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Add a New Membership Type

Updated
The Goal: Create a new membership type, including its name, term length, renewal options, automation, and description.

Before You Begin:

  • Decide the term length, who the membership is owned by, and how it should renew before you start — these choices drive how the type behaves everywhere else in the database.
  • The New Membership Project and Renewal Project automation fields require a subscription to the Projects/Tasks module. If you are not subscribed, skip them.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: The invoice template needs to be the same across all membership types when using BRP. If you are using Billing Responsible Party invoice templates across all applicable membership types, they should be identical.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Go to Memberships, click Settings and select Membership Types. The page opens as Membership Settings.
  2. A list of the membership types currently set up in your system is displayed.
    Full Membership Types page showing the list of existing types
  3. Click the Add button.
    Top of the Membership Types page with the ADD button boxed
  4. On the Add Membership Type screen, configure the following:
    • Membership Name: Enter a name for the new membership type. This is the name that will appear on your member application, as well as within the database where you may choose a membership type, filter by membership type, report on membership type, and so on.
    • Inheritance Type: This selection allows you to determine if an organization membership should be inherited by the staff of that organization. Choose Full Inheritance if staff should benefit from the membership. Choose Owner Only (this means the business is the owner) if individuals should not benefit from the membership. What does it mean if individuals do not benefit? All individuals (including the primary contact) will be listed as non-members and would not benefit from things that you may offer based on membership type (for example, event registrations).
    • Term Length: Enter the duration of this membership, in months. The default is set to 12 months.
    • Owned By: This setting allows you to set this membership type as either organization or individual level. If Business is selected, invoices will be billed to the organization; if Individual is selected, invoices will be billed to the individual. This setting will also drive where the membership type can be selected in the database.
    • Category: Membership categories provide a way to further filter and report on your membership types. Select a membership category from the drop-down list, or click the plus sign to add a new membership category.
    • Is Active: Enable this option to activate the membership type. Best practice, when no longer using a membership type, is to de-activate.
  5. Configure the Membership Type Renewal Options:
    • Renewal Pricing: This setting allows you to indicate if pricing for recurring membership dues will automatically be updated when pricing changes are made. Choose Recalculate Price if you do want pricing to automatically be updated. See Review and adjust renewal prices before billing for further information.
    • End Type:
      • Manually Ended: Select this option if you wish to manually drop a member if their membership invoice is not paid.
      • Automatically Expires: When this option is selected, enter the Grace Period.
    • Renew Everyone On: This setting allows you to establish the renewal date to be applied to all members. The default is Anniversary Date. The membership setting “Enforce Date Rules on Fixed Renewal Month Memberships” will drive whether changes can be made to fixed renewal dates. See General Membership Settings for more details. You will also have the ability to select additional renewal options when using Anniversary Date (see Advanced Options below). The additional settings are not available when selecting a specific month to renew all memberships of this type.
  6. Configure the Membership Type Automation:
    • New Membership Project: If you are subscribed to the Projects/Tasks module, you are able to have a specific project template automatically applied when a membership is activated. This can save staff time from having to remember to apply a project to each new member.
    • Renewal Project: If you are subscribed to the Projects/Tasks module, you are able to have a specific project template automatically applied when a membership is renewed. This can save staff time from having to remember to apply a project to each new member.
    • Add to List: Specify the list to which you wish to add new members. For example, you may wish to create a New Members list then use this list for marketing automation.
    • Description: Provide a description of the membership type. This description may be displayed on your website. You may use the standard word processing icons (bolding, italicizing, and so on) to format the text. You may also add images and/or links to the description.
  7. Once you have completed your membership type selections, click the Done button to save your new membership type.

Advanced Options

If using Anniversary Date as the Renew Everyone On option, you will have the option to enable Advanced Options. Enabling this checkbox displays two additional fields in the renewal options section — Start Date and Expiration Date selectors.

  • Start Date: You can set this to either use the actual date the member joins as the start date of their membership, or set it to the 1st of the current month — so all your members start on the 1st of each month. This could make running membership invoices and tracking start dates easier.
  • Expiration Date: 1 Year from Start Date, or 1 Year from 1st of Next Month. Much like the Start Date option, you can adjust the expiration date as well.

Next Steps

Once you have created your membership types, you may wish to:

Common Pitfalls

  • Mismatched BRP invoice templates: When using Billing Responsible Party, the invoice template must be identical across all applicable membership types, or billing will not behave as expected.
  • Leaving a retired type active: When you stop using a membership type, de-activate it (clear Is Active) rather than deleting it, to preserve historical data.
  • Choosing Owner Only when staff should benefit: With Owner Only, every individual at the organization — including the primary contact — is listed as a non-member and loses anything you offer based on membership type, such as event registration pricing.

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