Creating a New Membership Type

To create a membership:

  1. Navigate to the Memberships App > Memberships feature.

  1. In the Membership Type Search list, click the Add New Membership Type button.

  2. Complete the Add New Membership form. Form fields with an asterisk [*] are required.

    • See Creating a New Product.

    • Is Chapter: If the membership being created is a chapter membership, flag it as such using this check-box.

Once the settings above are defined, use the remaining fields to set up the type of membership being created: lifetime, calendar, or anniversary.

Configuring Membership Term Settings

There are three types of membership term configuration: lifetime, calendar, and anniversary.

Lifetime Membership Settings

  • Is Lifetime: For memberships with no expiration, flag the Is Lifetime check-box.

    This causes the Is Calendar-Based, Number of Months, Start Day/Month, and Next Term Sale Start Day/Month fields to disappear, as these do not apply to the Lifetime membership functionality.

Calendar-Based Membership Settings

  • Number of Months: The term length, in months, of the calendar membership.

  • Start Day/Month: The start month and day of the calendar membership. Members who sign up after this date can still join, but they will not have the full term length of the membership.

    For example, if a calendar membership begins January 1st and runs twelve months until December 31st, members joining in March will still expire on December 31st. Proration of dues can be set up, if desired.

  • Next Term Sale Start Day/Month: This setting determines when memberships for the next year/term begin being sold.

Note: For example, for a membership that begins on January 1st and runs through December 31st, if the Next Term Sale Start Day/Month is set as November 1st, then customers purchasing that membership prior to November 1st of the current year will be purchasing the membership for the current year/membership term. If they purchase the membership after November 1st of the current year, they will be purchasing the membership for the next year/membership term.

Anniversary Membership Settings

  • Anniversary: Anniversary memberships start on the join date for the new member, which could be in any month of the year, and last for a term length defined by your association. All new anniversary members enjoy the full term length of membership, regardless of what time of year they join.

    To set a membership as anniversary, leave the Is Life-Time and Is Calendar-Based check-boxes unchecked.

  • Number of Months:The term length, in months, of the membership.

  • Start Day/Month: Options include:

    • Immediately

    • First of the Month

    • First of the Closest Month

    • First of Next Month

Additional Membership Type Product Settings

  • Benefit Requires: To receive membership benefits, the purchaser must meet a requirement such as:

    • Payment: A percentage of the balance due must be paid to receive benefits.

    • Order Invoiced: The membership order must be invoiced to receive benefits.

  • Grace Period Before Effective Date: A time range before the membership takes effect during which the member still enjoys benefits.

    This configuration is often used with calendar memberships to impart benefits to early registrants prior to the start date.

  • Grace Period After Expiration Date: The time range after a membership has expired during which the member continues to receive benefits.

  • Set Join Date: The date recorded by the system as the member's "join date."

    • Immediately

    • First of the month

    • First of the closest month

    • Promote date: The date on which a member meets the benefit requirement for the membership.
      For example, if membership benefits are set to kick in once at least 5% of payment is received, then the Promote Date would be the date on which the 5% threshold is reached. (see image below)

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Renewal Setup

At the bottom of the Add New Membership form, staff can define renewal settings.

  • Renewal Product: If the membership being created should renew to a different membership type—for example, a Student membership renewing to a Full membership—select the membership type it should renew to in this field.

    Note that the Renewal Product field is not required—if left blank, the membership being created automatically renews to itself.

  • Benefit Requires: Define what criteria the member must meet to get benefits from the renewed membership. Options include:

    • Payment

    • Order invoiced

Status Info

Define how a member's status should be labeled when they are accepted to the membership, and how it should be labeled when they are dropped.

Statuses in these drop-down fields are configured in the Memberships App > Setup.

  • Acceptance Status: The status a new member automatically receives when accepted as a member.

  • Drop Status: The status a member receives when their membership is dropped.