Update Membership Packages

Deciding whether or not to update your current or create brand new Membership Dues Packages is sometimes a confusing process. As you can imagine a number of factors come into play in this decision.

To determine if you can update existing, create new or just leave alone there are four questions you must ask yourself:

• Are the prices of my membership changing?

  If only the prices of your packages are changing, you DO NOT need to create a completely new membership package. When your membership renewal invoices were created, NetForum stored the amount charged on the invoice record. This is true for both proforma and terms invoices. So even if the package is updated to reflect a new price, the old price will still stand on the previously generated invoice. Any new invoices generated will reflect the new price even when mixed together in the same batch as old renewal invoices.

• Are the G/L Accounts of membership packages changing? If the G/L accounts are changing AND your renewal invoices were generated as proforma AND there are still some outstanding invoices, you WILL NEED to create a new membership package. Though NetForum stores the price charged on the invoice, it does not store the G/L accounts that will be used for the transaction. The G/L accounts are not stored with the transaction until the batch is CLOSED. If you were to edit the existing membership package instead of creating a new package, the G/L Accounts on the new membership package would be credited and debited. If your renewal invoices were generated as terms or paid invoices AND are in a closed batch, you DO NOT need to create new membership packages.
• Is the name or description of my membership package date specific? If the name of the package or price is date specific, i.e. the student membership package is called "2009 Student Membership", you can edit your existing package to reflect the new name/description.
• Will you be selling old membership packages at the same time as your current membership packages?

  In some cases, Associations will sell two or more packages for the same membership concurrently. This usually happens if a member drops for a year or more; and Association rules require they pay for membership years they missed or forfeit any benefits from consecutive years of membership. If this is true for your association you WILL NEED to create a new membership package ONLY if the G/L Accounts are different from year to year OR the membership package names/description is date specific. If only the price is changing you have the option of creating a new package or selling the same membership multiple times in a row and updating the price on the fly in COE. In this case we would not recommend updating the existing package.

Updating Membership Packages

Use the following tasks to update membership package, price and product information, and to change a membership term.

To update the Membership Package information:

1. Go to Membership->Association
2. Open the Association Profile
3. Go to the Dues profile tab and expand the Membership Packages child form
4. Click the goto icon next to the Package you would like to edit. This takes you to the Package Profile page.
5. Click the Edit button.
6. Update the Package Name field.
7. Click Save.

To update the Membership Product information:

Unlike our membership package the membership product and membership price are changed from the 'Dues Product' menu item. (It is possible to navigate to the 'Edit-Price' page from the Membership Package, but it takes more steps and you will have to return to the 'Dues Product" profile to edit the product name anyway.)

1. Membership->Dues Product. Here you can either List your Dues Products or search for them using Find.
2. Click the Edit icon on the Dues Product profile.
3. Update the Dues Product Name.
4. Click Save.

To update the Membership Package Price information:

1. From the Dues Product Profile, expand the Dues Rates child form.
2. Click the Edit button.
3. Update the Display As and any other applicable field.
4. Click Save.

   Note: This is where you can also update your G/L account information and the amount charges for the membership.

To update the Membership Term:

NetForum also allows users to update the membership term from the price profile. Please note that if you are planning on updating your membership term(s) AND your member's effective/expire dates are updated when the invoice is paid; unpaid invoices will use the new term value when the invoice is paid. For example, if a membership term is changed to 2 years from 1 year, a member who has unpaid membership invoice with the 12-month term, will have their term changed to 24 months once the invoice is paid.

For this reason, it is recommended that when a membership term changes, a new membership package is created.