Services

Online Community

In this digital age, fostering a vibrant online community is no longer a luxury—it's essential for membership organisations aiming to cultivate a dynamic and engaging network that drives member value and participation.

At Cantarus, we are renowned as the leading agency for online communities in the membership sector. We possess staggeringly strong credentials in developing secure, thriving online spaces specifically tailored for membership organisations.

Our expertise lies in crafting digital ecosystems that are not just technologically advanced but also deeply resonate with the unique culture and values of your organisation. Keep reading to explore our online community services.

Why Choose Cantarus for your Online Community

With decades of experience in digital, we understand the importance of online community the value they deliver for both membership organisations and their members. Each online community we support reflects a partnership with a shared goal – ensuring the uniqueness of your organisation whilst enhancing the overall community experience.

Cantarus Engagement Ecosytem

As a full-service digital agency, we are renowned for crafting world-class member experiences by seamlessly integrating web, mobile app, and online community solutions. Together, these comprise the “Cantarus Engagement Ecosystem” that connects and captivates, leveraging our extensive experience in digital innovation.
Online Community Hosting

Our UK-based hosting infrastructure, kalaniCloud, offers unparalleled solutions for online communities that ensure seamless performance and UK-data residency compliance. This robust platform guarantees secure, efficient, and engaging community experiences with a focus on data protection and operational excellence.
World-class Support

Enjoy the wonders of pain-free, expert support! Our Service Desk maintains an astonishing 99.1% satisfaction rate across thousands of tickets annually.
Our Community Clients

Swipe through the carousel below to explore some of our most recent and award-winning community projects with the likes of NHS Charities Together, CIOB, and BCS.

NHS Charities Together

What Success Looks Like: Crafting an Engaging Online Community

Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)

Developing a highly engaging app and online community

BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT

Online Community for the People Who Brought Us Online Everything

Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)

Connecting Members With Online Community

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Back

I loved joining NHS Charities Together and launching Member Connect! We had a great team doing such impactful work, and I was confident the community project would be a success. While online communities can look engaging and appear to offer strong social/emotional components, the proof of the pudding is in the data. We had the right tools and strategies to focus on specific areas.

Nancy Kinder

Member Community Manager

NHS Charities Together

The results of the initial community launch exceeded our expectations. Clearly, it is connecting members and driving engagement. It’s creating water-cooler moments between members across the globe. However, what’s exciting to me in the longer term is how the community helps us achieve other organisational goals. As the community grows it will give us the pulse of the members, and we can now put our finger on that pulse to track trends and even infer individual member interests. The data piece is very important, and we anticipate insight and analytics being a big part of our future with online community at the BCS.

Holly Porter

Membership Director

BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT

Our members were crying out for a way to connect and share knowledge at this difficult time. So, we teamed up with Cantarus and launched CIWM Connect. Hundreds of members immediately signed up and it’s growing every hour. Launch day was great: we had traction and member feedback is excellent. In the future all the team have a great answer to ‘what did you do during the Coronavirus pandemic?’ - we enabled the frontline resource and waste sector to connect, collaborate and keep up morale. The support from Cantarus has been invaluable.

Paul Sloggett

Marketing Director and Community Project Lead

Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)

Community Strategy

From staffing to branding, to community structure, to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration – our team of experts have extensive experience in crafting unforgettable online communities for a diverse range of organisations all around the world.

Our collaborative process involves working closely with you to define the very essence of your community; from understanding its purpose to selecting the right platform for your business, we’ll ensure your community strategy is well-defined well before launch.

Together, we’ll ensure your strategy is poised for success from the very beginning – from initial ideation to strategic execution, we’re with you every step of the way.

Community Design and Build

Our technical team can integrate your online community with your CRM system, allowing any updates to your member records to facilitate changes in community access.

Beyond functionality, we’ll also cover branding and design, ensuring that your community seamlessly blends into your digital ecosystem. From concept to execution, we’ll bring your vision to life, creating an immersive and visually captivating online experience.

Join forces with Cantarus as we redefine community engagement – where expertise, integration, and design connect to forge an unparalleled experience for you and your members.

Powered By Industry-Leading Platforms

Two online community platforms share the distinction of most utilised by membership bodies in the UK: Discourse Forums and Higher Logic (MemberWise Digital Excellence Report, 2023/24). Our expertise in both is exceptional.

When building an online community for an organisation, Discourse Forums is our go-to platform. The leading open-source community solution, Discourse allows us to deliver and exceed on client expectations in browser, app, and email without imposing hefty fees. Its exceptional user experience and seamless integration with our app product, MemConnect, ensure a robust community ecosystem. It’s a cost-effective solution that doesn't compromise on baseline quality while offering our developers and designers exceptional flexibility.

We are proud to offer a robust mobile-first UX for Higher Logic communities through our MemConnect mobile app product. Membership bodies around the world base their communities in Higher Logic and our MemConnect app integration facilitates an exquisite core content feed, library entry access, and blog centres with push notifications to get your members clicking. All while assuring your organisation is well represented in app stores.

Our expertise in these platforms enables us to craft community experiences aligned with your unique engagement strategy. Cantarus stands ready to deliver flexible, efficient, and engaging online community experiences.

Community Management

We understand that no two communities are the same, and neither are our services. We go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, with our tailored services customised to your specific online community needs. From this foundation, we’ll craft a personalised plan that ensures your online community not only thrives, but stands out from the rest.

Your plan will cover the following:

Community Moderation

Effective management of moderation queues, ensuring a safe and positive user experience.
Community Monitoring Assessments

Vigilant oversight to keep your community vibrant and secure.
Quarterly Reports

Key metrics, performance evaluations, and actionable insights to guide your community's evolution.
Strategic Monthly Reviews

In-depth analysis, reports, and strategic insights to keep your community on an upward trajectory.
Community Content Calendar

A meticulously planned roadmap for engaging and timely content.
Tailored Training and Additional Services

On-demand training and a suite of supplementary services adapting to your evolving needs are provided as needed.

Community Apps

The transformative power of online communities can be especially well facilitated through the powerful presence of an app. With MemConnect’s Online Community Module, members can seamlessly connect, share insights, and support each other's professional journeys, crafting connections anytime, anywhere.

With an app at your fingertips, engagement transcends physical boundaries, ensuring your community is vibrant and dynamic at all times.

Elevate your community experience with MemConnect — because engagement isn't just a goal; it's a journey, and we're here to make it extraordinary.

Find out more about MemConnect

We couldn’t have asked for a better partner on this project than Cantarus. Their expertise in online community, along with their specific knowledge in adapting and developing Discourse solutions over time, was the ultimate decider in Agorapulse choosing them; they have helped us to deliver a truly meaningful, engaging platform that will provide our users with value and facilitate better conversations.

Paul Bradley Head of Global Community, Agorapulse

Prefer to speak to someone?

Reach out to our Chief Product Officer, Mark Eichler, to talk about how our online community services can enhance your member experience and facilitate invaluable member-to-member interactions.

Get In Touch