Understanding Membership
This section lists prerequisites and common elements and discusses membership management.
Before you can manage a membership initiative, you must set one up. There are common initiative setup pages for this task, and also membership-specific setup pages that enable you to complete setup.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
ID Type |
Identify the constituent as a Person or an Organization. |
ID/Org ID (ID/organization ID) |
Enter the ID of the constituent (either a person or an organization) or the person assigned to a task. |
Add Mbr (add member) |
If adding memberships, click to access the Membership Entry page, where you can add another membership payment or complimentary membership in the session. If adjusting memberships, click to access the Membership Adjustment Summary page, where you can select another membership payment number for adjustment. |
Add Desig (add designation) |
If your institution allows the entry of additional gifts in a membership session, click to add an additional row for designation information. |
To involve the greatest number of constituents in the activities of an institution, it is often beneficial to create a membership organization that focuses on a particular interest area or support area. A member organization can be an alumni association, a chapter of a larger umbrella organization, or an organized group based on one or more common characteristics as defined by your institution. Member organizations may have a parent organization or child organizations.
Member organizations may or may not require a payment of dues to establish membership. Some organizations have a membership year that resets the membership at the beginning of a particular month each year. Some organizations have membership based strictly on the existence of a particular attribute on a record. These organization membership rosters are created through an automated process that links the constituent to the membership organization because the attribute exists. Dues and complimentary memberships are entered manually through membership entry.
If dues are collected for membership in an organization, they can be allocated to one or more designations, and a joint membership can be given to one or more people or organizations.
Membership is one type of initiative in Contributor Relations. All initiative types share some common management pages. Some initiatives, such as membership initiatives, require additional management that is specific to their purpose. The membership-specific management is covered in this set of topics; refer to the following set of topics for information about managing all types of initiatives.