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Upgrade a Membership

Updated
The Goal: Change a contact’s membership type — or simply update their level if the membership type is configured for levels — using the Upgrade Membership action.

Before You Begin:

  • Know which membership type — and, if the type uses levels, which level — the member is moving to. See Using Membership Type Levels for further information on levels.
  • If Enforce Date Rules on Fixed Renewal Month Memberships is enabled on the General Membership Settings page under Memberships > Settings, you will not be able to change the expiration date on the upgrade — it is driven by the membership term and renewal option.
  • Upgrading changes billing. An end date is added to the scheduled billing tied to the old membership, and a new scheduled billing with the correct start date (and no end date) is created.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. On the member’s Profile tab, click the Actions button in the Memberships section.
  2. Click Upgrade Membership. The Edit Membership screen is displayed.
    Edit Membership screen opened from Upgrade Membership, showing the Details, fee item and Invoice Options areas
  3. Complete the Details:
    • Type: Select the new membership type.
    • Level: If this membership includes levels, select the level to which the member is upgrading.
    • Chapter: If this membership is assigned to a chapter, select the desired chapter.
    • Frequency: Select the frequency at which this membership will be billed.
    • Staff: Optional — select the staff member handling this upgrade.
    • Notes: Any internal notes about this upgrade.
  4. Review the Recurring Fee Items, Recurring Once Per Term Fee Items and One Time Fee Items. The fee items associated with the new membership are automatically populated. You may update or remove these as needed.
  5. Review the Invoice Options (Print, Email; Billing Contact/Address/Email; Invoice Terms; and so on). These automatically populate based on this member’s history. You may update as needed.
  6. Check the Expiration Date. This populates based on the membership type settings.
  7. Click Done to apply the upgrade. A note indicating that the membership was upgraded is automatically logged on the Communication tab.

Related Membership Changes

Common Pitfalls

  • Expecting to edit a locked expiration date: With Enforce Date Rules on Fixed Renewal Month Memberships enabled, the expiration date is driven by the membership term and renewal option and cannot be changed here.
  • Leaving the auto-populated fee items unchecked: The fee items and invoice options are carried in from the new type and the member’s history. Review them before clicking Done — once the upgrade is applied, the old scheduled billing is end-dated and a new one is created.
  • Forgetting you can audit the change: The Membership Change Report may be used to view and analyze all membership changes.

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