CE21

CE21 is an association software company whose platform combines a learning management system (LMS), event management and membership management (AMS) in one database, and email marketing is one of the tools built on top of it. The email page headline is "Finally, an email tool that actually knows your members," and the promise is to "Send precise, personalized messages directly from the CE21 platform," with "No exports. No syncing. No guesswork." The company, CE21, LLC, sells to professional associations, certification bodies and universities, and its home page also names continuing education, healthcare and member retention among the uses it is built for.

The problem the email tool is built around

The email page opens with a description of how many associations send a newsletter today: export a list from the member database, clean it up in a spreadsheet, upload it to a separate email tool and hope nobody was missed. It names three results of that routine. "The Unsubscribe Fear" is the worry about emailing members who already registered for the event being promoted. "Data Lag" is a list that is out of date by the time it is uploaded. "Generic Blasts" is sending the same message to everyone because segmenting takes too many hours. Everything else on the page is presented as the answer to those three, and it is a useful way to judge whether the product fits: an association that does not keep its members, courses and events in CE21 gains less from it.

What a sender gets

Smart Lists. The central feature. CE21 calls its Smart Lists "living queries that update in real-time." A sender sets the criteria once, and the page's own example is "Active Members who haven't registered for the Annual Conference." The system then adds or removes people as their status changes, so the list is current at send time without an export. The key features list describes them as dynamic contact lists that update automatically for accurate outreach.

Email builder and templates. The Intuitive Email Builder is drag and drop and works with "pre-built or custom templates." The page says an association does not need a graphic designer to produce branded emails, and that the system can fill in personal details automatically, so members are addressed by name rather than "Dear Member."

Automation. Under the heading "Set-it-and-forget-it automation," a sender sets up rules that trigger emails when they are needed. The page gives three examples: renewals, which "automatically nudge members when their expiration date is approaching"; reminders, which send "Know Before You Go" emails to event registrants; and onboarding, which welcomes new members with a scheduled drip campaign introducing their benefits. A customer quote on the home page, from the president and CEO of SMEI, singles out "automated renewals, notices, and notifications" as time savers.

Exclusion options. A campaign can exclude recipients who have already interacted with previous emails, which is how the tool answers the worry about promoting an event to people who already registered.

Reporting. Advanced Reporting tracks delivery rates, opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes. Because the email tool reads the same data as the rest of the platform, the page says a sender can "see how communication drives actual behavior": whether an email led to a registration, whether a renewal reminder resulted in a payment, and shopping trends and program completions traced back to a campaign.

Using it alone. The page says the email tool can be used "alongside our LMS platform or on its own," although most of its selling points depend on the member, event and course data living in CE21.

The platform behind the email

The home page presents CE21 as "One Database. Three Powerhouses. Zero Zapier." The three are:

• Learning management. Course creation, SCORM compliance, automated CE tracking and certificate management, for continuing education and professional development. A blog post describes how CE21 automates Credly digital badges for continuing education.
• Event management. In-person conferences, virtual webinars and hybrid events, connected to the LMS and member database so attendance is tracked, CE credits are awarded and registration data syncs in real time.
• Membership management (AMS). Shares one database with the LMS, which the page says means "no data synchronization, no integration headaches, and complete visibility into member education, event attendance, and certification status all in one place."

For email, this is the point of the product. When a member renews, registers for an event or completes a program, that change is visible to Smart Lists, automations and reports straight away. The home page says there is "no data synchronization lag and no need for expensive integration consultants." Its phrase for the result is "A change in one place is a change everywhere, instantly."

The site's features menu also lists a CE21 Mobile App, a Sharing Marketplace, a Referral Service, a Live Event Portal, Classified Ads, Concierge Services and an API & Integrations page. The mobile app, on the App Store and Google Play, keeps LMS content on members' phones with offline viewing. The Content Sharing Marketplace "works both ways": an association can fill its store with accredited courses from CE21's network, or syndicate its own courses to other organizations for passive income. The home page's list of uses also includes badging, member pricing and pricing bundles.

Pricing, demos and support

The site publishes no prices. Both pages route buyers to "Request a Demo" or "Book a Demo," with an "Ask a Question" form for a product expert to follow up on.

Support is the other point the company presses. The home page says "Unlike vendors who pass support to a third party, our expert in-house support delivers prompt, accurate help," and it lists "In-House Member Support" among the three headline features next to the single database and the marketplace. That support is described as serving both an association's staff and its members. Testimonials back the point: a Dallas Bar Association director calls the onboarding process "very helpful" and says CE21 made its online CLE process "smooth and fast," a Housing First Minnesota officer says the support team is "second to none," and the North Carolina Chiropractic Association says it moved to the AMS partly because the LMS "integrates perfectly with the AMS." The blog also carries a post arguing that private ownership matters in association technology, framed around platforms that get acquired by larger holding companies.

Who it suits

CE21's email tool fits an association that already runs, or is ready to run, its membership, continuing education and events on CE21. An executive director, education director or operations manager, the roles the home page addresses directly, would get renewal nudges tied to real expiration dates, event reminders that go only to registrants, onboarding drips for new members, and reports that show whether a message led to a registration or a payment. A bar association, a chiropractic association, SMEI and Housing First Minnesota are among the customers quoted.

It suits less well an organization that only wants to send a newsletter to a public list. The page does say the tool can run on its own, but Smart Lists, exclusions and behavior reporting draw their value from member, event and course records. An organization happy with its current AMS and LMS would be adopting a whole platform to get the email features at their best. The site also shows no public pricing, so the cost is known only after a demo.