Client:
South Hams ChamberCategory:
Membership websiteIndustry:
Business membership organisationVisit Website
One website for the Chamber’s day-to-day work
The move from the Kingsbridge, Salcombe & Modbury Chamber of Commerce to the South Hams Chamber was more than a change of name. It was a good point to replace the older brochure site and bring the separate parts of running a membership organisation into one place.
Working with the Chamber, Cornerstone designed and built a site for members, prospective members, event attendees and the wider South Hams business community. Futureclient supplied the new logo. Cornerstone developed the website design and wider branding, functionality, copy with the Chamber, photography and aerial imagery.
What the website needed to handle
- Online membership registration, subscriptions and receipts
- Private member accounts and a members-only forum
- A searchable directory with member-managed business profiles
- Events and online ticketing
- A jobs board and structured opportunity submissions
- Funding and grant information
- Practical controls for the Chamber administration team
- Website photography and aerial imagery
- Private hosting, domain services, email, maintenance and continuing improvements
A new name, with a wider job to do
The new South Hams name gave the Chamber a clear moment to rethink the older brochure site. Useful existing information could be retained, while membership, events, the directory, jobs, grants and committee content were organised around the people who use them.
The website also needed to work for several audiences. Members need practical services and a place to connect. Prospective members need to understand the benefits and be able to join. Businesses, residents and partner organisations use the events, jobs and funding information.
The new name was the starting point, not the whole brief.
The website had to support the organisation behind it, as well as explain what the Chamber does.
Joining and managing membership
Prospective members can read what membership includes, register online and pay through the website. Once logged in, members can manage their subscription and receipts, update their directory entry, add job posts, share news with other members and use the private forum.
Those permissions matter. Members have control over the information that belongs to them, while the Chamber administration team retains responsibility for the wider website.
Members can do more than log in.
The account area gives members practical ways to take part and keep their own information current.
A directory worth keeping current
The searchable business directory makes the Chamber’s membership visible across a broad range of local sectors. Each member can have an individual profile with a business description, imagery and useful links, while categories help visitors find relevant organisations.
Members can update their own directory information, and selected businesses can be surfaced elsewhere on the site. The directory is therefore part of the working membership service, rather than a static list maintained separately.
Membership should be visible and useful.
The directory helps people discover South Hams businesses and gives members a useful public profile.
Events and ticketing in the same place
The Chamber team can create events with dates, times, venues, organisers and booking information. Event pages can offer different ticket choices for members and non-members, including free and paid options and meal or attendance-only bookings where needed.
Visitors see the event details and booking choices together, with calendar links for Google Calendar and iCal or Outlook. The system gives the Chamber a consistent way to publish and manage its programme without building each event page from scratch.
One event page, with the details and booking options together.
The structure can accommodate the different ways Chamber events are run without making the booking journey hard to follow.
Jobs, grants and wider business support
The website serves people beyond the membership account. Its South Hams Jobs Board carries paid roles, work experience and volunteering opportunities, with a structured form for businesses to submit new listings. Members can also add their own job posts, and the Chamber team can manage the wider board.
Funding information has a clear home too, covering the Chamber’s own annual fund and external grant opportunities. Structured records allow opening and closing information to be presented consistently and updated as schemes change.
Useful beyond the membership login.
Jobs and funding information give local businesses and the wider community practical reasons to return to the site.
Built to keep working
The finished website brings membership, subscriptions, directory listings, event bookings, local opportunities and funding information into one system. The Chamber team can manage news, grants, jobs, committee profiles, events, ticketing and general content, while members have controlled access to the areas relevant to them.
Cornerstone provides private hosting, domain and email services, maintenance and continuing improvements. The site can therefore be adapted as the Chamber’s work develops, rather than being left unchanged after launch.