Transcript Document

Community Root
Brilliant Web Base Software That Works
Recreation Departments ● After School Programs
Community Education Programs ●Youth Sports
The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the many features of
Community Root’s (CR) web based program.
---------------------------------------------------This presentation will take 20 -25 minutes to review. It provides significant detail that will demonstrate how to set
up your organization using all the customizable features of Community Root, what your customers will see and
experience and the many management and reporting tools in CR.
The simple fact is, the enrollment, scheduling and management software that is available always falls short
because it cannot handle the many differences and nuances that are part of Recreation Departments, After
School programs, Community Education Programs and Community Youth Sports.
This is why Community Root ‘Saves the Day’!
Remember…you don’t have to purchase anything. There are no upfront costs. you pay a very, very small
amount if and only if you have customers and they pay you.
Important Keys to Community Root…
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CR is simple web based software linked to your website. With CR you are lifting all the paperwork
problems from your office and turning over all the work to your customers.. (without them knowing it!)
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Customization is the Key! We understand the frustration with existing programs out there. With
CR you do not have to change what you do to try and make it work in some software program. CR
allows you to control and customize all aspects of your organization.
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Customize registration fees, material fees or other fees. What group, courses or people get charged.
Customize what classes, customers or courses gets discounts. How much and for how long.
Customize and construct specific enrollment forms for a program, location, group or person.
Permit customers to enroll in a class, monitor enrollment, but do not charge them until a minimum is reached.
Set a maximum enrollment number for a program or location.
Set and mix locations, times and programs as events change to flex to your needs.
Permit your customers to correspond directly with your field instructors. (especially important for parents)
Control whether customers pay by check, electronic check, credit cards or vouchers to control you’re A/R
Control whether customers can automatically charge each month. Be able to pro rate accounts for latecomers.
Control the amount, time range and whether to charge a customer ‘drop-in fees’ for scheduling the same day or
other late time.
Control the level of access your staff and field instructors have to the management part of CR.
Permit your field staff to access and printout customer schedules, attendance and information forms.
Oversee all accounting, and administration of your entire organization.
Download accounting data to accounting programs such as QuickBooks.
To Begin… your organization simply goes to the CR website
(www.communityroot.com) and clicks ‘Sign Up’
Next, Enter your organization’s name & other info here to create your account
(remember to write down the email address and password you create)
An authorization email is automatically sent to the email
address you provided. Click ‘verify’ to continue.
CR will take you back to the log-in page. Enter the email address and password you signed up with to
enter CR.
Please note, instructions to upload your business logo will be reviewed shortly.
CR will take you to CR’s homepage to begin.
Now select ‘Account’ at the top of the dashboard.
Upload your
Logo here
Click ‘Profile’, and
continue to enter your
Organization or Business
information.
Upload your
organizations logo from
artwork or a picture on
your computer for your
customers to see by
simply selecting
‘Browse’.
Not sure how to capture
your logo? Let us know
and we can help.
Next, click ‘Billing’ and enter Information about your organization. If you want to receive
payments automatically on line and do away with trying to collect money, provide your
Bank account information for billing and your customer payments deposits.
(Remember this information is encrypted and only you have access to this secure
information)
Click ‘Your Account’, and enter the person who will be the
Authorized Representative for the account.
Now select ‘Welcome Email’. This is the welcome email that your customers will see when
they sign up with you. You can personalize it any way you want.
Click ‘Payment Gateway’, Payment gateways are companies that process your
customer credit card and electronic check transactions in order to make these deposits
into your bank account. They work with Banks and Credit card Companies to process
payments. You can chooses from our list in Payment Gateways or if you already use one
we can customize the software to use your gate way company. If you are unfamiliar
with this, we will help you. If you need more information about Gateways, please call
us.
Click ‘Gateway Account’ to use one of Community Roots Gateway
companies. Fill in the information and click ‘submit’
OK, Now that your Organization is signed up… let’s look at how you add all the parts of
your organization to CR.
By ‘parts’ we mean:
– The Locations you use to run your programs
– The Programs and Courses (including descriptions) you run (You may have them all listed in a paper
catalog that you use).
– All Programs and Courses prices, dates and times
– Any type of discount or fees ( ex. registration, materials, etc.) you use for a location, program or
person.
– Special situations such as permitting a customer to be auto billed once per month
Normally it will take you 30 minutes to an hour or two to set up your organization,
depending on the size of your organization . But except for edits and changes once it is set
up it is good for years.
Adding your programs and
courses to CR is the most
important first step. ( This is
the 1st of four slides on
adding Programs)
Begin,
by selecting ‘Setup’
‘Programs’ is already
selected
& then ‘New Program’
Add the name of your first Program
at ‘Program Name’ . (example
‘Youth baseball’). Then:
1.
2.
Add a Program
Description . This
provides information that
your customer can read
about. Similar to a
brochure
Next, select ‘Enrollment
Type’ and classify this
program program as
either a ‘course’ or ‘daily’
program. A course
program runs a set time
and you charge a one
time fee. For example a
10 week basketball
program. A daily program
allows you the flexibility
to permit your customers
to select individual days
and not be tied to a set
schedule. For example, in
a daily after school
program parents can
select different days each
week or month.
Next,
3.
4.
Create Categories for
your customer to see
(similar to a catalog).
Examples: Dance,
Afterschool, Cooking,
etc. Set the Program
Price ($129) for either
the course program or
the rate for a daily
program
Decide whether to
charge a ‘Drop-in’ Fee
if a customer comes to
the program outside
of the range of days
you want them to
schedule. For example
if you want your
customers to schedule
at least 2 days (Dropin Range) in advance.
If they do not they will
be charged the ‘dropin fee.
Next,
5.
Select ‘Billing Status’
and click ‘active’ or
‘inactive’ to determine if
you will offer this
program this year ,
semester or other time
period.
6.
Select ‘Enrollment
Status’ to decide
whether there is enough
enrollment to run the
program.
7.
Select ‘Enrollment
Capacity’ if you want set
a enrollment maximum
capacity to the program.
( example no more that
15 children in the class)
8.
Finally, select ‘Program
Images’ to upload
pictures of your
program or course to
the customer ‘catalog’
page
When finished, click
‘Submit’. Then follow
the same steps and go
back and add your next
program
Confirm all your programs are in the Program Library
1.
Edit or delete programs as necessary
Next select ‘Locations’ and then add all of the Locations you use to run your programs (example ‘Rec center’, Gym,
Classroom, Sports Field, etc.)
1.
Add optional Location information
2.
Select ‘Location Status’ and click’ ‘open or ‘closed’ to select if you are using this location or not.
( Open or Close allows you to use the Location in one season or year , close it when not in use and reopen without having
to create it again)
Then: When finished providing information for this Location, click ‘Save’ and add another Location.
Confirm all your locations have been entered.
Now, let’s create and custom build the different Forms you want your customer to fill out. For example you may want adults
taking a community education class to fill out one simple form, but for a children's after school program you may need several
forms. (ALSO Remember CR has a library of forms you can use)
1. First click ‘Registration Forms’ and then select ‘Create new Form’
2.
Then, name the form you want to create. (Ex. Parent Information, Emergency contact, Adult Cooking, etc)
Then click ‘Save’
After entering the names of the forms you want, we must create the different fields you need to populate the forms. Below in
the Field library are examples of fields we created.
To create a new field select ‘Add New Fields’
1. Now, name the field and select the type of field and the field format
Example: If you created a form and named it ‘adult ed class’ you might want to know the gender of the person (this
is a field). Select ‘Gender ‘ in the ‘Type of Field’ and then select either ‘check box’ or ‘drop down’ to enable your
customer to select either male or female
(Remember … if you are unsure how to build a form, we are here to help you at any time )
Now, to add more fields to a form you created
Go back to Registration Forms, select a form
(ex. Athletic) and click ‘edit
Then, add the fields you want to see in the form by
clicking ‘Add’. Decide whether any information in
the form the customer fills in is mandatory by
selecting ‘Mandatory’
With forms completed, now select what payment options you will accept.
– Remember, later you can decide what programs or individual customers get what payment
options. For instance, you may decide you don’t want to have accounts receivable and just use
credit cards and electronic checks, however you may want to allow one or more particular
customers to pay by check.
Next, create the different Discounts you may offer.
Select ‘Discounts’ and then select ‘New Discount’
Create a new Discount by naming the discount, provide an optional description, and
determine what value ( ex. 10% or 10 dollars)
Select ‘Categories’. Like in a catalog or brochure, create categories to group
programs and courses under one area. (ex. all dance programs can come
under Dance, all Yoga type classes under Yoga, Academics, etc.)
Create ‘Fees’. Select ‘Fees’ to create fees for course and programs. (Ex. registration fees. late
fees, material fees for courses, sports etc.)
1.
To create a new fee select ‘New Fee’
Complete the new Fees for course and programs.
1.
Name the fee and determine what the charges will be and decide if this is a one time fee or if additional uses
should pay.
Calendar Exceptions are set to alert and prevent a customer from booking a course or a program on a certain
date. (ex. Professional Days, Holidays, etc). You establish dates you do not want any courses or programs to
run to insure either your staff or a customer does not inadvertently try and schedule.
Select ‘Calendar Exceptions’ and select ‘New Exception’ to create
Name the Exception (ex. Professional day)
1. Select the Location and/or program that is effected by the exception
2. Select the Date(s) for the exception
Downloads allow your customers to
download and print any paper forms (ex.
State licensing forms) that may require
signatures
Select ‘Downloads’
Select ‘New Download’ to add a form
Then, Name the Download form and
browse your computer to upload the form
to Community Root.
Select ‘Save’
To finish ‘Setup’ and bring all your ‘parts’ together, select ‘Schedule’
This section of Community Root is
where you tie all your custom
information together. Here you
assemble what programs are at
what locations with what fees and
discounts on what days and times
and for instance, whether you will
permit a customer to pay on a
monthly basis automatically. With
CR, for example, you can offer
programs in one or more locations,
but at different times/days with
different fees and discounts and
then turn off a location or program
for the winter and reopen in the
Spring without losing anything.
Let’s look closer…
To Start Scheduling:
We construct one program at a time.
1. Select what Programs from
those you created go with what
Locations
2. Next choose what Forms and
discounts you want with the
program you have selected
and/or the Location you select.
3. Next, select the Discounts you
want to allow, if any. Remember
in CR you can create any type of
discount and permit any
location, course or even a
specific customer to have the
discount. If you want, your
customer can see the discount
when they log into their
accounts and select it, however
they do not receive it until you
hit the approve button.
Next:
3. Set the dates and times for each
program and location.
4. Choose which method of
scheduling dates works best
(Weekly or Daily).
5. With Weekly, you select the same
days and times over whatever
period you select. With Daily you
can select any number of different
days from week to week.
Next:
6. Select any fees for this program
such as Registration fees or
Material fees for a course.
7. Decide whether recurring Monthly
Billing is approved.
Finally:
Click ‘Save’ each time you finish one
schedule and go back to Step 1 to enter the
next program and location.
Ok, let’s recap.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You have entered your business information that will permit you to link CR to
your site, uploaded your logo so customers feel they are on your site and
entered financial information so monies can be deposited to your accounts.
You have entered in all your different programs and locations.
You have created all the forms your adult or children customers may need to
complete.
You have entered in any type of discounts and fees you may or may not
charges a program, group or individual.
And you have assembled and customized this information to tailor to your
specific needs.
Now, before we look at the Management and Admin functions
let’s see what your customer will experience.
Now let’s explore what your customer will see and
experience!
To Begin,
CR places a
Log-in link and an Enroll link
on your website so it is easy
to find for your customers.
After your customer clicks
‘Enroll’ from your website they
are taken to the customer sign
up page to create their account.
(we also remind them to
remember the email and
password used to sign up)
If they already created an
account they simply ‘Login’.
After your customer creates their account, they receive a
personalized welcome email that you created. The email
confirms, secures and verifies their account.
When they Log into their account for the first time, they will confirm their Location,
if you are an organization with multiple locations.
After the customer Logs in, CR takes them to their homepage. The customer site is set up to be intuitive and
straightforward. In the case below an adult (Michael Smith (this is you)) created the account. Only an adult over 18 can
create an account.
In this case he is a parent and he created accounts for two children by simply selecting ‘Add Students to Enroll’. If this was
an adult only signing up for a adult community ed program he would ‘select’ himself then click ‘Submit and Continue.
Note: a selection changes color to confirm your selection
Next, your customer will pick the programs they are interested in. Like your catalog (if you use one), CR is set up to make it easy for
your customer to find the programs and courses they have interest in. By default, they first can see all the programs you offer. Like a
catalog, you can put an exciting and detailed description of courses and programs and upload pictures of the course for your
customer to browse.
After checking off the programs they want to schedule they click ‘Submit and Continue’
Similar to a Catalog, your customers can narrow down their interest in your courses by clicking ‘Categories’.
You can create as many Categories as you want. For example if you have several dance classes you create
‘Dance’. Your customers can select ‘Categories’ and then like your catalog select ‘Dance’ and all of your
Dance classes will appear for them to review descriptions and select.
Next, CR takes them to this calendar page. Here they can see what they scheduled and when (color turns green) .
If you created a ‘Daily’ program such as an after school program, the system allows them to select individual days if
you permitted it. This is especially useful to parents who do not want to be locked into a schedule. When they select
a day, the color turns green, if they click it again it turns back to grey signaling it has not been selected.
When finished they click ‘Submit and Continue’
Next, if you created different discounts you can if you want turn them on or off for customers to see and apply. If
your customer believes they are eligible for this discount they click ‘Add’ and the button will turn to ‘Pending
Approval’. If they are accepted by you the grey ‘Add’ button will turn to ‘Approved’. Later we will show you in the
management section how you can accept or reject a discount application.
Next, your customer is brought to the forms area. Here depending on what forms you created for any particular program, they will
fill them out. CR only presents the necessary forms to your customers to fill in. For example if the parent registered for a adult
community ed program they might just fill out one small simple form. However, if the adult scheduled their children for an after
school session they may have several forms that need to be completed. Also, remember you will have the option of making any
information mandatory or optional. If mandatory they cannot continue until the form or parts of the form are complete.
Next, your customer will see a summary of what they purchased. In this case the summary reflects the courses
and daily programs they purchased. They can ‘Remove’ any programs here. If they applied for a discount it will
show them it is ‘Pending’. In this case the ‘multiple course discount’ discount was approved and they received it.
Note they were also charged a registration fee, a course material fee & a ‘drop-in’ fee for scheduling within a
drop-in range that you set for the program.
Next, your customer decides how they want to pay. You can control what options are
available, especially if you decide to allow all or a few customers to pay by check and thus
create accounts receivable.
They can review and print out their receipts for tax purposes. You can place organization
information such as tax ID numbers on the form.
If your organization needs a paper form that must be signed, your customer can click ‘Downloads’ to
access forms they need to download , print and sign
If you turn ‘Messages’ on, Your customers can click ‘Messages’ to send messages to you or your field
instructors or teachers. Your teachers can access these messages any time. This is especially helpful for
parents that have a concern about their child.
Let us now take a look at the reporting,
management and administrative capabilities
of Community Root!
Let’s begin the management
review by looking at the left
side of the program.
Overview shows you all your
programs, locations , dates,
prices in one view. Here you
can quickly modify, copy or
delete.
‘Drop-ins’ permit you or
your instructors in the field
to simply and quickly add
either new customers or
existing ones that were not
scheduled, but show up for
a course or program. The
system automatically
charges them and puts
them in attendance
reports. The system can
also charge them a ‘drop-in’
fee if you authorize. The
system allows you to
conduct an instant search
to find any particular
customer.
The ‘Calendar’
shows you any or
all your programs
and courses in a
calendar format to
insure there are no
conflicts
‘Accounts’ enable you to
review any customer
account . For example, you
can decide on payment
options for any individual
customer. You may decide
you will no longer accept
checks to eliminate chasing
after accounts receivable.
However you may have a
few customers you will
permit to pay by check. Here
you can turn on that
function for that customer.
If the button is green then
the customer is eligible to
select . If you click the
button it will turn red and
they cannot select.
‘Credits’ permit you to
provide a customer a
credit to their account.
There are many reasons
a credit might be given.
In CR you simply select
the customer and apply
the amount of the
credit.
If you accept ‘accounts
receivable’, CR will track
them for you. If you receive
all or a partial payment you
can apply to keep track.
‘Recurring Billing’ , if turned
on, permits your customers
to pay once per month (or a
time period you choose).
Here you can select All
accounts or select individual
accounts to charge .
CR will track what has been
paid and what remains to be
paid as well as the payment
schedule each individual is
on.
‘Specialty Discounts’
allows you to ‘Approve’ or
‘Reject’ a discount
application from a
customer. If you accept,
the customers ‘discount’
button will turn green
notifying them their
application for that
discount has been
accepted. It will turn red if
you reject the application.
‘Billing Activation’ provides
you with the tools to
monitor enrollment in one
or all programs.
You can set minimum or
maximum enrollment and
‘Activate’ or ‘Deactivate’ a
program. If enrollment
reaches a satisfactory
number and you activate, CR
will automatically charge the
customer and send them an
email that the course is
activated. The system will
not charge them before
hand and therefore there
are no refunds to deal with.
‘Staff’ and ‘Access’ controls who you want to
have access to CR’s management. You can set
different levels and customize what each level
has access too. For instance, if you have a field
instructor, you may want them only to see
attendance and customer roster information,
but no other management of financial
information.
Next, select ‘reports’ from the top dashboard.
‘Enrollments’ show you or
your field instructors what
the enrollments are for each
day during the week for a
particular Location or
Program. They can look
ahead to other weeks.
‘Rosters’ provide you or your field
instructors important information
about each customer in their class
with important contact
information. Rosters can be
exported to excel to quickly set up
attendance in any format.
(example by grades)
‘Projections’ are used by
management to look at
past, current or future
enrollments in any location
or class. This report helps
detect trends up or down
in any program and helps
management decide
whether to continue the
program or location
‘Students’ provides
you with fast, up to
date information
from the forms your
customers filled in.
For instance all the
forms required by a
state licensing
authority are here for
you or your field
instructor. Just click
on a particular form
to view the
information . If a
paper form is needed
you can print and
keep the records on
site.
Ledger, Transactions & Payments are all accounting functions. They provide your
accounting person with all the information necessary. All accounting information can be
easily downloaded to you accounting program. (Ex. QuickBooks).
‘Revenue’ is an important financial tool for management. Management can review all revenue or
sales from a particular location or program. We define revenue as monies collected in a given time
period regardless of when the purchase (or program occurs) was for. We define ‘sales’ as the total
amount of programs an courses purchased for a specific time (ex. a day) regardless as to when it
was purchased.
Thank you for your time.
As you can see CR is unlike the ‘shopping cart’ type programs that are on line.
They are mostly one size fits all. The simple fact is every organization has many
situations with customers, programs, locations etc., that create the need for great
customization. Springboard Education in America, a nationwide after school
program is like that. That is why they choose Community Root.
It will simply fit what your needs are.
By the way….coming soon CR will introduce
its ‘Social Networking’ feature. If you turn it
on, it will allow members of your community
to meet each other who have common
interest. (ex. cooking classes, tennis,
children's activities, etc).
www.communityroot.com
420 Bedford Street
Lexington, MA. 02420
781-538-5677
Community Root….’Saves the Day’
www.communityroot.com
420 Bedford Street
Lexington, MA. 02420
781-538-5677