quite a bit of ongoing maintenance, so it's important to have dedicated staff available to handle the weekly, monthly and quarterly upkeep tasks.

“costly rollout and broken basics

Pros

One thing I value is that it's built on Salesforce CRM which makes it easier for me to work within a familiar system.

Cons

Getting this system implemented took far longer than expected and ended up costing much more than we were originally told. Across nearly every area, the software has fallen short of expectations. Key functions like invoicing, event setup and management, reporting, renewals and eCommerce have all been unreliable. Support also doesn't really cover the full system anymore since their business model shifted toward using third-party companies for setup, configuration and advanced help. On top of that, upgrades are not included and the related fees are inconsistent and hard to predict. The eCommerce engine also doesn't meet normal standards for SEO or even basic online store structure. Email features and platform integrations either fail outright or take far too much manual work. Even renewal and invoice automations can break which creates even more issues.

“flexible tools and endless possibilities

Pros

The flexibility to customize different processes has helped me improve how our organization operates. I also had a really positive experience working with the IT team during implementation.

Cons

We haven't come across any real downsides yet. As a newer customer, every challenge we've faced has been something it helped us work through and resolve.

“salesforce-friendly AMS with strong integrations

Pros

Coming from a Salesforce background, I found this AMS very easy to adjust to since it closely aligns with tools I was already familiar with.

Cons

That said, if your work goes beyond certification or association management, it might not cover every single need out of the box. In some cases, you may also have to pay extra to get the additional functionality you need.

“custom join process and helpful support

Pros

After several months of using it, I've found it relatively easy to learn, even without a technical background. Customizing the join process has been a major improvement for me and the reporting dashboards have helped us make better use of our data.

Cons

Like any software, there's definitely a learning curve and I'm still looking forward to learning more so we can become even more efficient and take full advantage of everything the system offers.

“excellent for membership services

Pros

Managing membership services has been efficient for me with this software and I like that staff can use it with minimal training while still accessing live member data easily.

Cons

One area that still needs improvement is handling duplicate accounts and identifying them early before they become a bigger issue.

“powerful features that deliver

Pros

Overall, it delivers what I need and includes a great range of features that support our daily operations.

Cons

We haven't run into any issues at this point and customer support has been quick to respond.

“flexible features that fit us

Pros

Right away, the functions could be adjusted in practical ways to match how our business operates, without needing much admin involvement or extra support.

Cons

Reporting isn't always very simple and for more advanced or higher-level reports, admin help is often still necessary.

“all-in-one salesforce fit

Pros

As an association using Salesforce, this has been an excellent fit for us. It brings all of our needs together in one integrated system and also keeps us connected with other vendors and platforms, so everything stays in sync. If you're looking for a more connected and efficient workflow, I'd definitely recommend it.

Cons

The only downside is that the design can feel somewhat restrictive and making customizations isn't always the simplest thing to do.

“flexible salesforce customization

Pros

Being built on the Salesforce platform is a big advantage for us and the customization options make it adaptable to different needs.

Cons

There are times when processing feels a bit slow.

“perfect fit for our model

Pros

Getting started with this product was very easy for us. We needed something that could adapt to our business model which is different from a typical membership setup and it has worked really well for that.

Cons

At this point, I really think it's an excellent product and I honestly don't have any complaints yet.

“powerful features and helpful support

Pros

Right out of the box, the software comes with some very powerful functionality and the support team will work with us at the start if we need certain features customized, although there may be an extra fee. We attempted to use it for a trade association that required a lot of custom programming but it really was not a good fit for us. The platform is clearly built more for individual memberships and does not support a parent-child relationship.

Cons

This system is really geared toward individual memberships and does not provide a parent-child relationship. It also relies on a number of add-ons to deliver different functionality and that always brings some level of risk.

“great reporting and flexible renewals

Pros

Reporting feels very simple and easy to use for us. Member information and transaction records are simple to locate in the system which saves us time. We were also able to set it up to track member renewals in a way that matches our real renewal process, instead of having to adjust our workflow to fit the software. We are also excited about upgrading to the new release this fall.

Cons

Because the software is capable of doing so much, it does take a while to fully learn all the different ways it can improve efficiency and reporting.

“flexible tools with real control

Pros

One thing we really appreciate is how flexible the platform is for us and how much control it gives end users over the products and their functionality.

Cons

The rollout could have been managed better during implementation. That said, we're now making progress toward where we expected to be and we're pleased with how things are moving forward.

“powerful salesforce extension

Pros

Coming into this as someone fairly new to Salesforce, this product has made a strong impression on us. It expands Salesforce in ways that feel practical and well thought out, with membership management built in, along with a store and a very capable event builder. We can't really compare it much to standard Salesforce yet but we can compare it to Dynamics which has always felt pretty clunky to us. Since most of our work is on the administration side, user management matters a lot for us and it's been much easier for us to work with here than it was in Dynamics. Another big plus is that several features we previously had to build internally for Dynamics already exist out of the box in this platform. That alone should free up more of our time to focus on our data instead of recreating functionality we need. On top of that, the support has been outstanding for us. We also attended the admin training which basically walked us through a simple Salesforce implementation and the platform setup. The pace was quick but it was still very easy for us to keep up with and the instructor clearly knew the material and took the time to slow down whenever questions came up so they could be answered properly.

Cons

At this point, I honestly can't point to any real downside. Maybe after we've been fully implemented for a year or so, I'd have more to add but right now I don't have a single complaint.

“friendly ui with handy customization

Pros

The interface feels welcoming for us and the customization options are easy to use without any hassle for us.

Cons

One thing missing is a way to navigate back to eStore from the events section.

“user-friendly and life-changing tool

Pros

One thing we really love about MemberNation is how user-friendly it is for us. It has made running our business much more convenient and organized for us.

Cons

There really wasn't anything I disliked. It felt a little confusing at the beginning only because I was expecting the process to involve more steps but the software actually made everything much simpler for me.

“salesforce ecosystem adds confidence

Pros

One of the biggest reasons we value MemberNation is that it runs on Salesforce, so there's very little worry for us about it being acquired or folded into another product. Another major advantage for us is that it acts as the bridge nonprofits need to use Salesforce for memberships, events, community engagement and the other functions a modern organization depends on. On top of that, Salesforce has its own AppExchange marketplace which is a lot like Apple's App Store. If Salesforce or MemberNation doesn't cover a specific need, there's a good chance an app already exists there to handle it for us. It really feels like having multiple vendors supporting us at once. That kind of ecosystem is a big part of why Apple succeeds and we think it gives Salesforce and an AMS built on it the same long-term strength for us. It also means the system stays current and there are plenty of vendors available that already support integrations with Salesforce and MemberNation for us.

Cons

Since an AMS is naturally designed as a one-size-fits-all product, some level of customization can still be necessary. MemberNation also comes with its own join process. It was flexible enough to align with about 95% of our current membership workflow but we still had to adjust our internal business process to account for the remaining 5%.

“user-friendly and clear for members

Pros

The platform feels very user-friendly for us and it makes it easier to explain the functionality to our members.

Cons

The biggest challenge is the time it takes to learn the capabilities and the limited bandwidth we have in the office to train users.

“user-friendly and innovative platform

Pros

Setting it up was easy for us and the platform feels very user-friendly and innovative for us.

Cons

Nothing to complain about at this point. We've had a really positive experience with it.

“promising salesforce-based platform

Pros

Built on Salesforce which makes it feel like a modern and up-and-coming technology for us.

Cons

Customization has been difficult, especially since our association has many different membership structures to manage.

“versatile salesforce member tools

Pros

Across mobile, desktop and tablet, this platform fits nicely into Salesforce and lets us manage member data from just about anywhere. It also gives us plenty of ways to connect extra apps which has helped improve the member experience and made day-to-day work much more convenient for our team.

Cons

The reporting side feels restricted because it depends heavily on Salesforce's reporting capabilities, so the AMS can seem pretty limiting in that area. We've also needed a lot of customizations to support our board-approved pricing rules, integrations and member communications. On top of that, we ran into a few problems when moving from the UAT environment into production.

“flexible and user-friendly tool

Pros

Using this has been very easy for us. It's flexible for different users and the navigation is simple to follow for us.

Cons

There are still some issues with contacts and custom fields tend to break after updates.

“constantly improving platform

Pros

The Salesforce platform keeps getting better with ongoing updates and improvements which makes it feel like the product is constantly evolving in a positive direction for us.

Cons

There's no getting around it, Salesforce is expensive and the pricing can be a real downside.

“powerful fit for associations

Pros

After a thorough search and review process for a new Association Management Software for our mid-sized association, we chose this product for several key reasons. The user experience in SF Lightning is clean, easy and quick for our end users to pick up. It also gives our staff clear flexibility and should make their everyday tasks much more efficient for us. On top of that, the system is highly configurable. The Community Groups feature is especially valuable for a chapter-based organization like ours, since it gives chapters access to a range of tools and functions that our current AMS does not offer very well for us. Integration was another major factor in our decision. We rely on many different software platforms to run our organization and Salesforce makes connecting with those systems simple and cost-effective for us. We would definitely recommend this solution to other associations.

Cons

At this point, we have not come across any real negatives. Naturally, it would be nice if the price were lower. It is also worth paying attention to the size of your environment.

“time-saving and efficient setup

Pros

After dealing with several systems and different ways to stay organized, we switched to this program. It was very simple to use and saved us a lot of time which let us focus on other important projects.

Cons

Importing the data was a bit challenging at first but that was mostly because we had already experimented with so many different methods and programs beforehand.

“clean setup and flexible design

Pros

Even people who aren't very comfortable with technology can quickly figure out how to use this software. The interface feels clean, simple and can be customized to fit the needs of our organization.

Cons

Only feature I still wish it had is the option to rename items such as "notes" on internal profiles to better match an organization's specific needs.

“love the events and community

Pros

Only two months into the switch and the transition has gone really well for us. The events and ecommerce tools have been fantastic and my members are really enjoying the badges and community features.

Cons

One thing that bothers me is not being able to delete accounts or contacts. The data merge also left me with a lot of older accounts and duplicate records, so I really wish there had been a better cleanup system from the start.

“flexible cloud collaboration powerhouse

Pros

There are endless ways to share accurate information at the right moment while choosing the tool that fits best for us. It's a highly flexible application that gives our teams plenty of options to manage groups of employees through the cloud, removing distance barriers and helping everyone stay aligned. The platform keeps our attention on shared goals and instead of staying limited like many software products, it continues to evolve with users and their real-world needs. That ongoing development really supports our success. It's an excellent choice for companies like ours that recognize the need to adapt to the digital age.

Cons

Sign-up process can feel a bit standard and somewhat tedious but that's really the only minor issue. There are no major drawbacks that feel alarming. That said, the app does rely heavily on strong data infrastructure and fast communication speeds which can make adoption difficult in countries where web infrastructure is still lacking.

“powerful financials and customization

Pros

The financial tools are really great and well structured and I find they easily stand up against some of the top finance systems out there. Another big advantage for us is how extensible everything is, with the ability to add custom fields and formulas across objects.

Cons

Member portal still doesn't offer the same flexibility you'd get from a full CMS. It also lacks VAT-inclusive pricing and the platform hasn't been fully transitioned to Lightning yet.

“powerful membership and event platform

Pros

Packed with a wide range of modules, this platform can handle almost everything needed to properly manage customer support, client relationships and overall operations for us. For associations in particular, it offers an impressive set of features, including member management, event management, communities, e-stores, committees, accounting, online fundraising, mobile access, education, collaboration tools, dashboards and reporting. With all of these capabilities, it helps us organize our business in the best possible way and get the most value out of every investment or event.

Cons

One thing to keep in mind is that, like other event and management tools, this platform works best when you already have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with your organization and how you want to improve it. If your goals and processes are not well defined, it becomes much harder to take full advantage of everything this tool can offer.

“salesforce reporting made simple

Pros

Using it feels very easy for us and since it's built directly into Salesforce, the data is readily available for reporting without any extra hassle.

Cons

I haven't run into any downsides so far.

“customer engagement done right

Pros

Whenever a client starts talking about customer engagement or better ways to organize their member base, this is the first product I think of. From a developer and technical consultant perspective, it saves my team and me months of building something from scratch that still probably wouldn't come close. In the same way nobody wants to create their own cloud CRM, there's little reason for us to build customer engagement functionality for Salesforce when this already exists and does it cheaper, better, with fewer bugs and backed by a great support team. For both my team and my customers, picking this software is usually an obvious choice. On top of that, it covers a lot of the gaps Service Cloud still leaves open and it helps keep our budgets under control when clients come in with bigger plans.

Cons

Building custom solutions on top of the platform can be challenging. Beyond the usual Salesforce-specific quirks, there's also the added learning curve of understanding how this platform itself is structured and works.

“flexible features and quick customization

Pros

Right from the start, the features and functionality have been really great for us and upgrading the software has been easy. It's also very customizable and setting up screens and fields only takes a few minutes for us.

Cons

Biggest downside is the reporting limitations. Error messages also aren't very descriptive and the user guide could definitely use a bit more explanation.