Higher Logic's Acquisition of MagnetMail

    The National Office had long endorsed MagnetMail as the official email marketing system partner. The National Staff used the platform to send all mass email messages to members, and recommended its use to Chapter Representatives. MagnetMail was acquired by Higher Logic in October of 2017. Until recently, their pricing and service offerings had not changed. However, Higher Logic has now increased their price for MagnetMail: instead of charging fractions of a penny per message sent, they now charge a flat rate of $20,000 per year for unlimited messages. We attempted to negotiate with them, but now they only bundle MagnetMail with other marketing features and won't budge. We didn't see the value in their marketing features for the club.

    One of the features of our new membership software, AssociationAnywhere, is the ability to send mass emails. The National Staff have been testing this feature to send email since the beginning of April. We found that it has a high deliverability rate, and is a suitable replacement for MagnetMail. The best feature is that it doesn't increase the monthly recurring cost of AssociationAnywhere! So, we save the club money by taking full advantage of the new membership system.

    Because the club is now using AssociationAnywhere instead of MagnetMail, and due to the significantly increased cost of sending email through MagnetMail, we will terminate our account effective June 30, 2019.

    How Does this Affect Chapters?

    There are many Chapters who rely on MagnetMail to send messages to members. As of June 30, 2019, MagnetMail will no longer be available. As a replacement for the service, authorized Chapter Representatives may use AssociationAnywhere to send email to their members at no cost per message. Sending email through AssociationAnywhere is a very simple, two-step process: choose your distribution list, and compose your message. You no longer have to use the Chapter Export report you receive each month and upload it into a distribution list. Because this system is directly tied to BMW CCA membership data, your message will automatically be sent to all of your current Chapter members.

    Current Features

    • Compose your message in an easy-to-use editor
    • Use the pre-made, responsive email template, or use your own custom HTML or plain-text message
    • Send to all of your current Chapter members without creating a list and importing it
    • bmwcca.org From Address—send from a Chapter-specific bmwcca.org email address to ensure deliverability

    Future Functionality

    We'll work with the vendor to enhance the functionality of the email system. We're hoping they'll agree to a scheduling system so that you can queue up a message for a later date and time. We welcome feedback from the Chapter Representatives who use the email system to make it as useful a tool as possible.

    How Do I Get Started!?

    An Officer of the Chapter may fill out the Chapter Email Service Request form. The form requests the ID and name of up to five authorized persons to send email on behalf of the Chapter. Due to security standards and to ensure deliverability, we have to send email from a bmwcca.org email address. But, you get to specify what that email address will be in the form. We will provide you with a responsive email template to use. If you'd like to use a particular version of your logo, such as just the signet, then please upload it via the form. Otherwise, we'll use the official logo we have on file. The National Office IT Staff will complete configuration for you, and provide the authorized persons with initial instructions.