Best Practices

With generative artificial intelligence making headlines all over the place, some education directors and their teams are wondering whether they should use AI to write course descriptions. After all, course description writing can be time consuming, especially for those who are not confident writers or have heavy workloads and limited time to be creative. 

Does AI really save you time writing course descriptions, or are you better off looking for other ways to streamline your processes?

This question of whether to use AI to write course descriptions is not an easy one to answer. It comes down to your goals, level of comfort with the technology, and ethical stance on generative AI tools. Plus, it’s worth considering whether AI really saves you time, or whether you’re better off looking for other ways to streamline your processes. Since we’ve heard this question several times from CourseStorm customers and the internet at large, let’s discuss it. 

Can an AI Writing Tool Create Course Descriptions?

The answer to this question is theoretically yes. AI tools will attempt to write pretty much anything you ask for. Whether they do a good job of it is another story.

Every course description shares a few common goals: 

• Get students excited about the class
• Inform them about benefits and outcomes
• Tell them where and how to register

A quality course description does all of this in a couple of hundred words. It uses words and ideas that will resonate with the intended audience and convince them to take action. This is the standard AI writing tools have to meet.

We tested two web-based, free generative AI tools: ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. These are the most easily accessible options for nonprofits and small businesses. There are dozens of other tools out there, but many involve monthly subscription fees or desktop downloads. 

The user experience for these sites is pretty simple. You visit the site, sign in, and enter your prompt into the chat box. A prompt is the question or request you’d like the technology to answer.

The prompt: Write a class description for an adult improv class that includes “yes, and” improvisation, finding agreement, scene building, and team collaboration.

ChatGPT: First Attempt

The first result ChatGPT spit out was almost 400 words long, so we won’t reproduce the whole thing here. The opening line was: “Welcome to our Adult Improv Class where creativity thrives, laughter echoes, and spontaneity reigns supreme!” Which sounds more like the opening line of a game show than the start of a class description. 

Second Attempt, ChatGPT

One of the interesting things about ChatGPT is that you can ask it to try again and get an instant rewrite. Asking for something a little shorter gave us a much more manageable 95-word result. 

Welcome to our Adult Improv Class! Dive into the exciting world of improvisational theater with a focus on “Yes, And” improvisation, finding agreement, scene building, and team collaboration.

In this class, you’ll:

• Learn the “Yes, And” principle: Embrace spontaneity and build upon your scene partner’s ideas.

• Develop agreement skills: Enhance your ability to listen and create cohesive scenes.

• Master scene building: Discover the essentials of crafting engaging narratives on the spot.

• Foster team collaboration: Work together to create memorable comedic moments.

Join us for a fun and rewarding journey into the heart of improv comedy!

Missing Important Details

This actually isn’t a terrible result. It seems to be factually accurate and looks like a course description. However, it lacks some of the essential information we’d like to see: 

• An opening that hooks the reader
• What students will gain from taking the course
• A call to action

The opening: “Welcome to our Adult Improv Class!” is just fluff. It doesn’t tell the reader anything. The second sentence isn’t much better, it simply lists the four skills covered in the class. It’s then followed by … a list of the four skills covered in the class. Neither of these lists get to the real benefits of the class. 

The last sentence is trying hard to be exciting, but is also almost meaningless. What exactly is the “heart of improv comedy” and why should an adult want to discover it? 

The longer-form ending was slightly better: 

Whether you’re looking to boost your confidence, sharpen your comedic timing, or simply unleash your inner creativity, our Adult Improv Class offers a fun and rewarding journey into the heart of improvisational theater. Join us and embark on an unforgettable adventure where laughter knows no bounds and every moment is an opportunity to shine!

While it produced a factually accurate result, there were lots of meaningless words. We give ChatGPT a C+ in course description writing.

At least this version offers readers the outcome they can expect from the class: boost confidence, sharpen comedic timing, or unleash inner creativity. It’s still surrounded by a lot of meaningless words added simply to build excitement.

Overall, we give ChatGPT a C+ in class description writing.

Google Gemini: First Attempt

Google Gemini is another free-to-use AI writing tool that many organizations have experimented with. The same prompt on Gemini gives a more promising result. It delivered about 200 words in a reasonable format. It certainly looks like a course description. 

Unleash Your Inner Comic with Adult Improv!

Have you always wanted to try improv comedy but felt too intimidated? Our adult improv class is the perfect place to start! In a supportive and fun environment, you’ll learn the fundamentals of improvisation, including:

• The Power of “Yes, And” – The core tenet of improv is to agree with and build upon your scene partner’s ideas. We’ll explore how “yes, and” can help you create spontaneous, hilarious scenes.

• Finding Agreement – Improv is all about creating a world together as a team. You’ll learn how to listen to your scene partners and find common ground to build upon.

• Scene Building Techniques – We’ll teach you the building blocks of improv scenes, from creating characters to developing storylines.

• Team Collaboration – Improv is a team sport! You’ll learn how to work together with your classmates to create scenes that are both funny and engaging.

Benefits of Taking the Class

In addition to being a lot of fun, improv offers a number of benefits, including:

• Boosted confidence and public speaking skills

• Enhanced creativity and thinking on your feet

• Improved listening and communication skills

• Stronger teamwork and collaboration skills

Ready to Get Started?

Sign up for our next adult improv class today! You’ll be amazed at how much you learn and laugh.

Better Results, Subtle Issues

This is a much better description right out of the box. It starts by speaking to one of the reasons people may be reluctant to sign up. Then it includes the skills actors will learn, defining terms that may not be immediately understandable to a novice audience. Finally, it lists the benefits of the class, which are essential points to convince adults that a class is worth taking.

A closer read reveals some potential problems as well. The first line mentions that the reader might be intimidated, but the rest of the description doesn’t do much to overcome that objection. The phrase “supportive and fun environment” is inching closer, but it’s not going to convince a shy person to take action. 

Then we get to those definitions and descriptions, and it turns out some of them may be missing the mark. The description on finding agreement includes the phrase “find common ground to build upon,” which feels more like a conflict resolution meeting rather than something that happens on an improv set. 

Second Attempt, Google Gemini

Unlike ChatGPT, Google Gemini does not offer a regeneration option. If you re-input the same prompt, you do get a different result. That result was clearly weaker than the previous one. It includes phrases like “Improv isn’t just about guffaws” and “springboard to hilarious spontaneity.” In fact, variations of the word “hilarious” appear four times in less than 300 words. 

Pros and Cons: Using AI to Write Course Descriptions

We can’t tell you whether you should use AI to write class descriptions. All we can do is present the pros and cons of using this technology.

Why Use AI to Write Course Descriptions: 

• It’s fast
• You don’t have to be a skilled writer

Drawbacks to Using AI to Write Course Descriptions: 

• Results can be either bland or overly cutesy
• You may need to spend more time editing and refining
• Ethical concerns
• Lacks your unique brand voice

That last point is especially important. Learners have options. They can take classes online, travel to a different location, or simply stay at home and watch clips of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”

Your brand’s unique voice and personality is part of what encourages learners to register. A human writer can draw on their own experience of learning. They may know what it’s like to live in your community or region and write from that perspective. 

Just for fun, we asked Gemini to generate a class description suitable for a Midwestern audience. The results were … questionable. Let’s just say it opened with the line: Ever feel like you’re the life of the county fair but clam up in the city lights?  The “yes, and” approach was described as “like passin’ the gravy.” 

Using AI for writing may alienate some potential students, since many artists and writers have strong objections to AI technology. 

Generative AI programs may be able to write passable text, but they’re still missing a lot of the nuance that human writers bring. They also pose an ethical dilemma, especially for creative arts organizations. Using AI for writing may alienate some potential students, since many artists and writers have strong objections to generative AI technology. 

How to Use AI to Write Course Descriptions

If you do want to experiment with using AI to write course descriptions, get the best results with these best practices: 

• Learn the technology. Writing a good prompt can go a long way. Learn how the technology works and how to write a prompt that delivers the results you want.

• Edit before you post. Read the output carefully and edit where necessary. You should never copy and paste AI output directly into your class catalog. 

• Double-check for the basic elements of a class description: These include a hook, benefits, and call to action. As we saw, many AI tools miss at least one of these.

If you’d rather write your own course description from scratch, these examples and templates will help get you started. 

Better Ways to Save Time

We at CourseStorm are not averse to using AI to save time and solve problems — in fact, we are developing a new AI-powered feature that will simplify running reports on your education program.

In fact, every feature of CourseStorm’s online registration software is designed to save time and reduce the administrative burden on your staff while improving students’ experience at the same time. It’s simple, intuitive, and easy to set up and use, even if you’re not especially tech-savvy.

An arts education director who tried it told us, “I opened CourseStorm and built a class in 3 minutes!” But don’t take our word for it. Sign up for a free trial today and find out for yourself!

Any arts or education program offering classes to the public needs a mobile-friendly class registration and management system. It’s just not optional anymore. Students, instructors, and administrative staff expect to be able to access essential course information on the go. 

With 60% of time online spent on mobile devices, your students and staff expect to be able to register and access course info on the go. 

Globally, about 60% of the time people spend online happens on a mobile phone. In the U.S. 15% of adults are smartphone-only internet users. Trying to run arts or education classes without a mobile-friendly system leads to: 

• Missed registrations because people can’t take action whenever they think of it. They have to wait until they’re at their computer, if they have one at all.

• Unhappy customers who are annoyed or inconvenienced by digging out their laptop, which they really only use for work anyway.

• Time wasted by instructors and administrators who would happily manage their classes while commuting but can’t, because they only have a mobile phone with them.

• Extra admin when customers call or send emails to try to register for classes instead of using the all-in-one registration and payment system on your website.

A mobile-friendly class registration system is convenient for customers and instructors. It makes registration available anytime, anywhere, and lets everyone make the best use of their time.

Here’s a closer look at why your arts or education program absolutely can’t go another day without mobile-friendly class registration software.

If you’re already convinced that adding mobile registration is the right choice for your program, it’s time to give CourseStorm a try. Start your free trial today and discover how much simpler course administration can be.

CourseStorm: Simple, Mobile-Friendly Class Registration

CourseStorm is class registration, payment, and management software designed to be simple to use on any device. It’s mobile friendly and user friendly for both registrants and staff. All pages on a CourseStorm site, from class listings to registration pages, are automatically optimized for mobile devices. There’s nothing you have to do or set to make a CourseStorm site friendly for mobile users — it just is.

1. Keep Customers Engaged By Improving the User Experience on Mobile Devices

Most people have used their smartphone to visit a website that forced them to zoom in on text to read it, or scroll left-to-right to find information. It’s frustrating. These websites haven’t bothered to make their content mobile friendly, they simply display the desktop version without regard for the smaller screen. Customers are likely to click away in frustration. 

At CourseStorm, user experience is our guiding principle. We design and test our software to make it impossibly simple for almost any user. As one customer put it, “If you can use email, you can use CourseStorm.”

A website that is not optimized for mobile might look fine on the desktop version, where the text is large enough to read and the links are easily clickable. But the mobile version is another story. Everything shrinks down, to fit the smaller screen. The text is tiny and the pictures are distorted. Good luck trying to click on any of those links without accidentally hitting the one beside it. 

For contrast, below you can see what a class listing on CourseStorm looks like on a mobile phone screen. The text is large and easy to read. Buttons are large enough, with space around them so you can click with precision.

2. Break Down Access Barriers by Letting Mobile Users Register Without Downloading Extra Apps

Some programs require people to use proprietary apps for registration. That means customers have to download your software to their phone, where precious storage space is already full of their favorite mobile games, social media apps, work tools, and videos of their pets. 

The last thing most people want is one more mobile app to download, especially if they’re a first-time user who is just learning about your program. Adding that extra step might just mean they choose not to register at all. 

CourseStorm allows users to register and access their user profile from any device with an internet connection — no download required. That means they can use their mobile phone or borrow a friend’s iPad to sign-up, pay, and manage their registration.

Imagine two friends out at lunch and one of them is telling the other about the interpretive dance class they took last week. It sounds fun, and the friend is interested in signing up. But, they’ve never taken a class from you before, so they’re not willing to commit to downloading an app. Fortunately, they don’t have to, because you use CourseStorm. They can pick up their mobile phone, go right to your website, and register without leaving the table. They can even register their friend at the same time! 

Ready to make your class registration site mobile accessible? Start your free trial of CourseStorm today and see the difference for yourself.

3. Mobile-Friendly Websites and Class Pages Rank Higher on Google

Google believes in mobile-friendly websites. In fact, the search engine actually prioritizes sites that are mobile friendly. So if you want your site to show up when people search for things like “art classes near me” or “painting class for adults” you want your website to be easily accessible from a tablet or smartphone. 

That’s just one of the many reasons CourseStorm makes mobile-friendly the default mode. Ranking on Google helps your classes get discovered by more people, which results in more registrations. 

When a local dad is standing on the sidewalk waiting for his girls to get out of school, he might realize that summer is fast approaching. Maybe it’s time to sign the girls up for a summer camp. He pulls his smartphone out of his pocket and types “art summer camps” into Google. Fortunately, your CourseStorm site is mobile friendly, so it’s right at the top of the page. He clicks, and before you know it, you have two new campers signed up for the first July session.

4. Make Administrative Tasks Easier So They Get Done Fast and Accurately

Instructors and administrators are busy. They don’t always have time to sit at the desk in their office, boot up their computer, access course files, and do all the admin associated with their classes. These tasks tend to pile up, resulting in bottlenecks or mistakes as they try to reconstruct records days or weeks later. 

With CourseStorm, instructors and administrators can access course material from wherever they have a mobile phone. That means they don’t have to lug a laptop to an art class. They can update attendance records on the fly, or send a quick follow-up note to students while riding the train or ferry home from class. 

You need to keep accurate attendance records, because your grant funding depends on it. On the other hand, your instructors are more focused on supporting the students in front of them. They don’t have time to run to their office between sessions, so they keep notes on printed papers that they transcribe later. It’s not efficient and sometimes papers get lost. Enter CourseStorm. Suddenly instructors can quickly take attendance without disrupting the flow of their classes. Everybody wins. 

5. Get Mobile-Friendly Design With No Special Technical Expertise Required

Some class catalog hosting and registration programs make it hard to create a mobile friendly website. They offer you a bunch of options you may not understand or expect you to use plug-ins and special code. After lots of frustration, you have a mobile site that doesn’t quite work, but you don’t know how to fix it. 

The only solution is to hire a web designer or app developer to customize something for you. That costs you time and money, while delaying roll-out of your mobile solution.

CourseStorm helps you skip all that frustration. Every page of your site, from class catalog through payment confirmation, is automatically mobile friendly. There’s nothing to turn on, download, or pay a developer to change. It’s all built in.

For Mobile-Friendly Class Registration, Choose CourseStorm

Mobile friendly means user friendly, and that means more registrations, happier customers, and less frazzled admins and instructors. It’s time to modernize your class registration software with CourseStorm. Discover what all the fuss is about. Start your free trial of CourseStorm now.

When summer camp registration season hits, you have to be ready. The torrent of forms, payments, and questions can leave your team floundering.

Camp directors start looking for summer camp registration software when they get tired of:

• Complex registration systems that confuse parents and frustrate staff members.
• Wasting time chasing down payments or missing forms.
• Manually managing changes to registrations, cancellations, and payment plans.
• Paying monthly subscription fees for a program they only use a few months of the year.

With the right summer camp registration software, you can ride the registration wave. Parents can register online with a self-service tool that liberates staff from the administrative burden. Say goodbye to frustrated parents, frantic last-minute calls, and lines wrapping around the block.

Finding the Best Summer Camp Registration Software

Here’s a look at 5 summer camp online registration software options so you can find the best summer camp registration software for your campers, parents, and staff.

Registration Options Compared:

• CourseStorm
• Sawyer
• RegFox
• Jackrabbit
• Regpack

If you need a camp registration software that can simplify the process and make changes easier, start your free trial of CourseStorm now.

CourseStorm

CourseStorm is an impossibly simple class and camp registration software that’s flexible enough to meet unique program needs. Whether your camp is a supplement to the classes you run all year round, or a seasonal event that happens once a year, we have the tools you need to register campers while keeping parents and staff happy.

Key Feature 1 – Registration and Payment Software in One Simple Package

Paper forms, call-to-register, and parent walk-ins just don’t meet your needs anymore. If you’ve ever had to hire temporary staff or deal with phones ringing off the hook, it’s time for a better solution. Maybe you’ve tried using Google Forms and a third-party payment service, resulting in missed payments and mismatched records. Your staff and parents deserve better.

With CourseStorm, you get a seamless all-in-one registration and payment solution. Parents can click a button to register and pay without ever leaving your course catalog. If they want to register multiple children, they can do that all in the same transaction.

Payment plans are also built in. Parents can opt in to have funds automatically deducted from their account on pre-set dates. Suddenly, camp is more accessible and your staff is free to focus on campers rather than credit cards.

Picture this: the registration window opens for your summer arts camp. Within minutes, your program is completely sold out and you have a waiting list. That might sound like a fantasy, but it’s a real experience from a CourseStorm customer. Within days, those payments are in their account and ready to be invested back into the camp.

Key Feature 2 – Collect the Exact Information You Need Without Frustrating Customers With Unnecessary Requests

Parents have enough on their plate without filling out unnecessary information on a one-size-fits all form. Make that the norm, and you’ll end up with frustrated parents and duplicate information to sort through.

CourseStorm offers fully customizable registration forms that let you collect exactly the information you need and nothing more. Add links to your privacy policy and get parental consent with the click of a check-box. All of the information is securely stored in the user profile so they can easily update, change, or manage their registrations.

If you’re offering both day camp and overnight camp, you’ll need additional information from your overnight campers. You might want to share a unique supply list or get consent for special programs and events. With CourseStorm you can easily build custom forms for each audience including all of the sign-offs and information sharing you need — and nothing you don’t!

Key Feature 3 – Effortlessly Manage Changes and Additions Online

Some camp registration software makes you dig through complex menus or even call customer service to change a reservation or issue a refund. At CourseStorm we believe your program and registrants should have full control over the process. You can manage registration changes, refunds, or even move campers between programs with just a few clicks.

According to our 2024 State of the Arts Report about 15% of kids’ arts camps and classes have waiting lists. If you’re one of them, parents on the waitlist will be automatically notified when a spot becomes available for their child. Take back control of your registrations with CourseStorm.

Just imagine it’s two days before the start of your Shakespeare in the park summer acting camp, when the weather stations start warning of a hurricane coming your way. You’re going to have to contact the families of 40 kids to let them know that camp is canceled. It’s not ideal, but you don’t have to panic because you have CourseStorm.

With just a few clicks you can email everyone and offer a refund or transfer to another session. Everyone knows exactly what’s going on, and you can focus on preparing for the storm instead of fielding phone calls.

Key Feature 4 – Affordable Software That Flexes to Fit Your Budget

Summer camp season is short, but some software providers make you pay for your summer camp online registration software all year long. That doesn’t make sense to us. At CourseStorm, you only pay for the students you actually enroll. There are no contracts and no monthly fees. Just simple, transparent pricing that flexes with your registration levels.

Maybe your museum-based arts education program only offers classes a few times a year. Summer camp is your biggest draw, but you also offer some sessions during spring break and in the lead-up to the holidays. CourseStorm will get a percentage of the registration fees you collect, but in the off months, you won’t owe us anything.

If you’re ready to try the best summer camp registration software for arts and community education programs, you’re ready to try CourseStorm. Sign up for your free trial today.

Sawyer

Sawyer is built for kids camps and classes, which they list directly in the “marketplace” on their website. Registrations through those listings incur a 30% marketplace fee, which gets smaller as you upgrade your plan. You’ll also pay a monthly flat fee in addition to that marketplace charge.

That price tag comes with some useful features. You can take registrations directly on your site, offer discounts, and integrate with Constant Contact or Mailchimp for marketing.

Features and Capabilities:

• Marketplace listings
• Family profiles and group registration
• Standard add-ons like early drop-off and late pickup
• Weekly secure payouts

RegFox

RegFox is event registration software that also offers some functionality for camps. You can set up merchandise and product sale add-ons, which is great if you have tee shirts or other camp swag to sell. Other tools, like badge printing, are more useful for adult events.

They do offer capability for onsite payments, design customization tools, and plenty of 3rd party integrations. Services like email marketing automation and text messaging come with an extra monthly fee attached.

Features and Capabilities:

• Check-in App
• Social media plug-ins
• Collect donations from your registration page
• Lots of page design options

JackRabbit

Another kid-focused registration software, JackRabbit is designed for gymnastics, dance, swim, cheer, and music programs. This is a great solution for youth activity centers that already use it for their year-round classes.

They offer a parent portal that lets parents track their child’s skill development and access account details. Parents can even watch classes with live streaming.

Features and Capabilities:

• Student skill tracking
• Staff time clock
• Uniform and performance management
• Integrated point of sale system

Regpack

Originally designed for billing automation, Regpack has some useful tools for managing payments. They’re a great fit for subscription-based programs, but may be unwieldy for seasonal camps or day camps.

Features and Capabilities:

• Customizable registration forms
• Payment plans
• Campers can reserve spots without paying
• Group registration

When’s the Best Time to Choose Summer Camp Registration Software?

Our SOAR report revealed that students register an average of 71 days before summer arts camps or classes, so you can’t put this off.  It’s time to pick the best summer camp registration software for your program. If you need a little more help deciding, start your free trial of CourseStorm today and test drive our camp registration software for yourself.

Tight budgets, understaffing, and privacy concerns are putting pressure on nonprofit organizations to modernize their class registration systems. These concerns become even more pressing as your organization grows. Students will no longer stand for time-consuming or cumbersome registration processes, and your instructors may not be able to manage attendance and student communications manually as enrollment increases.

Don’t risk losing students or staff due to outdated registration systems. 

Arts nonprofits need modern class registration software that includes a few essential conveniences that customers and administrators have come to expect in 2024:

1. A smooth and accessible online checkout process that’s easy to use

Complex course registration systems confuse potential students. And a confused customer is unlikely to take action. When organizations cobble together registration systems from multiple tools, or worse, ask students to call or drop in to register, they lose sign-ups. 

Modern class management software streamlines the registration process with a seamless interface that guides registrants from the course catalog, to a registration form, to payment with the click of a button.

2. Mobile-friendly interface that lets you and your students manage classes on the go

Modern learners live in an on-demand culture. They can listen to their favorite song, order groceries, and manage their bank balance, all from their smartphone. They expect class registration to be just as convenient. 

Modern class registration software must be mobile-friendly to meet learners and instructors where they are. They should be able to easily manage registrations from any device with internet access.

3. Tools to easily manage registration changes and keep classes full

In an unpredictable world, classes sometimes fill faster than you anticipated or have to be canceled due to weather or instructor illness. Old-fashioned registration tools force you to manage waiting lists manually or email individual students to let them know a class is being postponed.

Modern class registration software allows you to automatically manage waiting lists and easily notify students of changes to their registration. You can issue a refund or transfer students between classes with just a click. 

4. Seamless registration and payment on a secure platform for peace of mind

Taking payments over the phone or on physical forms is an information security nightmare. One misplaced form could lead to theft of funds or identities. These are risks your organization and customers can’t afford to take. 

Registrants want assurance that their credit card information and other personal details are stored securely. If they don’t trust your website, they won’t register.

Modern class registration software processes payments using the latest encryption and security features so registrants feel confident sharing personal information.

5. Automated and AI-powered marketing tools to keep customers engaged

Are you sick of hearing, “I wish I’d known about that class”? In a marketing-saturated world, it can be hard to get your classes in front of people who’d love to take them. 

Modern class registration software incorporates the right marketing to help you keep customers engaged, even if you can’t afford to hire a full-time marketing person. 

To see modern course registration software in action, start your free trial of CourseStorm today.

CourseStorm: The Modern Class Registration Software Solution

CourseStorm’s class registration software is designed with nonprofits in mind. We help arts education programs and community ed programs modernize their class registration with simple, accessible tools that anyone can learn. 

Welcome More Learners With Our Streamlined Registration and Checkout Process

No more juggling multiple tools or chasing registrants for payments. CourseStorm’s streamlined registration and checkout process moves registrants smoothly from interest, to registration, to payment. Your instructors will never have to wonder if all students have paid or collect payments from those who haven’t. 

CourseStorm even offers a simple group registration process, so friends or families can sign up to share the experience of a class together. That local Adventurers Club can sign up their whole group all at once. They might even manage to fill a class all by themselves.

Manage Registrations Anywhere With Mobile-Friendly Software

Empower students to register and manage registrations from anywhere with a mobile-friendly platform. Instructors and administrators also get mobile-friendly access so they can make the most of their time between classes.

One of our customers, who happens to be located on an island, told us how their instructors check class details on their mobile phones while riding the ferry to and from work. 

Change and Update Registrations to Keep Classes Full

Throw out your phone tree and shred the manual waiting list. CourseStorm can automatically notify students if a class is changed or canceled. For popular classes, it can add students to the waiting list and notify them when a spot opens up. Then they can register with the click of a button. They can even opt in to SMS reminders about upcoming classes.

CourseStorm’s automatic waiting list features eliminate the need to manually manage your waitlists.

Maybe you’ve been in this situation: Your most popular class is always overbooked, but you can’t add more sessions, so you’re left managing an unwieldy waiting list. Last month you made three phone calls before someone picked up, and then the first person called back and was mad you didn’t wait to hear back from them. 

Imagine deciding enough is enough. You get CourseStorm, automate the waitlist, and let it manage itself. Suddenly you have more time to spend on the creative work that only you can do, and customers aren’t mad at you anymore. That’s a win-win.

Provide Peace of Mind With Secure Payment Processing

Your learners are used to shopping online. They appreciate being in charge of where and how their information is used. With CourseStorm, you give them complete control over their own information.

Forget messy paperwork and stop obsessing over who went home with the key to the filing cabinet. CourseStorm streamlines registration and payment processing into a single, secure process. With security features that are PCI compliant and meet industry best practices, we store data in state-of-the-art data centers with multi-tiered security systems. Nightly and weekly backups ensure your data is always up to date. 

Engage Customers and Learners Through Automatic Email Marketing

Simplify your marketing calendar with built-in automatic email marketing. CourseStorm can send customized automated emails to customers letting them know about classes they might be interested in. 

Imagine the busy single dad with two daughters. One has taken your Fairy Tale Improv class. The other took Playwriting for Kids. When you add Graphic Novels on Stage to the class calendar, dad gets an email letting him know it’s time to sign up.

See all of these modern registration features (and more) in action, start your free trial of CourseStorm today.

Support and Integrations to Help You Modernize Class Registration

We know change can be challenging, especially for bootstrapped nonprofits working with volunteers and small staffs. As part of our commitment to simplicity, we’ve built an easy-to-use software tool.

One of our users recently told us: “If you can use email, you can use CourseStorm.” 

Even though our software is impossibly simple, we still offer live group webinars to help you set up your program and get accustomed to the software. Our robust help site and responsive email support team are also there for you whenever a question pops up.

CourseStorm software also integrates with many of the tools you’re already using, including Little Green Light and PatronManager. We have an easy-to-install WordPress plug-in, a calendar feed that works with all your favorite calendar programs, and tons of other integrations available through Zapier. 

We believe an upgrade should make everything easier. 

Claim All the Modern Conveniences Your Learners and Instructors Deserve With CourseStorm

It’s time to claim all the time-creating, satisfaction building, peace-of-mind offering solutions of a modern class registration system. Your learners and instructors deserve them, and your nonprofit will run better with them in place. 

Start your free trial of CourseStorm today and see what modern class registration software can do for your program.

Aubrey Bergauer has been called “the Steve Jobs of classical music” and “the Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony” for her customer-focused, data-backed strategies to help performing arts organizations be as profitable as corporate heavy-hitters like Amazon, Zappos, and Netflix. 

“I believe that nonprofit is a tax status, not a scarcity mindset or can’t-make-money mandate.” – author and arts consultant Aubrey Bergauer

A former chief executive of the California Symphony, Bergauer led the organization to double the size of its audience and nearly quadruple its donor base. As a speaker, consultant, podcaster, and now author, she encourages arts and culture nonprofit organizations to take lessons from the for-profit sector to become more relevant, inclusive, and growth-minded to reach modern audiences. 

“I believe that nonprofit is a tax status, not a scarcity mindset or can’t-make-money mandate,” Aubrey Bergauer writes in the introduction of her new book, Run it Like a Business: Strategies for Arts Organizations to Increase Audiences, Remain Relevant, and Multiply Money—Without Losing the Art. Here are some other takeaways from the book. 

Create a Better Customer Experience

While the industry cry is, “We need new audiences!” Bergauer says we have misidentified the problem. An analysis of 400 arts databases in North America and the U.K. found that more than half of all ticket-buyers are first-time bookers. Yet in the U.S., 90% of first-time orchestra attendees never return. Yikes. “The issue isn’t getting people to come to the arts; it’s getting people to come back,” writes Bergauer. 

The issue isn’t getting new audiences to come to the arts; it’s getting people to come back.

That matters because those first-time audiences are the entry point from which all other relationships develop. Concert attendees may become donors who then sign up their kids for music camp and so on. So what’s keeping them from coming back? The user experience. 

In focus groups for the California Symphony, Bergauer found that participants’ frustrations included not being able to understand the organization’s website, which was written for insiders familiar with music terminology. 

In fact, many arts organizations make this mistake and end up confusing their customers with unfamiliar jargon or terminology. If your art class enrollments are low, perhaps course listings for classes in “dramaturgy” or “handbuilding” need to be rewritten as “playwriting” and “pottery.” 

Action step: Consider asking a few people outside of your organization to read over your website and share feedback from a newcomer’s perspective. Is it clear and welcoming? Is it easy to understand or confusing? 

Bergauer calls these the three Fs of the new customer experience: having a newcomer focus on the website, being newcomer friendly in the venue, and creating newcomer-facing marketing. 

Engage Customers With Multiple Offerings

If someone buys a ticket to a performance, offering them an annual subscription is not the only opportunity—and in fact, it may turn them off. Many arts orgs are guilty of upselling too much, too soon, according to Bergauer. A first-time concert attendee is likely not going to respond to a request for a donation or to purchase a gala table. 

A better strategy is to get patrons to repeat the behaviors we want through what’s called “behavioral segmentation.” Starbucks did it right with their “treat receipt” program that gave customers a discount off beverage purchases later the same day—encouraging them to repeat a behavior they’ve already done: buying coffee.

For an arts education program, this may look like sending personalized emails to students who’ve taken, say, your Intro to Beadwork class, letting them know about an upcoming Beaded Jewelry Class they may be interested in. (By the way, CourseStorm has an automatic email marketing feature that does just that. Customers attribute 14% of enrollments to these emails alone.) 

A smart strategy is to get people to repeat behaviors. For example, if someone has taken a pottery class, send them an email suggesting other classes they might enjoy. 

Bergauer advises arts orgs to also get customers involved with a second type of content, like a pre-show talk, an artist meet-and-greet, or a special exhibit opening. An organization she worked for ran a report and found that 75% of their donors were consuming multiple content types. 

This is true for many arts organizations. They may have performances, membership, gallery exhibits, classes, and more. As Bergauer illustrated with the above example, it’s important to have software that integrates customer data from all these areas so you can run reports to get a true picture of participant behavior and target your offerings accordingly. 

Action step: Your second type of content can be as simple as packaging your classes as products that people can purchase to give as gifts. Here’s how to do it. 

Strive for Relevance 

Studying top brands like Apple and Peloton, Bergauer found that relevance is the most reliable indicator of a brand’s long-term success. So what is relevance, and what does it mean for arts and culture organizations?

The first criterion for relevance is meeting the needs of your customers. In the case of arts education programs, that requires asking for and responding to student feedback. Only 4% of dissatisfied customers will tell you they’re unhappy, so proactively requesting input is a good idea. 

Staying relevant requires proactively gathering feedback from your customers and knowing what matters to them. 

Another way to stay relevant is by staying on top of trends and knowing what matters to your audience. Current marketing trends show that consumers care about supporting local businesses, sustainability, and quality of life. Highlight those aspects of your program, whether that’s a partnership with a local business, an art class using upcycled materials, or enhancing connection among older people in your community through creative aging programs.  

“The benefits of relevance are generally obvious: customers give us free marketing with their posts online, this positive organic endorsement results in five times more sales than direct advertising, buzz about the organization swells, our patron base grows, donations increase,” writes Bergauer. 

Action step: Collect valuable student feedback by writing better course evaluation questions and downloading our customizable template. 

Resources to Run Your Arts Ed Program Like a Business

Run It Like a Business is packed with practical tips and strategies arts nonprofits can start implementing immediately, along with real-world case studies of successful organizations. 

For more data-backed info specifically for arts education programs, check out CourseStorm’s new State of the Arts Report. We dug into 10+ years of our customer data to find out what profitable programs are doing to enroll and retain more students. Download your free copy here.

Jargon, buzzwords, industry speak — whatever you call it, most organizations have an internal language that doesn’t make sense to outsiders. That’s fine in a board meeting, but it can lead to confused customers when you’re marketing your classes. 

Even the most down-to-earth organization can evolve its own language over time. What sounds like a perfectly clear offer to you can end up confusing your potential students. That’s a problem because people don’t buy what they can’t understand. 

As part of our commitment to simplicity, we want to help you clarify your message. Let’s talk about how to notice when your message is confusing, and what you can do to fix it. 

How to Tell if Customers Are Confused

Most organizations could benefit from making their messaging clearer. Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell that a message isn’t as clear as you thought. After all, you know what you mean. Keep an eye out for these four signals that you might have a messaging problem.

1. People don’t seem to understand your offer. 
2. You hear the same questions over and over.
3. Registration is low overall (or for a specific class).
4. You get no response from a normally engaged audience.

Any of these four situations can point to a messaging problem. Stay alert for these signals, because most customers won’t reach out and say, “Hey, I didn’t understand your last email at all.” They’ll just ignore it. 

Clearer messaging in your course marketing can lead to more engagement, fewer questions, and higher registration numbers.

It’s up to you to notice that there’s a potential problem. Then you can test and see if clearer messaging leads to more engagement, fewer questions, and higher registration numbers. Before we get into how to do that, let’s consider some common sources of customer confusion. 

Common Sources of Customer Confusion

Any email, social media post, or class listing you publish has the potential to cause confusion. Everyone has their own perspective and context. So what’s perfectly clear to you might be as muddy as old paintbrush water to your students. Here are a few circumstances that often result in confused customers.

Offering too many options in a single class listing or email. 
You might think that offering lots of choices is the best way to meet student needs. In reality, too many choices can be overwhelming. If you’re offering multiple sessions or formats for the same class, set these up as unique course listings. 

Assuming knowledge of your registration system or process. 
You’ve been using the same system or process for a while, so you assume that everyone knows how to use it. Keep in mind that someone might have just discovered your program for the first time, and they won’t know anything about how it works. So you have to tell them. Include clear directions on where and how to register.

Offering too many options, assuming people know how to register, and using unfamiliar jargon or language are all common sources of customer confusion.

Sharing non-essential details in the class listing. 
You don’t want to assume knowledge, but you also don’t want to bombard students with too much information. Think about which information they need to know up front, and what can wait until the first class. For example, the time and location of your class are essential, but you can wait until the first day to tell them that they’ll need to bring a photo of themselves to the third session.

Using unconventional language in headings and descriptions.
You may have strong opinions about how your industry should work. Sometimes that is reflected in the language you use. You might think that we should stop talking about “art” and start exploring creative play, but parents looking for an art class for their child may skip right past your listing for a creative play class because they don’t immediately understand what it means. 

Besides, using common words and phrases helps people discover your classes. Try to use the words and phrases people are most likely to type into a search engine when looking for classes like yours.

Using confusing language anywhere. 
Jargon, acronyms, and overly formal language can confuse potential registrants. The word “dramaturgy” may be correct, but inviting students to a “playwriting” class is more straightforward. Unless you’re offering an advanced course, keep the language simple and accessible. 

How to Fix Your Messaging Problem

If you suspect you have a messaging problem, take action. The longer you delay, the more students are likely to miss out on your classes. Here’s a four-step process to help. 

Step 1: Identify the source of the confusion using the list above.

Step 2: Rewrite or redesign your message for clarity.

Step 3: Talk to students and ask for feedback on the changes.

Step 4: Monitor your results.

The best way to tell if your changes worked is to track the number of questions and registrations you receive. If questions decrease and registrations increase, you’ve probably made your message clearer. 

“We’ve increased enrollments and eliminated nearly all the phone calls we used to receive from confused parents.” – a CourseStorm customer

By using CourseStorm, Princeton Academy of Art has reduced the time they previously spent managing enrollment by 80% and increased enrollments in their classes. In addition, “We’ve eliminated nearly all the phone calls we used to receive from confused parents,” they shared.

One Last Tip to Eliminate Customer Confusion

A convoluted registration process can confuse customers as quickly as poor messaging. CourseStorm’s integrated online registration and payment platform keeps registration simple. Registrants can easily fill out your registration form, pay for the class, and even get class meeting reminders all on one simple platform. 

To see how easy it is, start your free trial of CourseStorm today.

It can be difficult to put a price on a learning opportunity. You want your classes to be accessible to as many students as possible, but you also need to cover your costs. The price you set should acknowledge the value of the offering without giving students sticker shock. 

Finding the balance can be tricky, which is why we’ve simplified things with this class pricing guide. While we can’t give you a one-size-fits-all answer for what to charge, we can walk you through what to consider when setting class prices. 

3-Step Class Pricing Guide

To make class pricing simpler, we’ve broken the process down into three steps. These steps apply to every type of class or organization. At the end of this pricing guide, you’ll find recommendations for classes offered by nonprofits, different class formats, and special strategies.

Step 1:  Calculate Your Overhead Plus Profit Margin

Start by figuring out how much it will cost to offer the class. This includes some obvious things like the cost of materials, but also some less obvious things like the cost of marketing the class. 

You may have to make some informed estimates here. The good news is that once you’ve done this, you can use similar figures for every class you offer. 

Add up your:

• Class materials
• Instructor remuneration

Then include a percentage of your:

• Facilities and utilities
• Marketing
• Administration
• Registration and student communication

Add all this up and divide by the number of learners you expect to register for the class. This number represents the absolute minimum you can charge in most cases. (We’ll cover the exception in the Special Circumstance section below.) If your organization is for-profit, add in the profit margin you would like to make on the class. Most organizations aim for between 5% and 20% of the cost.

For example: If a class costs you $20 per student and you want to make a 10% profit, you’ll add $20 + (20 x .10) = $22

To make it easy, here’s our customizable Class Pricing Guide Calculator you can modify for your own use. 

If you prefer to use Excel, you can download a copy of the calculator. 

Step 2: Review the Market

We don’t recommend copying another organization’s pricing structure. You don’t know enough about their business operations to guess if their strategy will work for you. However, it’s still smart to look around at what others are doing. 

If your price is much higher than others in your area, learners may not register. If it’s too much lower, they may worry that your class isn’t valuable. Check with others offering similar classes to see what they charge. 

A perfect match would be:

• In the same subject
• Offered in your city or area
• Serving the same population
• Offered in the same format
• With the same class size

The reality is that you may not be able to find a perfect match. That’s probably a good thing, because it means that the need is not already filled by that other class.

If you can’t find a perfect match comparison, look for classes:

• At your local college or extension center
• In related subjects
• Offered in a city of similar size to yours
• Serving different populations
• In different formats
• With different class sizes

Note how the class differs from yours and how that might affect the price. For example, classes offered by colleges are often more expensive than those offered by community nonprofits.

Step 3: Consider the Value Your Class Offers Learners

Remember that people tend to see price as an indicator of value. In some cases, lowering the price can actually make your class seem less attractive. It may signal to learners that the class isn’t all that valuable. 

Value can be hard to pin down, but in general, you want to consider:

• What skills students will learn
• Whether the class saves them time or money
• If the class makes them more employable by giving them a certificate or credential
• How the class can change their daily life
• What might happen if they don’t take the class
• Other ways they could learn this skill or gain this knowledge

A few other factors can affect value, including the number of students per class. Bigger class sizes generally equal lower value. Instructor reputation can also play a role. For example, students may be willing to pay more to take a writing class from an award-winning author. 

Adjusting the Pricing Guide for Special Circumstances

If you’ve followed the three steps above, you should have a ballpark idea of what your pricing should be. If your organization is a nonprofit, offering online classes, or wants to attract more students, read on for extra guidance.

Pricing Guide Considerations for Nonprofit Organizations

When setting pricing, nonprofits should consider the purpose of their classes. If classes are core to your mission, you may want to make some classes free or charge a nominal fee. Some nonprofits offer classes that are an extension of their mission and can help to fund more essential functions. In that case, you’ll want to do more than just cover the cost of the class.

In-Person Versus Online Classes

Whether a class is online or in-person can impact the perceived value. Online classes may face more competition, since students have access to sites like Coursera, EdX and even YouTube. You may need to match these prices, or make an extra effort to prove why yours are more valuable than these large-scale offerings. 

One way to show value is by marketing to students in your local area. Lean in to the idea that they’re supporting a community nonprofit or small business. If you have an office where they can call or walk in for support, that’s even better.

Special Pricing to Attract More Students

In some cases, low cost or even free classes can pay off for your program. They can encourage people to try your classes. Many dance, fitness, and yoga studios do this as a way to get more people to try out their offerings.

If you choose to offer a loss leader class, pick it carefully. It should be an introductory level course that accurately represents what your program offers. You might even create a special survey or intro course for this purpose.

Don’t Forget a Yearly Pricing Review!

Remember that class pricing isn’t like a rotisserie oven, you can’t just set it and forget it. Do a pricing review every year or so to make sure your classes are still well-priced for the market and matched to the class value. 

Review your prices every year to make sure your classes are still well-priced for the market and matched to the value they offer.

If you think it might be time to raise your prices, don’t worry. We have a guide for that too. Learn how you can raise prices without upsetting students.

You’ve heard of Spotify Wrapped, where listeners get a recap of their favorite music of the past year? Well, consider this CourseStorm Wrapped — a look at our top 5 most-read blog posts of the year. 

Arts nonprofits and other organizations turn to us for help in growing and managing their education programs. These were our top 5 blog posts of the year.

We serve organizations offering visual and performing arts classes, summer camps and afterschool enrichment programs, workforce training and community education. Many of our customers are arts nonprofits. They look to CourseStorm for assistance in growing and managing their programs. Our top posts give insights into some of the challenges and opportunities for these organizations, and how we can help. 

How to Cancel a Class Without Upsetting Students

This blog post is consistently at the top of the list. Why? Sometimes you have to cancel a class. Maybe the instructor is sick or the weather isn’t cooperating. Sometimes enrollment for the class is low and you can’t justify the time and cost of running it. Whatever the reason, you want to cancel the class without upsetting students who have already enrolled and causing them to seek out classes elsewhere. 

We help you minimize the impact of class cancellations with tips and even an email template. 

It’s important to know that sometimes the cause of a class cancellation is a poor-fit registration system. If you’re taking registrations manually, people could be slipping through the cracks. Or the problem may be a repetitive and time-consuming registration process for parents signing up multiple kids, or not offering payment plans for high-cost classes. CourseStorm automates and streamlines all of these things, eliminating many unnecessary reasons to cancel a class. 

How to Write a Course Description: Examples & Templates

We get it. Not everyone is a writer. And describing a course in an enticing way in just a few sentences is harder than it seems. So it’s not surprising that this “how to” article is so popular. We give you a list of best practices and examples of course descriptions that convert searchers into signups. Plus we share a course description template you can use to punch up your own course offerings. 

CourseStorm has facilitated over 1 million connections to education for our customers, so we know what gets students to click “Register now!” Subscribe to our blog so you can get helpful tips and templates like this delivered right to your inbox. 

5 Email Templates to Help You Engage Students

Similar to writing course descriptions, crafting an email that gets people to take action is harder than it seems. So it’s no surprise that many of the visitors to our blog are looking for this info. Whether you’re sending a class recommendation to an existing student, a reminder to a new registrant, or another type of email, these templates will help you do it faster and easier.

Sending the right email at the right time can encourage students to act, strengthen the relationship, and help you gather valuable feedback. Want to have these emails and more at your fingertips for when you need them? Download our email templates package and start saving time while connecting with students. 

A popular feature of CourseStorm is the ability to send automated marketing emails that generate additional revenue for your education program without any extra work.

6 Benefits of Enrichment Classes for All Ages

In addition to our “how to” articles, readers liked this post about the positive benefits of non-credit educational offerings for both kids and adults. We know that people who prioritize lifelong learning seek out enrichment classes for personal growth, to build new skills, or connect with others in their community. 

Of course, knowing the benefits of enrichment classes is one thing. Spreading the word about them is another. Help learners and community members see the value of your program by sharing these benefits in your marketing and course promotion. Not only could it help you sell more classes, it can also show your commitment to the community. 

12 Arts and Culture Magazines Worth Recommending to Students

Rounding out our top 5 most popular posts of 2023 was this one, featuring a dozen picks for print and digital publications dedicated to arts and culture. With their beautiful photography and curated content, these magazines provide a tangible way to explore cultural trends and learn about art. 

Teaching artists can use them as the starting point for a lesson plan or discussion or simply read them for pleasure to discover up-and-coming artists, learn about exhibitions and events, and explore new perspectives.

Coming Soon: A New Report for Arts Organizations

The past several years have greatly impacted the arts and culture world. Anyone offering classes in the arts was forced to rethink their strategy. Many of those who succeeded were CourseStorm customers. In the New Year, we will be publishing an exclusive report to help arts education programs make data-informed decisions about how to save time, when to schedule classes, and how to grow their revenue.

Subscribe to our blog to be the first to find out when our new report is available in 2024!

You had some good reasons for choosing Google Forms for class registration. You already know how to use the tool. Besides, it’s free, and nonprofit arts organizations are always looking to stretch the budget. So at first glance it seems like Google Forms is an okay solution, but it comes with hidden costs you might not have considered. 

Google Forms is a great solution for some things, but it’s not ideal for class registration.

Let’s be clear: there’s nothing wrong with Google Forms in general. It’s a great free solution for a quick survey or student feedback form. We’ve used it ourselves many times. But when it comes to class registration, your learners deserve better.

1. The Form Is Just One Small Part of the Registration Process

Your class registration form is just one small part of a complete course registration system. You also need a course catalog where people can discover your classes. When a learner registers, you need payment processing tools to collect their payment. After they’ve registered, they’ll ideally be able to use a student portal to manage their registration. 

On the back end, you need reports that can help you understand registration trends. Your instructors could benefit from class tools that let them take attendance and quickly email everyone who enrolled in a class. Of course, security and data protection are essential too. 

If your only goal was to collect information, a Google Form would do the job, but class registration is a more complex process. The right registration tools can make all the difference. 

2. Free Tools Can Cost a Lot In Labor

By now you may be thinking, “I agree with all that, but Google Forms is free.” That’s a great point. Nonprofits need to be responsible stewards of grant and donation funds. You don’t want to add to overhead and administrative costs if you don’t have to.

However, there are times when spending some money up front can save your budget over time. As part of the Google Workspace suite, Google Forms is free for individuals and nonprofits. (Businesses pay around $12 a month.) Unfortunately, free tools can cost more in labor and hurt the student experience. 

Google Forms doesn’t naturally integrate with your payment processing, course catalog, or donor management systems. Someone will have to organize and enter all of that data by hand. Every time a learner’s information is recopied, you introduce the possibility of errors. Missed payments and transposed phone numbers can cause headaches for everyone involved.

You might even cancel a class unnecessarily because the roster wasn’t updated in real time and you thought you didn’t have enough students.

Plus, if learners need to change their registration, add a friend, or ask a question, they have to call or email. Now you have a staff member or volunteer fielding calls instead of spending their time on service and creative tasks that can’t be automated. 

3. Nobody Likes the Payment Matching Game

Unless all of your classes are free, you’ll need to collect a payment for each registration. With Google Forms, you’ll need a third-party payment processor. There are plenty to choose from. The problem starts when you have a bunch of payments in one document and a bunch of registrations in another.

Then someone — usually your already busy volunteer bookkeeper — has to manually match each payment to the right registration. They get to solve puzzles like “does this payment from Katie Smith’s credit card go with the registration for Jane Smith or the one for Steve Smith?” Maybe it’s actually for Tom Johnson.

Some organizations skip this whole mess by asking learners to bring cash or checks to class. That might sound like a solution, but really it just passes the buck. Now instructors are responsible for handling money and tracking payments. What do they do if someone shows up without payment? You’ve put them in the awkward position of turning students away.

4. Google Forms Are Not Made for Class Registration

We’ve already talked about class rosters. Google Forms can dump all of the form responses into a spreadsheet. From there it’s up to you to organize that information. If you’re taking registrations for multiple classes, or multiple class sections, you may be sifting through a lot of data to find what you want. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to print a detailed class roster with the click of a button? 

Now imagine you have a really popular class. It’s generated a ton of interest and people are signing up faster than you can process them. What happens when the class is full? This is a common situation for many arts education programs, yet Google Forms has no way to set seat limits. People can just keep registering until you turn off the form.

With Google Forms, class rosters and waitlists need to be managed manually, and group registrations aren’t an option.

If you want to create a waitlist in Google Forms, you’ll need to manage it manually. This could lead to some pretty uncomfortable phone calls with people who already paid, only to learn there’s no room in the class for them. Seat limit warnings and waitlists should be part of any class registration system. 

Then there’s the group registration problem. If a parent has two children and wants to sign them both up for a class, they’ll have to fill out the form twice. If a group of four friends wants to sign up together, they each have to complete their own registration. Group registration would make classes more appealing to parents, couples, and groups.

Simplify Registration With the Google Forms Alternative

CourseStorm’s streamlined student registration and payment system is the smart Google Forms alternative. It includes class rosters, low enrollment warnings, and waiting lists. Group registration and student portals make it easy for customers to manage their registration. 

Integrated payment processing means nobody has to play the payment matching game. Your course catalog seamlessly connects with the registration system. We take data security seriously with encryption, 2-factor authentication, and PCI-compliant systems.

Our pricing is designed to help your organization thrive. So we don’t charge you an annual membership fee or monthly subscription. You’ll only pay when students actually register. This is ideal for smaller organizations, seasonal organizations, and anyone who wants to pay only for what they get rather than betting that they’ll get enough registrations to offset the cost. 

Plus, our registration software integrates with common donor management software like Little Green Light and PatronManager. We’re adding new features and integrations all the time. Each one is carefully chosen to make registration easier and help your nonprofit fulfill its mission. Start your free trial today and see why CourseStorm is the smart Google Forms alternative for course registration.

Requests for feedback show up on menus, in marketing emails, and even on the back of long-haul trucks. They pop up anywhere organizations interact with the general public. Your education program should be no exception. Collecting student feedback can help you improve your programs and better support your learners. 

Most people recognize that feedback is important. What may be less clear is how to collect student feedback and what to do once you have it. Some people also worry about asking for feedback too often or how to handle negative feedback. Here is everything you need to know to create an effective feedback funnel for your education program. 

Student Feedback: Your Most Valuable Resource

Feedback can do three important things. First, it gives you information to make decisions about your program and class offerings. Feedback can help you measure progress toward student satisfaction goals. It can also show you where there’s room for improvement in your classes or registration process.

Only about 4% of customers will tell you if they’re unhappy. Asking students for feedback helps you catch and fix issues early and increases loyalty.

Second, asking for feedback helps you catch issues early. Many students won’t complain about small irritations, but they might decide to register somewhere else next time. In fact, only about 4% of dissatisfied customers will tell you they’re unhappy. Specifically requesting feedback can help increase that percentage so you can do something about it.

Third, feedback helps strengthen relationships between programs and learners. A study by Harvard Business Review found that customers were more loyal after being asked for feedback. Just asking for their opinion shows students you care about them and what they have to say.

Setting Feedback Goals

Clearly defining your reason to get feedback will help you craft an approach that will provide you with the best information. Get clear on what you want to know and why you want to know it. Here are some questions that feedback can help answer:

• Why are we not getting the repeat students that we expect?
• How can we increase student referrals?
• Why do we have higher class registrations on specific days?
• Why are students enrolling in our program vs. other programs?
• How do our tuition and fees compare to our students’ expectations?
• How do we compare to other competing activities in our area?
• Are we meeting our students’ needs?
• What’s the overall satisfaction level with our current program?
• Should we stop offering this specific class, or are there things we can do to improve it?

Being clear about what you want to know can help you avoid overwhelming students with too many unrelated questions. 

Two Broad Types of Student Feedback

You can gather two broad types of feedback: Solicited and unsolicited. Both are useful in different ways and combining them will often lead to the most accurate insights. 

Unsolicited feedback is the thoughts or feelings your students share without being asked. You get this feedback by:

• Watching how students behave
• Monitoring social media and third-party review sites
• Tracking customer engagement and retention
• Listening to student comments 

Relying exclusively on spontaneous feedback can mean you only hear the extremes. Students are more likely to speak up when they’re either delighted or angry. For a more nuanced look, create opportunities for intentional sharing.

Solicited feedback is information you collect in a structured way by asking customers for their insights. You get this feedback by: 

• Adding feedback links to your emails
• Using course evaluation forms
• Interviewing students directly
• Including feedback questions on your registration forms
• Sending a yearly questionnaire

How to Collect Student Feedback

Students invited to give feedback should be told why they should participate, how long the process will take, and how their feedback will be used. Follow these best practices for optimum results: 

1. Ask a mix of focused and broad questions

A survey or feedback form should offer a real opportunity for students to share their experience and opinions. Asking a mix of focused and broad questions helps you find answers to specific questions, but also creates an opening for students to share what’s on their minds.

Focused question: On a scale of 1 to 5, how easy was our registration process? 

Broad question: What could we do better? 

Broad questions help you collect feedback you might otherwise miss. For example, you may wonder about whether you’re offering the right classes, but students are more concerned about the timing of those classes.

2. Request consent to share

Feedback forms and surveys can sometimes deliver useful gems that could become testimonials. If you hope to use feedback in marketing materials, ask for consent. 

Consent to share: Do you give us permission to use your survey responses in print and online  marketing materials for the purposes of promoting our courses and programs?

While we’re talking about consent, make sure that respondents know who will see the information and how it will be used. Let them know who will have direct access to the results.

3. Gather demographic data

Demographic data can reveal whether you’re reaching your target audience. It may also help you flag diversity and inclusion issues. Ask some basic questions about the person giving feedback so you have context for their opinions.

Basic demographics: age, race, income level, gender, employment, level of education

Targeted demographics: disabilities, veteran status, location, family and dependents, housing situation, primary language

You don’t need to ask all of these questions on every survey. Pick and choose the ones that align with your goals and information needs.

Tools for Collecting Feedback 

Course evaluations – Used to collect feedback about a specific course or class. Course evaluation questions ask about the class content, instructor, teaching methods, and assignments. You can use online tools like Google Forms or printed evaluations handed out in class.

Customer feedback form – Used to collect feedback about the customer experience. These forms might ask about ease of registration, pricing, service, or other elements related to the transaction. You can use Google Forms, or build these questions directly into your registration forms.

Social media polls – Used to collect information from the general public. These are useful for deciding whether to offer a class or getting to know your audience. Various social media platforms allow you to create polls. Using the built-in tools is usually more effective than a DIY solution.

Interviews – Used to gather more in-depth information from specific students. Interviews can be labor-intensive, but may also reveal more nuanced details. Prepare questions in advance and make sure to take notes or record the conversation.

What to Do With All That Feedback Data

Start by organizing your data. Enter all of the responses into a spreadsheet. Many of the online survey forms will do this for you automatically. Make sure to clean up any duplicate or missing data. Then rank or otherwise organize data into logical groupings. You might split positive and negative data or group it by customer demographics.

Next, look for patterns. Do you see themes coming up repeatedly? Are there some questions that people tend to skip? Look for trends in demographics as well as responses. You might also want to highlight answers that are particularly strong. 

Then, create visualizations. Make charts, graphs, or highlight sheets to make this data useful for your whole team. Some online survey tools have templates that can help with data visualizations.  

How to Use Student Feedback to Improve Programs

If you gather feedback, but don’t use it, students will stop answering your questions. Student feedback is only valuable if you apply it. 

Identify which feedback you plan to act on. Some problems can be easily solved with a new tool or messaging, others require a bigger investment. Discuss what’s possible, then identify strategies and timelines.

Don’t forget to tell your students what you’re up to. Showing them how their feedback is used can build trust and make them more likely to respond in the future. That kind of transparency creates loyalty, the greatest gift an enrollment-based program can have. Here’s an example of how PrimeLife Arts Learning created a promotional video from student feedback they collected.

Now that you know how to collect and use student feedback, use our customizable course evaluation template to get started gathering feedback that can improve your classes.