Going Paperless with Electronic Membership Applications

Bill Harrison
Published: May 8, 2023
keyboard with green go paperless key

Want to streamline operations in your local while saving thousands of dollars in administrative expense?  Consider eliminating your paper membership applications and moving to electronic membership applications instead.

Processing paper membership applications is a huge expense for many union locals, especially those working in high turnover industries where members come and go frequently. 

Some EMMA customers turn over their entire membership each year.  That’s thousands and thousands of new membership applications that need to be completed and processed in order to collect dues in a timely and accurate manner.  And it’s not just the cost of processing all of those paper applications that bogs down locals.  It’s also the time delays that can prevent locals from collecting dues until membership applications are entered and verified.

EMMA solves this problem in two ways:

Electronic Member Sign-up in the EMMA Application.  Union representatives using EMMA carry a tablet computer when meeting with new hires.  After confirming that the member’s information is correct in the EMMA database, the representative can process an electronic sign-up on the spot using the tablet computer.  The member signs electronically on the tablet and EMMA automatically generates and files a membership application in pdf format.

Web-based Electronic New Member Signup.  If it is not practical for your Union Representatives to meet face-to-face with every new hire, consider using EMMA’s web-based new member signup.  You get a customized sign-up page that is branded and styled with your local’s logo.  With a unique web URL that you can forward via email or text message, new hires can sign up on any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. Electronic signups flow into EMMA automatically where administrative staff can process new members without data entry, freeing them for more valuable member servicing activities.

Regardless of whether members signup using the EMMA app or using EMMA’s web-based signup form, there are several advantages to an electronic membership application process:

  1. Administrative staff no longer have to enter new membership applications manually, freeing them for more valuable member servicing work.
  2. No more unreadable, handwritten membership applications.  All member data is already in the database where it is easy to read and update.
  3. Get members paying dues sooner.  No more waiting for reps to return paper applications to the office for processing.  Instead, members are confirmed instantly and dues collection can begin immediately, increasing revenue to the local.
  4. All membership applications are stored safely in the cloud where they are backedup and easy to access.

Despite the advantages of electronic membership applications, sometimes you have no choice but to user paper apps.  Perhaps there is no internet access at the work location.  Or maybe the employer does not allow tablets or phones in their facility.  When this is the case, paper applications may be your only option.  But EMMA can streamline this process too with our built-in scanned document processor.  Using this feature, stacks of scanned paper applications can be processed quickly and efficiently.

Regardless of your workflow or the number of applications you process, EMMA gives you three quick and easy ways to get more members signed up faster:

  1. Electronic applications signed one-on-one with a union representative using an EMMA tablet computer.
  2. Web-based electronic new member sign up using any mobile device or computer connected to the Internet.
  3. Paper applications, processed quickly and easily with the EMMA Document Scanner.

Want to learn more.  Click here to schedule a demo and see how EMMA can simultaneously save you money and improve member satisfaction.

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