Transforming Membership Management for Early YearsWales
Client
Early Years Wales
Since 1961, Early Years Wales has been the leading umbrella organisation supporting the Early Years sector in Wales. Their mission is to help all pre-school children, families, and providers ensure every child in Wales has the best start in life. They offer training, resources, and membership services to nurseries, playgroups, and childminders across the country.
“We're extremely pleased with the service we received from Opencentric. They developed a membership and contact logging system that has significantly streamlined our workflow. This has saved us valuable time that we can now dedicate to creating workshops for our members. Their team is easy to reach and handles all queries promptly and efficiently.”
Julie Besley
Office Manager, Early Years Wales
Project brief
Early Years Wales sought a digital partner to design and develop a modern membership system and website that would consolidate multiple legacy databases into a single, centralised platform. The goal was to eliminate duplication of data entry, reduce administrative overhead, and create a more efficient, user-friendly experience for both staff and members across Wales.
Key objectives
Streamline Membership Workflow
Simplify Membership Payments
Enhance Contact Reporting
Enable Welsh Language Support
Automate Notifications
Improve Childcare Search
Provide On-Demand Reporting
Implement Event Management
Approach
The project began with a comprehensive discovery phase to understand Early Years Wales’ membership structure, internal workflows, and the needs of both administrators and members. Through stakeholder workshops and user research, the team identified key pain points and defined clear goals to guide the development of a more efficient and user-friendly system.
A full content audit and information architecture review followed, ensuring all resources were streamlined, accessible, and easy to navigate. This strategic foundation provided the clarity needed to design a solution that addressed immediate challenges while laying the groundwork for long-term digital transformation.
Technologies
The new Membership and CRM platform was developed using tried and tested open-source technologies:
Designed an intuitive dashboard and onboarding experience tailored to multiple membership types.
Responsive Design
Optimised for desktop, tablet, and mobile to support busy practitioners on the go.
Accessibility
Fully compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA, ensuring inclusivity for all users.
Enhanced Functionality
Tiered Membership System
Implemented flexible pricing and membership levels to reflect the organisation’s structure.
Advanced Search
Enabled members to quickly find early years providers, job opportunities, and key resources.
Bespoke CRM
Built a custom contact log and reporting dashboard to capture and monitor all member interactions and support activities.
Streamlined Administration
Automated membership renewals, notifications, and reporting to reduce manual workload.
Technical Implementation
Drupal Platform
Delivered a robust, scalable, and secure system leveraging Drupal’s modular architecture.
Data Migration
Consolidated data from six legacy sources, ensuring accuracy and minimal disruption.
Ongoing Support
Provided hosting, maintenance, and proactive updates to ensure continuous reliability and performance.
Results
The new Early Years Wales Membership System was launched successfully, transforming the organisation’s digital infrastructure.
Impact:
450% increase in active memberships since launch.
Substantial reduction in admin time, allowing staff to focus on events and training initiatives.
Positive user feedback highlighting ease of use and improved accessibility.
Increased engagement, with longer session times and reduced bounce rates across the platform.
450%
Membership increase
100
SEO
100
Best practices
Key Achievements
Enhanced user experience
Simplified navigation and responsive design.
Full compliance
WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards.
Scalable
Future-ready digital platform built on Drupal.
The Early Years Wales project exemplifies how a bespoke digital system can transform an organisation’s efficiency and member experience. By combining user-centric design, robust technology, and seamless data migration, Opencentric enabled Early Years Wales to move from manual processes to a fully integrated digital ecosystem.
The result is a platform that not only meets the needs of today’s members but also provides a foundation for growth, innovation, and continued support to the Early Years community across Wales.
