When a profile is assigned to a new Membership Level, the settings that you have configured will be used to update the profile. Below are some questions and answers regarding this process and how each setting can affect your member profiles.
- I don't have Tiered Dues structure. Can I still use Membership Level Management?
- If I use Membership Level Management, do all members have to have a level?
- Can I use the Auto-Assign Formula just to assign levels initially, then inactivate it?
- Which profile fields are overwritten when I assign a Membership Level?
- What if I assign a Membership Level that has a billing record to a profile that already has a billing record?
- Some of my members have non-dues billing records that I do not want to be affected by changing Membership Levels. How can I make sure these billings do not get inactivated?
- I have a Membership Level with two different dues billing records. How will the system know which billing record to copy when I assign this level?
- What happens when I assign a Membership Level with a billing record to a member with an Automatic Recurring Billing record?
- Can I use Automatic Revenue Calculations to set the billing amount on a Membership Level?
- Can I see a history of when a user changed a profile's Membership Level?
Q: I don't have Tiered Dues structure. Can I still use Membership Level Management?
A: Yes! At its most basic, Membership Level Management is simply a way to automate the basic profile data you add to all members. If you only have one type of member, you can create a single level called "Member" and configure that level for your basic membership. There is no minimum or maximum to the number of Membership Levels you can create.
Q: If I use Membership Level Management, do all members have to have a level?
A: No. Any member can be assigned to a level, or you can leave their Membership Level field blank so they do not have a level. However, if you are going to be assigning Billing Records with unique Revenue Items in any of your levels, it is recommended that you set up levels that could apply to all members.
Q: Can I use the Auto-Assign Formula just to assign levels initially, then inactivate it?
A: Technically you can certainly do this. However, you can assign levels in mass in the Profile Selector, which is recommended when you first set up and assign levels. This way you can avoid the SQL formula and avoid any accidental placement in the wrong level based on missing data.
Q: Which profile fields are overwritten when I assign a Membership Level?
A: This is completely up to you, based on your configuration settings. If you've chosen to overwrite the Profile Status, the previous status will be changed to the stats assigned to the level. If you've chosen to overwrite Listing Types and Position, the previous values will be overwritten with the values from the level. For Billings and Affiliation Codes, new records will be added based on the level settings. See the next questions for more details on when Billing records are "overwritten." No other data outside of the four sections you've configured in the Membership Level Management screen will be changed.
Q: What if I assign a Membership Level that has a billing record to a profile that already has a billing record?
A: When you tell the system to update the profile with the new Level information, it will look to see if that profile already has billing record. If so, it will check the Revenue Item.
- If the Revenue Item on the existing billing is NOT used on any Membership Level, the billing will be ignored and remain active. A completely new, additional billing record will be created based on the new Membership Level settings.
- If the Revenue Item on the existing billing IS used on any other Membership Level, that billing will be inactivated. A new billing record will be created using the new Membership Level settings, which will tell the system any fields to copy from the inactivated billing:
- Revenue Item: the new billing will always use the Revenue Item from the Membership Level settings, regardless of previous billings
- Amount: if the amount on the Membership Level is $0.00, the amount from the inactivated billing will be copied.
- Anchor Month: if the Membership Level is set to "Use Current Month," the Anchor Month from the inactivated billing will be copied.
- Anchor Day: if the Membership Level is set to "User Current Day," the Anchor Day from the inactivated billing will be copied.
- Billing Cycle: if the Membership Level is set to "Use Current Billing Cycle," the Cycle from the inactivated billing will be copied.
- All other fields from the inactivated billing will be copied.
- To avoid duplicate dues billing records, set up levels to cover all of your different dues revenue items. You can run an exception report to see any members that have dues billings that do not match their Membership Level.
Q: Some of my members have non-dues billing records that I do not want to be affected by changing Membership Levels. How can I make sure these billings do not get inactivated?
A: As long as the Revenue Item(s) on your non-dues (e.g. advertising/sponsorships/Young Professionals/committees etc.) billing records are not used in any Membership Level Management settings, those billing records will not be inactivated or changed. You can change those members' Level and the dues billing will update, while the non-dues billing remains the same.
Q: I have a Membership Level with two different dues billing records. How will the system know which billing record to copy when I assign this level?
A: The system will use whichever billing record has a Revenue Item used in a Membership Level. If there are two billings that both use Revenue Items that are tied to Membership Levels, it will simply use the first one it finds (though both will be inactivated). Keep in mind that this would only cause an issue if the two billing items have different anchor months or cycles. In that case (multiple Membership Level billings with different Anchor months or cycles on the same profile), it is recommended that you review the newly created billing records to make sure all fields auto-updated correctly. You can always see the inactivated billing records on a profile by clicking "Show Inactive Billings" on the Billing tab.
Q: What happens when I assign a Membership Level with a billing record to a member with an Automatic Recurring Billing record?
A: Automatic Recurring Billing records will NOT be inactivated through Membership Level assignment, even if the Revenue Item is used on another Membership Level. Because inactivating an ARB would cancel the subscription through Authorize.net, we do not allow the automated update process to inactivate those for you. Instead, you will be notified with a message that tells you the system did NOT inactivate the Billing record, and to handle that member's billing manually.
Q: Can I use Automatic Revenue Calculations to set the billing amount on a Membership Level?
A: Yes, if you have any Automatic Revenue Calculations (ARCs) created in your system under Revenue > Automatic Revenue Calculations, you will see those appear when you set up the Billing section for each level. Instead of entering an amount, you can select the ARC from the dropdown and the system will use the ARC to calculate the amount when updating member billings in that level. This process will work exactly the same way as updating billing records through the Auto-Increase tool using your ARC.
Q: Can I see a history of when a user changed a profile's Membership Level?
A: Yes, any changes to a member's level is tracked in your Audit trail report along with other profile changes. As long as your Audit Trail is enabled, you will be able to view the previous value and new value for any change made, with the date of the change and the user who made the change. To run an Audit Trail report, go to Reports > Admin Reports > Audit Trail History or Audit Trail for Specified Profile ID.