Let's take a look behind the scenes.

It is 11:30 PM on December 24th. Marie, Membership Director at a Chamber of Commerce, is drafting her Christmas greetings for the third time. Version 1 for Gold members, Version 2 for Silver, Version 3 for new members. She hesitates, rephrases, doubts herself. Stress levels are rising.

Meanwhile, Jean, Communications Manager at a premium Business Club, realizes he forgot to send out the holiday closing hours. A member calling tomorrow and reaching an answering machine without prior warning will instantly lose confidence in your organization. And Sophie, Coordinator for a Federation, discovers that three affiliated structures didn’t receive their greetings. Those three presidents are now wondering if they really matter to your organization.

This is what December often looks like: the stress of multiple communications, the risk of overlooking key members, and generic messages that lack warmth. All during the most emotional time of the year—precisely when your members expect to feel recognized.

The Direct Answer

Automating your end-of-year communications requires three elements: pre-designed professional templates, a scheduled sending system, and a simple control center. With Smart Membership, this automation takes less than 10 minutes to configure for all your December-January communications.

But above all, it transforms quantity into quality: instead of spending your December evenings proofreading greeting cards, you dedicate that time to your end-of-year events and personalized calls to your VIP members. You switch from "firefighting" mode to the role of a Member Engagement Strategist.

PART 1: The 5 Essential Communications to Automate

Communication #1: Christmas Greetings – The message where oversight is unforgivable

Suggested Send Date: December 24

Current Relationship Risk: A premium member who attended five events this year receives exactly the same message as a new member. They feel treated like a number, just when they expect the opposite during the holidays. Or worse: some VIP members receive nothing at all due to a list error.​

Why Automate with Smart Membership: The system automatically sends personalized greetings based on the segment (Gold/Silver, participation history, sector) to 100% of your members, without any omissions.​

Communication #2: New Year’s Wishes – Psychologically preparing for renewal

Suggested Send Date: December 31 or January 2

Current Relationship Risk: Sent too late (mid-January) or with a tone that is too commercial, this communication misses the emotional window of "new beginnings." Your members renew in January-February. This message conditions their intent.

Why Automate with Smart Membership: Scheduled delivery at the optimal moment to all active members, psychologically priming them for renewal.

Communication #3: Holiday Opening Hours – The information that reassures

Suggested Send Date: December 18

Current Relationship Risk: A member who calls your closed offices without being warned instantly loses confidence.

Why Automate: Coordinated delivery to 100% of your members on the exact planned date, with zero risk of forgetting.

Communication #4: January Events Preview – Reigniting engagement after the break

Suggested Send Date: January 3

Current Relationship Risk: After a two-week hiatus, your members have "checked out." Without proactive follow-up, attendance at January events drops. You need to actively re-engage them.

Why Automate: Automatic monthly communication, personalized by membership level, which significantly increases participation.

Communication #5: January Renewal Reminder – Your most powerful retention lever

Suggested Send Date: January 7

Current Relationship Risk: Manual reminders often arrive too late or not at all. You lose memberships simply due to administrative oversight.

Why Automate: The system automatically sends these reminders at D-45 and D-7 before expiration, optimizing your retention journey.

Now that you know WHAT to automate, let’s see HOW to do it in 10 minutes flat.

PART 2: Configuration in 10 Minutes

:

 Step-by-Step Tutorial

STEP 1: Access the Control Center (30 seconds)

Go to Menu Configuration > Automatic Communications. You will see all communications with ON/OFF toggles. This centralized interface drives your entire strategy from a single location, requiring no technical skills.

STEP 2: Activate Holiday Communications (2 minutes)

For each communication, switch the toggle to "ON". The system displays the pre-written default template, the suggested send date, and the recipients. Smart Membership includes 19 professional standard templates.

​

Configuration minimale : 15 secondes chrono.​

STEP 3: Personalization – Automate without dehumanizing (5 minutes - optional)

Your members already receive dozens of generic greetings in December. Yours must stand out through its relevance and knowledge of their journey.

Basic Level (2 minutes): Modify the intro message, add your President’s signature, include a nod to the successes of 2025.

Advanced Level (5 minutes): Create variants by segment (Gold/Silver, participation history, sector) to maximize the feeling of recognition. Intelligent automation allows you to maintain a personalized member experience at scale, ensuring every member receives the right message, at the right time, with the right level of detail.

STEP 4: Verification and Activation (2 minutes)

Preview on desktop and mobile, check recipients, click "Activate". The system handles everything automatically from there.

You’ve mastered December-January. What if you extended this logic to the whole year?

PART 3: Extending Automation to 12 Months

Smart Membership automates seven key moments in the member lifecycle:

• Onboarding (Day 0, Day 3): Immediate welcome email + "Getting Started" guide.
• Monthly Engagement: Events preview personalized by membership level.
• Loyalty: Personalized messages on every membership anniversary.
• Critical Retention: Automatic reminders at D-45 and D-7 before expiration.
• Reactivation: Follow-up after 3-6 months of inactivity on the portal.

Result: You go from 5 manual communications/year to 15+ automated communications. From reactive firefighter to Member Engagement Strategist.

The 3 Mistakes to Avoid

Error #1: Automating without personalizing

Sending the same message to everyone creates frustration and devaluation. Automate, yes, but never at the expense of the feeling of being known and recognized as a member. Create 2-3 variants per segment.

Error #2: Neglecting tests

A broken link or tonal error damages your credibility for the long term. During the holidays, it is even less forgivable. Always test before activation.

Error #3: Never analyzing performance

Repeating the same ineffective messages year after year is a missed opportunity. Analyze statistics after every send and adjust.

Concrete Measured Benefits

Criteria	Manual Method	With Smart Membership
Time Invested	10-15h in December	10 min configuration
Quality	Oversights, duplicates, inconsistent tone	100% receipt, professional consistency
Personalization	Identical generic messages	Advanced segmentation by profile
Annual Volume	5 communications max	15+ automated communications
Business Role	Reactive "Firefighting" mode	Engagement Strategist

Ready to reclaim those 10 hours for your VIP members?​

Smart Membership is the leading solution for Chamber of Commerce member management, Business Club personalized communication, and Federation member loyalty. Our platform, based on Odoo, allows for complete management of subscriptions, events, and personalized communications.

Built on Odoo, Smart Membership integrates into your existing ecosystem without a new tech stack or complex migration.

FAQ

Will automation make my communications impersonal?

No, quite the opposite. Intelligent automation enables personalization at a scale that is impossible manually: segmentation by level, history, sector. It frees up time for high-value human interactions.

Can I test Smart Membership before December?

Smart Membership is not a self-service solution. We first evaluate your situation, needs, and challenges to determine if we can work together effectively. Contact us for an initial discussion to discover if Smart Membership is a fit for your organization.

What happens if I configure after December 15th?

You can configure up until December 18th for Christmas greetings. Beyond this holiday period, it is up to you to create meaningful touchpoints throughout the year. Our Smart Membership clients have the opportunity to do this whenever they wish: membership anniversary communications, renewal reminders, monthly event previews, reactivation of inactive members. The true value lies in a communication strategy orchestrated over 12 months, not just in December.