Kavi Help CenterKavi® Members Help
| Chapter 32. Membership Renewal | ||
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Part I. Kavi Members Concepts and How-tos | 
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Table of Contents
Memberships can be renewed by members, by administrators, or by the auto-renewal feature, depending on configuration and other factors. The membership renewal process can include moderation and billing steps, just like first-time memberships.
Back to topA renewed membership is a new membership issued to an existing member so that the old and new memberships form a series of memberships. For example, a member who has an annual Sponsor membership for the year 2006 might renew with an annual Sponsor membership for 2007. These are actually two distinct memberships, even if the membership type is the same. They have different terms and may have different fees, benefits, etc.
A membership doesn't have to be renewed with the same type of membership. Members may renew with any available membership type. For example, a member who joins an organization with a Standard membership type may wish to renew the expiring Standard membership with a higher level Sponsor membership type for the next membership term.
Memberships can be renewed even if a considerable amount of time has elapsed since the previous membership expired. As long as the company or individual member exists in the Kavi Members database, they are sent through the same membership renewal process as other renewing members.
Back to topKavi Members offers an auto-renewal feature that can be enabled to renew expiring memberships automatically. If this feature is enabled, the renewal process is automatically initiated for some or all expiring memberships. Auto-renewed memberships follow the normal membership workflow configured in each membership type, so these aren't necessarily approved automatically. If the membership requires moderation, it is sent to the moderation queue. If there is a membership fee, a membership bill is issued but the account holder's credit card is NOT charged automatically. For more information, see Auto-Renewal.
Kavi Members provides forms for existing members to renew their own memberships online. An active member can log into the website and use Member forms to manage their memberships. Emailed renewal reminders can point members to these forms well in advance of the membership expiration date, giving the member time to renew the membership before it expires. The renewed membership goes current immediately after the old membership expires, allowing the member to remain continuously in good standing.
As an administrator, you are given a great deal of control over the membership renewal process, so you can manually renew any membership that needs handling, and can override the default start and end dates, moderate the membership through and pay bills or prorate membership fees when appropriate. There are many scenarios where an administrator might handle a membership renewal manually, such as when the organization has "invitation-only" membership types that aren't available to members through online membership renewal applications, or when the renewed membership must be prorated, or the member missed the cut-off date on a Fixed Duration membership type.
Administrators can use the Manage a Company or Manage a User tool to renew a membership. View existing memberships by scrolling down to the Membership section. If this membership is eligible for renewal, the Renew link is displayed. Click this link to go to the Renew a Company Membership or Renew an Individual Membership.
Some members let memberships lapse long enough that their accounts are deactivated before they get around to renewing. Deactivated members can't log in, so they don't have access to the members-only renewal forms. In this situation, members may try to apply for an entirely new account through public signup forms. This won't work either, because Kavi Members requires each company's name to be unique and the member already has a record in the Kavi Members database.
To help lapsed members renew memberships when they can't log in, Kavi Members sends a special renewal link by email when an authorized user attempts to renew a membership through a public form. The link contains a unique key identifying the member. Once the member clicks the link, a renewal form is displayed where they can select the membership type they want and complete the membership renewal process. When the application is accepted and the new membership becomes current, website access privileges are restored.
Even if a membership is expired, the renew link remains available, so administrators can always renew lapsed memberships through Admin Area tools such as Manage a User or Manage a Company. If the lapse in membership exceeded the grace period, the membership may have been archived. In either case, organization policy may require the start date of the renewed membership to begin the day after the archived membership elapsed, depending on the amount of time that has passed, so the administrator may manually set the start and end dates for the renewed membership. If a long period of time has passed, there may be a gap in the membership history.
A current (or even expired) membership is eligible for renewal if it has not already been renewed. When viewing a membership, the member or administrator my notice that the 'Renew' link is not displayed for a particular membership. This means that the membership was already renewed or that it isn't yet eligible for renewal because it is not yet current. If the renewed membership isn't displayed, it is either pending moderation or pending bill payment.
Membership Renewal Eligibility Scenarios
A membership for the current term and 'Renew' link are displayed. There may be past (expired) memberships, but no memberships are displayed for future terms. The current membership is eligible for renewal.
A membership for the current term and one for the upcoming term are displayed and there is no 'Renew' link. The current membership has already been renewed and approved. This new membership will become current on the date that the current membership expires. The new membership won't be eligible for renewal until it goes current.
A membership for the current term is displayed, there is no 'Renew' link and a pending message is displayed. The current membership has already been renewed but the new membership is pending moderation or pending bill payment. The pending membership can be managed by clicking the link to pay the bill or moderate the membership application.
An expired membership is displayed along with a renew link. There are no current memberships. The expired membership is eligible for renewal. If renewed, the new membership goes current as soon as it passes any moderation or billing steps. The start date is likely to be in the past and any membership fees won't be automatically prorated. The expiration date is set to the date that it would have been if the old membership had been current when renewed. In other words, the old and new membership terms are usually set to be contiguous so that memberships are in a series. This protects the organization from people who might try to exploit membership expiration grace periods as free mini-memberships between a discontinuous series of paid memberships.
When an old membership is renewed and the new membership goes current, the old membership automatically moves from the 'Expired' state into the 'Archived' state. Types assigned through membership are always removed when the membership is archived to ensure that a member always has the types assigned through their current membership only, and doesn't retain types assigned through previous memberships.
Back to topMembers can enter their renewal intentions when visiting their account.
If auto-renewal is enabled, members may be allowed to opt-out, in which case these memberships have to be renewed manually by the member or administrator.
Membership history, expiration and renewal can be viewed through several Default Kavi Members reports, including the Individual Membership Data and Company Membership Data reports.
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| Chapter 31. Membership Application Processes |  |
Chapter 33. Membership Auto-Renewal |