When your first renewal notification email is sent, this starts the member's Renewal Period. For more information, view our help article on customizing renewal notifications.
This article outlines how to customize your renewal notification settings. Customizing renewal notifications will overwrite your default notification settings.
Applying default notifications with the APPLY DEFAULT NOTIFICATIONS feature will overwrite all custom notification settings and replace them with your default notification settings.
Renewal notifications
If you want to customize the renewal notifications for each member type, navigate to Database > Member Types. Hover over the member type you want to edit, then click EDIT NOTIFICATIONS. This will override the default notification settings for the selected member type. The setup for each notification is the same as your default notification settings, outlined in this article.
When you set the number of days before your renewal notice is sent, this includes the member's expiration date (end date) in its calculation. For example, a member with an expiration date of October 10 - notification set to send out 10 days before - will receive the notification email October 1.
Renewal notification emails
You can create up to four renewal notifications to go out before a member's expiration date. If you've selected Attach invoice to all notifications, a renewal invoice is auto-generated with the dues amount set in your member type's settings. When your first renewal notification email is sent, this starts the member's Renewal Period.
Below is an example of a renewal reminder email. The Click here to pay this invoice link is automatically generated.
Below is an example of the auto-generated invoice. The member can click Pay on the Invoice to pay with a credit card (if you've set up a payment processor with your account), or click Download to print the invoice and mail it in with a check.
We don't recommend voiding a renewal invoice. If you do, the profile will be taken out of the renewal cycle and won't able to renew again. If you do void their renewal invoice, you can move them to the prospect member type and then back to their original member type. Then, you can generate a new renewal invoice for them.
Grace period notifications
You can create up to four grace period notifications to send out before a member's grace period ends (if you don’t have a grace period, members will go straight from active to lapsed). The grace period notifications will also include the link Click here to pay this invoice.
Graced members maintain their membership privileges.
Lapsed notifications
You can create up to four lapsed notifications to go out after your grace period ends and membership lapses. The lapsed notification will include the link to Click here to pay this invoice.
Lapsed profiles cannot log in to your site. To access member benefits, they will need to renew their membership by taking a renewal form. If lapsed profiles do not renew after a year or more, you might want to look at moving those profiles to the prospect member type. As a prospect profile, the user can take the membership form to rejoin. It is important to move any lapsed members back to active status before turning membership automation on. Members that have already lapsed (those with expiration dates in the past) will not receive notifications and won’t be able to renew.
Test your knowledge
If you want to test your knowledge on the automated renewal process, please see the video below: