Table of Contents

1 ............................ First Things First

2 ............................ Question 1: YOUR GOALS

4 ............................ Question 2: SOFTWARE MODELS

8 ............................ Question 3: SOFTWARE VENDOR

11 ............................ Question 4: PLATFORM CAPABILITIES

13 ............................ Question 5: PLATFORM CUSTOMIZATION

16 ........................... Question 6: INTEGRATION

18 ........................... Question 7: SECURITY

20 ............................ Question 8: BUDGET

22 ............................ Question 9: WISHLIST

24 ............................ About Open Social f people

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Buying Guide
by Open Social
First Things First

You’ve recently been tasked with An online community is a central

finding a community platform, hub for your organization members
and we know it’s a tough decision. (whether they are volunteers, employees
or association members) to meet digital
This multi-step process can take a
ly, share and achieve common goals.
tedious amount of time and effort.
Online communities have a unique way of helping
There’s great community software organizations thrive in an increasingly digital world:
out there, we know. But the key is
• Cultivate innovation: When people from all
to find the one that best fits your
over the world are brought together, inno-
organization and your end-users. vative ideas and solutions are generated
through co-creation and crowdsourcing.
This guide will speed up your
• Members at the forefront: Provide members
decision-making process and
with the space and freedom to collaborate,
help you evaluate community connect and generate new knowledge.
software with the right criteria.
• Create a continuous conversation: Instead
of creating once-off meetings, conferences

Before diving into the nitty-gritty, what or events you can create a continuously
connected community that keeps engaging
is an online community platform and
with your organization.
how is it beneficial for your organization?
• Save time and money: Instead of using a
variety of tools (Slack, Gmail, Google Docs,
Organizations are becoming more etc.), you can have one space to achieve
decentralized and focused on digi- specific organizational goals and bring your
tal transformation. Those who don’t members together

capitalize on new online trends and tech- • online.

nologies, get left behind. Creating an online vendors,

Software nd,
community can help your orga- e in dema
re s p o n se to a ris nd
in g more a
nization thrive in an era of social ti n g a n d evolvin
are genera . That’s
m u n it y solutions
media, remote-work and online events. ne com h a usefu
l
more onli id e you wit
p ro v
ant to ng of eig
ht
why we w rk consisti
a m e w o
n fr you
evaluatio will help
T h e s e q uestions
s. are
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a n o n li n e commu
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la tf o rm that fits y
p

Open Social Buying Guide 1

Question 1
YOUR GOALS
Question 1
What are your community goals and audience?

The journey begins with you. In order to EXAMPLE: A Volunteering Community

start a successful online community you to Create More Sustainable Cities
must specify your community audience
and community goals. These must always If your organizational goal is to create more
be at the forefront of your buying process. sustainable cities, then for your online
community you might have:
Does your organization want to create
a new community around an existing • Community goal: Allow citizens to volunteer
organizational over weekends at local events that promote
goal? sustainability in their city.

• Community audience: Members of the pub-

lic within specific cities who are interested in
environmental issues. As well as: local orga-
nizations who work with sustainability issues.

• Online community solution: You will be

looking for an online solution that offers
event organization as well as features such
as group formation, allowing people to con-
You need to figure out how your organizational
nect and organize within local communities.
goal can translate into a community goal. Then
you can decide who your community audience
A solution such as Open Social’s
should be and what kind of community solution
Volunteer Engagement Platform
you’ll consequently need.
would consequently be a great fit
for your community goal and audience.
Are you evaluating a platform for
an already established community?

Not everyone is looking for a first platform. As

the market matures, many organizations move
their platform to a different vendor. For the most
part, the evaluation criteria remains the same.
The major difference is that if you already have a
community, you should have a good sense of your
goals and platform requirements. These factors
will be a great help in making a good decision.
ore
Read m
a
reating
about c y
mmunit
o lu n t e ering co
v

Open Social Buying Guide 3

Question 2
SOFTWARE MODELS
Question 2
What type of community platform do you need?

You need to evaluate how much time Some examples include Open Social, Khoros, or
you have, how much budget, and how SalesForce for retail communities. Small business
platforms are out-of-the-box solutions usually
tech-savvy your team is to choose
better suited for organizations that need smaller
the right type of community platform.
communities and have a smaller budget. They
often focus on a specific community aspect, like
We’ve provided three common characteris-
content curation or question and answer, rather
tics that can help you determine the model or
than a full set of features. Some examples in-
type of community platform you need (keep
clude Discourse, Disciple as well as Open Social.
in mind that these characteristics can overlap).

HIGHLIGHT: Open Social provides out-of-the-

Build vs. Buy
box solutions for smaller or mid-range organi-
The open source model requires you to build and
zations, but offers a range of extensions and
manage your own platform. You download the
integrations on top of that to help you create
latest version of the software and configure it
a purpose-built platform.
yourself. This is great if you want full control, and
aren’t afraid to dive into the software by yourself!

Full Service vs. Do-It-Yourself

If you’d rather not do it yourself, you can buy a
The full-service model is great if you are limited
packaged software that’s ready to go (often re-
with people but your budget is not an issue. The
ferred to as Software as a Service or SaaS). You
vendor usually takes care of all stages of com-
avoid the hassle of downloading and installing
munity life, from setup and implementation to
the software. Or even maintaining it!
community management.

HIGHLIGHT: At Open Social, we use an

The Do-It-Yourself service model means
open-core model where customers can
that once your software is up and running
either download and customize our
then (you guessed it), you will be manag-
software themselves or hire us to set it up
ing the community itself. This can range from
and maintain it as a SaaS product.
maintenance or hosting to management.
There are many other models out there or even
Enterprise vs. Small Business
hybrid models of the ones we’ve mentioned.
Enterprise-grade platforms are usually best suit-
However, determining the three aspects
ed for large community solutions that need cus-
mentioned will definitely move you
tomizations or a host of integrations. This type
closer to understanding what
of offer requires a large budget but includes
type of platform you
perks such as quick support or a space for a
are looking
large number of users, custom features, integra-
for.
tion with your organization’s systems and more. Read
out
more ab
pen core
e b e n e fits of o
th

Open Social Buying Guide 5

Case Study:
An enterprise-grade platform
for United Nations

SparkBlue was launched as part

of the United Nations Develop-
SparkBlue was launched
ment Programme’s (UNDP)asambi-
part
of the United Nations Develop-
tious digital transformation goals:
ment Programme’s (UNDP) ambi-
to allow better internal and ex-
tious digital transformation goals:
ternal
to allowcommunication
better internal between
and ex-
their international
ternal communication stakeholders.
between
their international stakeholders.

Open Social
Open Social developed
developed the Spark-
the SparkBlue plat-
Blue platform on top of the out-of-
form on top of the out-of-the-box solution
the-box
we offer solution we offer smaller
smaller organizations. or-
The Enter-
ganizations. The Enterprise-grade
prise-grade development for the UNDP included:
development for the UNDP included:
• integration with Office 365 to facilitate
•
• integration with Office 365 to fa-
internal collaboration;
cilitate internal collaboration;
• a Single-Sign On system to allow members
• a Single-Sign
to login On
to the online system
platform to al-
with their
• low members to login to the online
UN credentials;
platform with their UN credentials;
• as well as custom Dashboard features to
• as wellCommunities
create as custom of Dashboard fea-
Practice spaces
tures to create
where members Communities
can group of
relevant infor-
Practice spaces where members full story
mation streams, events and data together. Read the latform
can group relevant information
h in d S p arkBlue p
streams, events and data together. be

Currently SparkBlue serves more than 46,000

Currently SparkBlue
members, helping the UNDPserves more
reach their dig-
than 46,000 members, helping
ital transformation goals and create an on-the
UNDP
line hubreach their
for their digital transforma-
international stakeholders.
tion goals and create an online hub
for their international stakeholders.

Digital GuideBuying
Open Social for NGO’s and Non-Profits
Guide 56
Pros & Cons
Software

Models Pros Cons

You need time and a

You have full control over the
Open Source software and it is free to use.
tech-savvy team to do
setup and maintenance.

You have a hassle-free setup, Often, you will not be able

SaaS access to more features and to customize the software
maintenance and support. or customization is limited.

Ideal for large communities, It requires a large budget

it includes benefits like sup- and custom development
Enterprise-Grade
port, extensions, and custom might take some time.
features and integrations.

It does not require a large You have a limited set of

budget and is usually quick to features, extensions and
Small Business
get up and running. integrations.

The vendor takes care of It requires you to budget for

all services, leaving you to a monthly subscription fees.
Full Service concentrate on community
building.

You have full control over your You need time and people
Do-It-Yourself own community, and can to manage your own
adjust strategies easily as community.
you grow.

Open
DigitalSocial
GuideBuying Guide
for NGO’s and Non-Profits 7
Question 3
SOFTWARE VENDOR
Question 3
What is the product and company viability?

When you buy packaged software, it’s Company Viability

helpful to know whether you can trust Community software should be supported
by a financially strong company with a
both the product and company to be
good customer base.
successful.

We recommend looking at least looking at the

What is
following company characteristics:

their • Company history: How long has the compa-

ny been around? It is a startup or is it sup-
ported by an existing business? How long
viability?
has it been profitable?

• Customer base: It’s not just the size of the

customer base that matters, but also the
Product Viability
quality. Check who the customers are and
The community software itself should be re-
how they are using the platform.
liable in terms of quality, security, and back-
ground. We recommend looking at least look-
• Financials: It’s not always easy to find this
ing at the following product characteristics:
information (or you can always ask) but we’d
suggest checking whether the company is
• Installed base: The number of installed
privately or publicly held, who the investors
systems in use tells you how well a system
are and if its profitable.
is supported. It can also tell you whether a
platform supports real communities that are
vibrant and have grown over time.
HIGHLIGHT: You can learn a lot about asking
• Target markets: Is the product targeted at for a company one-pager or two-pager. This is
specific horizontal or vertical markets? If a document that lays out all the information
your company does not fall within one of you need to know about a specific
these targets, then your needs may not be company in one or
completely addressed. two pages.

• Reviews: Look online for reviews of the

product. This will perhaps give you the best
insights about the product validity. Sites like
Capterra, G2 and Software Advice are good Read
cial’s
Open So
ager
y two-p
compan

Open Social Buying Guide 9

Example:
Let’s take a look at a breakdown
of Open Social’s viability

Installed bases
Open Social’s online community software has
+1,000 installs at the moment, ranging from
small local communities to international
member networks.

Target market
Open Social offers three software solutions
for specific target markets:

• Community Engagement Platform

• for general purpose communities

• Volunteer Engagement Platform

• for NGOs and volunteering organizations

• Member Engagement Platform

• for associations and professional or
• expert member organizations.

Reviews Customer base

Open Social currently has a 4.8 (out of 5) rating Open Social serves some of the biggest inter-
on leading review site Capterra. national organizations, including the United
Nations, Salvation Army, FIFA and Greenpeace.
Read more here.

Company History
Open Social started as a Drupal Agency in 2008
and transitioned to an online community SaaS Financials
company in 2016. Read our full history here. In 2020 Open Social raised €1.25 million seed
investment from Peek Capital and
Nimbus Ventures. Read more here.

Open Social Buying Guide 10

Question 4
PLATFORM CAPABILITIES
Question 4
Does it have the platform capabilities that you need?

Features, features, features. When looking HINT: Some companies make their prod-
at software, the list of features sometimes uct roadmap public. This can be a great way
seems endless. How can you possibly narrow it for you to see which features you can expect
down? That’s why we advise looking at the ca- in the future. It also allows you to see how ac-
pabilities and behaviors that your community tive the company is in updating its product.
needs to be successful (think: sharing content,
learning new content, perfecting skills, etc.). And Extra features
these can be turned into technical requirements. On top of the core features that you need, you
should also look at what extra features each plat-
All this comes down to is: does the community form offers. Some offer monetization tools, others
software offer the usability you need for your offer gamification or engagement automation.
end users to be successful? Here are some of the extra platform
extensions Open Social offers:
We recommend making a list of non-negotia-
ble characteristics that are key to your commu- Crowd Innovation
Drive engagement by creating innovation
nity, and the features needed to enable them.
challenges that have to be solved
by your community.
Here are some non-negotiable characteristics
we believe are necessary for a successful Gamification
online community: Increase engagement by letting your
members earn points and badges
Communication channels through community activities.
(forums, chats, blogs, or private messaging)

Dashboard
Collaboration methods
Create a space where members can get an
(File sharing, co-working, discussions, ideation)
at-a-glance overview of key performance
Customization indicators, content streams and relevant
(community management settings, platform community information.
settings, member and group management, etc.)

Profile management Native App

(members have control over their own information) Launch your community platform as
a branded app on iOS or Android.
Member content creation
(members can easily create their own content)
Customized Content Access
Moderation Control the visibility and accessibility
(the ability for moderators to help manage of specific content on your
community content)
online community
Reporting and analytics platform.
(Measurements of community interaction and
reports that help you make sense of them)
See
anging
c ia l’s g ame-ch
Open So atures
extra fe

Open Social Buying Guide 12

Question 5
PLATFORM CUSTOMIZATION
Question 5
How flexible is the community software?

The flexibility of a platform is mainly about HINT: Some platforms are very affordable
two things: change over time and making the when you start with a small community - but
community your own. Every community will become unaffordable when your membership
change over time; more often than not, com- grows. Make sure you plan for the future
munities start small and grow as you learn of your community!
about the needs of your community. You can
also choose which features or structure best White-label
fits your unique use case with flexible software. If you are building a branded community, then
you’ll want to add your own brand identity, logos
Here are some common community and colors to the platform. Some vendors pro-
characteristics that will help you vide custom design services, others provide only
determine the flexibility of the software. set themes to choose from, and some even retain
some of the vendor branding on the platform.
Extensions
Extensions are features or community capabili- A white-label platform will allow you to:
ties that can be added to the base software. This is
especially important for very large communities • Add your logo, brand colors and images
(that need to scale quickly) or very niche commu- • Remove all vendor branding
nities that have specific feature requirements. • Use a custom domain name

HINT: Extensions are usually more preferable HINT: A branded community allows members
than customizations, since the latter option
to feel more at home, because the platform
adds functionality that was not an intended
will have a recognizable look & feel
generic feature of the platform.
that they can trust.

HIGHLIGHT: Open Social offers a marketplace

Layout
of over 25 extensions to turn out-of-the-box
One-size doesn’t always fit all. Some platforms
communities into purpose-built platforms.
are very inflexible when it comes to creating
page layouts or content structures.
Size and Licenses
You may not have a large community to start
Look for easy-to-use features like drag-and-
with, but if your goal is to grow then you need a
drop page builders or content-block systems
platform that can scale in members. Check this
if you need to create a unique community
by identifying the different user plans and how
experience for your
easy it is to switch in terms of users and licenses.
members.
A small community is usually less than 500 mem-
bers. The medium size is between 500 and 5,000.
A large community is anything beyond that! See
cial’s
Open So
ns
extensio

Open Social Buying Guide 14

Case Study:
SDG Philantrophy
customized pages

The SDG Philanthropy platform

is a global UNDP community
SparkBlue was launched as part
dedicated to solving sustainable
of the United Nations Develop-
development
ment goals (SDGs).
Programme’s (UNDP) ambi-
tious digital transformation goals:
to allow better internal and ex-
ternal
To advance communication between
the UN’s SDGs this platform need-
their international
ed to help stakeholders.
create local philanthropic networks,
multi-stakeholder partnerships and enable a le-
Open Social for
gal environment developed
philanthropicthe Spark-
investments.
Blue platform on top of the out-of-
the-box
SDG madesolution weofoffer
perfect use Open smaller or-
Social’s flex-
ganizations. The Enterprise-grade
ibility, as it was launched in 8 pilot countries
development
and needed a custom for the UNDP
space included:
for each country’s
unique initiatives, groups and stakeholders.
• integration with Office 365 to fa-
cilitate internal collaboration;

• a Single-Sign On system to al-

low
With members
Open to login
Social’s flexible to feature,
layout the online
SDG
platformsite-managers
Philanthropy with their UN werecredentials;
able to con-
struct each country page to their liking. Each
• as well
country page as custom
consists Dashboard
of various sections, fea-
each
withtures topurpose
their own create(textCommunities of
only, content stream,
Practice
events, graphicalspaces
elements,where members
quick links and more). full story
Read the phy
can group relevant information t h e S D G Philantro
streams, events and data together. behind

Currently SparkBlue serves more

than 46,000 members, helping the
UNDP reach their digital transforma-
tion goals and create an online hub
for their international stakeholders.

Digital GuideBuying
Open Social for NGO’s and Non-Profits
Guide 515
Question 6
PLATFORM INTEGRATION
Question 6
Can the software be integrated with existing systems?

Can the software be integrated with Integrations to consider

existing systems? You’re probably al- Depending on which tools your orga-
ready using many other tools and work- nization use, your priorities might be
flows within your company, e.g. your different. But there are a few key inte-
CRM, document management tools, grations you might want to consider:
reporting tools, or support systems.
Video-call tools
With remote-work becoming the new norm,
It must have cost a lot of time and money
and people connecting more easily from
to make them fit within your organization
around the world, an integrated video-call tool
(we know from experience). It’s best to can make life much easier for your members.
find a community software that supports No more external links or calendar conflicts!
interconnectivity and interoperability.
HIGHLIGHT: Open Social is currently offering
Zoom and BigBlueButton integration.
Online community software that compliments
your different systems will have far-reaching Internal communication tools
positive implications for the software imple- Productivity can be increased if you can seam-
mentation and adoption by your organization. lessly integrate your workplace communica-
tion tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Yam-
Many community software suppliers offer the mer with your online community platform.
possibility to integrate your new community
with these existing systems. Productivity tools
But make sure to ask about: What productivity tools do you use? Google
Docs, Microsoft Teams, One Drive? These are
• The possibilities using application program- great tools to integrate with your community as
ming interfaces (APIs); it will make collaboration seamless and simple.

• Modules that can be integrated into the Analytics tools

platform (e.g., Google Analytics). Integrating your community with robust analyt-
ics tools gives you access to in-depth data and
detailed reporting about how your platform is
HINT: Only set up integrations that will fit being used by new visitors and existing members.
your goals. Integrating software with each
other purely because its possible may lead to HIGHLIGHT: Open Social currently offer
confusion across communication channels. Google Analytics and Matomo Analytics
integration.

Open Social Buying Guide 17

Question 7
PLATFORM SECURITY
Question 7
What kind of security does the vendor offer?

What kind of security does the Privacy by design

vendor offer? Honestly, in today’s You’ll want to find a platform that has privacy
incorporated by design. Don’t be afraid to ask
environment, security is not a
what the vendors have done to ensure
point of comparison but a non-ne- the privacy and security of data.
gotiable feature. You’re not only Some signs of privacy by design are:

trying to protect your own data

• Does the platform offer Single Sign-on?
but that of your users. Here are a
• Single Sign-On allows members to use
few security factors worth check- one set of login credentials to access mul-
ing with your potential vendor: tiple applications - including your on-
line community. This means your or-
ganization can manage member login
Hosting
credentials across platforms and easily
Data from community platforms
avoid password breaches and insecurities.
are usually hosted on-premise or • Does the platform take GDPR into ac-
in the cloud. It’s important for you count? If you’re dealing with users from the
to know which method is used EU, then you’ll want to ask about this one.
by your potential vendor.
Frequency of updates
On-premise hosting: A platform that has several releases a year
The data is stored locally by the vendor itself. shows that the business keeps it’s soft-
PRO: The vendor has more control in terms of ware up to date, that it’s dedicated to soft-
data storage and security. ware improvement, and that you are less
CON: Higher costs, longer amount of time spent likely to experience functionality issues.
on maintenance, and, if the vendor is not capa-
ble of securing the data, then your data is at risk. Is open source safe?
At Open Social we believe in the principles of
open source software. This means that trust,

Cloud hosting: privacy and data ownership are core to our plat-

The data is stored locally by the vendor itself. form. What makes open source software unique

PRO: The vendor has more control in terms of in terms of safety and security is that it is open

data storage and security. to public security auditing by a community of

CON: Higher costs, longer amount of time spent software developers and experts. Greater

on maintenance, and, if the vendor is not capa- transparency means greater oversight

ble of securing the data, then your data is at risk. and consequently:
stronger
security.
ore
Read m
rce
pen sou
about o

Open Social Buying Guide 19

Question 8
BUDGET
Question 8
Is it within your budget?

Once you have the answers to all

the questions above, you need
to ask your vendor about pric-
ing. Pricing might depend on
the following factors, so make
sure you compare what you
get with how much you pay:

• Maintenance costs
But pricing is more than just a cost anal-
• Implementation costs ysis. In what way could this software
make you more efficient or profitable?
• Monthly fees

• Standard discounts

• Licenses

• Extra extensions, integrations

• and modules

Because, eventually, you’ll have to

convince your boss that this is the
right purchase. So, be prepared
with an analysis of cost and
the expected return
of investment.

Contact
cial
Open So
quote
to get a

Open Social Buying Guide 21

Question 9
WISHLIST
Question 9
Are you ready to make an informed decision?

You have already weighed a lot of differ-

ent options, factors and priorities for pick-
ing your software solution. But how do
you calculate all those factors and make
an informed and balanced decision?

Open Social has created a print-ready wishlist

document that you can fill in to help you decide
on the right solution. Fill out your wishlist and
prioritize:

• Communication requirements
• Support & development requirements
• Legal requirements
• Member management requirements
download wishlist
• ...and more!

Once you filled in your wishlist, it can also serve Now that you’re prepared with your checklist,
as a powerful document to help you choose you’re almost ready to make a decision.
the right vendor. It will allow you to simpli-
fy the decision-making process by giving ven- Before taking the final step, you may want to
dors a clear idea of your requirements and ask for recommendations from friends or col-
determining whether they can meet them. leagues who have used community software
before. Or seek out reviews from community
software experts like Capterra.

Once you have your data, you’ll want to start

a vendor evaluation by listing all your data in a
spreadsheet. From there on, you can pick your
top two or three vendors and request your
software or demo!

FINAL HINT: a demo can tell you a lot about

how customer-centric the business is and
how they will treat
you in the
le
future. Schedu
o - See
a dem n
l In actio
Op en Socia

Open Social Buying Guide 23

About
OPEN SOCIAL
About
Open Social

WHO CREATE DIGITAL SPACES

THAT EMPOWER YOUR
MEMBERS TO SHARE
ARE
Gain more members
WE? & keep them engaged
Simple & safe signup lets you grow and retain
membership, while purpose-built features
and extensions for sharing drives engagement.

Open Social is a purpose-built community

Create a platform
engagement platform. Developed on top
tailored to your needs
of a powerful open-source Drupal tech- Easily customize your white-label platform with
nology framework, Open Social allows drag-and-drop page layouts, click-of-a-but-
organizations to create a central online hub ton content creation and powerful extensions.
for their members. Open Social allows easy
communication, group formation, con- Own your data with
tent collaboration, event creation, social the power of open-source
interaction and seamless sharing of ideas, Using open-source technology lets you build

experiences, expertise and more. a community using transparent and safe dig-
ital tools. Own your platform and it’s data.

CLIENTS:
Create a purpose-built
platform with powerful extensions
Open Social lets you upgrade your platform
with extensions such as:

• Gamification
• Engagement Automation
• Zoom Live Events
• Courses
• Real-time collaboration
• Google Analytics
WEBSITE: getopensocial.com • ...and more!
UPDATES: @OpenSocialHQ
EMAIL: [email protected]

Open Social Buying Guide 25

Start Sharing Today
Get your personalized Open Social Demo

• See what Open Social looks

• like and how it works

• Find out which Open Social

features fit your
• organizational needs

• Get a Q&A specific for your

organization and needs

• Share your branded demo

environment with your
• team or organization

request a demo

You can also contact us on

www.getopensocial.com

Sources
Capterra, Forrester, Gartner,
CMX Hub SelectHub, CMNTY

Open Social Buying Guide