Memberships Management

Memberships Overview

The membership system needs automated reminders to be sent periodically for members who have not renewed. Members who have not paid can also be renewed to ensure they pay their fees.

Some organisations allow members to renew and not pay, leading to the potential of renewed members owing the organisation fees for their membership.

Organisations can have different membership types to differentiate members into categories. Examples of this include Full Member, Associate member, Lifetime member etc.

Membership Types

Membership rules define the duration and start/end dates of memberships, when renewals are sent, and how to handle payment reminders automation of changes to Membership Type and Status for non-renewal or non-payment of memberships.

Organisations can have different membership types to differentiate members into categories. Examples of this include Full Member, Associate member, Lifetime member etc.

Membership Type Use

Different membership types can also be configured to use on application forms, renewal forms and in membership administration. You can also configure the number of times a membership can be renewed. This is to cater for organisations that have approval processes where members may be able to renew a certain number of times prior to being declined membership.

Membership Rules

Membership rules define the duration and start/end dates of memberships, when renewals are sent, how to handle payment reminders automation of changes to Membership Type and Status for non-renewal or non-payment of memberships.

Membership Duration

Member based organisations can have different durations for members. Some may have a fixed membership year eg. Jan 1st to December 31st each year, which all expire on the same date. Other organisations may work to a fixed time period based on the join or renewal dates. The duration can be defined to cater for each of these scenarios.

If your membership runs for a fixed length of time based on the joining date, then select Specific Period and enter the number of days, weeks or years your membership will run. If your memberships run to a specific end date, select Specific End Date and enter the date your memberships will expire.

Grace Periods

If you are working to a Specific End Date you may have instances where a member joins in the last few weeks of your membership year. Eg: Your memberships expire on the 31st December and a person joins on the 10th of December. In this case the membership will expire shortly after the member joins and they will be prompted to renew.

One way to avoid this is to offer a membership “grace period” where members who join just prior to your fixed membership expiry date, will receive the balance of the membership period and the next full period. Eg: If your memberships expire on the 31st of December and a member joins within 30 days of membership expiry, they will get membership for the current year (up to December 31) and a full year of membership for the next year. This gives the equivalent of 13 months of membership as they joined close to the end of the membership period.

Renewal Reminders

Renewal Reminders are automated and can be configured to be sent to members who have not renewed either based on the fixed membership end date, or on their membership expiry date. You can also ‘pause’ membership renewals until the organisation is ready for renewals (start reminder).

The date the renewals are sent is controlled by a series of positive and negative numbers based on the expiry date. Eg: 30, 60, 90 would mean reminders are sent 30, 60 and 90 days after the renewal has expired. -30, 0, 15 would have reminders sent 30 days prior to expiry, at date of expiry and 15 days after expiry.

Members and Administrators can be sent reminders. Emailing administrators allows members who are not renewing to be manually reminded by membership secretaries if required.

If members don’t renew, you can limit access to your website. If the member does not renew x days/weeks or years after expiry, they can be sent to a renewal page. If the member still doesn’t renew, you can disable all access to member only areas of the site.

Members who don’t renew can also have their membership type or status changed. This allows membership secretaries to quickly identify members who have passed the membership renewal process.

Payment Reminders

Some organisations allow their members to renew and pay later. This will cause most organisations more effort chasing payments and operationally creates more work for the management committee. Of course some organisations work in this manner and the membership system will automate the sending of payment reminders.

Payment Reminders work just like renewal reminders with a very similar setup but only target members who have not yet paid for their memberships.

If members don’t pay, you can limit access to your website. If the member does not pay x days/weeks or years after expiry, they can be sent to the registration page. If the member still doesn’t pay, you can disable all access to member only areas of the site.

Members who are not financial can also have their membership type, or status, changed. This allows membership secretaries to quickly identify members who are in arrears.

Rules and Templates

Rules are generic and can be shared across membership types. Notification Emails are sent to members for renewal reminders and payments. The information for each notification must be specific to the member. There would be confusion if a membership reminder was sent to remind them to renew as a different member type than they are currently registered. Eg a “Full Member” being reminded to renew as an “Associate Member”.

To allow for email notifications to be personalised, membership types have templates which can be defined for the notifications.

• Rules define the way membership types are processed.
• Membership Types define which templates are used when email notifications are sent.

Each of these notification templates are called either on user action (apply, renew, pay) or by an automated nightly process (when configured). The templates available to be configured are:

Process Notifications (sent when a user completes an action)

• New Applicants
  • New Membership Application Confirmation Email To Member
  • New Membership Application Confirmation Email To Admin
• Approvals
  • Membership Approved Welcome Email to Member
  • Membership Approved Email to Admin
• Renewal Confirmations (Sent after a member renews)
  • Membership Renewal Confirmation Email To Member
  • Membership Renewal Confirmation Email To Admin
• Payment Receipts (sent after member pays via payment gateway)
  • Membership Payment Receipt Email to Member
  • Membership Payment Receipt Email to Admin

Automation Reminders (sent automatically by the system when configured)

• Renewal Reminders
  • Membership Renewal Reminder Email to Member
  • Membership Renewal Reminder Email to Admin
• Payment Reminders (Sent by automation Process)
  • Membership Payment Reminder Email To Member
  • Membership Payment Reminder Email To Admin

Administrators can change the layout the notification and personalise via tags such as {firstname}, {lastname}, {MemberType} etc.

Membership Fee

Each membership can have different application and renewal fees depending on the organisation’s needs.

Membership Templates

Linked to membership types are membership templates, allowing the membership administrator to define the email being sent to members for application confirmations, renewal reminders, payment reminders etc. Each template can be configured to the organisations’ needs as well as personalising to the individuals. Example: Dear {firstname}.

Templates can be configured for the following events.

• New Membership Application Confirmation Email To Member
• New Member Review Email To Admin
• New Membership Application Confirmation Email To Admin
• Membership Approved Welcome Email to Member
• Membership Approved Email to Admin
• Membership Renewal Reminder Email to Member
• Membership Renewal Reminder Email to Admin
• Membership Payment Reminder Email To Member
• Membership Payment Reminder Email To Admin
• Membership Renewal Confirmation Email To Member
• Membership Renewal Confirmation Email To Admin
• Membership Payment Receipt Email to Member
• Membership Payment Receipt Email to Admin

Membership Duration

Member-based organisations can have different durations for members. Some may have a fixed membership year eg. Jan 1st to December 31st each year, which all expire on the same date. Other organisations may work for a fixed period based on the joining or renewal dates. The duration can be defined to cater for each of these scenarios.

If your membership runs for a fixed length of time, based on the joining date, then select Specific Period and enter the number of days, weeks or years your membership will run. If your memberships run to a specific end date, select Specific End Date and enter the date your memberships will expire.

Grace Periods

If you are working to a Specific End Date you may have instances where a member joins in the last few weeks of your membership year. Eg: Your memberships expire on the 31st of December and a person joins on the 10th of December. In this case, the membership will expire shortly after the member joins and they will be prompted to renew.

One way to avoid this is to offer a membership “grace period” where members who join just prior to your fixed membership expiry date, will receive the balance of the membership period and the next full period. Eg: If your memberships expire on the 31st of December and a member joins within 30 days of membership expiry, they will get a membership for the current year (up to December 31) and a full year of membership for the next year. This gives the equivalent of 13 months of membership as they joined close to the end of the membership period.

Renewal Reminders

Renewal Reminders are automated and can be configured to be sent to members who have not renewed either based on the fixed membership end date, or on their membership expiry date. You can also ‘pause’ membership renewals until the organisation is ready for renewals (start reminder).

The date the renewals are sent is controlled by a series of positive and negative numbers based on the expiry date. Eg: 30, 60, and 90 would mean reminders are sent 30, 60 and 90 days after the renewal has expired. -30, 0, and 15 would have reminders sent 30 days prior to expiry, at the date of expiry and 15 days after expiry.

Members and Administrators can be sent reminders. Emailing administrators allow members who are not renewing to be manually reminded by membership secretaries if required.

If members don’t renew, you can limit access to your website. If the member does not renew x days/weeks or years after expiry, they can be sent to a renewal page. If the member still doesn’t renew, you can disable all access to members-only areas of the site.

Members who don’t renew can also have their membership type or status changed. This allows membership secretaries to quickly identify members who have passed the membership renewal process.

Payment Reminders

Some organisations allow their members to renew and pay later. This will cause most organisations more effort into chasing payments and operationally creates more work for the management committee. Of course, some organisations work in this manner and the membership system will automate the sending of payment reminders.

Payment Reminders work just like renewal reminders with a very similar setup but only target members who have not yet paid for their memberships.

If members don’t pay, you can limit access to your website. If the member does not pay x days/weeks or years after expiry, they can be sent to the registration page. If the member still doesn’t pay, you can disable all access to members-only areas of the site.

Members who are not financially can also have their membership type, or status changed. This allows membership secretaries to quickly identify members who are in arrears.

Creating a Member

Membership rules define the duration and start/end dates of memberships, when renewals are sent, how to handle payment reminders automation of changes to Membership Type and Status for non-renewal or non-payment of memberships.

Membership Settings

Overview

• Memberships Overview

  Get an overview of memberships, including how to create, manage, and customise different membership plans, fees, and types for your users or customers.

• Membership Types

  Learn how to create and manage different membership types, customising access and benefits for each level.

• Membership Type Use

  Understand the use of membership types, which allow you to define and manage different categories of memberships, each with unique features and benefits.

• Membership Rules

  Learn how to set and manage membership rules. Follow clear steps to define and enforce rules for membership access, benefits, and restrictions.

• Membership Fee

  Learn how to manage and customise membership fees, setting the appropriate pricing and billing structure for different membership plans within your system.

• Membership Templates

  Explore membership templates, which allow you to create and customise membership plans with specific features, durations, and pricing for your users.

• Membership Duration

  Understand membership duration settings, allowing you to customise the length of memberships and manage subscription periods effectively within your system.

• Grace Periods

  Learn about grace periods, allowing extra time for payment or renewal before penalties or service interruptions occur, ensuring flexibility for users.

• Renewal Reminders

  Discover how to manage renewal reminders, ensuring timely notifications for renewals and helping to maintain continuous service or subscriptions.

• Payment Reminders

  Learn how to manage payment reminders, ensuring timely notifications and reducing the risk of missed payments within your system.

• Creating a Member

  Learn how to create a member. Follow simple steps to add and manage member details for streamlined account and access management.

• Membership Settings

  Explore Membership Settings to customise options, configure preferences, permissions, and manage membership details effectively.