How the move works
MemberCrew moves your club’s existing records across, so the committee does not start from a blank screen. We import members, memberships, invoices, payments, vehicles and log books, and keep MemberCrew up to date from the old system until you are ready to switch.
Most clubs keep their records in more than one place: a membership spreadsheet, a separate log book register, a list of payments, sometimes an old database that only one person knows how to use. The move brings those together into one set of records.
What we import
MemberCrew imports the records that matter for running a club and meeting the Scheme.
| Record | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Members | The club’s member list and each member’s details |
| Memberships | Each member’s memberships and their history |
| Invoices and payments | What members were invoiced, and what they have paid |
| Vehicles | Members’ vehicles, each linked to its owner |
| Log books | Log books issued, each linked to its vehicle |
If your club keeps something else you want brought across, raise it in the first chat.
Once the records are in, they work like any other records in MemberCrew. Members have statuses and renewals, vehicles carry their log book history, and the committee overview shows live figures from them.
Running both systems side by side
During the changeover, MemberCrew is brought up to date from the old system’s records until the club is ready to switch over. The committee keeps working as it does now, and MemberCrew catches up without losing anything already entered in MemberCrew.
This matters because clubs rarely have a quiet time to stop and move. Renewals come in, new members join, log books are issued. Running both side by side means none of that has to pause, and the committee chooses when to switch.
It also gives the committee time to check MemberCrew against what it already knows. If the membership count or the list of current log books does not match, there is time to find out why before relying on the new records.
The four steps
Getting started follows four steps.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. A chat | We talk about how the club runs, what records it keeps and where |
| 2. Data moved across | We import the club’s records and keep them up to date from the old system |
| 3. Committee shown around | We show the committee how MemberCrew works with their own club’s records |
| 4. Go live | The club switches over and works in MemberCrew from then on |
There is a one-off setup fee to move the club’s records across, quoted per club. The pricing page covers the monthly plan.
Preparing your data
You do not have to clean up your records before you start. We work through them with you. But a little preparation makes the move quicker, and it is worth doing for its own sake. The steps below apply whichever system your club moves to.
1. Find every list
Start by finding every place the club keeps member and vehicle information. Ask each committee member, and past committee members if you can.
Common places include:
- the main membership spreadsheet
- the club registrar’s log book register, on paper or in a spreadsheet
- the treasurer’s record of payments, or the bank statements
- the magazine mailing list
- old databases or exports from a previous system
- application forms in a folder
Gather copies in one place. Do not change the originals yet.
2. Decide which list is right
When two lists disagree, the committee needs to decide which one to trust for each kind of information. This is often called the “source of truth”.
For example, the treasurer’s payment records are usually the best source for who has paid. The registrar’s log book register is usually the best source for which log book is with which vehicle. The magazine list may have the most recent addresses.
Write down the decision for each kind of information, so whoever does the move knows which list wins when they disagree.
3. Clean up duplicates
Most clubs find the same member or vehicle entered more than once, often with small differences in spelling or a missing detail. Clear up the obvious ones before the move if it is easy.
Do not worry about getting every duplicate. MemberCrew finds duplicate registration records for vehicles after the move. Registrars can review them and an admin merges them, so a single vehicle ends up with a single history.
4. Check plates and log book numbers
Vehicle plates and log book numbers matter more than most fields, especially for clubs on the Conditional Registration Scheme. Check them against the paperwork where you can.
Things to look for:
- plates entered with or without spaces, or with letters and numbers mixed up
- vehicles with more than one current log book recorded (an owner must not have more than one current log book for a vehicle under the Code, clause 3.5g)
- log books still shown as current for members who have resigned (the Code asks clubs to cancel them, clause 2.29)
- log books more than three years old still shown as current (the Code, clause 2.28)
If you keep the register on paper or in a loose spreadsheet, the log book register template shows the columns worth tracking. The vehicles and log books page shows how MemberCrew holds them.
5. Keep the old files
Once you have switched, keep the old files. Do not delete them.
They are the record of how things stood before the move, and they are useful if a question comes up later. For clubs on the Scheme, the Code asks recognised clubs to keep records of all vehicles with an MR334, all log books issued to financial members, and other Scheme records such as membership records and minutes for five years from the date of each document (the Code, clause 2.39).
Store the old files somewhere the committee can find them, not on one person’s laptop.
Common surprises
A few things turn up in most clubs’ records, and it helps to expect them.
Life and honorary members are often recorded in different ways over the years: a note in a comments column, a zero fee, or a separate list. Decide how each one should be recorded before the move. Vehicles are sometimes listed under one partner’s name when both own them. For Scheme vehicles that matters, because if a vehicle is jointly owned, all owners must be financial members (the Code, clause 3.1). And resigned members often linger on the magazine list long after they have left the club.
Who does what
We move the records across. The committee’s part is to send us what it has, answer questions about anything that is unclear, and check the result.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Gather the club’s lists and files | The committee |
| Decide which list is right when they disagree | The committee, with our help |
| Import members, memberships, invoices, payments, vehicles and log books | MemberCrew |
| Keep MemberCrew up to date from the old system | MemberCrew |
| Check the result against what the committee knows | The committee |
| Show the committee around | MemberCrew |
| Decide when to switch | The committee |
A good time to switch
There is no wrong time to start, because the old system keeps running until the club switches. Some committees prefer to go live before renewal season, so renewals for the new club year are handled in MemberCrew from the start. Others prefer to switch after the AGM, when a new committee takes over. The committee handover checklist covers what to pass on at that point.
If your club runs on spreadsheets today, the comparison with spreadsheets sets out honestly where spreadsheets work and where they start to cause problems.
Start with a chat
The first step is a conversation about how your club runs and what records it keeps. Book a demo and we will take it from there.