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How to Track Benefit Tracking and Reports

Updated
The Goal: Record and monitor your members’ use of their membership benefits — individually or in bulk — and run the reports that show how benefits are being used.

Before You Begin:

  • Benefit items must already be set up and assigned to your members. See Benefit Tracking - Getting Started.
  • Event-type benefits are tracked automatically by tying the benefit item to an event registration. See Assign Benefits to Event Registration types. Custom benefits — banner ads, use of a conference room and so on — must be tracked by hand.
  • Benefits appear on the contact record of the benefit owner. For business memberships the owner is the business contact, not the primary contact, so look for business-owned benefits on the business record.

Record Benefit Usage Individually

  1. Open the contact record and scroll to the Benefit Tracking section on the Overview tab. This section gives an at-a-glance view of the contact’s benefit usage, with a Used and a Remaining count for each benefit.
    Benefit Tracking section on a contact record Overview tab, boxed in red, showing the Name, Used and Remaining columns and the row action icons
  2. Use the section header icons to work with the list as a whole:
    • Quick Filters narrows the list to specific benefits — for example those that still have usage remaining.
    • Add Benefit Users lets you choose other contacts from this business who can use the event benefits alongside the primary contact. Those users can then register and receive the free and discounted event tickets.
    • Send Email emails the benefit owners.
    • Add Benefits opens the Add Benefit Items screen, where you choose when the added items should expire and enter a quantity against each benefit item you want to add.
  3. To record a use, click the Record Usage check mark at the end of the benefit’s row. The row also carries Adjust Remaining, for correcting the remaining count, and Show History, for the transactions already recorded.
    Benefit Tracking section with the Record Usage check mark on the first benefit row boxed in red

  4. On the Add Record Benefit Usage screen, complete the following:

    • Benefit Name is filled in from the row you clicked and cannot be changed here.
    • Usage Date: enter the date the benefit was used. This defaults to the current date.
    • Usage Quantity: enter the quantity used. This defaults to one.
    • Description: enter a description. IMPORTANT! This description appears in reports and, more importantly, it can be shown to the member. Make sure it is something you are happy for the member to read.

    Add Record Benefit Usage dialog showing the Benefit Name, Usage Date, Usage Quantity and Description fields with the Cancel and Done buttons

  5. Click the Done button. The usage is recorded and the Used and Remaining counts on the Overview tab update.

Record Benefit Usage in Bulk

If a benefit item was used by several contacts on the same terms, you can record the use for all of them at once.

  1. Go to Memberships, Benefits section, click Assignments.
  2. Filter to the contacts you want, or tick the check box in front of each one. A blue action bar appears at the bottom of the screen with Assign Packages, Record Usage, Adjust Remaining and Email Owners.
  3. Click Record Usage in the blue action bar.
    Assignments page with two rows ticked and the RECORD USAGE item in the blue action bar boxed in red

  4. On the Record Benefit Usage screen, complete the following:

    • Benefit Item: select the benefit you are recording usage against. This field is required.
    • Record Quantity Used: enter the quantity. This defaults to one and is required.
    • Adjustment Description: this is pre-filled with a summary of the mass action and can be edited. IMPORTANT! This description appears in reports and can be shown to the member, so write it for the member’s eyes.

    Record Benefit Usage dialog showing the Benefit Item, Record Quantity Used and Adjustment Description fields with the Cancel and Done buttons

  5. Click the Done button.

Benefit Tracking Reports

Two reports give you the statistics you need to understand how your members use their benefits:

  • Benefit History Report: a detailed view of every benefit transaction recorded against a contact.
  • Benefit Usage Report: a list of the members who have used benefits, and which benefits, over a selected date range. You can filter it to a specific benefit item or category, which helps when you are working out which benefits your members use most. The Assignments page also carries a Benefit Usage Report button that runs it directly.

Common Pitfalls

  • Looking on the wrong record: For business memberships the benefit owner is the business contact, not the primary contact. If you cannot find a benefit, check the business record.
  • A description the member should not see: The usage description can be shown to the member, not just in reports. Write it for the member before you click Done.
  • Confusing the row icons: On a benefit row the check mark records a use, while the up-and-down arrows adjust the remaining count. They do different things — use Record Usage when a benefit has actually been taken up.

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