Memberships

Memberships - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

RegOnline Support — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:22:56 GMT

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

Common Pitfalls to Avoid Before Activating Your Membership

RegOnline Support — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:24:32 GMT

Topic:

I need to Activate my Membership soon. What sorts of things should I look for to make sure my Membership is ready to Activate?

Solution:

In the course of conducting (literally!) thousands of registration form reviews, the RegOnline Tech Support team has identified a handful of common setup problems. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it may help you to avoid common setup issues or pitfalls.

Common Pitfalls to avoid before activating your membership:

Recurring Membership Fees - The most important part of a membership is the recurring membership fees (unless it is a free membership). So be sure that you have properly set up your Membership Fee items (located on the Membership Fees page) so that they recur each renewal period. Show me how...

One-Time (non-recurring) Membership Fees - Do you have any lifetime membership fees, intial set up fees, or extra add-ons or merchandise? These should be set up as One-Time Membership fee or Merchandise Items and not Recurring Membership Fees.

Renewal Frequency - Is the renewal frequency set up properly on the Checkout page so that your recurring fees are charged each renewal period when members renew? Make sure that you have the proper renewal frequency set (i.e. Annually, Monthly, Quarterly, etc.).This setting can not be changed once you have taken live registrations. Additional information...

Payment Frequency - The payment frequency should be set to the same frequency as your Renewal Frequency (unless you want members to make multiple payments throughout their membership). This setting can not be changed once you have taken live registrations.

Payment & Verification tab - If you are charging any fees for your membership, then make sure that you have set up the appropriate payment methods and policies for your members. Is your membership set up for Online Credit Card processing? Have you entered a refund policy or terms and conditions? If you are accepting checks, have you included payment information to tell them where to send the payment?

Visible/Required properties are incorrect - If your Membership uses Member Types (aka Registrant Types), then be sure to check (and re-check!) your Membership Fee items and Custom Fields to make sure they are visible to the correct Member Type(s). More information...

Caption entries are not self-explanatory - Each Membership Fee item (or Custom Field) has two fields that may display information to members or registrants - one to display to your members on the registration form (this field is called Question/Description) and one to display to on the member's record or receipt (this field is called the Title on Invoice/Receipt). The text for each should be intuitive and geared towards the correct audience. More information...

Emails are set up correctly - Be sure that all of your automatic emails are set up correctly and have the correct information, including content, the sender's email address and name, merge codes, and any other information that pertains to your membership. See the Membership FAQ for more information about Membership emails...

Customized Page Names have been deleted from the Page Options section on each Registration Form Page as a (mistaken) way to remove unused pages from the registration form. Show me how to remove unused pages...

Membership Website - Are you using the RegOnline Membership Website (aka the Event Website)? Is this set as the default landing page for your membership? This can be a great tool to drive more traffic and registrations. Tell me more...

Testing your Membership:

It is also important to fully test the functionality of your Membership before you Go Live and open up registrations to the public. This can help you catch additional problems that may have not been apparent while you were building and previewing the form.

Keep your Membership in Testing status - Any registrations completed while in Testing status are completely free. It is also much easier to make changes to a registration form in Testing status than it is to modify an Active one.

Enter some test registrations - The best way to see how your event looks and works is to test register. There is no charge on your RegOnline account for any registrations completed while your event is in Testing Status, so enter as many as you want! We recommend one or two for each Member Type that you are using in your Membership.

Check the pricing (fees) for each Member Type - As you enter your test registrations, be sure that the Membership Fees, and Custom Fields that display are the ones you expected to see for that type. For example, if you have Member Types for Platinum and Gold, be sure that you see the Platinum pricing when you test register using that type.

Run a sample report of the data that you need to collect to ensure that your membership setup includes or collects the fields and information from your members that you will need to report on later. The Membership Snapshot Report may be the best report to start with see all of the fields available in your registration form.

Additional Information:

None.

Related Links:

Keywords: Test, Testing, Active, Activate, Mistakes, Errors, Error, Complimentary, Form, Review

Rev. Date 02/12/08

How do I let members change their Member Type?

RegOnline Support — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:45:25 GMT

Topic:

I am using Member Types in my membership and would like to allow members to change their Member Type themselves, online. How do I set this up?

Solution:

Member Types can be changed by members on the update or renewal pages when an existing member logs into your registration form. However you must enable this option for your membership. More on Member Types (a.k.a. Registrant Types)...

To enable this functionality:

Edit 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.

Save your changes.

Additional Information:

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 custom fields and membership fee items 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.

Related Links:

Keywords: renewal, updating, updates, modify, modifying, change membership type, pricing

How do I integrate my Events with my Membership?

RegOnline Support — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:32:47 GMT

Topic:

I have a Membership in my RegOnline account and would like to integrate it with an Event registration form in my account. How do I set this up?

Solution:

One of the benefits of using RegOnline for both your Membership and Events is that you can integrate these two products together. This will allow you to validate your members before they sign up for an Event in order to give them extra benefits or display different information to them. This integration works by linking your Member Types in your Membership registration form to the Registrant Types in your Event registration form.

To integrate a Registrant Type to a Membership form:

Edit your Event
On the Start page, edit an existing Registrant Type that you wish to integrate to your Membership (or create a new one).
In the Advanced Section, click on the link titled "Integrate with membership".
Select your Membership registration form from the dropdown menu.
Select the checkboxes for the Member Types and statuses which will be allowed to register with this Registrant Type.
Save your changes.

Keep in mind that this will validate members registered in your membership form using the email address that is associated with their membership. However you can also validate or authenticate members using their Member Number. See the related links below for further assistance.

Additional Information:

None.

Related Links:

Keywords: Integration, Validation, MemberID, Integrate, Validate, Authenticate, Authentication

How do my members update their membership information?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:58:34 GMT

Topic:

I would like to tell my members how they can update their own membership information.

Solution:

There are two ways your members can update their membership information, make payment, or make other changes to their record.

From the Membership Renewal page -

Send your members to the Membership Renewal page. The URL for that page is http://www.regonline.com/renewal.aspx?EventId=[Membership#]. (replace the text [Membership #] with the ID number for your specific Membership Registration form)
Enter the email address (or Member Number) and password and click Continue. The Renewal page displays, showing a summary of their personal information and fees related to their membership.

To change the account information they can click on any one of the links on this page to make changes to the specific information.
To change member information (such as address or other contact information) they can click on the Details link in the Member Information window on the right hand side of the Account Details tab.
To renew a membership they can click on the Renewal Button on the Account Details tab.

From the Start Page of your membership form-

Send your members to your membership form URL.
Select Existing Membership
Enter the Email Address and click Continue.
Enter the password and press Continue. This will take them to the Membership Renewal Page.

To change the account information they can click on any one of the links on this page to make changes to the specific information.
To change member information (such as address or other contact information) they can click on the Details link in the Member Information window on the right hand side of the Account Details tab.
To renew a membership they can click on the Renewal Button on the Account Details tab.

Additional Information:

None.

Related Links:

Keywords: Renew, Renewal, Members, Membership, Update, Modify, Change

How do I setup a non-recurring (One-Time) membership fee?

RegOnline Support — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:38:24 GMT

Topic:

I would like to charge my members a One-Time (or lifetime) membership fee that does not recur each renewal period.

Solution:

You can set up One-Time (non-recurring) membership fees on your membership that do not charge your members every renewal period. This fee type can be useful for creating a Lifetime Membership fee or to charge for an activity or service that is not intended to be charged on a recurring basis.

Membership fees can be added to your registration form in a few different places. By default membership fees are setup as Recurring Membership Fees, however you have the ability to set up any of the fees created in these locations as One-Time, non-recurring fees.

To set up a One-Time Membership Fee:

Edit your membership form
Locate and edit an existing Membership Fee or create a new one. More info on setting up membership fees...
Select the radio button that says “One-Time Membership Fee” beneath the price field.
Save your changes when finished.

Additional Information:

You can also use the Merchandise page to setup additional non-recurring fees. Ideally the Merchandise page should be used to sell additional, add-on items such as t-shirts, hats, books, etc.

Keep in mind that One-Time fees can not be modified or removed by members after they have registered. You will have to remove a One-Time fee from a members record on the "back-end" from the member's record.

Related Links:

Keywords: Lifetime, life-time, non-recurring, nonrecurring, non, recurring, recur, one-time, one time, fees, initial, initialization, setup, set-up

How do I create a discount code for a recurring membership fee?

RegOnline Support — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:34:28 GMT

Topic:

I would like to create a discount code for my recurring membership fees. How do I do this?

Solution:

You can set up a discount code on any of your membership fees that will be applied at the time of registration. If the fee is a recurring membership fee, then you also have the option to apply the discount once or each renewal period.

To add a discount code to an existing Memberhsip Fee:

Edit your Membership
Click on the Membership Form Pages tab and then the Memberhip Fees page
Add a new Membership Fee (or edit an existing one)
Click on the Advanced Pricing Options header to expand that section.
Add your discount codes in the discount code text box - More info on creating discount codes...
Apply discount code once - Select this checkbox if you want the discount codes entered for this recurring fee to only discount the fee for one renewal period

Additional Information:

None.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Renewal, Recurring, Fee, Fees, Recur, Recurring, Discount, Code

How do I change a member's Renewal Date?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:03:42 GMT

Topic:

I would like to change the renewal date for a particular member.

Solution:

Edit the individual's Member Info record

See related links for help finding and editing a record in your account

On the left hand side, click on the Recurring Payments icon.
On the Recurring Payments page, go to the Edit Next Renewal Date box. Type in your new Renewal Date, or use the calendar button.

You cannot reset the next renewal date to a date in the past.

Save your changes.

Additional Information:

Please note: The Next Pay Date Field located on a Member Record (and the Members Report) is only used or important in Memberships that have a Payment Frequency that is different than the Renewal Frequency.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Renewal, Date, Change, Edit

How do my members renew or update their own membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:02:27 GMT

Topic:

I would like to tell my members how they can renew or update their own membership information. How do login to make these changes?

Solution:

There are two ways your members can renew or make changes to their membership.

I. From the Membership Renewal page:

Send your members to the Membership Renewal page. The URL for that page is http://www.regonline.com/Memberships/Renewal/Login.aspx?EventId=[Membership #] (replace the text [Membership #] with the ID number for your membership registration form)
Enter the email address and password and click Continue. The Renewal page displays, showing a summary of their personal information and fees related to their membership.
Click on the Renew Button on the Account Details tab (the member’s current balance must be paid in order to renew)
Click on Next on the Renew Now tab
Select any Merchandise (if applicable) and click Next
Select a payment method
Click on Finish to complete the Renewal

II. From the Start Page:

Send your members to the Start page for the Membership http://www.regonline.com/[Membership#] (replace the text [Membership #] with the ID number for your membership registration form) .

If you have a custom URL created for your Membership registration form then you can send them to that URL.

Select Existing Membership, then enter the Email Address (or Member Number)and click Continue.
The member will be prompted to enter their Password. Enter the password and press Continue. This will take them to the Membership Renewal Page.
Click on the Renew Button on the Account Details tab (the member’s current balance must be paid in order to renew)
Click on Next on the Renew Now tab
Select any Merchandise (if applicable) and click Next
Select a payment method
Click on Finish to complete the Renewal

Additional Information:

Renewing members will only see Merchandise items (any add-ons created on the Merchandise page) that have not already been selected previously by that member. Once they have been selected by a member, then they will not have the option to select them again.

Related Links:

Keywords: Renew, Renewal, Members, Membership, Update, Change, Payment, Renewals,

How do I renew my Members (as an administrator)?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:59:57 GMT

Topic:

I have a membership form and would like to renew or register my members administratively.

Solution:

In order to renew your members administratively (on the "back-end"), you will want to use the Admin Register tool located on the Functions tab for your membership form.

To perform an admin registration/renewal:

Find and select your membership form in the RegOnline Manager.

Click on the Admin Register button on the Functions tab located on your RegOnline dashboard for your form.

Click on the existing member radio button for a renewal or the new member radio button for a new registration.

Enter the email address of the member that you wish to renew or register and click Continue.

If renewing, then the Renewal page displays, showing a summary of their personal information and fees related to their membership.

Click on the Renew Button on the Account Details tab (the member’s current balance must be paid in order to renew).

Click on Next on the Renew Now tab.

Select any Merchandise or other add-ons (if applicable) and click Next.

Select a payment method.

Click on Finish to complete the Renewal.

Additional Information:

Renewing members will only see Merchandise items (any add-ons created on the Merchandise page) or Non-recurring fees that have not already been selected previously by that member. Once they have been selected by a member, then they will not have the option to select them again.

Related Links:

Keywords: Renew, Renewal, Members, Membership, Admin Register, Manual

How do I set up a recurring fee for my membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:59:07 GMT

Topic:

How do I set up membership fees on my membership form?

Solution:

You can set up a membership fee on your form that charges your members every renewal period by setting up new recurring membership fees. These fees are created on the Memberhip Fees page.

To setup your Membership Fees:

Edit your membership and click Membership Fees page located on the Membership Form Pages tab.

Click on Add a new membership fee (or edit an existing fee).

Fill out the necessary fields for this new fee including the Regular Price field.

Be sure that you have selected the appropriate Member Type (aka Registrant Type) in the section titled "Which types of members can see this Item?"

Select the radio button that says “Recurring Membership Fee” in the Fee Type section

Recurring Membership Fee or One-Time Fee - By default the Membership Fee is set to charge each renewal period (recurring). However you can change this to charge a fee once if you did not want the fee to recur each renewal period (i.e. a life-time or initial membership fee).

Add advanced fee options if needed

Early-bird / Late Pricing (One-Time Fees only)

Discount Codes (you can choose to apply these discount codes once on a recurring fee)

Taxes (such as VAT or GST tax)

Save your changes.

Repeat these steps to add additional membership fees.

Additional Information:

None.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Renewal, Recurring, Fee, Fees, Recur

How do I select the renewal frequency (annual, monthly, etc.) for my membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:58:27 GMT

Topic:

How do I select the Renewal Frequency (annual, monthly, etc.) for my membership?

Solution:

When you set up your membership you can select the Renewal Frequency in which your members renew to the following periods:

Monthly
Quarterly
Annually
Semi-Annually

To change the Renewal Frequency:

Edit your Membership and click on the Checkout page.
In the Renewal Properties section, select the appropriate frequency in the Renewal Frequency field.
Save your change

Additional Information:

Renewal Frequency is different from Payment Frequency. You can, for example, set up a monthly Payment Frequency on a membership with an annual Renewal Frequency. This will allow members to pay for their membership over time. It is suggested that you make your Renewal and Payment frequency the same.

Related Links:

How do I prorate membership fees (when I have a fixed renewal date)?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:57:56 GMT

Topic:

If your membership is using the Fixed Renewal Date feature, then a member that does not register at the start of the period is not going to get a full year (or month, etc.) of membership.

Solution:

If you would like membership fees to reflect that the member is not getting a full period, calculate, and reduce charges appropriately, then you can use the payment Prorating feature.

To turn on Prorating:

Edit your membership and click on the Membership Form Pages tab
Click on the Checkout page.
Scroll down and click on the Advanced Payment Options.
Check the box to Prorate Payments and save your changes.

Example of Prorating with only one payment, at time of registration and renewal:

Let's say your membership renews annually, and the fees are $1200, and the fixed renewal date is December 31. If a member registers on January 1, she will be charged the full $1200 for her first period. If a member registers on July 1, she will only be charged $600. If she registers on September 15, she will be charged $350.

Example of Prorating with payments at selected intervals:

Let's say your membership renews annually, and the fees are $1200, and the fixed renewal date is December 31, and the fees are paid through monthly payments. If a member registers on January 1, she will be charged the full $1200 for her first period in 12 installments of $100. If a member registers on July 1, she will only be charged $600, in 6 installments of $100. If she registers on September 15, she will be charged $350, in one installment of $50 and 3 of $100.

Additional Information:

If you are using Proration in your Membership, recurring fees will be prorated if the member registers in the middle of the period. Non-recurring (One-time) fees will not prorate – they will be charged in full on registration.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Prorate, Prorating, Fixed, Renewal

How do I set a promotional period at the beginning of a membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:57:18 GMT

Topic:

I'd like to set up a membership with a free (or reduced cost) promotion period at the beginning of their membership. How do I set that up?

Solution:

To set up a free or reduced cost promotional period at the beginning of their membership:

Edit your membership and click on Registration Form Pages tab

Click on the Checkout page.

Scroll down to the Renewal Properties section

In the Promotional Period Options box, enter the length of your promotional period where it says Promotional Period Length

Save your changes.

How it works:

When you set up a Promotional Period, you are basically delaying the start of the renewal process and recurring payments. Non-recurring payments are not delayed.

Example: Promotional period longer than (or same as) the renewal period

Let's say your Membership has a monthly renewal period, a 90 day Promotional Period and a $100 recurring fee. When a member registers, she will not have to pay the recurring fee. She will get 90 days of membership without the recurring fee or having to renew. When the 90 days are up she will have to renew and pay her $100 recurring fees for the first time.

If you would like the 90 day promotional period to be free, make sure there are no non-recurring fees. If you would like the 90 day promotional period to have a discount price like $30, set up a $30 non-recurring fee (Initial Membership Fee) on the Membership Fees page.

Example: Promotional period shorter than the renewal period

Let's say your Membership has an annual renewal period, a 90 day Promotional Period and a $100 recurring fee. When a member registers, she will not have to pay the recurring fee. When the 90 days are up she will have to pay her $100 recurring fees.

Note that with this scheme, the member is not getting any kind of discount or price break. All she is getting is a delay on the first payment, so if she cancels in the first 90 days she doesn't get a refund (because she hasn't paid yet).

Example: Promotional period shorter than the renewal period (with payments)

Let's say your Membership has an annual renewal period, a 90 day Promotional Period and a $100 recurring fee split into monthly payments of $8.33. When a member registers, she will not have to pay the first payment of the recurring fee. During the 90 days, she will not have to make any payments. When the 90 days are up the payment schedule will resume, but she will only have to pay the remaining nine payments for a total of $75.

Additional Information:

Note: If you have a Promotional Period in your Membership, recurring fees will not be charged until the Promotional Period is done. Non-recurring (One-time) fees and any Merchandise fee items will be charged immediately on registration

You can also set up a discount code for an individual Membership Fee item that can be applied to a recurring fee once or every renewal period.

See related links below for more information about discount codes.

Related Links:

Keywords: members, membership, free, cheap, reduced, promotion, promotional

How do I break up my membership fees into easy payments?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:56:27 GMT

Topic:

I'd like to split up my membership fees into payments. How do I do that?

Solution:

If your membership has relatively high fees (thousands of dollars per period), you may want to let your members pay in installments throughout the period instead of having to make one big payment at the start of the period. If so, the Payments Frequency feature is for you.

The Payments Frequency feature for memberships divides the recurring membership fees into installments for payment throughout the renewal period. For example, an annual membership may cost $2000, but if monthly payments are enabled the member only has to pay $166.66 when he registers, and then $166.66/month throughout the year.

This functionality works best if the member pays with a credit card (and you are doing online credit card processing), because then RegOnline will automatically charge the member's credit card each month. This feature does work with checks and other off-line payment methods, but online credit cards bring out the best in the feature.

To set up Payment Frequency for all members:

Edit your Membership and click on the Membership Form Pages tab.
Click on the Checkout page.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Advanced Payment Options section.
In the Payment Frequency drop-down list, select a frequency that is more frequent than your Renewal Frequency.

For example, if your Renewal Frequency is Annually, you can chose Monthly, Quarterly or Semi-Annually. But if your Renewal Frequency is Semi-Annually, you can only chose Monthly or Quarterly.

Save your changes.

NOTE: If you don't want multiple payments, make sure the Renewal Frequency and the Payment Frequency are the same.

Additional Information:

If you are using the Payment Frequency feature in your Membership, then recurring membership fees will be split into payments. Non-recurring (One-Time) membership fees will not be broken down into multiple payments - they will be charged completely at the time of registration or renewal.

Related Links:

Keywords: membership, payments, plan, payment, frequency

How do I inform members when a payment is due or they will be auto-renewed?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:55:34 GMT

Topic:

How do I inform members when a payment is due or when they will be auto-renewed?

Solution:

There is a group of automatic emails to take care of this. The emails can be found and customized in the Payment Properties section of the Checkout page in Setup. The emails are dual-purpose: If you are using the Payment Frequency feature (Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, etc.) in your Membership, then they inform the member when a payment is due. If you are using Auto-Renewals, then they inform the members that they are going to be renewed.

Here are the four emails and what each of them does:

Credit Card Payment Reminder Email

This email is sent only to members who selected Credit Card as their payment method. The purpose of the email is to let the member know that their payment or renewal fees will be charged to their credit card seven days from today. This email is sent out 7 days before payment is due or renewal date.

Non-Credit Card Payment Reminder Email

This email is sent to members whose payment method is not an online Credit Card. The purpose of the email is to let the member know that they need to send in their payment or renewal fee (mail their check, authorize the purchase order, etc.). This email is sent out 7 days before payment is due or renewal date.

Credit Card Payment Confirmation Email

This email is only sent when you are doing online credit card processing. It is sent to members when our system has successfully charged the payment or renewal fee to the credit card on file. The purpose of the email is to let the member know their credit card has been charged.

Credit Card Payment Decline Email

This email is only sent when you are doing online credit card processing. It is sent to members when our system has failed to charge the payment or renewal fee to the credit card on file. The purpose of the email is to let the member know the credit card transaction was declined for some reason and that they will probably need to update their credit card information in their member record.

Additional Information:

It is very unlikely that you will build a Membership form that uses both the Payment Frequency and Auto-Renewal features, but if you do then you will probably want to compose these emails in a generic fashion so that they can apply to both Payments reminders and Auto-Renewals reminders.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Renewal, Renew, Payment, Auto-Renew, frequency

How do I set a fixed renewal date in my membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:55:09 GMT

Topic:

I would like to create a fixed renewal date for my membership.

Solution:

If you would like to set up your membership so that all members have a fixed renewal date and not a renewal date based on when they first sign up, then you can use the Fixed Renewal date feature.

To set this up:

Edit your Membership form and click on the Checkout page.
Scroll down to the Renewal Properties section.
Check the box to Enable Fixed Renewal Date.
Enter the appropriate renewal date in the Fixed Renewal Date fields.
Save your changes.

Additional Information:

You may want to enable proration on a membership that has a fixed renewal date. See the related links below for further assistance.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Renewal, Renew, Fixed, Date, Prorate

How do I change prices in my membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:54:38 GMT

Topic:

I would like to change the prices of my recurring membership fees on my membership. How do I do this?

Solution:

Whenever you modify an existing, recurring membership fee then new members will be charged the new price when they register, and existing members will be charged the new price the next time they renew.

To change the price for a recurring fee:

Edit your Membership and click on the Membership Form Pages tab, and then the Membership Fees page.
Edit the existing Membership Fee. This will open the Define Membership Fee window.
In the Define Membership Fee window, change the Amount in the Regular Price field
Modify and any other advanced fee options such as discount codes or tax rates.
Save your changes.

Additional Information:

Changing an existing Membership Fee will change the fee that is charged to new members or existing members when the renew. If you wish to create a new fee that does not affect existing members, then you will probably want to create a new Member Type (or Registrant Type) that has the new membership fee associated with it.

Related Links:

Keywords: Membership, Change, Fees, Recurring, Update

How do I use auto-renewal in my membership?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:53:40 GMT

Topic:

I'd like to use the Auto-Renewal feature for my membership. How does that work?

Solution:

Auto-Renewal is a feature in memberships that automatically renews members when their renewal period is up and charges their credit cards for their membership fees. When the auto-renewal feature is enabled, members do not have to come back to their membership form and renew. They will be automatically renewed period after period unless and until they cancel.

To turn on auto-renewal for your membership (note: this feature is turned off by default):

Edit your membership and click on the Membership Form Pages tab.
Click on the Checkout page and scroll down to the Renewal Options section
In the Auto-Renewal dropdown list, select "Force auto-renewals" and save your changes.
Once you've enabled auto-renewal, you can let your members decide if they want to be Auto-Renewed or not:

Edit your membership and click on the Membership Form Pages tab.
Click on the Checkout page and scroll down to the Renewal Options section.
In the Auto-Renewal dropdown list, choose "Member selection" and save your changes.

Now when a member registers, he/she will see a checkbox on the Checkout page labeled "Automatically Renew my Membership". If the checkbox is selected, then they will be Auto-Renewed each renewal period. If they do not check the box, then they will have to manually renew themselves every renewal period.

Additional Information:

Once you have selected Auto-Renewal in your membership setup and made your Membership active, you will not be able to change this selection

Auto-Renewal works best if online credit cards are your only payment method. That way, RegOnline can automatically charge the cards through your payment gateway. Auto-Renewal can work with checks, PO's, and other offline payment methods, but it is not automatic – you will still have to process the payments manually.

Related Links:

Keywords: renew, renewal, automatic, auto, payment, membership, auto-renew, auto-renewal

How do I let my members know it is time to renew?

RegOnline Support — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:53:04 GMT

Topic:

How do I let my members know it is time to renew?

Solution:

In order to let your your members know when to renew their membership, you will want to send them an automatic reminder email. There are a few ways to send reminder emails. You can simply use the standard reminder email that goes out to all members. You can set up separate reminder emails to send to different Member Types. You can also set up multiple Reminder & Follow-up Emails that can be sent to your members in addition to the standard reminder emails set up in your membership form.

To set up your standard Renewal Reminder Email for all members:

Edit your Membership and click on the Emails tab.
Under the New Member section, select the checkbox to Schedule a reminder email for the member.
Click on the link to modify the reminder email content and make the following selection:

Activate This Reminder – Check this box to enable the membership reminder email.

Click the Edit button to enter or modify the content for this email.

You can also Preview the email as it would look to registrants. Fake registrant data will be merged into the preview mode.
To test the email simply enter your email address and click the click the Test Email button to send a copy of this email to yourself (or another email address if desired).

Save your changes

If you would like to send different reminder emails to your members based on their Member Type:

If you are using Member Types in your membership and would like them to receive different renewal reminder emails, then you can create these by editing the Member Types.

Edit your Membership and click on the Start page.
Click on the Add a new member type link or edit an existing one. This will open the Edit Member Type window.
In the Advanced section, click on the link that titled Use the same confirmation email that's set up at the event level. This will open a new window that will allow you change the reminder email that this member type will receive.
Select the checkbox to Send this confirmation email instead of the membership level confirmation email.
Click Edit to make any changes to the content of the email.
Save your changes.

If you would like to schedule additional reminder & follow-up emails to send to your members:

The Reminder & Follow-up email feature located on the RegOnline Manager dashboard is a great tool to set up additional correspondence emails to send to your members.

In the Manager screen, select your membership form. It should be highlighted in blue.
On the Functions tab of the dashboard, click the Reminder and Follow-Up Emails link. The Email Reminders window opens.
Click the link to Create a New Reminder. The Edit Reminder/Follow-Up Email window opens.

Alternately, you can click the Copy icon to make a copy of an existing reminder/follow-up email, and then modify the copy using the steps below.

Make the following entries:

Filters Section - Select the appropriate filters for members that you would like to receive this reminder email.

To select more than one Member Type, select the Custom Selection option from the dropdown list. A box opens to the right where you can check the boxes to select each type.
You can also use the fields in this section to send this email only to those members who paid for their membership using a certain method, have a certain membership status, and/or have an outstanding balance on their membership.

Schedule section - Select whether you want to send this email at a certain interval (such as a certain number of days/hours before/after your membership Renewal date or Next Pay date), or at an exact date/time.
Content section - Enter the email address and name this email to display in the From field for the recipient, and the Subject and body of the email itself. Click the Edit button to modify the content.

When you've finished save your changes.

Additional Information:

The Membership Renewal Reminder Email is not sent if the membership is set to Auto-Renew. Instead, the appropriate payment emails are sent.

Reminder Emails will be sent from your membership if the membership status is set to one of the following:

Testing
Active
Onsite
Sold-out
Update Only

Related Links:

Keywords: member, membership, renew, renewal, auto-renew, reminder, email, reminders