Getting Started

Customize Group Logo and Information

Customizing your logo and group information allows you to brand your group with specific details to meet your organization’s unique needs. Completed information will be visible to your members in several places, including your Group Site, events page, and in emails.

Complete Required Group Information

1. On the left navigation bar, click on Group Info
2. Complete the required fields: Name of the Group, Primary Contact Name, Primary Contact Email, and Time Zone

How do I add a custom logo to my group?

A custom logo makes your group easily recognizable to your members. It helps your group stand out among other groups to potential new members.

1. Hover over the generic group image to bring up the Change Image option
2. Click Change Image to bring up the Upload Image selector
3. Click the box to bring up the image locator, or drag and drop your preferred image in the area to upload

Note: Image must be 200 x 200 px to fit properly. If you don’t have image editing software, perform a browser search for “Image editor.” You’ll have numerous, free results to guide you through editing your image to the correct pixel size.

Complete the About Us and Address Field sections

These sections will help to better explain the details of your group to new and potential members. Completing the address information will allow it to auto-fill on emails being sent and on your Group Site, which is the all-in-one interface for your members.

1. Click into the About Us text field
2. Fill in the details that best describe your group
3. Complete the Address Fields as they apply to your group

How do I add my group’s social media links?

If your group has social media accounts, including links to them here will help increase your group’s interaction across them. With one click, all social media links can be added to emails.

1. Complete the information for the social media links you wish to provide

Note: Only enter the portion of the URL that is not displayed, which is after the social media platform's root domain URL: http://www.facebook.com/YourGroup. Entering in the entire URL will cause your links to appear broken. 

2. Save your changes

Personalize Your Database and Add Members

You can gather as much or as little information from your members to meet your group’s needs. Adding custom details to your group’s required information section helps address other needs specific to your group, such as emergency contact info or T-shirt size that members need to provide.

Choose required profile fields

Potential new members of your group must fill these out before being able to join. Once completed, these basic fields make managing your group easier.

1. On the left navigation bar, click Membership
2. In the Joining Our Group section on the main screen, select Member Profile Information
3. Choose which Profile Fields new members are required to provide from the list 

Add custom fields to your group’s database

Unlimited custom fields can be added, allowing your group as much detailed personalization as needed.

1. Click on Membership
2. Select Custom Fields
3. Click Add a Custom Field

Note: If you are collecting data from European Union citizens, this is where you can add a required checkbox to receive consent. This is required for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.

4. Fill in the required information

Note: Label is the name the field will be given. Type is the format in which the field will be populated by the member. Visibility indicates who can see the field, and if it is required before joining.

• Repeat steps 3-5 to add additional custom fields

5. Click Save & Close when you’re done with all custom field additions

Add new members

Adding new members from a file you’ve already created is a fast and easy way to build your database. This can only be done using a previously created Excel spreadsheet with your member information already populated within it.

1. On the left navigation bar, click Members
2. Select Add People
3. In the Add New Members section, click Get Started

4. Across the top, select From a File
5. Click Browse to locate your member list Excel file, and then Open

NOTE: Select the checkbox if your Excel file has a first row for identifying information in columns, such as name or phone number.

6. Select the Upload button

•  The resulting window is a preview of your database.

7. Select and map each column header with the name of its corresponding data set

Note: You can add a custom column by scrolling to the bottom of the dropdown menu, typing in your custom field, and clicking the + button. You will then be able to map your custom field column. 

8.  After you map all the columns, click Add Members

Choose the Right Subscription Plan for the Best Value

Selecting the proper plan will keep your usage costs at a minimum, allowing you to maximize the features of your plan without worry. If you’re not sure what plan your group is currently on, follow the steps below to check.

1. On the left navigation bar, click Subscription in the Account section

• Your group’s current subscription plan will be displayed.

Example:

2. To upgrade from a Basic (free) plan, click Upgrade Now

• The next screen will let you select a subscription plan to upgrade.

How do I choose the best plan for my group?

Our standard, self-serving subscriptions give you and your admin users access to core memberplanet platform features. Subscription plans are based on communication credits and additional features. To determine which plan is best for you, consider how frequently you will use our features:

• How many emails and texts will your group send each month?
• Does your group need an advanced directory (members can search for each other by name, location, and other criteria) or a basic directory? The advanced directory is available on our Pro and Premium plans.
• Do your admins need Smart List functionality? This allows you to create distribution lists that target people based on platform data, such as membership level or amount donated. Smart List functionality is available on our Pro and Premium plans.

Email/text credits: The number of emails/texts refers to how many recipients you can send an email/text to in one month’s time. Unused credits do not roll over. Example: 1 email/text to 100 people counts as 100 credits.

Unlimited admin users and members: We limit the use of our features based on communication usage rather than the number of admins or members. You can add an unlimited number of admins and members as your group continues to grow!

Website integration: We offer customizable site buttons (to your memberplanet donation sites, forms, membership application, events, etc.) that can be hard coded on an external website.

Explanation of our fees

Platform fee: To help memberplanet provide a feature-rich suite of tools, we charge a percentage of the total transaction cost when funds are collected online. Purchasing a subscription can significantly reduce this fee and is a great way to save on processing costs.

Payment processing fee: This fee is deducted from payments collected on the system and covers the third-party, electronic payment processing cost. This fee applies only when funds are collected online.

The Platform Fee plus the Payment Processing Fee comprise the total per-payment transaction cost. Example: On the Pro Plan, the total cost is 4% + $0.30 /transaction.

Enterprise organizations

For those whose needs go beyond our standard subscription plans, we offer a partnership plan for Enterprise organizations. Let’s determine if you are an Enterprise organization:

• You are a national organization that has child groups such as chapters, components, or units
• You have a multi-tiered or chapter-based structure
• You require customizations or additional development to the memberplanet platform, such as API integrations to connect to your database or financial system

Note: Due to the nature of customizations, required implementation services and continued support for the duration of our partnership, we charge Enterprise organizations a startup fee and monthly subscription.

If some or all of these apply to you, please visit our Enterprise pricing page and select Contact Us to fill out the form for a memberplanet representative to get in touch.

How Do I Set Up My Group to Process Payments?

The ability to accept payments in ways other than cash or check can make fundraising, dues collection, and any other need for processing money much more convenient.

Add a new bank account

1. On the left navigation sidebar, select Banks in the Account section
2. Click on New Bank Account
3. Enter the details of your bank account

Verify my bank account

You are able to receive payments once you’ve completed your basic bank account setup, however no funds will be transferred to your account from memberplanet until you complete the verification. To complete banking verification, you must provide a scanned copy of a government-issued ID.

Please see How to Add and Verify Your Bank Account for full details.

Getting Started Video

Watch our video to get an overview of the steps to get your organization set up on memberplanet. 

Get the Most Out of Your memberplanet Experience

Congrats on your decision to use memberplanet! We pride ourselves in catering to every type of group leader on the planet. We recognize that every group is unique. Regardless of the size or goals of your group, our team provides you with the tools and strategy you need for a best-in-class member management experience. We’ve taken a ton of functionality and made it easily accessible from one place. We hope you’ll explore your seemingly endless options!

What to do next on memberplanet

Now that you’ve completed the basic setup of your group, here’s what you can do next on the platform.

Manage members: If you’re sick of keeping track of your membership database and renewals through spreadsheets, individual email reminders, and file cabinets of member profiles, you’ve come to the right place. You can manage your entire membership experience online utilizing wide-ranging automated features and our set-and-forget management tools.

Process payments: Fundraise, collect payments with ease, and offer electronic and recurring and installment payment options. You’ll never have to limit yourself to collecting only cash or check payments again, even if you’re accepting a payment on site. Our features – and mobile app – keep it simple.

Engage: Your group’s success depends on how well you engage your members. memberplanet provides all the communication tools and strategy needed for ongoing and impactful engagement. One of our core missions is to turn one group’s successes into streamlined upgrades that benefit all users across the platform – so you always get the most out of your memberplanet experience.

Glossary - Getting Started

Custom Field Label: the name of the newly created field.

Custom Field Type: the input format of the field to be populated by the member (e.g. checkbox,  dropdown menu, etc.).

Custom Field Visibility: indicates who can see the field, such as admins or all members, and whether or not the field is required before joining.

Group Site: the all-in-one interface for your group and landing page for all your members.

Processing Fee: the flat fee that covers the costs of charging and processing transactions.

Site Fee: the fee memberplanet charges for use of the platform to collect funds, which is a variable fee based on the plan or subscription level chosen.