Memberships Overview

Overview Guide

Memberships in Connection Card Pro allow your organization to offer paid or free membership plans to individuals. This module is optional and is typically used by organizations that operate fitness centers, community centers, co-working spaces, recreational programs, or any ministry where ongoing membership access is required.

This guide provides a full overview of how Memberships work, the components involved, billing behavior, and how members manage their own plans.

Note: Memberships are separate from Recurring Giving. Even though paid memberships use the payment processor for auto-billing, they are tracked independently from giving.

📌 What Memberships Can Be Used For

Monthly or annual organizational memberships
Gym or fitness center memberships
Co-working space access
Community center usage
Class or program access
Drop-in/Pay-as-you-go visit costs
Multi-tier plans (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.)

Memberships also work well for ministries that want to track non-paid memberships, such as

Access-based ministries

🧩 The Three Components of Memberships

1) Membership Plans

These are the types of memberships an organization offers.

Each plan can be:

Subscription-based (auto-renews monthly/weekly/yearly)
Prepaid (paid upfront for a set period, no auto-renewal)
Pay-as-you-Go (single-visit or usage-based fees)
Or free (no payment required)

Plans can have:

Unlimited tiers
Optional visit limits
Optional overage fees
Individual pricing for each tier
Accounting assignments (register, income account, fund)

See Guide: Creating Membership Plans

2) Memberships (Individual Assignments)

A Membership connects a person to a plan.

Admins can:

Assign memberships
Edit billing details
Cancel or pause memberships
Mark billing cycles as paid
Add a manager (optional)

Billing cycle behavior:

For subscriptions: renew automatically through the payment processor
For prepaid plans: full amount is paid upfront
For pay-as-you-go: visit charges apply automatically or via staff

Statuses: Active, Past Due (system-assigned when payment fails or is missed), Canceled (cancels at the end of the billing period)

See Guide: Managing & Assigning Memberships

3) Visitor Pricing

Visitor Pricing determines how much to charge per visit for certain membership types.

Used for:

Pay-as-you-go programs
Drop-in access (childcare, gym, rec center, tutoring session, etc.)
Overage fees when a member exceeds their visit limit

Visitor Pricing can be based on:

Days of the week
Time ranges (e.g., cheaper morning visits, higher evening rates)
Separate prices for members vs. non-members
Overage pricing

Applied automatically during kiosk/service counter check-ins, or manually by staff.

See Guide: Visitor Pricing Setup

🔁 How Billing Cycles Work

Subscriptions

Automatically billed at the start of each new cycle
Uses the organization’s connected payment processor
If a payment fails, Connection Card Pro retries
After failed attempts, the membership is marked Past Due

Prepaid Memberships

Paid in full at the time of purchase
No auto-renew
Access remains active through the prepaid period
If canceled, cancellation takes effect when the prepaid period ends

Pay-as-you-Go

Charges are applied per visit
Member may still have an underlying subscription or a free membership
Visit fees can trigger overage rates based on plan settings

👤 What Members Can Do in the Personal Hub

Members can manage their memberships through the Personal Hub:

View current membership details
Update payment methods
Cancel their membership (effective at the end of the billing cycle)
See past billing and visit history

They cannot:

Directly change membership tiers (admins must edit)
Override billing dates
Remove charges already applied to visits

⚠️ Important Behavior to Know

❗ Canceling a Membership

Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle
Access continues until that date
For prepaid plans, access remains through the prepaid period

❗ Past Due Memberships

A membership automatically becomes Past Due when:

A renewal payment fails
A payment is missed
The billing cycle progresses without a successful transaction

Admins can: mark the current cycle as paid, update or retry the billing details, and cancel or reinstate as needed.

🧪 Examples

Example 1 — Annual Organization Membership with Auto-Renew

An organization offers an annual membership for $175/year.

Setup:

Create a Subscription plan
Set renewal to annual
Create an Application form
Share Membership link for registrations and online payment
Billing renews automatically each year
If canceled, the membership will end when the current year is complete

Use case: Fitness classes, gym membership, community supporters, Leadership membership groups

Example 2 — Gym Membership with Visit Pricing

A church operates a fitness center. They offer:

A monthly subscription for regular members
A single-visit pay-as-you-go option
Overage fees for more than 10 visits per month