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How to add and manage a membership (options, expiration, terms and archiving)

  • Updated

Add a membership on Programs > Configurations > Memberships, then give it at least one option, which sets the price, how long each membership lasts and whether it renews automatically. Use the membership's Terms tab for terms members accept, and archive it when you stop selling it.

Applies to: Admins whose role includes membership configuration · All plans with the Membership module · Individual (youth and adult) registration programs

Where: Programs > Configurations > Memberships, and Programs > Configurations > Archived Memberships

For when to use a membership instead of a program fee, and how renewals bill, see Memberships vs. program fees: how membership billing works.

Add a membership

  1. Go to Programs > Configurations > Memberships and click Add Membership.
  2. In Membership Name, enter the name families see.
  3. In Description, describe what the membership includes. It's required, and families see it on the membership's page at checkout.
  4. If your site has more than one payment gateway, choose the Payment Gateway that collects this membership's payments, or leave Not Applicable/Default.
  5. Check Enrollment Required to sell the membership only with a registration for a program that requires it. Leave it unchecked to also sell it on its own in the Cart.
  6. Optional: in Order Copy To, enter email addresses, separated by commas, to copy on every order that includes this membership.
  7. Click Save. The membership is listed on Memberships; add an option next.

Add an option

  1. Click the Add Option icon (the green plus sign) on the membership's row.
  2. In Option Name, enter the name families choose, such as Individual or Family.
  3. In Cost, enter the price.
  4. In Expiration Type, choose Year From Purchase or Fixed Date (see the table). It can't be changed once the option is saved.
  5. For Year From Purchase, set Payment Frequency: 1 to 12, per Year or Month. For Fixed Date, choose the Expiration Date.
  6. In Type, choose Individual to cover one person, or Group to cover everyone on the family account.
  7. Check Is Recurring to renew each membership automatically at the end of its term and charge the card it was bought with. Leave it unchecked if families should buy it again themselves.
  8. Click Save.
Expiration Type How long a membership lasts When it's renewed Expires column
Year From Purchase The Payment Frequency from the purchase date, ending the day before: 1 per Year bought on March 10 expires on March 9 the next year. One term is added to the current Expiration Date, so renewing early loses no time. "1 year from purchase"
Fixed Date Every membership sold under the option gets the same end date, taken from its Expiration Date, whenever it's bought. The end date is taken from the option again. No term is added. "Fixed:" and the date

What you'll see: click the arrow next to the membership to list its options with Option, Cost, Active, Default, Recurring, Type and Expires. The first option is the Default, the one added to the cart when a program requires the membership; click another option's Toggle Default icon (the check box) to change it. Drag the rows to reorder this list.

Fixed Date options from one season to the next

  • The Expiration Date includes the year and doesn't move forward on its own. Before you sell next season's memberships, choose the new date with the option's Edit Option icon (pencil), or add a new option.
  • A membership gets its end date when it's bought or renewed, from the option's date at that moment, so a change doesn't affect memberships already sold.
  • If the option is recurring, move its date to the next season before members' memberships expire. An automatic renewal runs the day after a membership expires and takes the end date from the option.
  • After the first sale, check the membership's Expiration Date on the customer's Memberships tab.
  • For an option ending December 31, the Memberships list shows December 31 of the following year during that year, though the saved date doesn't change. Edit Option shows the saved date.

Add terms members accept (Terms tab)

  1. Save the membership first. Then click its Edit icon (pencil) and click the Terms tab.
  2. Click Add T's & C's.
  3. In T & C Name, enter the heading families see, up to 50 characters.
  4. On the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans, set Enable eSignature to Yes if members should sign instead of checking a box.
  5. In T & C Text, enter the terms. Optional: in Agreement Text, enter your own sentence for the checkbox or signature (up to 250 characters).
  6. Click Save. You see "The Terms and Conditions have been updated."

What you'll see: the document on the Terms tab, with a signature icon on eSignature terms. Families must accept every document to finish checkout, each time they buy or renew in the Cart; membership terms can't be optional, and automatic renewals don't ask again. With Place Order, an admin sees the terms only if Show T&Cs is Yes on Programs > Configurations > General, and must then accept them.

Editing a document saves a new revision with its own Revision Id; expand its row to see earlier revisions, and click View Revision (magnifying glass) to read one. To see what a member accepted, click View Order on the membership's order on Account Overview: "Terms:" lists each document, with the signature for eSignature terms. A document you've since edited or deleted isn't listed.

Hide, archive or delete a membership

  • Hide it with its eye icon ("Toggle Visiblity"): green is shown, red is hidden. A hidden membership isn't offered in the Cart, but Place Order still sells it and programs that require it still add it. Hiding also pauses renewals: members get no renewal email and aren't charged, and a membership that isn't renewed becomes inactive 10 days after it expires. Show it again before renewals come due.
  • Hide one option with its own eye icon. Families can't choose it, but members who hold it keep renewing. The Default option can't be hidden.
  • Archive it when you stop selling it: click its Edit icon, check Yes, archive this membership under Archive Membership, and click Save. It moves to Archived Memberships, leaves the Cart and Place Order, and programs stop adding it. Members keep their memberships and automatic renewals continue: cancel those on each member's Memberships tab.
  • Un-archive it on Programs > Configurations > Archived Memberships with the Un-archive Membership icon (the green arrow). You see "The membership "(name)" has been unarchived." An archived membership's name opens it to view only; Save is grayed out.
  • Delete it with the red X only if no one holds it: deleting stops everyone's renewals, and no page restores it. The red X is grayed out while a current program requires the membership. An option can't be deleted while an active member holds it, or if it's the Default.

If it doesn't work

  • "Membership name is required." or "Membership detail is required." Enter a Membership Name and a Description.
  • "Your Membership Detail has exceeded the maximum allowable space -- please shorten." The Description's limit is 2,500 characters, formatting included.
  • "Invalid "Order Copy To" entry. Use commas to separate email addresses if more than one." Fix the addresses.
  • "Option name is required.", "Option cost is required." or "Expiration Date is required." Fill in that field.
  • "There must be a default." You tried to delete the Default option or turn off its Default. Make another option the Default first.
  • "Default must be active." You tried to hide the Default option, or make a hidden option the Default. Show it first.
  • The Terms tab opens Add Membership Program. Save the membership, then open it with its Edit icon.
  • Enable eSignature isn't on the page. Your plan doesn't include it (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise), or your admin role doesn't.
  • Families can't find the membership in the Cart. It's Enrollment Required, archived or hidden, or all its options are hidden.
  • A recurring membership didn't renew. Renewal charges the card it was bought with, so one bought by check or cash isn't charged and becomes inactive 10 days after it expires (its family may still get the renewal email). Add a card with Update Payment Method on the member's Memberships tab, or have the family renew. A hidden membership or a card declined three times also stops it.

Good to know

  • A new Cost applies to later purchases, and recurring members pay it at their next renewal.
  • Unchecking Is Recurring affects memberships sold afterward. Members already set to renew keep renewing until you cancel auto-renewal for each.
  • Membership Renewal Copy To on Programs > Configurations > General gets a copy of each "Upcoming Membership Auto-Renewal Notification".
  • To see who holds a membership, use Reports > Report Dashboards > Memberships or the Membership Information report.
  • TeamSideline Support can give new memberships six-digit Membership Numbers automatically, and can add the Membership module to your site: support@teamsideline.com.

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