Memberships

With membership programs, you can encourage donor loyalty and reward your constituents' continued support with exclusive, personalized benefits. Constituents who join as members usually feel more involved with your organization than other donors, even if their only real involvement is routine giving. Memberships also enable occasional donors to become regular givers through annual renewals.

With the optional Membership Management module, in database view, you can set up membership programs, including their categories or levels and the fees and benefits associated with each. On a constituent's record you can see details about their activity as a member under Membership, add a membership, and view complete details about a specific membership by selecting the membership itself.

Tip: By default, both current and past memberships for a constituent appear under Membership on a constituent's record. To focus on active memberships, select Only show active memberships.

Note: Category, program, and subcategory are configured in database view.

To help define a membership, your organization can track its category, program, and subcategory.

  • The Program is the top level of a membership and is defined by its categories. For example, a museum may have a Kid's Club program with several levels — or categories — of membership that a constituent could belong to.

  • Category typically defines the level of giving required to join a membership program. For example, the Kid's Club includes a Young Explorer category with $15 dues for monthly access to the museum, and a Junior Curator category with $25 dues for a t-shirt in addition to monthly admission.

  • Subcategory further defines a category, such as to indicate areas of interest. For example, the Young Explorer category could have subcategories of Space and Geology. Use this information to tailor interactions with the member to match their interests and increase involvement with your organization.

The membership's standing indicates its current status and can be used to help manage the relationship with the member. For example, if a constituent's membership lapses, you can follow up with them and attempt to get them to renew. For more information, see Membership Standings.

To help gauge the loyalty of the member and whether you need to reach out with an interaction, you can view pertinent dates of each membership.

  • Joined on — When the constituent first started the membership.

  • Expires on — When the membership ends.

Tip: If the membership doesn't expire, the Expires on date appears as Lifetime. Lifetime members, whose memberships don't expire, are traditionally your most loyal donors who have shown a high level of support. Reward their loyalty with personalized benefits that create a positive emotional experience. If necessary, survey your members to determine how best to reward their involvement.

  • Dropped on — When the member chose to cancel or not renew the membership (if its standing is Dropped).

Dues are the fees a constituent pays for the membership program based on its category. To help incentivize constituents to become a member and maintain their loyalty, your organization may offer exclusive benefits — such as reduced admission, t-shirts, or other merchandise — to thank them for their membership. The benefits received may vary based on the program's category or dues paid. To view the benefits a constituent receives, and their value, select View benefits. For more information, see Membership Benefits.

Your organization may offer memberships that extend to multiple members, such as for families or guests of the primary member. Any additional members on a membership appear under Members.

From Membership, select a membership to view its detailed information and history. For more information, see Membership Records.

  1. From the constituent's record, under Membership, select Add membership.

  2. Enter the Membership ID and Dues for the new membership.

  3. Select the membership Program and Category.

    Note: Available options reflect the Membership Categories configured in the database view.

  4. Enter the date the constituent became a member.

  5. If the constituent purchased a lifetime membership, select Lifetime membership. Otherwise, enter the expiration date for the membership. To send a notification when the membership is close to expiring, select Print renewal notices.

    6. Note: You can print renewal notices in the database view from Mail, or directly from the constituent's membership record.

  6. Select the membership reason and enter any relevant comments.

  7. To indicate that additional members are associated with this membership, select Members and enter the total number of members included. If there are children associated with the membership, include them as part of the total and then enter them in Number of children on this membership. The total number of members should not exceed the amount set for the membership category.

    Note: The maximum number of members for a membership is configured in database view.

  8. Select Save.

Note: You can manage memberships in the database view from Memberships under Records.

Tip: Use database view for other Membership Management related tasks, such as printing membership cards and querying for active memberships.