Online Member Engagement Platform & Features

Inspire & motivate your users and drive engagement

Connect with your audience and drive action with Hivebrite provides content and communications platforms.

Talk to us

All features.

Content management

Benefit from a receptive audience by delivering relevant, stimulating and exciting content directly from your platform.

News & RSS feed

Managed content and automated feeds ensure there is a constant flow of rich media being aggregated and delivered to your members.

Resource library

Create a centrally managed, searchable media center with hierarchical folders, tags, descriptions, sharing and response mechanisms.

Customized landing pages

Hivebrite doesn’t limit you to just news and feeds to deliver content, you can design tabbed custom pages within your platform and embed external content.

Journeys

Create guided learning paths for onboarding members, delivering course materials and stimulating participation.

Events management

Efficiently manage and promote events, increasing attendance and taking advantage of your platforms wider engagement capabilities to raise success levels.

Multiple event types

Both centrally administered and peer organized events can be promoted and delivered through the platform, either virtually or in-person.

Free & ticketed events

Controlled registration means you can offer places to members only, or the wider public, offering tiered and customized tickets and direct payment processing.

Event directory

A fixed section of the site exists just to list, map and promote events, backed up by campaigns, notifications and pop-ups to ensure nobody misses an event.

Attendees management & reporting

All attendee management, progress and financial reports are built-in, with added features like QR codes and merchandising completing comprehensive functionality.

Member opportunities

Offer valuable improvement opportunities for both members and community experts, facilitating better outcomes.

Mentoring

Elevate subject matter experts through a series of mentoring connection tools, and facilitate their collaboration directly on the platform.

Jobs

Provide a customizable board for career related options or reconfigure to enable alternative opportunity types and even peer sharing.

Projects

Accelerate collaborative projects to fully benefit from community inputs, support, participation, and even investment and funding.

Badges

Hivebrite’s Engagement Scoring System, based on your own weighting of activities, can also be augmented with badges to reward participation.

Communications

Take advantage of a receptive and enthusiastic audience to deliver content with higher recall rates. Multiple channels for email, push and in system notifications.

Targeted campaigns

Professionally designed campaigns via email or push notification can be sent and results analyzed directly from within the platform.

Automated digest

A regular, system generated newsletter that recaps recent activity: built around each user’s areas of interest helps to drive continuous engagement.

Systems-generated reminders

Our notifications channel helps recall, but Hivebrite also offers a more instantaneous way to alert members with on-screen pop-up messages.

What is Hivebrite

Your all-in-one community platform.

CUSTOMER STORIES

Real communities.
Real results.

Over 2,000 organizations have chosen Hivebrite to power their communities across the globe.

Dagmar Mekking
PhD, Director of Research Cure HHT

“For any community to be successful in the long run it needs to innovate and continually add value, Hivebrite enables us to do this. We knew we were getting a premium, ever-improving platform.”

Daniel Cline
Digital Platform Manager, Cornell Hotel Society

"We reduced time spent on administrative tasks relating to membership management by 60%."

Megan Brogdon
Senior Director, Marketing CASE

"Hivebrite was going to be able to grow with us. We weren't going to run into the roadblocks or slowdowns we experienced with our last platform."

Rachel Bray
Head of CERN Alumni Relations

“Hivebrite has been instrumental in building and nurturing our CERN Alumni Community. Its flexibility and robust features allow us to connect our alumni globally, ensuring they remain engaged and connected to CERN’s mission.”

Elizabeth Kohlway
Community & Digital Engagement Director, Sabin Vaccine Institute

“Hivebrite enables us to sustain and scale our community and virtual engagement strategies to continue supporting our members as best as possible.”

Paul McMillan
Community Manager, The Data Lab

“Hivebrite’s Mentoring Module was one of the key reasons we selected Hivebrite as our community engagement platform.”

Erica Isotta Surace
Co-Founder, D2 Collective

“The platform and its features offer everything we need and more to engage our members and keep them coming back.”

Ilyass Rahmouni
Accelerator Programme Manager, EIT Health

“Centralizing our community and mentoring program on one intuitive platform improves our members’ experience. The UX and UI of the platform are great!”

Frequently asked questions.

Hivebrite is a versatile community management platform that is used by a variety of organizations to facilitate member engagement.

Established by the UN Foundation in 2010, Girl Up supports UN agencies dedicated to the well-being of adolescent girls. Its impactful leadership development program empowers girls and young women, broadening their horizons and preparing them to become influential changemakers in their communities.

Girl Up chose Hivebrite to power its community dedicated to driving gender equality and social impact. Within six months the organization has increased memberships by 1,592% and member activity by 3,438%. Discover more about Girl Up’s community here. https://hivebrite.io/

Read Hivebrite community success stories.

Member engagement in an online community can take many forms, depending on your community’s focus and the tools you use. 

Here are some common examples of how members engage in online communities:

Participating in discussions

  • Forum posts and replies.
  • Engaging in specialized subcommunities related to specific interests or professional areas.

Content creation and sharing

  • Writing or sharing blog posts on relevant topics.
  • Sharing videos, podcasts, infographics, and other multimedia content that adds value and stimulates discussion.
  • Uploading documents, templates, or other resources that others in the community may find useful.

Event participation

  • Attending or hosting webinars, live Q&A sessions, or virtual meetups.
  • Participating in offline community events such as meetups, conferences, or networking sessions.
  • Engaging in online workshops or training sessions to learn new skills or share knowledge.

Feedback and surveys

  • Feedback can be provided through community surveys, polls, or feedback forms to shape the community’s future direction.
  • Participating in beta tests for new community features or products and providing constructive feedback.

Collaboration and projects

  • Collaborating on projects like open-source software development, research, or group initiatives.
  • Engaging in mentorship relationships to foster growth and learning within the community.

Social interaction

  • Building relationships by connecting with other members

Hosting and leading initiatives

  • Volunteering as a moderator to help manage discussions and maintain community standards.
  • Taking on leadership roles within subcommunities, organizing events, and facilitating discussions.

Advocacy and promotion

  • Acting as an ambassador for the community by promoting it externally and inviting new members.

If you’re looking for inspiration to boost engagement, check out these 25 ideas to increase community engagement.

Hivebrite offers a suite of advanced features to foster member engagement and enhance the member experience, including:

Opportunities to drive (professional) growth and innovation

Promote partnership opportunities, job openings, collaboration projects, and more within your community

Events and campaigns to empower you to organize impactful events

Drive deeper member engagement, facilitate networking, showcase expertise by easily organizing on and offline events.

News, content, resource libraries, and mentoring to enhance member experience

Keep members coming back by sharing news and resources. Offer members personalized support and guidance via mentoring.

You can measure member engagement through metrics including:

  • The frequency of posts, comments, and reactions (likes, shares) 
  • Participation rates, such as the number of unique users contributing content
  • Time spent on the platform
  • Event registration and attendance

Don’t overlook qualitative data when assessing member engagement. Member feedback gathered through surveys, focus groups, or informal conversations is also an excellent indicator of member engagement.

Additionally, analyzing member growth and retention rates helps assess long-term engagement and community health.

Remember that your community strategy and goals will ultimately determine the best metrics for tracking your community engagement (and success). 

Download Hivebrite’s community engagement metrics template to help decide the best metrics for your community!

Member engagement platforms should offer tools that encourage active participation while making it easy for members to connect, contribute, and find value. Focus on features that drive meaningful interactions and sustained involvement.

Communication Tools:

  • Multi-channel messaging
  • Automated engagement workflows
  • Discussion forums
  • Live chat capabilities
  • Push notifications
  • Content sharing tools

Event Features:

  • Virtual and hybrid events
  • Registration management
  • Attendee networking
  • Session tracking
  • Live polling
  • Post-event engagement

Content Management:

  • Resource libraries
  • Media sharing
  • Newsletter creation
  • Blog publishing
  • Content personalization
  • Access controls

Networking Features:

  • Member directory
  • Interest groups
  • Mentoring tools
  • Direct messaging
  • Connection suggestions
  • Profile customization

Analytics and Tracking:

  • Engagement metrics
  • Participation tracking
  • Behavior analysis
  • Success measurement
  • Custom reporting
  • ROI calculation

Mobile Capabilities:

  • Native mobile app
  • Responsive design
  • Push notifications
  • Mobile-first features
  • Offline access
  • Easy navigation

While member management and engagement work together, they serve distinct purposes in community building. Understanding these differences helps organizations develop more effective strategies for both areas, ultimately creating stronger, more vibrant communities that deliver value while running efficiently.

Member management focuses on the operational backbone of community administration. It encompasses essential administrative tasks like data organization, access control, and payment processing. This aspect of community operations ensures smooth functioning through careful record keeping and compliance tracking. Management systems maintain order and structure, providing the foundation upon which engagement can flourish.

In contrast, member engagement centers on the human element of community building. It prioritizes relationship building and creating interactive experiences that bring members together. Through thoughtful engagement strategies, communities foster meaningful connections, facilitate knowledge sharing, and create lasting value for their members. This focus on active participation and community connection transforms a managed group into a thriving network.

The key differences between management and engagement become clear when examining their core purposes. Management maintains order through processing transactions, tracking information, and setting permissions. It follows established procedures and meets operational requirements that keep the community functioning smoothly. These activities, while essential, serve primarily administrative purposes.

Engagement, however, builds the heart of the community through creating experiences and fostering interaction. It drives participation by facilitating meaningful connections between members and encouraging knowledge sharing. Where management establishes structure, engagement creates energy and momentum. It transforms static membership into dynamic participation, growing connections that strengthen the entire community.

Understanding this distinction helps organizations balance their efforts effectively. Strong management systems provide the stable foundation necessary for engagement initiatives to succeed. Meanwhile, robust engagement strategies ensure that well-managed communities don’t become mere databases of members but rather vibrant spaces for connection and growth. Success comes from recognizing and supporting both aspects while understanding their unique roles in community building.

Yes, Hivebrite offers comprehensive integration capabilities with popular email platforms and CRM systems, creating seamless workflows that enhance both management and engagement efforts. Our platform’s robust integration framework ensures that your community data flows smoothly between essential business tools, maximizing efficiency and effectiveness.
 
On the email side, Hivebrite provides deep integration with leading email service providers, enabling sophisticated communication strategies. Organizations can synchronize email templates, manage distribution lists, and track campaign performance all from within the platform. Automated workflows streamline regular communications, while detailed engagement analytics help optimize messaging strategies and improve member response rates.
 
CRM integration capabilities focus on maintaining accurate, up-to-date member information across all systems. Bidirectional data synchronization ensures changes made in one platform automatically reflect in others, eliminating manual updates and reducing errors. Custom field mapping allows organizations to maintain their existing data structure while benefiting from enhanced functionality. Activity tracking and automated updates provide a comprehensive view of member engagement across all channels.
 
These integrations deliver significant operational benefits. Organizations experience streamlined operations through automated workflows, while maintaining consistent data across all platforms. Enhanced targeting capabilities improve communication effectiveness, and comprehensive reporting provides better insights into member behavior and engagement patterns. The time saved through automation allows teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks.
 
Hivebrite supports integration with a wide range of platforms and tools. Beyond major email providers and CRM systems, the platform connects with popular marketing automation tools, analytics platforms, and social media channels. This broad compatibility ensures organizations can maintain their preferred technology stack while leveraging Hivebrite’s powerful community features.
 
The platform’s integration capabilities continue to expand, with regular updates adding new connections and enhancing existing ones. This commitment to comprehensive integration support helps organizations create efficient, effective workflows that drive community success while maximizing the value of their technology investments.

Gamification and badge systems transform community participation into an engaging, achievement-driven experience. By tapping into natural motivations for recognition and accomplishment, these features create compelling reasons for members to stay active and involved. When implemented thoughtfully, gamification drives sustained engagement while fostering healthy competition and community spirit.

The power of gamification lies in its ability to make routine activities more meaningful and rewarding. Through achievement tracking and progress visualization, members can see their growth and contributions to the community. Custom badges and reward levels provide tangible recognition for participation, while milestone celebrations create moments of pride and accomplishment. This systematic approach to recognition helps maintain consistent engagement while encouraging members to explore new ways to contribute.

Successful implementation requires careful planning and strategic design. Organizations should establish clear achievement paths that align with community goals and values. Progressive challenges keep members motivated, while regular recognition reinforces positive behaviors. The key is creating meaningful rewards that genuinely resonate with members rather than simply adding superficial point systems.

Gamification proves particularly effective for essential community activities. From completing onboarding processes to sharing knowledge and participating in events, badge systems can enhance virtually any aspect of community involvement. Leadership roles and mentoring activities gain additional appeal when recognized through achievement systems, encouraging members to take on greater responsibility within the community.

Measuring success requires tracking multiple metrics. Beyond basic participation rates and achievement levels, organizations should monitor activity frequency, member satisfaction, and overall community growth. These metrics help gauge the effectiveness of gamification strategies while identifying opportunities for improvement. Regular analysis ensures the system continues to drive meaningful engagement.

Best practices for gamification include defining clear objectives, creating valuable rewards, and maintaining appropriate challenge levels. Regular updates keep the system fresh, while consistent celebration of achievements reinforces its importance to the community. Most critically, all gamification elements should align with your community’s culture and goals, focusing on creating genuine value rather than superficial engagement.

Remember that effective gamification serves as a tool for enhancing the community experience, not an end in itself. When thoughtfully implemented, these features can significantly boost member engagement while strengthening community bonds. The key lies in maintaining authenticity and ensuring all recognition systems support your broader community objectives.