A website that was holding them back

Before ToucanTech, AEIRS operated with a text-heavy, hard-to-navigate website that made even simple membership tasks feel cumbersome. Their homepage stacked long content blocks with competing calls to action. Their membership page relied on dense paragraphs and bright colours that made it difficult to scan. The job board offered members little more than a static page and a single button.

Behind the scenes, the picture was similar. Managing memberships meant jumping between modules and reports. Accessing member records required more steps than it should. Data on who was engaging — and when — was hard to surface. For a small, dedicated team, this meant administrative time was constantly being spent on manual work that a modern platform should handle automatically.

AEIRS also lacked the tools to drive members toward meaningful digital action: auto-renewing their membership, registering for events through a mobile app, or engaging with content on social media and then converting on the website. They needed a system that could make all of this feel seamless — for their team and their members.

Measurable impact from day one

📈 36% rise in new memberships

In the two months following launch (November–December 2025), AEIRS recorded a 36% increase in new memberships compared to the same period the year before — a direct signal that the redesigned join and renewal journey is working.

📱 A mobile app that just works

The ToucanTech app gave members a straightforward way to check events, view registrations, and engage on the go. Staff described it as "self-explanatory" — and are looking forward to using it as the primary channel for the annual meeting experience.

🔄 Members choosing auto-renew

With auto-renew now an option, members are proactively opting in — a strong signal that the platform is making people's lives easier, and a positive indicator for long-term retention.

🌐 Social driving website traffic

Increased social media engagement is feeding directly into more website visits. Member engagement has risen across the board as the two channels reinforce each other — a virtuous cycle that wasn't possible before.

📊 Simpler admin, faster access to data

What once required navigating between multiple reports can now be done directly within the memberships module. Filtering and sorting capabilities in the reporting wizard mean the team can get to the data they need — date-sorted, deduplicated, accurate — without the workarounds they relied on before.

From cluttered to cohesive — page by page

ToucanTech's in-house design team rebuilt the AEIRS website from the ground up. The transformation touched every major page, replacing heavy text and competing visual elements with clean layouts, clear member journeys, and a consistent brand identity.

Before

• Text-heavy homepage with stacked content blocks and bright competing buttons
• Membership page with dense paragraphs and multiple clashing headings
• Job board limited to static copy and a single submission button
• No consistent colour palette or brand across pages
• Key actions buried below the fold

After

• Bold hero section with clear signposting to Events, Membership, and Publications
• Soft, consistent colour palette with FAQ accordion replacing long paragraphs
• Searchable job board with filterable listings and a streamlined submission flow
• Cohesive typography, spacing, and visual identity across every page
• Important actions visible above the fold — no scrolling required

Support that makes the difference

Across every call from January to March 2026, one theme came up again and again — unprompted. The quality of ToucanTech's support team stood out as the single biggest improvement the AEIRS team experienced after switching platforms.

Whether it was a question about accessing PDFs, navigating member records, or understanding a new reporting filter, the team knew they'd get a response quickly — and that if an answer wasn't immediately available, they'd hear back when it was. That reliability changed how they approached the platform: instead of hesitating when they hit an obstacle, they reached out and moved forward.

This responsiveness created confidence across the team. New features — like the speaker application forms that surface directly on member profiles, or the newly released duplicate-filtering capability in reports — were discovered and adopted quickly because staff felt comfortable exploring the system and asking questions.