SPARK* is an Australian charity.  It is the brain child of Kaitlin and Aaron Tait.  In their words it aims to equip young leaders in their own countries to be makers of change in the fight against extreme poverty.  

 

For over 12 months now SPARK* has been using Ezypay to help them in fundraising.  On their website they have a donate now page that allows donors to make a monthly contribution.  This is enabled by the Ezypay direct debit gateway. 

“The Ezypay Direct Debit Gateway has been a fabulous opportunity for Spark* to increase its sustainability by offering our star supporters the chance to join with us and enable our work through monthly contributions.” said Kaitlin Tait, Operations Director, Spark* International.

At Ezypay we are very proud to be able to support the goals of SPARK* through the use of our direct debit gateway.  Talking to Kaitlin about how SPARK* might use the gateway for fundraising she got it immediately.  She quickly understood the concept and the benefit of signing up donors for ongoing amounts right there on the website.  Personally I was very impressed because having spoken to many fundraisers currently working for charities they just don’t get the opportunity.

 

 

Crunch the original ‘No Judgements’ gym opens their first Australian site in Chatswood, Sydney in early September 2010. 

Crunch gym was started in New York USA 21 years ago.  A medium sized chain – they currently they have over 20 sites in the USA.  The company has made the move to Australia with a local Sydney entrepreneur Selena Short.  Short already the owner of a successful club in the Sydney CBD called V Club (www.vclub.com.au) was looking for a proven business model that would change the face of fitness in Australia. 

The Crunch fitness model is based on offering entertaining and interesting work outs for members and all within a no judgment environment.  They have fused Group Fitness and Personal Training to give members a variety of classes.  The three key class types are Action Sports, Chill Outs and Dance Rhythms.  Their creativity will be sure to keep members entertained, having fun and coming back for more.  Where else could you get fitness class called ‘Who Dares Wins’?  

Their unique approach to fitness is also found in their approach to memberships.  Their structure is No Contracts, No Joining Fee and No Admin Fee.  True to this they are offering an amazing pre-sales deal of $4.95 a week for a base membership which covers use of the gym facilities.  Their peak membership is only $9.90 a week which covers use of the gym facilities and classes.  

Members can join either by visiting their site on Level 2, 1-5 Railway Street, Chatswood or directly via their website (www.crunch.com.au) or via their Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/pages/Chatswood-Australia/Crunch-Australia/116184525092265). 

Crunch’s online membership sales tool is powered by their direct debit provider, Ezypay’s Direct Debit Gateway (DDG) system.  Moving quickly Ezypay set the direct debit gateway system up for Crunch in under a week.  It works by integrating into Crunch’s website and via an iFramed application in Facebook. 

Go Crunch!  Just because you guys have your first site around the corner from our offices, isn’t the only reason we are excited about your opening Did you say free memberships for the Ezypay team?  Fantastic!

 

 

Fit n Fast are an Australian chain of fitness clubs that are taking a very innovative and creative approach to selling memberships – online and through Facebook.   I believe that this may be a world first….here is some more info on what they are doing. 

Fit n Fast  have a Facebook membership signup thanks to the robust Ezypay DDG technology 

Fit n Fast Gyms, who have just opened their first Sydney gym in Penrith, are powering ahead with their social media client engagement strategy. They have just released online membership signup (Check it out! Great membership signup tool.), to their gyms via Facebook.  

This means that their Facebook fans, as well as being able to engage with other fitness members and the gym staff via the Fit n Fast Facebook page can now take advantage of a one-stop-application to take up membership and maintain their details. 

“From a marketing perspective, this has been an absolute coup for us,” says Nic Monteforte, COO of Fit n Fast. “Facebook has really proved to be a great way to connect with our market and to be able to provide them with the most convenient way to manage their membership has just increased the value of the application for us.” 

The team at Think Tank Media (would recommend you use them if you want to do the same thing) in Melbourne has created the Facebook App specifically for Fit n Fast to work directly from Facebook. 

“We’re very excited to be working with this enthusiastic brand on what is a world first for the fitness industry,” says Sam Mutimer, Director at Think Tank Media. 

The new application is made possible by incorporating the Ezypay Direct Debit Gateway (DDG) system into the application iFrame so that the Fit n Fast Facebook users can sign up directly from within Facebook. 

“The DDG is incredibly simple to use,” says Mutimer, “and we’ve had very fast responses through our testing accounts.” 

“We were already using the Direct Debit Gateway system from Ezypay to allow members to join online and manage their own membership,” says Monteforte. “Having the ability to just replicate this kind of member engagement within Facebook itself and allow our members to have more control makes them have more of a connection to and ownership of their membership.” 

With the results from the Ezypay run 2010 Australian Fitness Industry Survey showing that most gym members used Facebook to communicate online, developing a Facebook application was a logical step in the promotion of a gym that allows its members to signup online. 

We’re very excited about this new application of our Direct Debit Gateway system.  It demonstrates how versatile the system is in allowing businesses to give their customers flexibility and control over their subscriptions and direct debit accounts. 

The Ezypay DDG allows businesses to have a seamless integration through their website, and now through Facebook, to their direct debit signup system and can be fully customised and branded. 

Fit n Fast is seeing some great results with the DDG.  In the first day of launching their new gym in Penrith 30% of their sign-ups were directly through the DDG. That means no staff time has been used to get this new member on board.  Like the sound of that? 

Through a series of online opportunities such as connecting with people on Twitter, several Facebook competitions and pay per click Facebook advertising Fit n Fast hope to be able to drive engagement on their Facebook page and website so that they can build their brand awareness and community engagement.