For professional bodies, learned societies and institutes
Run the society, not the spreadsheet behind it.
Professional bodies, learned societies and institutes run membership grades, branches, conferences, CPD records, council governance and the annual subscription cycle on ClubHelix — without a secretariat to maintain it.
Annual subscription year, with a conference peak · Updated 10 Aug 2026
Why committees of professional societies come to us
The same problems show up in every committee meeting. ClubHelix is built to retire each one for good.
- Membership grades tracked in a spreadsheet with a column for "upgraded?".
- Conference registration on an external site, with the delegate list arriving as a CSV.
- CPD attendance certificates written by hand after every seminar.
- Branches running their own mailing lists nobody at the centre can see.
- Council minutes and resolutions scattered across five inboxes.
What ClubHelix does for professional societies
The platform mapped onto the moments your year actually runs on.
Membership grades and upgrades
Student, associate, full and fellow as separate membership types with their own fees and eligibility, and an application form with conditional questions for an upgrade. Approvals are recorded against the member, so the grade history is the record rather than an email chain.
The annual subscription cycle
Self-serve renewal with a paid-until date per member, reminder broadcasts before and after expiry, and an outstanding-fees list the honorary treasurer can work through in one sitting.
Conferences and seminars
Ticketed events with early-bird and member-only pricing through discount codes, dietary and access fields, delegate lists exported for badges, and attendance recorded on the night rather than reconstructed later.
CPD and accreditation records
Accreditation records hold each member’s qualifications and expiry dates, and event attendance gives the participation history behind a CPD claim. Expiring-accreditation reports flag who needs to renew before it lapses.
Branches and special-interest groups
Branches run as child tenants with their own sites, admins and events beneath the national body, or as groups within one site if they are smaller. National news, events and venues publish down to every branch site, and roll-up reporting spans them.
Council and governance
Meetings, agendas, minutes, motions and resolutions recorded in one place with the papers attached, positions with defined terms, and an immutable audit log of who changed what — the evidence trail an incorporated body is expected to keep.
The annual return and the CPD audit
Members by grade at the year end, subscription income against budget, conference and seminar attendance, and which accreditations expire in the next quarter. Branch-level breakdowns come from the same reports, so the national return and each branch report agree with each other.
What is professional association management software?
Professional association management software runs the machinery a paid secretariat would otherwise have to: membership grades and upgrades, the annual subscription cycle, conference and seminar registration, CPD and accreditation records, branch sites and council governance records, with renewal notices going out as broadcasts rather than mail-merges. For a professional body, learned society or institute run by an honorary secretary and a volunteer council, that is the difference between running the society and running the spreadsheet behind it — the one with a column for "upgraded?".
Grades, upgrades and the subscription year
Student, associate, full and fellow run as separate membership types, each with its own fee and eligibility. An upgrade is an application form with conditional questions, and its approval is recorded against the member — so the grade history is the record, not an email chain reconstructed at the next council meeting. The subscription year runs on self-serve renewal with a paid-until date per member, reminder broadcasts before and after expiry, and an outstanding-fees list the honorary treasurer can work through in one sitting.
Conferences, CPD and the council record
The annual conference and the seminar series run as ticketed events with early-bird and member-only pricing through discount codes, dietary and access fields, and delegate lists exported for badges. Attendance is recorded on the night rather than reconstructed later, giving members a participation history to stand behind a CPD claim, while accreditation records hold each member's qualifications and expiry dates — with expiring-accreditation reports flagging who needs to renew before it lapses. Non-members can register at the full rate, and one who joins during checkout is on the register from that moment. Council governance keeps meetings, agendas, minutes, motions and resolutions in one place with the papers attached, positions carry defined terms, and an immutable audit log records who changed what — the evidence trail an incorporated body is expected to keep.
A professional society website without a secretariat
Membership criteria, the conference program, society announcements and branch pages all publish through the page editor, so the public site stays maintainable as office-holders rotate. Branches and special-interest groups can run as child sites with their own admins and events beneath the national body — or as groups within one site while they are small — with national news, events and venues publishing down to every branch site and reporting rolling up across them. The template gallery takes a council from nothing to live quickly, and the demo shows the member-facing side.
Free professional association software to start
Every society starts on the free plan, and there is no time limit on it. Paid plans carry a 14-day free trial, bill on a 28-day cycle and can be cancelled at any time — current tiers are on the pricing page. Subscriptions, conference registrations and event revenue settle to the society's own Stripe account; ClubHelix never holds your funds, and the platform fee is never surcharged to your members or delegates.
Leaving the spreadsheet behind
Professional and learned societies run on ClubHelix in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Canada, Ireland and South Africa, with subscriptions settling in your local currency through your own account.
Most societies arrive with a grades spreadsheet, a delegate CSV from the last conference and five inboxes of council minutes. Import the register, set the renewal dates, and let this year's conference be the first whose delegate list was never exported from somewhere else. Talk to us to plan the move, or read the full guide to running a professional association.
Features in your plan
Every plan starts free and includes the whole platform below — browse all features or compare plans.
Canvas page editor
A no-code, drag-and-drop club website editor. Your page, exactly as it publishes — click a section to edit it, drag to reorder, add new ones right where you want them.
Self-registration
Club membership software that handles the joining for you: online registration and season sign-ups on your own branded site, with email verification and optional admin approval.
Events
A club events calendar with one-off and recurring events — and ticket sales built in, so you never send members off to an external ticketing site.
Forms & surveys
Build custom forms with conditional fields, and manage every response from one shared inbox.
Broadcasts
Send a message to everyone, a role, or a custom segment of members.
Donations
One-off and recurring donations with a fee-cover option, donor messages, and a ledger of their own.
Club shop
Run a club shop or team store: take uniform, kit and spirit wear orders online with variants, carts and order management — with GST handled properly on every sale.
Mobile app
A club app of your own — install-to-home-screen with your branding, push notifications and digital membership cards, no app store required.
Frequently asked questions
The questions professional society committees ask before signing up.
- Yes. Each grade is a membership type with its own price, term and application form, and an upgrade is a new application recorded against the same member. Concession and student rates can also run as discount codes on a single grade if you prefer fewer types.
- Yes — a branch can be a child tenant with its own site, admins, events and (if needed) its own custom domain, sitting under the national body in the hierarchy. National announcements, events and venues surface on branch sites, and the national society sees reporting across branches without taking over their admin.
- Attendance and accreditation records are there — who attended which session, and which qualifications each member holds with their expiry dates. A points scheme specific to your profession would be recorded as a custom field or accreditation rather than calculated for you.
- Yes. Events can be public with member-only pricing applied through codes, so a non-member pays the full rate and a member gets theirs — and a non-member who joins during checkout is in the register from that moment.
Can we run different membership grades with different fees?
Can branches have their own websites under the national society?
Do you handle CPD points?
Can we sell conference tickets to non-members?
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Bring your professional society online in under 30 minutes.
Start on the free plan, then take a 14-day free trial of paid features when you're ready — nothing to pay today, cancel any time before the trial ends.