UMRA is excited to announce the launch of a new member portal in late April. This web-based, member management software system is hosted by a company called WildApricot and will replace the current member portal at retirees.umn.edu, where you currently renew your membership and sign up for events.

The new portal simplifies and more efficiently manages many essential tasks for UMRA, including enrolling new members, updating member records, registering event attendees, and processing payments. 

Volunteers have built, tested, and retested the new member portal, and produced help documentation to make the transition as easy as possible for our members.

Get set up in the new member portal 

At the end of April, you will receive two messages prompting you to login to the new member portal. One email will come from [email protected], telling you to look for another email from [email protected]. The email from [email protected] will have customized instructions for you to create a new password and log in to the new member portal.

Note that the message from [email protected] may go to spam, since it is your first email from our new system. Check your spam if you do not see it in your inbox.

We ask that you please log in to your account as soon as possible. To log in, you must use the email address that we used to send you the Welcome Login email. If you use a different email you will create a second member profile and be charged for a second membership.

Once you go through the process to create your new password and log in, check your profile information to make sure everything is current. If you have a dual membership, each of you will be able to create an account and update your profile.

A number of questions have been added toward the bottom of your profile information. We’d like you to respond to these questions to better understand your interests, enabling UMRA to serve you better.

Member renewals in the new portal 

Late in May you will receive another email from the new system telling you that it’s time to renew your membership. Assuming you’ve already gone through the initial login, follow the “Renew Your Membership” documentation in the “Help” section of our new member portal for help completing your renewal.

Register for events 

Many upcoming events can be found in the new member portal. You may begin to register for them once you’ve logged in. When you register for multiple events, you can create an invoice for each event (instead of paying after each registration) and then enter your credit card information and pay only once.

For help, see the “Pay For Multiple Purchases at Once” documentation in the “Help” section when the new system is live. 

Help is here if you need it

Look over the “Help” section we’ve provided on our new member portal. Tasks such as event registration, membership renewal, and changing membership level (from single to dual or vice versa) are explained there.

Stop by our table at both April and May 20 Luncheon Forums if you have questions. Volunteers will be there and are happy to help.

Hats off to our volunteers 

Once again, a big thank you to all the UMRA members who have volunteered their time and talents, and worked hard to configure this new system.

—Cathy Lee Gierke, UMRA website manager; Kathy Jensen, UMRA website editor; Virgil Larson, membership manager; Sandy Weisberg, reservationist; Mike Austin; Jane Glazebrook; and Ron Matross, UMRA Membership and Communication Committee chair