US Chess Federation Streamlines Member Communications and Player Search with CiviCRM

US Chess identified two challenges that limited efficiency and growth.

First, affiliate clubs could not directly reach players in their area without going through US Chess staff. Every message had to be manually copied, formatted, and distributed. The process was time consuming, prone to mistakes, and difficult to manage at a national scale.

Second, the player search tool used a Drupal Views setup that depended on external queries rather than CiviCRM’s native capabilities. Searches could be slow, and the system lacked flexibility for adding new filters or honoring advanced privacy settings. US Chess needed a faster, CiviCRM-based solution that supported both transparency and player privacy while remaining stable through future CMS upgrades.

Skvare developed two complementary solutions within CiviCRM. One streamlined affiliate communications, and the other rebuilt the player search feature to improve speed, accuracy, and privacy protection.

Affiliate Mailings

• Created a CiviCRM-based mailing system that allows authorized clubs and organizations to send targeted messages through a simple online form.
• Used CiviCRM’s custom fields and filters to target members by state, ZIP code, proximity, age, gender, or player rating.
• Added a staff approval workflow within CiviCRM to review and send messages securely.
• Ensured privacy by filtering only current members, honoring opt-out preferences, and allowing attachments such as flyers or event details.

Player Search

• Rebuilt the Player Search feature entirely within CiviCRM using SearchKit, replacing the previous Drupal Views setup with a faster, CiviCRM native approach.
• Combined first and last name fields for more natural searches and added FIDE ID as a new filter option.
• Incorporated privacy logic that honors each player’s “Suppress Name” setting by displaying “Name removed by request” when applicable, while still allowing member ID searches to return accurate results.
• Because SearchKit is CMS agnostic, the feature will continue to work even if US Chess upgrades or changes its content management system.

Together, these updates strengthened US Chess’s ability to communicate effectively with members and improved player search performance for both members and staff.

• Affiliate clubs can now send targeted, approved mailings directly to members through CiviCRM.
• Staff time spent managing communication requests has been reduced significantly.
• Member privacy and data accuracy are maintained through built-in CiviCRM permissions and filters.
• The new CiviCRM SearchKit-based Player Search delivers faster and more accurate results with intuitive search options.
• The system is sustainable across future CMS upgrades, ensuring long-term reliability and flexibility.