Building Better Connections Across CHADD's Tech Stack

Choosing the right technology is only part of building a strong association technology ecosystem.

The other part? Making sure it all works together.

That’s exactly what Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) is tackling as the organization moves forward with re:Members as its association management system.

CHADD’s technology ecosystem extends well beyond its AMS. Its members interact with the organization through its website, educational offerings, events, giving opportunities, and online community. Behind those experiences are specialized platforms designed to do very different things.

Rather than asking one system to do everything, CHADD is taking a different approach: connecting the systems that are best suited for each job.

AMS Geek is working with CHADD to connect re:Members with WordPress, Thinkific, a donation platform, Swoogo, and a future online community through a combination of single sign-on and data integrations.

It’s a substantial project, but it’s also a great example of what a connected association technology ecosystem can look like.

One Member Experience, Even Across Multiple Platforms

Members don't think in terms of technology stacks.

They don't necessarily know, or care, that one part of their experience is powered by an AMS while another comes from a learning platform, CMS, event platform, or online community.

They just know they're interacting with CHADD.

That makes continuity important.

As part of this project, AMS Geek will use single sign-on to connect re:Members with several of CHADD's member-facing platforms, including WordPress, Thinkific, Swoogo, and its future online community.

For the website, for example, eligible members will be able to use their re:Members credentials to access gated WordPress content, with membership information helping determine appropriate access.

The systems behind the experience may be different, but to the member, they can feel much more connected.

Closing the Loop Between Learning and the AMS

The connection between re:Members and Thinkific shows another side of what it means to build a connected ecosystem.

CHADD isn't just connecting the two platforms for access. Information needs to move in both directions.

Registration information from re:Members can be synchronized with Thinkific so learners are connected with the appropriate courses. Then, once learning happens, completion and attendance information can travel from Thinkific back to the corresponding person and course or event in re:Members.

That creates a complete process:

Register → Learn → Complete → Update the member record

It's a relatively simple journey from the member's perspective.

Behind the scenes, though, it requires the systems supporting each step to communicate.

Bringing More of the Member Story Together

Learning isn't the only interaction that can tell CHADD something meaningful about its members and constituents.

The project will also connect donation information with re:Members. Selected donation data from CHADD's future donation platform will be associated with the appropriate individual in the AMS, giving staff another piece of that person's relationship with the organization.

The same principle applies to events.

Through the planned Swoogo integration, attendance and applicable CEU information can move back into re:Members and be connected to the appropriate individual and event.

A member might take a course in Thinkific, attend an event managed through Swoogo, make a donation through another platform, and manage their membership through re:Members.

Those interactions happen in different places.

But they don't necessarily have to remain there.

Letting Membership Data Drive the Experience

CHADD's future online community connection takes that idea even further.

Once the organization selects its community platform, information maintained in re:Members can help determine what happens within the community.

The planned integration can provision and update users, grant or remove access, and manage group or community membership based on established business rules and information from re:Members. Committee membership, for example, could determine whether someone belongs in a corresponding community group.

That's an important evolution from simply "syncing data."

The information maintained in one system can help drive the experience someone receives in another.

What Other Associations Can Learn From CHADD

What makes CHADD's approach interesting isn't simply the number of integrations involved.

It's the strategy behind them.

re:Members doesn't have to become CHADD's website, learning platform, event platform, donation platform, and community.

And those specialized platforms don't have to operate independently from the AMS.

Instead, each system can serve its intended purpose while connections between them create a more unified ecosystem.

That's an important distinction for any association evaluating its technology stack.

The question isn't always:

How can we get everything into one system?

Sometimes the better question is:

How can we make the systems we've chosen work together?

Connecting the Ecosystem Behind the Scenes

For CHADD, some of those connections will be powered by Data Sangria, AMS Geek's integration platform.

Data Sangria will support the data movement between re:Members and Thinkific, the donation platform, Swoogo, and the future online community, with each integration designed around the information that needs to move and what should happen when it gets there.

AMS Geek will also review integration requirements and field mappings, build the necessary functionality, test the integrations, configure them for CHADD, and walk the team through the completed connections.

It's not about connecting systems simply because they can be connected.

It's about understanding the role each platform plays and building the right connections around the people using them.

Better Technology. Stronger Connections.

CHADD's project is a good reminder that a modern association technology ecosystem doesn't have to mean finding one platform that does everything.

It can mean choosing the right technology for each part of the organization and being intentional about how those systems work together.

For CHADD, that means connecting membership, learning, events, giving, website access, and community experiences around re:Members.

Different platforms. Different purposes. One connected ecosystem.

And ultimately, one more connected experience for the people CHADD serves.

Is your association trying to connect the pieces of its technology ecosystem? Talk to AMS Geek about what's possible.