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Set up your network

Is your organization ready for NationBuilder Network? Before you get started, think about your goals, audiences, and resources.

Updated over 3 months ago

📌 Note: Please see our pricing page for more information on Network plans.

Across sectors, our customers with distributed infrastructures -- alumni networks, associations, political parties, presidential campaigns, nonprofit chapter networks, unions, and others -- have always had to choose between the chaos that comes with a powerful, innovative, engaging network of independent chapters, and centralized control that helps maintain brand integrity and aggregate messy data.

NationBuilder Network is technology to lead these networks. All the people who stand behind your vision are a part of your nation. By housing dynamic databases, websites, multiple communication channels, and donations under one nation, an organization has the infrastructure to build, grow, and lead efficiently. Nations have access to a system where data can be distributed across multiple people and groups. One nation alone is already powerful, so imagine the power of multiple nations connected together.

Is your organization ready for NationBuilder Network? Before you get started, think about your organization’s goals, audiences, and resources. Once you're clear on your objectives, you can set up your HQ nation with unified branding, workflows, audience segments, and data architecture. Finally, empower your local chapters to set up networked nations. As your network grows, you can keep track of its progress and share data across the network.

What you get with Network

You get all the power of NationBuilder for each of your networked nations, plus unique features that connect and unlock the power of your network, including:

  • Automatic data sharing between networked nations and Network HQ. Plus the ability to share contact and activity information from nation to nation and with HQ.

  • Shareable website and email themes to maintain your brand’s integrity across the network.

  • Distribute leadership among staff and local leaders with unlimited control panel users.

  • Define workflows, including automation, due dates, and assignments, to keep your network on track.

What to think about before getting started

Before setting up your network, think about what you want to accomplish using NationBuilder. Think about your mission, quantifiable goals, and the specific actions you want your community to take.

We know that building relationships is not an easy thing to do and we’re here to help by offering services to set you up for success. We suggest you look over this list of questions before the implementation process.

Set up Network HQ

Take the lead by setting up the HQ nation first. After you establish your organization’s strategy, there are specific steps to get your nation up and running. For guidance, we offer implementation services to ease your transition onto the platform.

We can help you import your existing audiences, align your workflows using paths and goals, make sure that your custom website theme is compatible with the platform, and much more. Take a deeper look into what it takes to get your nation moving, so that you can begin to organize and grow your database.

Set up networked nations

A networked nation is a completely separate nation, with its own website, broadcasters, social media integration, finances, and people database. Networked nations are perfect for groups that have complete control over their local relationships and activities.

The HQ nation has the option to partially or fully subsidize the cost of each networked nation. If HQ has a predefined list of networked nations, then a bulk discount will be applied.

Setting up networked nations is a bit more complicated than setting up an independent nation. HQ can enable brand consistency by sharing website content, website themes, and email themes with networked nations. Additionally, HQ may want to unify other aspects of implementation, including permission sets, paths, goals, and membership types.

Training networked nation control panel users and providing ongoing support can take significant resources. NationBuilder offers NetworkCare, premium support for distributed organizations building networks. A dedicated Community Strategist will coordinate with HQ and networked nations, provide custom support materials, and help your network achieve its goals.  

Next steps

Without NationBuilder Network, a distributed organization often works with fragmented technology platforms. That’s why we’re here to help you centralize your communication channels and your target audiences, so you can effectively engage and activate your communities.

If you’re interested in building a powerful network, contact us via email at [email protected] or via our chat feature which current subscribers can find in their control panel with this icon at the bottom right of the page:

New customers are able to access our support chat by visiting https://nationbuilder.com/support.

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