Membership Planning
Are Planning your Memberships?
We understand that each member organization has unique requirements for the new application and renewal process. With this in mind, SquareHubs member management solution is equipped with robust configuration options, designed to meet your most specific needs.
What is a Membership Category?
Membership Categories detail unique renewal considerations, designate pricing, and – most crucially – define how your members are grouped together. The category name is important: it is displayed to members and administrators.
For this exercise, let’s consider an organization that offers Basic, Standard, and Premium enrollment options. This organization would want to create three Membership Categories: members in each category might pay different fees, may receive unique benefits, and can be reported on separately.
How many Membership Categories will I need?
If you already know how many Membership Categories you need, that’s great! If you are unsure, ask yourself the following.
Basic Membership Details:
Consider things like the Membership Name, or the benefits that are offered to your members. Different levels with different perks should exist as separate Membership Categories.
Membership Ownership:
Individual memberships and group memberships must be separate categories in SquareHubs. Consider ownerships, will each member pay for their own enrollment, or does one representative buy seats to manage the status of multiple group members at once?
Renewal Period:
How often must your members renew? Each Member category in SquareHubs has its own Renewal Period; members in the same category renew on the same schedule.
Membership Fees:
How much does your membership cost? Generally, memberships whose fees differ should exist as separate categories in SquareHubs.
Planning Your First Membership
The considerations above helped to determine how many Membership Categories we need. Let’s choose one of those categories and plan its setup!
1. Membership Name:
The Membership Name is important because it appears on everything related to this Membership Category for both administrators and members. It is imperative to name your category something meaningful.
For Members:
Members can see their Membership Name on application and renewal forms, directory listings, invoices, receipts, and anywhere you may wish to add custom messaging for them like the member portal or an email campaign.
Active Members:
An Active Membership has been paid in full. Those whose Memberships are Active do not need to renew until their next – if any – renewal date. Active Members enjoy all privileges associated with membership, like access to the portal and member prices on event tickets.
Non-Member:
A Non-Member Contact is a record that exists in your system for someone who never had a Membership. For example, someone who registered for one of your events but never applied for membership.
For Administrators:
You will need each Membership Name to be unique so that you can tell your categories apart on the administrative side. The name you choose will be used for things like reporting, the list builder, and any other module or configuration setting where the Membership Category can be selected.
2. Membership Ownership:
Who will own this membership? Is membership granted on an individual basis, or does one person apply on behalf of a family or group? SquareHubs provides you with three options:
Types of Membership:
Individual Membership:
Members apply and renew for themselves. Memberships are granted on a one-to-one basis.
Organization/Group Membership:
These Memberships allow you to enroll groups and organizations as Members. One representative from a corporation can purchase a Group Membership on behalf of their team, then send their coworkers details after you have approved the application.
Family Membership:
The Family option is another type of Group Membership that allows representatives to purchase enrollment on behalf of their family members.
3. Renewal Periods:
Determine how often members in this category will need to renew. In SquareHubs, you can choose from Three scheduling options:
Lifetime:
A Lifetime Membership does not need to be renewed. Once members become active, they remain active indefinitely.
Annual:
Annual Memberships are renewed on the same date every year. You specify the date.
Example: consider a Membership Category whose members must all renew on January 1st.
Term(Monthly/Quarterly/Half-Yearly):
A Term Membership Category will prompt its members to renew on your custom schedule. Membership Terms can be customized to last anywhere from one month to 120 months in duration.
4. Proration:
Proration means to distribute something over a specified time period. In the case of membership fees, it’s the cost of the membership depending on the length the member joins for. For example: if a member joins mid-year, do they have to pay the full fee, or will it be prorated?
Forward Proration:
On registration, members pay the remainder of the fee for the current year as well as the full fee for the next year.
Backward Proration:
On registration, members will only pay the fee adjusted for the remaining months in the term and no further fees will be charged.
Extended Proration
Members will pay the fee adjusted for the remainder of the current year, and will pay the full amount for the indicated amount of years below.