Memberships Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a Membership Form?
A Membership form is an online registration form designed specifically with organizational memberships in mind. A Membership will provide you with the means of promoting, registering, renewing, billing and maintaining your organization’s membership. The Membership database can be pre-populated with your member’s information from your database or you can start a new Membership. In your setup of the Membership, you can enable your members to perform functions such as updating their personal information, order products and services, make monthly payments, re-new their membership and if needed cancel their membership. For additional details or answers to specific questions please email memberships@regonline.com or contact your Client Services Representative (or whatever they are called now).
How do I create a new Membership registration form?
To create a new Membership Registration form:
- In the Manager window, navigate to the folder where you want to create the Membership form.
- At the top of the window, click the down arrow icon
next to the Create New Event link.
- Then select the option to Create New Membership from the menu. The Form Builder will open allowing you to begin building your Membership Registration Form.
If you do you see the option to create a New Membership or if you have other technical issues or questions related to Memberships, please
Contact the Technical Support Department.
Can I upload my existing membership database to my RegOnline account?
Yes you can. However, RegOnline will have to process this request for you. You will need to Contact the Technical Support Department to request this service.
How do I create recurring Membership Fees on my form?
A recurring membership fee is a fee that is created on the Membership Fees page in the Form Builder that is charged each time the member renews their membership. The membership renewal frequency (how often the recurring fee is charged) is set up on the Checkout page.
- To set up a recurring membership fee, simply select the Recurring Membership Fee radio button when creating a fee item on the Membership Fees page (this is selected by default). Show me more...
- Merchandise items can never be recurring.
How can I change a recurring membership fee & how will this affect existing members?
You can change a recurring membership fee on the Membership Fees pages the same way that you would change a fee on the Agenda page for Events. However when you change the price of a recurring membership fee after some members have previously selected that fee, then the next time those members renew they will be charged the new price. Any new members that sign up after you have changed the price will be charged the new price as well. More on changing membership fees...
How do non-recurring fees work with memberships and how can they be changed?
Non-recurring fees (fees that do not charge members each renewal period) can be setup as two different types of items.
- Merchandise items - add-ons and extras.
- One-Time (non-recurring) Membership Fees - These are useful for creating initial membership setup fees and life-time membership fees.
Note: Merchandise items and One-Time membership fees can not be changed by members after they have been selected previously. They must be modified on the member’s record by an administrator on the “back-end”. Additional info...
How do discount codes work with membership fees?
You can create a discount code for your membership fees just like you would on an event. However you also have the option to “apply the discount code once” for recurring membership fees if you do not want the discount to apply each renewal period. Setting up a recurring discount code...
Can members change their own Member Type?
Absolutely! Member Types can be changed by members on the update or renewal pages. However you must enable this option for your membership.
- Click on the Start page and scroll down to the Membership Rules section.
- Select the checkbox to Allow members to update their own membership.
- Then select the checkbox to Allow members to change their member type. More on Member Types (a.k.a. Registrant Types)...
What happens when the Member Type is changed?
When a Member Type is changed by an existing member when they are updating or renewing their membership all “uncommon” custom fields and Membership Fees are removed from the member’s record!
- Uncommon fields are fields that are not shared or visible by both of the Member Types.
- If a there are custom fields or fees that are the same or "Common" between the two Member Types, then they will not be cleared or deleted from the record when the Member Type is changed.
- Members will have the opportunity to answer/select any custom fields / fees and options that are visible to the new Member Type before they finish updating their membership record.
Can I integrate my Membership with an Event in RegOnline?
Absolutely! If you have a Membership in your RegOnline account, then you can link an Event registration form to your Membership. This will allow you to create, for example, a Member Registration Type in your Event that will validate their membership before allowing them to register for your Event as a Member. Show me how this works...
Renewal & Payment Frequency Options:
What are the various renewal frequency options for memberships?
When creating a membership you can set up the renewal frequency for the recurring membership fees on the Checkout page in the Renewal Options section. There are different options for setting up the renewal frequency in a membership; however, keep in mind that RegOnline does not offer renewal frequencies greater than one year.
You can choose the following renewal frequency:
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Semi-annually
- Annually (most common)
You also have the option of creating a fixed, annual renewal date if needed. Show me more on renewal frequencies...
What are the various payment frequency options for memberships?
The same options that are available for renewal frequencies are also available for payment frequencies. Ideally you will want to set up the same payment frequency as your renewal frequency. However in the case of high dollar memberships, you can break up the payments into smaller, more frequent payments. For example, if you have a $1200 annual membership renewal and want to break this up into 12 payments of $100, then you can set the payment frequency to monthly. More info on payments...
- It is recommended that these payments are “prorated” for members. (Enabled by default)
- You cannot allow members to select their own payment frequency.
How do I enable auto-renewals for memberships?
The auto-renewal feature allows you to charge members automatically for all recurring membership fees each renewal period. This feature is located on the Checkout page in the Renewal Options and is turned off by default. Auto-Renewals work best when using online credit card payment methods, but can work with other payment methods.
You can choose from the following options:
- No Auto Renewals (default option) - members must renew manually.
- Member Selection - the member chooses whether or not their membership is auto-renewed.
- Force Auto Renewals - all members will be automatically renewed each renewal period.
Membership Emails:
What are the different automatic emails that are available in memberships?
Emails located on the Emails tab:
- Confirmation Email - Sent to new members.
- Incomplete Registration Email - Sent to a prospective member who didn't finish filling out the membership form.
- Update Confirmation email - Confirmation sent to members that changes were made to the membership record.
- Cancellation confirmation email - Confirmation that the membership was cancelled.
- Renewal Reminder Email - Reminder that the membership is up for renewal.
Just like the reminder emails in events, this email is very versatile:
- Can be sent X days before the Renewal date.
- Can also be sent X days after the Renewal date,
- X days before or after the Next Payment date,
- X days after the Registration date,
- X days after the Member Since date, OR
- Sent on a Fixed date
More info on scheduling multiple reminder emails...
- Membership Renewal Confirmation email - Confirmation that the membership has been renewed.
Auto-Renewal & Payment emails (located on the Checkout page):
- CC Payment Reminder email - Reminder that the credit card on file will be charged - used for Auto-renewals and Payments (for example, monthly payments on an annual membership) - Sent 7 days prior to payment due date.
- Non-CC Payment Reminder email - Reminder that a payment is due - used for auto-renewal & payments for memberships that do not have a Credit Card on file (non-CC transactions) - Sent 7 days prior to payment due date.
- CC Payment Confirmation email - Confirmation that the CC on file was charged for your auto-renewal. Sent immediately after an auto-renewal or payment where the credit card on file was successfully charged.
- CC Payment Decline email - Auto-renewal email notification stating that the CC charge was declined - Sent immediately after an auto renewal or payment where the credit card on file was NOT successfully charged.
Note: It is still your responsibility to manually charge the members credit card again after the CC data is corrected (unless the customer takes advantage of the “Make Payment” feature in the new renewal form after he/she updates their Credit Card data).
Managing your Members:
Understanding the Member Record on the "back-end"
How do I know what renewal status (auto or manual) a member has?
On the member record there is a label in the top right corner of the personal information section that indicates if the member auto-renews or manually renews their membership.
Where can I locate the next renewal and payment date for a member and change it?
- To view these dates: Simply run the “Members report” from the Standard Reports tab on the Dashboard. This information is located in the Renewal/Payment date columns.
- To change these dates: Edit a member record and click on the recurring payments button on the left column. This will display the renewing payments and allows you to change the renewal date for a member. Changing the renewal date changes the next payment date as well.
- Additional information on changing renewal dates...
Related Links:
Rev. 05/27/08
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