Role: Web developer & site manager
Deliverables: Membership & payment systems

AAA Colorado – antique airplanes, modern membership

The Antique Airplane Association of Colorado is a volunteer-run chapter of the national Antique Airplane Association: pilots, mechanics, engineers, enthusiasts who keep airplanes built between 1923 and 2015 flying. The club had a website, but it couldn't do what a club needs. There was no way to pay dues or donate online, no membership area, and no place to post an event or workshop to let people know what was going on and sign up.

I was brought on to maintain the site in WordPress and build the tools it lacked: a membership portal with online payments and donations, a membership directory with a private membership area, and an events calendar where the club could post its meetings, workshops and fly-ins and members could register, as well as all the maintenance necessary to keep the site running at its best.

In depth

The AAA Colorado website on a laptop, open at the homepage menu

Members, online at last

Joining the club became a two-minute job on any device: pay the dues, get your login, and the members' area opens up. For the first time, the club had every member in one place, with their contact information, and could reach all of them easily.

Three phone screens: the Join Us page with the PayPal button, the payment confirmation, and the email with the registration link

Giving between meetings

Supporters no longer had to wait for a meeting to hand over a check. A gift takes a minute on the site, the donor gets a receipt for their taxes, and the club sees every donation next to the dues.

The donation page on a phone: preset amounts, what the gift supports, a yearly option, PayPal or card

A donation receipt on a phone screen, with the amount, what it supports and the tax line

The club’s payments list in WordPress: dues, renewals and donations with how each was paid

Every fly-in on the calendar

Meetings, workshops and fly-ins now get posted once and seen by everyone. Members sign up in a click, and the club knows before the day who is coming, how many to plan for, and who to remind.