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Memberships: How to Manage Existing Membership Records
Authored by:
on 12/16/2024 11:33:00 AM

Introduction

Memberships are a great fundraising tool and can further support the organization's mission by raising funds while providing donors with membership benefits or incentives. While Membership work in a similar way as Sustainers, memberships can be used as a tool to collection donations on a scheduled billing date and typically have annual dues and can be paid in full or over a period of time. If your organization is leveraging memberships as a fundraising tool and you have created your new member record(s), learn more below on how to manage memberships within CharityEngine. 

Table of Contents

Prerequisites 

  1. Establishments of Membership Types are strongly recommended. Learn more in our article - How to Create a Membership Type (Configuration)

  2. If you have not yet established one or more membership records and need help getting started, learn more in our article How to create a New Member

Instructions

Step 1: Once a membership has been created, you may need to manage elements of the membership record, including invoicing and billing. To begin, navigate to the Contacts App > Members > Search & Manage > locate the membership record > ACTIONS > Manage.
Note: Within ACTIONS, you will also have quick access to a few essential functions such as status change, sending an email, adjusting a billing date, cancelling a membership, reviewing payments, and deleting a membership record. 


Step 2: Manage to view the membership configurations including the following tabs:
Billing Tab - From the Billing Tab you can manage your billing options including changing from manual to automatic. 
Note: If you adjust any elements of the billing component, be sure to create a selection for Copy to Invoices including copy (or apply) to open invoices, collectable invoices only, or do not apply to any invoices. 
Invoices Tab - From the Invoices Tab you can manage all invoices associated with the membership as well as leveraging Add New to create a new invoice.
Note: Manual creation of invoices can be leveraged for manual billing or if an out of cycle payment is requested/received. 

To manage existing invoices, click under ACTIONS > Manage.

Note: If the invoice has an assigned payment type (i.e. Credit Card or ACH), the user will also have the ability to initiate a 'Pay Now' to pay the invoice immediately.  
You will then be navigated to the Dues Invoice screen. Here you can capture payment details or adjust invoicing needs. 

On the dues screen, you will be able to configure general settings such as the amount and due date, as well as center payment information on the Payment info tab such as a check number.

If the membership is set for manual billing, you will also be able to create the transaction on the payments tab by clicking add new.

Payments Tab - On the Payments Tab, click here to view all payments associated with the membership record. Payments are funds attempted or collected upon. (Note, invoices are simply the notification to attempt to collect payment. An invoice does not secure a payment - as such invoices can remain open and uncollected if payment is missed. The Payment tab will provide you the insights on payments associated with an invoice.)
For existing payments, you will be able to manage the individual transaction, send an acknowledgement, delete the transaction, and update the contact record.
You can also create a new payment by clicking Add New.

FAQs & Additional Reading 

Q. How do a create a membership type?
A. Establishments of Membership Types are strongly recommended. Learn more in our article - How to Create a Membership Type (Configuration)

Q. How do a create a member record?
A. If you have not yet established one or more membership records and need help getting started, learn more in our article How to create a New Member

Q. I am using an email creative and am using the Special Link feature. Which option do I select to allow the donor to make a payment or update their payment details?
A. Using the appropriate special link requires alignment with your audience source (query or report). Please follow these guidelines when using payment special links:
Special Link When to Use Audience Source
"Sustainer Payment Link" Donor updating sustainer account payment details Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Donation > Select: Sustainers
Ensure "Sustainer ID" is within query for reference in communication series
"Membership Payment Link" Donor updating membership account payment details Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Donation > Select: Memberships
Ensure "Membership ID" is within query for reference in communication series
"Pledge Payment Link" Donor updating pledge account payment details Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Donation > Select: Pledges
Ensure "Pledge ID" is within query for reference in communication series
"Invoice Payment Link" Donor updating an invoice/installment for sustainer, pledge.
Donor has option to update payment for one invoice with an option to apply payment details to all future invoices.		 Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Donation > Select: Invoices
Ensure "Invoice ID" is within query for reference in communication series



 

 

 

 

 

 



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