How the 8111 Clubhouse Keeps Its Doors Open With Member Contributions and Join It

The 8111 Clubhouse is a volunteer-run nonprofit in Atlanta, Georgia that hosts 14 AA home groups and over 55 AA and Al-Anon meetings every week. Meetings are free to attend, so the building is funded almost entirely by member contributions — and those contributions are managed in Join It's membership database by a membership chair who does the job on a 100% volunteer basis, after work. Today the clubhouse manages more than 200 active memberships, recurring monthly contributions, one-time donations and automated member emails in one place.

At a glance

The 8111 Clubhouse and The North Fulton Alcoholics Benevolent Association, Inc. are not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Who is the 8111 Clubhouse?

The 8111 Clubhouse exists to provide consistent, reliable space for Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon meetings in Metro Atlanta. It opened in 1980 in a modest building on Roswell Road and now houses 14 AA home groups and more than 55 meetings a week. Anyone can attend a meeting there for free, and club membership is not a requirement to attend.

"We are a clubhouse that hosts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. So we help people who are trying to recover from alcoholism and their chaotic lives." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

That mission comes with a building, and a building comes with bills.

What problem was the clubhouse trying to solve?

Short answer: the clubhouse has real facility costs but, by tradition, will only accept money from its own members. That makes recurring member contributions the funding model — which means the membership records, the payments and the member communications all have to work, and they have to be maintainable by a volunteer with a day job.

A self-supporting organization needs a reliable way to be supported

The clubhouse follows the tradition of self-support, which rules out most conventional nonprofit fundraising.

"We run on our own members' contributions. We decline outside contributions." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

Rents from meeting contributions do not always cover the facility budget, so committed monthly members are what keep the building open and maintained.

"Just last month our air conditioning and the whole entire unit went out and we had to pay a pretty hefty repair price for that. But thank goodness we have members who aremonthly contributors and we were able to pay for that to be fixed." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

An inherited membership list that no longer reflected reality

When Danielle took over as membership chair, the membership database she inherited had been carried over from a previous platform and had never been cleaned up.

"There were almost 1,000 members, and when we transferred to the platform, it was from another entity, and it was just not really cleaned up. So I had to go through and clean it up a lot, and kind of almost start over from scratch" — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

Many of those records had no payment information attached, because it had not carried across from the old system, or because the record was simply too old to be current. Danielle worked through them.

"I saw after doing the big cleanup that we still had about 200 and something members. I was actually pretty impressed." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

If you are staring at an inherited list in the same state, our overview of member data migration covers what should transfer and what to check before you trust the numbers.

Nobody is paid to do this

The membership program is a volunteer service position, and the person doing it also works full time.

"I do not get paid to do this. And it's just been pretty easy because it's something that I can do after work really quickly. And I definitely can set aside just like five minutes just to look at it" — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

How does the clubhouse use Join It?

Join It is the clubhouse's membership management software: one place for member records, recurring contributions, one-time donations, event invitations and the emails that go out when a payment goes through.

Recurring contributions that fund the building

Monthly contributions from members are the backbone of the clubhouse's budget. They are what turns an unexpected repair bill from a crisis into an expense. If recurring giving is new to your organization, our post on why automatic recurring donations are a must explains the case for it.

One-time donations for members who aren't ready to commit — and for t-shirts

Not every member wants a standing monthly commitment, and the one-time donation option gives them a way in.

"We do have the one-time donation because of course there's some members who, you know, they're not really yet committed to giving 15, 25, et cetera, dollars a month, but they will make a one-time donation" — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

The same tool turned out to solve a completely different problem. When the clubhouse had t-shirts made, the board needed a way to take payment for them.

"And that's also been really helpful in just kind of situations where I got t-shirts made, for instance, and I wanted to sell t-shirts and brainstormed with the other people on the board how we could take payments for this." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

They used the one-time donation tool.

"That way, all the money kind of stays in the same place." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

Sign-ups that work for people who don't consider themselves technical

The clubhouse's treasurer set up a link from the website to a monthly donation, and then into Join It, and Danielle promotes it with a QR code at membership drives.

"The treasurer of the clubhouse, he got it set up because we have a website and then it takes it to a monthly donation and then you click on that and it brings them to Join It" — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

"I do membership drives to get the word out. And I'll have people who are not very technology inclined and they're like, well, how do I become a member?" — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

For the small number of people who would rather not do it themselves, the chair can add them directly.

In two years as membership chair, Danielle has needed that manual route roughly once or twice. If you run in-person sign-up drives, our guide on making membership drives feel fresh has more on the format.

Automated emails that still feel personal

Every monthly contribution triggers a thank-you email, and members notice.

"The automated emails has been a game changer because I'll get people coming up to me at meetings and I'll be like, oh, yeah, I got your email. Because I always send like a thank you email where a monthly donation goes through. So that has also added a very personalized touch, but at the same time, I do appreciate it, but I don't have the time in my schedule to really go through every single time a payment goes through and, like, personally email the member and tell them thank you." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

Danielle includes her role and phone number in those emails, so members have a human to reach. Most of the time, the reason someone gets in touch is a change in circumstances.

More on getting this balance right in our guide to the appropriate cadence for member communication.

Events, and knowing whether the program is growing

Events are both a community activity and a membership driver, and the monthly metrics email is what prompts them.

"If we're hosting an event, just being able to send out a mass invite, create an event, and let the members know that it's going on, that's also been pretty cool." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

"Because it comes into my email every month. You guys send me an email. They're like, your monthly metrics report is here. And, you know, I can kind of see a little bit of my progress there. And I'm like, ooh, we aren't progressing very much. I should probably do another event here soon. It helps with that." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

The clubhouse is also looking at digital membership cards, which it had not been using.

"That's one of the features that, like, we weren't using and I didn't even know about until I was told about it." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

The part most software buyers forget: your admin will change

This is the point Danielle raised in the conversation without being asked, and it is the most transferable lesson in this case study. In recovery-community organizations, service positions rotate.

Usually, service positions have a pretty quick turnover- anywhere from two to four years- so your admins are going to be switching over pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things

"You're going to be changing admins and doing that switch was very simple, too. So I think that's something to note." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

Any organization with a rotating board has the same exposure. If the membership system only works because one person knows where everything is, every handover is a risk to your income. The relevant question for a vendor is not "is this powerful?" — it is "can the next volunteer pick this up?"

What results has the clubhouse seen?

• A cleaned-up membership base of 200+ real, current memberships, rebuilt from an inherited list of nearly 1,000 records
• Recurring monthly contributions that covered an emergency air conditioning replacement
• One-time donations used both for occasional givers and for selling merchandise, keeping funds in one system
• Automated thank-you emails that members recognize and mention in person
• A membership program that runs on a 100% volunteer basis, in short sessions after work
• An admin handover that was straightforward, in an organization where the role turns over every two to four years

"Join It's just been really easy. It's definitely made my job a lot easier." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

"That's one thing that I really like about Join It is very user-friendly for the administrator and even the people who want to join." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

What this case study tells you about choosing membership software

If your organization is funded by member contributions and run by volunteers, a small number of criteria will decide the outcome. These are worth taking into your own shortlist.

For a wider view of the market, our roundups of the best membership management software and the best software for nonprofits compare options side by side, and our list of the best donation software for nonprofits covers giving tools specifically.

Is Join It the right fit for your organization?

Join It is usually a strong fit if you are a club, clubhouse, association, community facility or nonprofit with roughly 100 to a few thousand members, your admins are volunteers or a very small staff, and your priorities are collecting recurring dues or contributions, keeping accurate member records, and automating renewals and acknowledgements. Plans start under $29 a month, which keeps it realistic for organizations paying for software out of member contributions.

Join It works particularly well for charities and nonprofits, hobby and social clubs and professional associations, and there is a dedicated overview of membership management for nonprofits.

Another solution may suit you better if you need major-gift fundraising and grant management in a full nonprofit CRM, accreditation or credentialing workflows, complex committee and governance management, or an integrated learning management system. Those belong to heavier association management systems, and it is better to know that before a trial than after.

The fastest way to find out which camp you are in is to run a real membership cycle in a free trial: sign yourself up as a member, take a payment, and read the email your members would receive.

Frequently asked questions

What membership software works for a volunteer-run nonprofit with no staff? Look for software a volunteer can run in short sessions and hand over cleanly to the next person. The 8111 Clubhouse manages 200+ memberships, recurring contributions and member emails in Join It on a 100% volunteer basis, with the membership chair checking in after work.

Can membership software collect monthly member contributions as well as one-time donations? Yes. Join It supports recurring payments for members who commit monthly and one-time donations for those who prefer to give occasionally, so both sit in the same system and the same records.

Can we use a QR code to sign members up in person? Yes. The 8111 Clubhouse links from its website through to Join It and promotes the route with a QR code at membership drives, so people can join from their phone at an event.

What happens when our volunteer administrator changes? This is a real risk for any organization with rotating service positions or board terms. At the 8111 Clubhouse, where roles typically turn over every two to four years, the membership chair described the handover as simple. When you evaluate software, ask specifically how admin access is transferred and how long a new volunteer needs to learn it.

Does Join It send automatic thank-you emails when a payment goes through? Yes. The 8111 Clubhouse sends an automated thank-you email each time a monthly contribution is processed, with the membership chair's name and contact details included, so members hear from a real person without anyone writing each message.

We're moving from another platform and our data is a mess. Is that fixable? Usually, yes — but expect to do some cleanup. The 8111 Clubhouse inherited close to 1,000 records, many without valid payment information, and worked through them to a base of 200+ current memberships. See member data migration for what to check before and after a move.

Do members need to be technical to join? No. Members sign up from a link or QR code, and an administrator can also add members manually in Join It for anyone who would rather not do it themselves.

How much does Join It cost? Join It starts under $29 a month, with pricing based on the size of your membership. There is a free trial, so you can test a full sign-up and payment before committing.

A practical partner for organizations that run on their members

When an organization is funded entirely by the people it serves, membership administration is not back-office work — it is the funding model. Join It gives volunteer-run nonprofits like the 8111 Clubhouse a way to collect contributions reliably, acknowledge every contributor, keep member records current and hand the whole thing to the next volunteer without drama.

"Everyone that I've talked to from Join It […] has just been really supportive and very helpful, too, and I like the teamwork that we can do on this." — Danielle Scarborough, Membership Chair

If your organization wants membership software that a volunteer can run in five minutes after work, book a demo or start a free trial with Join It today.