EntryEeze Competition Software

[FigureSpins]

EntryEeze is growing in popularity; more and more competitions are using this software to handle registrations and collect payments.  I was wondering if any test committee members had feedback on the advantages/disadvantages of using this package. 

http://www.entryeeze.com/index.html

[aussieskater]

No but I had a quick look around the site.  It's expensive!  They collect $1.25 from the club per entered skater, then collect 3.5% of the fee from the skater directly on top.

For the last comp I was involved in, the fee charged by this place would have been $325 (probably reasonable?) from the club, plus close to $1,000 from the skaters directly as a surcharge.

For that kind of money, we'll keep running the excel spreadsheet we always have.

[FigureSpins]

I know that our Synchro teams were caught off-guard last year because they didn't expect a PayPal fee on team fee payments.  The rink raised our commission rates an extra 1.75% to cover students paying for privates with credit cards.

I wonder if part of that 3.5% is to cover credit card/PayPal fees?  The only alternative is cash or check, which requires processing and manual accounting.

[nicklaszlo]

I wonder if part of that 3.5% is to cover credit card/PayPal fees?  The only alternative is cash or check, which requires processing and manual accounting.

eCheck?

[hopskipjump]

As a skating parent I LOVE it.  You can get approved quickly by your club, you can see who is coaching and who is competing, schedules too!  And I could reserve practice ice as well and choose to buy an ad.  The schedules always seem to come out faster as well.  I was totally caught off guard when we had a paper and pen sign up and had to collect a club letter or signature and coaches signature and have time to mail it in as well.  Writing checks is a pain and I don't like to print out my cc number on paper.

[karne]

....

I print off the entry form on my computer.

I fill it in (all neat in blue pen. hahaha.)

I sign it.

I go to the bank and get a cheque. (Sometimes I get a nice lady who waives the cheque fee.)

I put it all in an envelope and put it in the box at the rink before close of entries. (Always a Friday.)

The entry list is up by Monday.

....

I kind of like it.

[FigureSpins]

Yes, but that's an in-house competition, Karne.  Most skating schools/clubs still use paper for those small, one-day events. 

It's the bigger competitions that draw skaters from other rinks, and even other US states, for which EntryEeze has been implemented.  The New Year's Invitational is an adult competition that attracts skaters from all over this big country of ours.

[FigureSpins]

eCheck?

eCheck charges a processing fee and there is equipment involved, which adds to the cost.  There's no such thing as free financial transactions.  Unless the Club has a truly "free" bank account, paper checks and cash incur fees, too.

Just looked at the FAQ's and the 3.5% is indeed for handling financial transactions.  That's actually a savings - one club looked into accepting credit cards and the cost was exorbitant for a six-times-per-year usage.  It required a phone line, equipment and training to settle the transactions. 

Entry-Eeze is flexible: you can either have the fee tacked onto the skater's bill, like a ticket purchase fee, or included in the entry fee, which lowers the club's receipts unless they increase the entry fee to cover the cost.

[CrossStroke]

Just looked at the FAQ's and the 3.5% is indeed for handling financial transactions.  That's actually a savings - one club looked into accepting credit cards and the cost was exorbitant for a six-times-per-year usage.  It required a phone line, equipment and training to settle the transactions. 

Square? (just throwing it in here...)

[FigureSpins]

Square has a 2.75% fee, which is lower, but the Club has to provide the labor of swiping/entering the transactions.  I don't know that the application handles online payments without rekeying, but I could be wrong, though. 

While Square says there's no equipment fee, whose iPhone/iPad/Android is a Club going to use?  Square's little dongle device is free, but not the web-enabled device, plus you have to pay for the phone/internet service itself.  Do you buy an iPad for the Club?  Borrow a member's?  Who's going to keep track of it?


There is nothing on the market that lets a club accept a credit card payment without paying a fee.  Some organizations pass it on to the buyers, as the USFSA did this year with the coaching registration fees, others consider it an expense.

I had thought PayPal offered a discount to not-for-profits, but our Synchro manager said that's not the case.

[PinkLaces]

How does EntryEeze figure out who's e-mail gets to sign the approvals?  Is that something that sponsoring club puts in or does each skater put in the e-mail?  I'm the Test Chair and often get competition approvals from certain competitions that use this software.  I can't sign it, because I'm not an executive board member.  I have to forward all those e-mails on to those board members.  I suppose it is easier to find my club e-mail - testing@ourclub(dot)com - but not sure why it doesn't just go to our president  president@ourclub(dot)com

[Query]

I know this is an old thread, but I just became aware of EntryEeze, and find it fascinating. I knew that a lot of volunteers have complained that running clubs, and the competitions associated with them, is a lot of work.

I find it fascinating that there is a company that helps skating clubs with the details, for a fee.

Do they also help clubs handle the paperwork/online work for members to join the club, including providing info to USFS or ISI, and transfer USFS's share of the money?

Do they help the club reduce any of the other paperwork and online work of running a club, like renewing the club's membershiop in USFS or ISI?

Does EntryEeze help clubs advertise their competitions and shows?

I get that EntryEeze has to charge a percentage of what they receive from credit cards, because credit card companies charge them a fee.

I may be wrong, but I think there is a way for EntryEeze to bypass those credit card fees. Specifically, if the payer's financial institution (e.g., bank, credit union) allows electronic (online) bill pays from their checking account, I think that is free to the payer and the payee. Only the financial institution pays fees, which are normally invisible to the other parties.

(Online bill pay would be free for me as an individual. I don't know if that is true for organizations.)

Does EntryEeze give people the option to reduce costs for people who choose electronic bill pay?

[FigureSpins]

Short answer: No, using a checking account draft doesn't save the fee entirely.  It might be less than that of a credit card, though.

EE charges a flat fee for membership, test and event registrations.  The organizing club usually adds a percentage "convenience fee" to cover that cost and some/all of the credit processing.

All online payment transactions are run through Stripe.com.  The fees vary based on the type of payment (ACH vs Card) and/or card type.  Amex charges the highest percentage rate, so many clubs simply don't accept Amex cards. 

When payment is made offline via cash or a personal check, EE still charges their flat fee. 

The system organizes some paperwork and data integrations, but memberships are still renewed manually on the USFS/ISI sites by the membership chairperson.  They do have an export template that streamlines the updating of LTS USA but US Figure Skating doesn't have import functionality for memberships.  Tests registration, scheduling and email approvals are tracked but the test attempts/results have to be manually updated in the US Figure Skating system.

For competitions, EE is really good - it lets the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) manage registrations, music uploads practice session purchases and event groupings.  They have developed import/export formats to let EE exchange data with the music, judging and accounting systems used at the competitions.  Additionally, EE has reports/exports that can be used for credentials, lists, verfications and other documents that require registration data.  It can even provide an online "storefront" for merchandise sales like pins or shirts.  It's complex, but much easier to use than the Event Management System that US Figure Skating uses for their events.  (In my opinion.)

EE has some limited CRM functionality.  Admins can email all the members who haven't renewed their memberships; LOCs can reach out to all coaches and skaters via email; test approvals go to whomever.  However, it doesn't track those messages, so you can't see what messages were sent/received.  That's why many clubs use another online tool for newsletters and communications.

[FigureSpins]

How does EntryEeze figure out who's e-mail gets to sign the approvals?  Is that something that sponsoring club puts in or does each skater put in the e-mail?  I'm the Test Chair and often get competition approvals from certain competitions that use this software.  I can't sign it, because I'm not an executive board member.  I have to forward all those e-mails on to those board members.  I suppose it is easier to find my club e-mail - testing@ourclub(dot)com - but not sure why it doesn't just go to our president  president@ourclub(dot)com

Club Approval requests should go to the Membership Chair listed on EE at the skater's home club.  That's controlled through the Admin Accounts panel - the person with "Membership Chair" as their role will receive those emails.  Test forms have to be signed by an officer, test chair and/or membership chair because of prerequisites and retest waiting periods.

I think the rulebook states that the club Membership Chair has to approve competition entries.  Are you getting these emails from EE directly, or are people emailing to you personally?

The user guide is here: comp.entryeeze.com/Membership/AdminAll/GuideTestSessions.htm  (You may have to log into the membership site to view that link)

[Query]

Interesting.

So, in brief, EE saves a fair bit of work - but because USFS has complicating requirements and interfaces, they can't do everything. The total fees aren't that exorbitant compared to those of companies that do fund raising for non-profits - some of those absorb MOST of what is collected. (At one point I applied for a job at a company that raised money for one of those organizations. I was a little horrified of how it worked. I also had a relative that worked for a couple of the charities themselves, one a lobbying group, and one a medical charity. I don't know how accurate what she said was, but she claimed that roughly 1% of what was collected by the charity actually went to the cause.) So the fees aren't all that bad, especially since an officer for one skating club told me their annual competition was where they raise most of their money.

Now that I look, I see that there are event management systems for other sports too, and for other countries' organizations.

It makes sense. In retrospect, there is a market niche for companies to help small organizations, that can't easily put something together themselves, handle competitions & registrations etc., more efficiently. Plus, they are making the individual competitors do some of the work online. Very clever.