Bringing Your Program into the 21st Century

The definition of 21^st century states that it is an era in time that began January 1, 2000 and will end on December 31, 2099. The 21^st century isn’t just defined by time, it’s also defined by technology. People have come to expect technology to make their lives easier and to have immediate access to information.

Mobile-Accessible Registration, Payments, and Record-keeping

Bringing your program into the 21^st century means meeting the expectations of parents. If you can make travel reservations or order food online, why wouldn’t you be able to register and pay for child care online as well? Parents expect to be able to do just that and not from a computer, but also from mobile devices.

Providing parents their very own online portal to register and pay for children’s care and activities is meeting that expectation. If you use a family portal like Eleyo’s, you can also provide the parents an easy way to request schedule changes and update important information such as allergies, emergency contacts, and approved pick-up persons.

3 Reasons Why Family Portals Make Life Easier

Online registration and family portals help districts securely obtain all the information needed for each registrant. It also eliminates the amount of time staff spend on manually entering registration information because it is no longer needed. With immediate access to information parents supplied through registration with software like Eleyo, districts can customize the registration process so that all the required information and payment is received at the time of registration.

Auto-Pay Is a Need, Not a Luxury

Auto-pay is something that districts will do without because it seems invasive or rude to require families to pay automatically. The truth is, most families prefer it this way. In the 21^st century, every bill has the option to be automatically charged to a credit card or debited from a bank account. This makes it easier on families with little kids. The parents can focus on the children not the child care bill.

Why Before and After School Child Care Programs Need Auto-Pay

Auto-pay makes lives easier for child care program staff.  Before software like Eleyo, staff would need to physically mail invoices and remind parents that payment was due. Now, the parents’ accounts are automatically debited, and the funds deposited directly in the school district’s account. Invoices are emailed to parents and they can track their payments through the family portal. This allows staff to focus on building relationships with the families instead of collecting payments.

If your program is still using good old paper and pencil for registration forms and manually entering payments into accounting software, it’s time to upgrade your program to the 21^st century. Online registration, family portals, and auto-pay are the tools for today. Using Eleyo’s program management software will streamline your registration and payment processes and save staff and parents time.