From 10 minutes, a stamp and a trip to the bank, tounder a minute online
A volunteer committee moved decades of hiking records off one PC and onto a secure web app, without losing a record or giving up the tools it trusted.
AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee
Appalachian Mountain Club · Live November 7, 2026
- Under 1 minto process an application (was 5-10 minutes)
- 20,481member records carried over intact
- 29,971recorded finishes across 9 peak lists
- 14online applications approved in the first 10 days
The challenge
The committee's work ran through a Microsoft Access program on one volunteer's PC. Applications came in on paper, with checks, and each took five to ten minutes in Access. Then the real work started:
- Printing acceptance letters, at the volunteer's own cost
- Mailing them, with postage and a trip to the post office
- Banking every check by hand, with another trip to the bank
Everything depended on one person and one machine, and with tens of thousands of records, any move had to be exact.
Our approach: two careful phases
Phase 1 · May 2025
A secure cloud database
Data moved to Microsoft Azure, with the familiar Access screens still connected, so work never stopped.
Phase 2 · April-November 2026
The web app
All 161 Access queries rebuilt so the new system follows the same rules. Tested by the committee in three rounds, launched on the date it chose, and the first online application arrived that day.
A look at the system
What the committee has now
- 1
Online applications
Every peak list, with Square payment at checkout, including extra patches and an optional trail-maintenance donation.
- 2
One-click approval
Member and finish records are created automatically, and acceptance letters are emailed from the committee's own templates in a few clicks.
- 3
Payments handled
Recorded automatically and deposited every two days.
- 4
Records from anywhere
Member search from anywhere, plus 24,000+ historical documents that open in the browser.
- 5
30+ reports
Finishers, finance and data-quality reports, all exportable, plus year-end tools.
- 6
Access still works
Paper applications still go through Access, on the same live database.
Before and after
| Area | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Applying | Paper form and a mailed check | Online form with card payment |
| Processing time | 5-10 minutes per application | Under a minute |
| Acceptance letters | Printed, stamped and mailed by a volunteer | Emailed from templates in a few clicks |
| Payments | Checks deposited at the bank by hand | Recorded automatically, deposited every two days |
| Where the work happens | One PC, one person | Any approved member, any device |
| Documents | Scanned files on one PC | 24,000+ in a secure online library |
“I can completely process an application in less than a minute. In the old Access system it would take 5-10 minutes plus I had to pay for paper and ink to print the letters and for postage to mail them. And I had to go to the PO to mail them and the bank to deposit the checks.”
“Throughout the project, Holly has been amazingly responsive with clear, concise and immediate updates... We are live now and the system is just wonderful.”
After launch: support measured in minutes
- List fees fix · 21 min
- Dashboard opens on current year · 20 min
- Hourly payment check · 29 min
- Printable cover sheet · 53 min
What’s next
A Year 2 plan with a member portal, dashboards, automated dues and meeting emails, dinner reservations, certificates and online dues.
Still running on Access?
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