Planning Institute of Australia

A Case Study with the Planning Institute of Australia: Success with the Causeis Launchpad ®

"Best practice not business as usual"

In 2024, the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) partnered with Causeis to replace its outdated, highly customised system with a modern, future-ready solution following a major rebrand. With a focus on best practices, Causeis implemented the Launchpad powered by iMIS®, a custom website, data migration, and marketing integration. The new system enhanced the member experience, enabled automation, and improved access to data for strategic planning. Early results included increased member engagement, strong job board usage, and positive feedback on the new site, positioning PIA for continued digital growth.

Background:

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the peak body for the Urban and Regional Planners in Australia. In 2024, the PIA was an association undergoing notable change. They had just come through a major rebrand and were also seeking to implement a new system to support over 5,500 members.

In this case study we go behind the scenes with Karen Goldsmith COO of the PIA to find out more about their experience with Causeis and the implementation of the Causeis Launchpad ®.

Problem:

The PIA needed a new system to support their growing membership base, as their existing system was highly customised and outdated. The system had to streamline the experience for members and support the PIA into the future whilst also reflecting their recent rebrand.

Challenges:

The PIA aimed to solve the following challenges:  

  • Being able to generate more meaningful data to make decisions to inform their strategic planning
  • New features to enhance the member experience and support their growing member base
  • The ability to automate processes that were manual to free up their talented team to implement their wonderful ideas

The next generation of AMS

iMIS® just got even better at Causeis. With more ROI, digital value, and functionality than ever before.

Explore Launchpad

Solution:

Following an extensive selection process, the PIA implemented:

  • a new membership system fuelled by the feature-rich Causeis Launchpad powered by iMIS ®
  • a full custom website
  • data migration and
  • email marketing integration just two days after the go live date

As part of the selection process, the PIA were seeking a partner with more than just technical capability.  They wanted a partner who knew associations inside out, could step them through the implementation process, and who had robust system knowledge.

From the PIA’s point of view, “Causeis really understood associations and the association sector. They had worked with so many successful associations and could articulate the member journey and member experience." Karen said. She went on to say “The Causeis team had that innate understanding of how members were using the system and that was something that we didn’t see with a lot of the other programs we were evaluating at the same time.”

The best practice mindset powered every step of the project. The PIA team were always open to change and to simplify the way they were doing things. They relied on the Causeis association expertise and to suggestions that would help them be more ‘future ready.’  From a PIA perspective another key to the success of the project was the appointment of internal project champions across the association who could clearly communicate and support the change across the association.

It was a complex project, and Causeis worked in parallel with the PIA team every step of the way. “Causeis are experts in implementation, and we knew they would hold our hands the whole way and work to translate our challenges into successes." Karen said.

The Causeis Launchpad powered by iMIS ® was implemented across a 6-month period and included features such as smart library to house valuable member only content, smart jobs to support members seeking to advertise jobs to a very targeted audience and powerful data visualisation tools to inform strategic decision making.

The biggest thing was we didn’t just need a system. We wanted someone who knew that system backwards and was able to recommend ‘best practice’ rather than business as usual.

Karen Goldsmith, COO PIA

Results:

In just one moth post go live, the PIA team are already bringing together much needed data for deeper analysis using the Causeis Launchpad dashboards. The visits to the jobs board page are promising as members start to use the service.

Member applications are also on the rise, and over time, the PIA will measure this using the new Causeis Launchpad dashboards.  Feedback on the new website is members love the new website including the policy and advocacy search functions as well as the on-demand video content library.

Now with a new system, it’s just the beginning and the PIA digital roadmap includes: a project to maximise membership renewals, understanding and using the marketing data to better market to members, a conference microsite and better reporting to inform decision making.

Final words of advice from Karen for those embarking on a major digital project:

  • Know what you are looking for when undertaking a digital project of this nature
  • Do the research
  • Be open to the way you do things
  • Have an open mindset

Causeis were a great support to us and really helped break down the journey, so it was not this overwhelming piece of change management. The fact Causeis are experts in the association space gave us the confidence to implement a lot of things straight away rather than wait.

Karen Goldsmith, COO PIA

Discover the Causeis Launchpad ®

Learn More