Board portal comparison – Aprio vs Basecamp

Is your company using Basecamp for managing projects? Should your board use it for managing board communications and action items?

Basecamp is a great project management tool that offers some useful features including messaging and a shared drive to store documents. But using Basecamp to support all of your board communications and board processes is a bit like forcing a square peg into a round hole.

It may be somewhat useful to store your board documents, track board to-do items and chat with other board members – but it can be confusing for board directors to use and falls short on specific board-related functionality.

You may want to consider specialized tools for the complex work of a board – one that better supports convenient preparation for your meetings and best engages directors.

Let’s take a deeper look into how Basecamp measures up as a board communication and management tool and how it directly compares to Aprio’s board portal.

Why do some boards use Basecamp?

Basecamp allows teams to create projects, add team members and centralize tasks, discussions and documents within those projects. It also offers a one-page dashboard for your projects, assignments, and schedule.

While it’s a useful tool to store documents and connect team members, Basecamp only solves some of the challenges busy boards face. Nor is Basecamp familiar to most board directors for managing board communication.

The ad hoc project naming can quickly make it hard for directors to find information. And it lacks any tools to help board administrators streamline the preparation of meeting agendas, draft minute meetings, or support board reporting.

Comparing Aprio’s board portal with Basecamp

Basecamp is a great solution for technology startups, freelancers, and small businesses to communicate and manage projects especially with outside partners on projects.

For boards, most see the benefits of using purpose-built board portal software to best engage directors and reduce the administrative burden on governance teams, with features built around the way a board really works.

Here’s how Aprio compares to project management software like Basecamp.

Benefits	Aprio	Basecamp
Central information hub Basecamp and Aprio offer secure storage for board discussions and documents. Still, Aprio is organized like a board operates making it easy for directors to find information promptly including with easy search. Aprio also offers automated archiving of documents such as meeting minutes and agendas. Basecamp stores documents within projects, so meeting information is blended in with committees or other topics, so board members may be confused when hunting for things.	Yes	Yes
Easy-to-use purpose-built platform for boards Aprio doesn’t just offer intuitive document storage, it offers boards an always up-to-date calendar, task list, contacts directory and secure communication for individual committees. Basecamp is organized by projects.	Yes	No
Collaboration & communication tools designed for directors Basecamp is built to help team members access files and track to-do items on projects. That’s part of what board members need. Aprio provides tools explicitly built for board collaboration including voting, surveys and chat as well as document annotation.	Yes	No
Information security built to protect boards Both Aprio and Basecamp use advanced security measures including encryption and multi-factor authentication to protect files and data from unauthorized access or breaches. Aprio offers advanced security features for boards, such as remote locking and remote data wiping to lock out an account if a device is lost or stolen or a director leaves.	Yes	Limited
Expert customer support While both Aprio and Basecamp offer responsive 24/7/365 customer support, Aprio offers expert help from former board administrators who know firsthand the stresses and urgencies of board meeting management and communication. You won’t find hard-to-reach call centers or rely exclusively on an online resource section for help.	Yes	No
Mobile apps to work from anywhere Aprio equips board members to meet anytime, anywhere – on mobile or desktop for any device. Directors can review board materials on-the-go, on and offline including in airplane mode – and sync up once connected to wifi. Basecamp also offers mobile apps for every device.	Yes	Yes
Complete board reporting Aprio provides nine standard board reports to track board activity, attendance, login behaviour, groups, and audit reporting, saving hours on manual board reporting efforts. Basecamp offers the ability to run some reports such as activities by user and outstanding to-do items, but they are not board-specific reports.	Yes	Limited

Aprio vs Basecamp: software features

Aprio and Basecamp offer common communication tools and features like:

Secure storage of documents and files
Track action items and to-do lists
Chat or messages
Event calendar
Mobile apps for any device

However, Basecamp does not include specific board management tools to support director engagement including online voting, surveys, assessments, and annotations. For board administrators, Basecamp offers no tools to help build meeting agendas, assemble digital board packages or draft meeting minutes.

Aprio’s board management software is purpose-built to include all the features your board needs including:

One easy-to-search central library to store all board materials and documents
Easy agenda creation and distribution
Voting and survey tools to increase engagement and decision-making
Track board tasks to ensure action items are completed on time
Meeting minute tool to draft minutes faster
Annotations for board members to markup board documents and collaborate
Video conferencing integrations for easy-to-join virtual meetings
Comprehensive board reports including attendance reports and tracking board activities such as votes

Why Basecamp might not be the best solution for your board

Boards can’t afford to spend valuable time experimenting with solutions that only partially meet their requirements and won’t provide lasting benefits. They need purpose-built software that works the way they work and helps them perform their roles more efficiently.

Board meeting software like Aprio offers these benefits:

Built for board activity. When’s the next board meeting, where’s the board package, how do I contact other members of committees and what tasks were on my plate after the last board meeting? Aprio’s dashboard is built to immediately help board members with those common questions and tasks, saving board members time and frustration.

Governance support. Audit-ready reports on board activity, attendance, expense tracking and more are ready-built and available on Aprio.

Set up help and ongoing support from board experts. From day one, you’ll work directly with experienced board portal administrators to set up your board library, set up users, and run your first meeting on Aprio. And you can rely on Aprio anytime for expert support – even less tech-savvy board members get patient help – 24/7, 365 days a year.

Granular user access. Boards often deal with sensitive information that requires careful management of who can view, edit, or delete documents and data. Unlike Basecamp, Aprio’s board portal software provides advanced user access controls. Board administrators can assign specific permissions to individual users or groups, ensuring that each board member and committee member has the right level of access they need.

Aprio vs Basecamp: See the difference

It may seem like using Basecamp is a quick fix to connect team members, share files and track action items – but that’s not everything a board needs. There’s a better way to support board administration tasks, engage board members and support good governance.

Aprio stands out in the industry for providing unmatched expert service and an easy-to-use, secure board portal that works the way a board actually works. See how Aprio’s board portal software can improve every part of your board experience. Take the first step – talk with us.

See how Aprio compares to other solutions:

See the Aprio difference.

We’re happy to help assess your needs and the fit with Aprio. Take the first step.