You can create seasonal (fixed date), start from day of purchase and rolling (continuous) membership packages.
You should create different packages for all memberships available at your venue. e.g. adult, student, junior, family / groups.
To create a membership package click on the membership module along the left hand side of the admin site, then click the 'add new package' button.
The first section to complete is the details section:
Enter the name, code (if applicable), description and eligibility of the package.
Choose the availability of the package.
- Anyone can join (public) - The package will be on display for the public to purchase. All newly created packages are displayed publicly by default.
- Invite only (closed to new members) - The package won't be displayed for the public to purchase. An invite will have to be sent to purchase this package. Please note that all your existing packages will not be displayed publicly by default. You will have to change the availability of your existing packages to 'anyone can join', for the package to be publicly available.
- Hidden and closed to everyone - The package won't be available to anyone (i.e. your members won't be able to 'renew' a membership into this package). Use this status to prepare your package before it's available to the public. Once the package is available, you should change its status.
- Archived (completed) - The package is no longer available at your venue.
Next select the type and category of membership package.
After completing the details section you can decide the dates of the package.
First, you will have to decide the type:
- Same dates for all members - This allows you to put in a fixed start and end date, which will be the same for all members. Venues with seasonal memberships should use this option.
- Based on the date purchased - This allows you to select the term length which can be a set number of months e.g. 12 months or 'continuous (no end date)'. If you select 'continuous (no end date)' this will be a rolling membership, with the only payment method being online monthly direct debit.
You can also decide your grace period for renewing at the end of this membership. This extends the membership by the number of days entered into the grace period box. If the membership period ends on 31st March and '20' days entered in the grace period box - the member will have until 20 April to renew their membership. After the grace period, any membership that is not renewed in a new package, will be moved to 'lapsed' status.
Now, decide the costs of this package:
If you select 'allow payment in full', all payment methods will be available i.e online, cash, cheque, other. If you don't select 'allow payment in full', only online instalment payments will be available (these are collected via your GoCardless account).
If you are creating a membership that requires no payment, such as an Honorary membership, you can set the package costs to £0.00. When members are added to these packages, the payment status will default to 'paid'.
The final part of creating a package is deciding the payment methods you will accept for this package.
If you would like to accept online payments, you will first have to create a GoCardless account for direct debits or a STRIPE account for credit card payments. You can do this by clicking on the 'setup your account' link.
If you decide to accept cheque, cash and other methods, you will have the option to add instructions for your members:
Finally, decide if you would like to send payment reminders to your members. If they haven't paid yet we'll automatically send a reminder email to membership primary contacts 7, 14 and 21 days after a Payment Request was first sent to them. You can enable or disable these emails here.
Once you are happy with all the details of the membership package, click the 'save package' button at the bottom of the page.
Your newly created package will now be listed in the membership module.
If your venue uses seasonal memberships, when it comes to your renewal period, you should create a new membership package, using details from your current package, e.g. Adult 2018. You can then import from your current package into the new package. These members will go into the new package with a payment status of pending, until payment has been received. For more details on importing from an existing package, follow the below link:
Any comments?
If you have any thoughts or comments on this article, please contact us at support@clubspark.co.uk