How to Migrate from Wild Apricot (Step by Step)

Why associations look beyond Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot built this category, and it still works for many organizations. Boards and staff who start looking usually point to cost and time. If you collect dues through a third-party processor such as Stripe, Wild Apricot adds 20% to its subscription price for accounts in the US and Canada. The work also tends to spread across separate tools for the website, email, ticketing and payments. When a treasurer's term ends, the logins and the know-how often leave with them.

If you have decided to move, the five steps below are in the order you do them. Your old site stays up the whole time.

What you need before you start

You need three things. First, admin access to Wild Apricot, because only an admin can run the export and open the file it sends. Second, a list of the events still taking registrations, so none gets missed. Third, a login for the registrar where you bought your domain, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Squarespace Domains. The change there means copying a few records into a form.

The five steps

Step 1: Export your contacts from Wild Apricot

In Wild Apricot, open Contacts → List and click Export. Choose CSV, select all the fields, and export. Wild Apricot emails you a link to the file, which opens while you are signed in as an admin. Archived contacts are left out, so filter the list to show them first if you want them.

Step 2: Import your contacts into the new platform

Importing means matching each column in the file to a field, checking a preview, then confirming. Veldun reads the Wild Apricot export directly and lists any column it leaves out. You confirm how your membership levels match and review the preview before anything is saved. Your member list arrives without anyone retyping it.

Step 3: Recreate the events still open

You do not need to rebuild past events. Only events still taking registrations need recreating. In Veldun, you describe the event in one sentence. Veldun fills in the title, date, time, place, capacity and member and non-member prices for you to check. A CPD evening takes 4 minutes in Veldun, against 30 minutes by hand.

Step 4: Point your domain at the new site

Your domain is yours. You bought it at a registrar, and you keep it. Pointing it means changing a few records there. The Veldun team sets this up with you and gives you the exact records. Your old site stays live until they change, so members never land on a dead page.

Step 5: Tell your members where to sign in

Send one short email once the new site is live. It needs to say three things: go to the new site, sign in with your email address, and use the code you are sent. Members have no password to set or reset. Admins can also send each member an invitation to sign in.

Who does what in a move to Veldun

You run the export and add the domain records. Veldun reads the file and rebuilds your site.

What comes across from Wild Apricot

The import brings names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, membership levels and status, member-since and renewal dates, groups as tags, and notes. Payment history, households, documents and most custom fields stay behind. Veldun lists every column it leaves out. You can upload bylaws and minutes to the document library. Your old site stays up until you switch the domain.