Formed in 1660, The Royal Society is one of the four national academies, including the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy and the Royal Academy of Engineering, and with Fellows such as Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking and Sir Tim Berners-Lee is also the longest continuously established membership organisation in the world.
The Society went to market in late 2019 with a comprehensive and competitive tendering programme, eventually selecting C2 Software with Subscribe360 from a long list of other suppliers. We kicked the project off in March 2020, unfortunately coinciding with the first UK COVID lockdown, so development was switched to run remotely using Teams.
Some of the areas the project looked to address were:
- Disconnected Systems: The Royal Society had been using 3 disparate systems, leading to inefficiencies and a disjointed experience for their fellows
- Event Management & Booking: The client aimed to establish a future-ready platform for events, encompassing both internal and external activities, such as the popular Summer Soirees. A dedicated portal and mobile app were also essential for a user friendly experience and on-the-day management
- Comprehensive Member View: A unified view of members, seamlessly integrating data from various sources, was crucial for a holistic understanding of each member
- Data Migration: The Royal Society required a smooth transition from their previous fundraising platform, ensuring that all historical data seamlessly migrated to the new system
- Renewals & Communication: Streamlining the renewal process and centralising communications were vital for maintain engagement
The initial pilot went live at the end of 2020, with around 100 users on Subscribe360 Fundraising and Subscription apps, together with ClickDimensions. C2 Software carried out a full data migration from The Royal Society's previous fundraising platform. With the Royal Society previously using different platforms for membership, fundraising and events, we designed the new system as a single platform covering all aspects of the Society, creating a seamless experience for staff and fellows alike.