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Offering educational content and continuing education courses is a great way for nonprofits and associations to engage members, extend their impact, and generate additional revenue. However, as you’re planning how you’ll create and deliver courses, it’s common to feel confused about the best learning management system (LMS) for associations to use.
In this article, we’ll break down the features to look for, top choices tailored to the needs of associations and nonprofits, and how to choose the right one for your needs. Keep reading for all the details.
What Is a Learning Management System for Nonprofits and Associations?
An LMS for associations or nonprofits is software that’s designed to help organizations create, deliver, and manage educational content. Associations and nonprofits may use it to:
- Create and deliver continuing education courses that they can monetize
- Educate volunteers or members on important topics
- Train staff members or volunteers
- Engage members in a different format outside of events and activities
- Encourage social learning and sharing among members
An LMS designed for associations and nonprofits provides a central hub where members can learn, interact, and get more benefits from your organization.
Why Do Nonprofits and Associations Need an LMS in 2025?
There are many reasons why an association or nonprofit LMS is a great investment, including:
- It’s a great way to generate non-dues revenue while offering additional value to members.
- It can help encourage continued membership and participation in activities.
- It can help educate about your cause and the impact your organization is having.
- Educational materials can improve engagement and offer more ways to communicate with members.
When you offer impactful continuing education materials, it makes your organization feel more well-rounded. The skills members gain from courses can have a real impact on their lives or careers, which makes them continuously remember the difference your organization has made for them.
What Are the Four Types of Learning Management Systems?
As you’re researching different options, you’ll see four main types of LMSs, as follows:
- Cloud-based LMS: A cloud-based LMS is the most common. It’s software that’s hosted by the company that created it and accessible on a web browser. Cloud-based options work well because they’re easy to set up, accessible, flexible, and don’t require any server maintenance on your end.
- Open source LMS: An open source LMS will be free to install, but you have to host it yourself or on another third-party server. The downside of open source options is that they require a lot more technical skill to set up, and you won’t have much support from the creator of the software.
- Self-hosted LMS: A self-hosted LMS is software that you install and run on your own servers. While this option gives you more control over the system, it also involves more maintenance on your end and often has higher upfront costs.
- Custom-built LMS: A custom-built LMS involves hiring a developer to create software that’s tailored specifically to your organization. While this can provide you with a perfectly tailored solution to your needs, it will cost the most, require continuous maintenance, and involve a lot of technical skill to create it.
Typically, a cloud-based option will be the best fit for nonprofits and associations. It’s a solution that’s easy to manage, even if you have a limited staff and resources. Plus, you can still find options that will scale well to continue using the software as you grow.
What Features Should You Look for in the Best Learning Management Systems?
Some of the top features to look for while picking an LMS for your association or nonprofit are:
- Progress and learner engagement tracking: You’ll want your LMS to have data analytics features that include progress tracking. Being able to track learner progress will help you identify when users might have gotten stuck on a course, if they’re feeling engaged with the content, and what your most popular courses are.
- Personalized learning paths: The LMS should allow you to create a searchable library of content that continues to recommend new training materials based on courses that users have already completed. These features keep learners engaged and make the experience feel tailored to their needs.
- Certification management: If you offer certification courses, you’ll want to have a way to track credits and notify users when renewal dates are approaching.
- Social sharing options: Discussion forums and other social sharing options help each of your members interact with each other and make the learning experience feel more well-rounded.
- Different content formats: The LMS should work with many content formats, such as video, audio, text-based, or live workshops, to provide different ways to learn.
- Customizability: You should be able to customize content and course modules based on your needs, organization’s message, and branding.
What Are the Top LMS Platforms for Nonprofits and Associations?
Now that you know the core features to look for, here is our list of the top LMS options for associations and nonprofits.
1. Elevate from Cadmium
Elevate, Cadmium’s LMS tailored for the specific needs of associations and nonprofits, is a top choice. It offers a complete suite of features to manage online courses and track progress at every step. Some of the top features included in Elevate are:
- The ability to create a scalable and searchable content library
- Custom curriculum development with multimedia content
- Integration with your association management system (AMS)
- Social sharing and knowledge sharing options
- Tools to help promote and monetize your courses
- Certification tracking and management tools
- Data tracking and analytics to review learner progress
Elevate provides a well-rounded solution, no matter where your learners are in their educational journey, while making it easy for associations and nonprofits with a limited staff to manage everything.
2. EthosCE from Cadmium
EthosCE, Cadmium’s LMS tailored to meet the specific needs of healthcare organizations, has been the go-to choice for leading healthcare organizations. t’s a complete solution to meet the intricate needs of professional development, certification management, and assist with compliance in the medical industry. Some top features you get with EthosCE are:
- Automatic reporting to major accrediting organizations
- Credit tracking and certification management with timely notifications
- Features to assist with compliance and help meet accreditation requirements
- Multimedia content options to create interactive learning activities that are great for medical education needs
- Tracking and data analytics to review learner progress and educational outcomes
- Blended learning options for online and in-person training events
Each of these features and more that you get with EthosCE will help healthcare associations provide high-quality educational content that helps industry professionals learn and apply new skills.
3. TopClass LMS
TopClass LMS is another option that’s designed to meet the needs of associations and nonprofits. Some of its top features include certification management, integration with your AMS, and monetization options to generate non-dues revenue from courses.
However, the main drawback is the platform’s complexity. Some users say that the platform feels more dated and harder to navigate than other options, which makes it harder to get started and customize courses to your needs.
4. Crowd Wisdom
Crowd Wisdom is an LMS designed specifically for associations providing continuing education courses. It can help you build personalized learning paths, generate revenue from your courses, and integrate with your AMS.
The primary downsides are that it lacks overall customizability and some of the more in-depth data tracking features you’ll get with other options.
5. LearnUpon
LearnUpon is an LMS designed for associations that provides an intuitive interface, powerful reporting tools, and customizability to help with learner engagement.
However, some users have reported problems with the platform’s speed and functionality during peak usage, which could make it hard to scale content and memberships as your organization grows.
How Do You Choose the Right Learning Management System for Your Organization?
As you’re reviewing LMS options for your association or nonprofit, you can consider the following characteristics to ensure you choose one that’s the right fit:
- Is it easy to use and set up? You want the platform to be user-friendly while creating courses, and when learners log in and start progressing through content.
- Can you scale with it? You should be able to keep adding to your course library and continuously add new members as your organization grows.
- Does it work with multimedia content? Being able to upload and use different types of content is essential for learner engagement and knowledge retention.
- Will it help manage certifications? The software should help track credits and notify learners when certification renewal dates are approaching.
- Is it backed by a supportive provider? The company behind the software should provide continuous support if you have questions or need help troubleshooting errors.
How Can Associations Turn Events Into Educational Content and Online Courses?
Integrating an event management software with your LMS can help you create blended learning options and add event content to your online courses.
When you use our software at Cadmium, our Elevate and EthosCE LMSs integrate with both our Eventscribe event management system and Warpwire livestreaming solution to help with this.
Warpwire can help you broadcast and upload live content, and Eventscribe can help you integrate live events with online training courses. That way, you can provide learners with different options to engage with your organization and apply skills they’ve gained in courses.
Why Elevate and EthosCE From Cadmium Are Top Choices
Both our Elevate and EthosCE LMSs provide well-rounded solutions for associations and nonprofits to create impactful courses and training content. They’re accessible, easy to use, and provide many options to tailor educational content to your needs.
Elevate is designed for associations and nonprofits to provide high-quality continuing education options for learners at each stage in their educational or career journey. It includes features for custom curriculum development, certification management, social learning, AMS integration, and monetizing your content library. Click here to learn more.
EthosCE is designed for healthcare associations and organizations. It includes tools to assist with compliance, automatic reporting to major accrediting organizations, certification management and credit tracking, interactive learning options, and in-depth analytics. Click here to learn more.
