Tech Platforms
This week’s Community Call featured 4 retreat center leaders in a roundtable discussion on their current tech platforms—with a dozen peers on the call from across the US and Canada.
Many participants agreed that there’s no perfect tech stack or system for retreat centers. Finding tech solutions that meet the unique needs of retreat centers often requires customizing or combining existing platforms.
Wondering what tools other retreat centers are using? Here’s a list of platforms discussed on the call, with collated commentary from participants. RCC doesn’t endorse any of these platforms, but encourages leadership and staff at retreat centers to exchange insights as an effort to strengthen our collective impact with these tools.
Booking Platforms
RetreatGuru
Pros
We use RetreatGuru to register participants for programs, and also to register volunteers and residents
Found it to be the best option for our work
Favorably priced
Responsive, personal customer care
Lodging options, add-ons, tiered pricing
Integrates with Wordpress
Worked with our donor software system, which Venue 360 does not
Comprehensive training
Responsive and helpful with customer care
We are beta users for RetreatGuru’s new Rentals platform (for hosted retreats). The platform is really nice: Inquiry form on our website, we respond with a quote, they deposit and sign a contract digitally
Folks can inquire about availability in RetreatGuru
$122/mo for RetreatGuru
Cons
Switching to RetreatGuru took a lot of time
Does not work well with our kitchen - we offer mostly hosted programs - can’t get a meal count if hosted retreat leader has the registration data - meal count is based on registrations
Waiting list feature is not as convenient or customizable as we’d like - when spots open up, it opens up/registers people even when we don’t have room for them
RetreatGuru markets itself as the premier platform for ayahuasca retreats - colors the marketing - don’t want it to reflect on our retreat programming - but also couldn’t find a strong alternative
Looks better than Retreat Manager, but still takes effort to match the branding to our website; it is a separate page/site
Retreat Manager
Pros
Our retreat center offers both hosted and sponsored retreats - RetreatManager handles both well
Everything on one page - who’s using what bedrooms/rooms without switching screens
Improved flexibility
Built for religious orgs
Manages ongoing/serial programs better than RetreatGuru
Comprehensive
Cons
Concern: unstable platform in 2019
User interface is outdated
Staff didn’t know how to use it to its full potential
Server-based, didn’t work remotely very easily -- is now becoming cloud-based
Venue360
Pros
We switched to Venue360 from RetreatGuru. RetreatGuru is more based on programs. Our business model is 90% hosted groups / 10% in-house programming. Venue 360 is not geared toward our in-house programming, but works well for hosted groups.
Guest retreat facilitators can make their own profiles, communicate w participants
There’s an intensive in-person training to learn Venue360, which we completed virtually over Zoom, but it wasn’t as intensive as we’d hoped
Integrates well with Wordpress
Cons
Allows visitors to navigate through our website to see upcoming programs, but once visitors select a program they are sent to a new tab.
Megasys
Moved all our data into Megasys recently, but unfortunately, it was more geared for hotels
Functionality/visibility was limited
Didn’t integrate with finance department
BookingLayer
Has many of the options that folks at retreat centers would like
Allows automation so people can book directly from website, syncs the master calendar with Airbnb, Glamping Hub, VRBO
Based in Spain
Design is not intuitive, involves watching lots of tutorials
More expensive than Retreat Guru
CampBrain
UltraCamp
CIRCUITREE
EventPro
Outdated, doesn’t allow linking to a website
VRBO and Airbnb
These work well for the houses on our property
Thinkbox
Website Platforms
Wordpress
Incorporates registration forms from BookingLayer
Offers deep integrations with MailChimp, WooCommerce, GiveWP and EventsCalendar along with QuickBooks
Squarespace
Program registration links on our Squarespace website connect to RetreatGuru
Payment Platforms
Paypal
We use it to receive donations, but not primary payments any more
Didn’t like it all - not user friendly
Politics of PayPal founder didn’t align with our center
WooCommerce
Integrates with Wordpress
USAePay
Unique challenge we faced: Donations were being multiplied by the amount of participant devices that connected during online events
Stripe
Integrates with Venue 360
Data Storage Platforms
Google for Nonprofits
Etherpad
alternative to Google
Communications Platforms
Zoom
Jitsi
Video chat platform, alternative to Zoom
Open source, not perfect
Good for certain situations (Zoom is not allowed in Cuba)
Doesn’t support breakout rooms
Constant Contact
Mailchimp
Default CRM for the 6000 people on our mailing list who are very lightly connected
Cheaper option for us - $90/mo for Mailchimp
We move people over to Neon once they have significant interaction with our org
Slack
Grasshopper
Virtual phone system
Phone number rotation to other numbers
Connect to universal email
$20/mo for Grasshopper
Mattermost
Instant messaging
Jamboard by Google
EventsCalendar
Integrates with Wordpress
CRM & Donor Management Platforms
Civi CRM
CRM platform aligned with our foundation’s organizational values
HubSpot
Could be a good integration with RetreatGuru
Salsa CRM
We use Salsa for development / recruitment
ETapestry by Blackbaud
Raiser’s Edge by Blackbaud
Also integrates with Paypal
GiveWP
Salsa
DonorPerfect
Neon
Initial set up and training for Neon was $4k
$304/mo for Neon
Been integrated for 3 months
Great for creating reports for our board, e.g. trends in donations
Affordable for small organizations
We’re integrating RetreatGuru with Neon -- we set up RetreatGuru so it maps very clearly to the Neon info
Accounting Platforms
Sage50
Quickbooks
Best Practices for Migrating Data
When migrating data to new platforms, what’s the best practice?
Mallory: Assign a specific staff member to strictly work on that. Don’t do it at your busiest time of year, as it takes a lot of energy and time.
Francisco: We upgraded from co-ax to fiber optic during COVID, and we thought our devices were going to work really well. But we needed to replace everything. Make sure you check out what will fit with your current infrastructure.
Ayton: Map out your different use cases so you have a clear picture of what you need to solve for, the specific requirements that you’ll need. Software providers tend to over-promise. Prioritized use cases will help you evaluate and implement your software in a targeted manner.
Contribute Your Solutions
Have more insights to share?
Curious to connect with other retreat centers and exchange best practices?
Check out these additional resources.