Announcements

Q4 2018 Year-end Tech Updates

We're starting off 2019 with a jam-packed list full of great new features. In response to your feedback and support throughout 2018, five new updates have been released to the platform to better meet the ever-changing needs of our beloved groups. Just like you, we're dynamic too.

Introducing...

All Payments Report

The all-new All Payments report has an updated look and feel that makes it cleaner and more user friendly. The report provides administrators with a bird’s-eye view of their organization and more detailed way to manage transaction-level data. Admins can easily view and manipulate data – without having to export to Excel (which you can still do, of course). If your organization has child groups, such as chapters or clubs, you can also see and sort transactions from your child groups in the same report. This report and its features are available on all subscription plans.

Interactive Directory

Our most recent update to the member directory features a full library of your organization’s members, their profiles, and their personalized information. Each member’s data is only accessible by your group, and displayed information settings are controlled by individual privacy settings. Request that members showcase their education, career, member level, or group title on their profile, or alternatively allow them to maintain the mystery with as little disclosure possible.

Polls

Our new polls tool is useful to all organizations by allowing them to facilitate secure, professional voting for officer elections, awards, or other ballot and election-oriented tasks. We offer much more customization and useful features – such as the ability to include more than one question – than polls on social media. Administrators have the flexibility to customize who is qualified to take a poll, start and end times to access the poll, as well as the data displayed in real-time results. 

Participation Tracker

The memberplanet participation tracker provides administrators a transparent and accountable way to record or award credit (or points, hours, or any other type of format) to members for their involvement in your activities, such as attending an event, completing study hours, or volunteering their time. This is an excellent tool to recognize and reward active members, monitor overall event attendance or track volunteer hours, and learn which activities are actively engaging your members.

Events Check-in and RSVP Updates

Get a headcount ahead of time, generate event buzz by letting guests see who else has RSVP’d, and send tailored messages targeting people on your guest list based on their RSVP response. It’s a great way to promote online event registration and increase operational visibility on the days leading up to your event. Our recent fix includes an option to verify whether the person’s name matches the name on the invite. If it doesn’t, they can log in with their own credentials and continue to RSVP.

2018 was a year full of growth for us; we'll be helping you do the same all 2019. Tell us what you think of our platform, how we can improve our features, or simply say hello at info@memberplanet.com. Let's grow together this year.

Release: 9/27/18

Record and track member involvement with the new participation tracker feature

Participation tracker provides administrators a transparent and accountable way to record or award credit (or points, hours, or any other type of format) to members for their involvement in your organization’s activities, such as attending an event, completing study hours, or volunteering their time. Data is securely recorded by date and time in a customizable reporting format. You’ll be able to see who received credits and which admin awarded participation, as well as make any edits without navigating away from the report. Learn more and view the full participation tracker documentation.

New event check-in feature records accurate attendance

Administrators can enable event check-in to record attendance on the actual day of an event or activity, such as a community outreach, weekly membership meeting, or a study session. Admins can record a check-in by requiring members to use a system-generated passcode or manually checking in attendees. Admins can also customize the start and end times of the check-in window and edit the check-in status of a member. When linked to a participation tracker, admins can award members credits (or points, hours, or any other type of unit) for their check-in. Learn more: How to Enable the Event Check-in Feature.

Event RSVP enhancement allows members to share their invites

Sometimes guests forward their personalized event invite to their friends. To avoid confusion in reporting when someone RSVPs, an option was added to verify whether the person’s name on the invite matches the person who’s RSVPing. If it doesn’t, the user can log in with their own credentials and continue to RSVP. Learn more about enabling and sharing RSVPs.

Payment option to pay with bank account now available to users

Our integration with Plaid, a financial technology company, gives users an additional option to easily and securely link a bank account to make a payment. From any type of payment form on memberplanet, when the Pay with Bank option is selected, the user can search for their bank or add their bank manually by following on-screen prompts for a seamless consumer experience.

Release: 7/26/18

View and manage all transaction-level data with All Payments report

The improved All Payments report has the following upgrades:

• Powerful search options to search every field displayed
• Accounting summaries and filtering by payment type
• Pop-out screens to show status, payment details, schedule, or issue a refund
• Calculated totals for transaction data for date range selected
• Improved date range search with default to any time (all-time range from start of collecting funds on memberplanet) setting
• Quick filters to display payment activity by type of payment (installment or recurring) or memberplanet service, such as events, donations, membership and more
• Configurable view to lock columns when scrolling horizontally, hide columns, and sort by column data
• Access to transaction data from child groups
• Separate view of transaction data for your organization (at national or headquarters level)

Learn more about viewing your organization’s transaction reports.

Advanced search options let members search every field in the directory

The new Smart Search feature enhances the member directory and makes it easier for members to find other members by searching any field of data your organization collects. Through the interactive directory, you can give your members networking and mentorship opportunities, foster an online community, and improve engagement. Robust search functionality include returning partial and exact matches, as well as the ability to search custom field data, such as similar interests. Learn more about using Smart Search in the directory.

Release: 4/16/18

Toggle on/off missed payment collections for lapsed group members
Members may come and go within your group, and one way to encourage those looking to re-join is to not charge them for the payment cycles that passed while they were in lapsed status. Admins can now toggle this collection function on and off, so they have absolute control of the amount a returning member owes. Admins can waive those passed payments or decide to collect every payment from the date they left up to their return date. The choice is yours. Collect wisely. Learn how to enable or disable missed payment collection.

Release: 3/15/18

Added new admin role permission for membership feature set, which allows admins assigned with this permission to assign member levels and record offline payments. Learn more: Create and Assign Admin Roles

Updated the membership level history report to display actual payment date and time whenever a status was changed by either an admin or a member. Learn more: View Member Level History

Enhanced search for member database to apply and change multiple filters. Removed "search by" field and combined the toggle for the "Name & Email" and "Type & Status" pages. Learn more: Access Member Database

Updated member level reminder emails to send a tailored message, button, and button link when member's status is "Invited." Users are now directed to "Activate" or "Create" account based on their activation status (joined or invited). Learn more: Create and Customize a Paid Membership Level

Release: 2/10/18

Automatically sort members into a distribution list based on member level
Once initially set up, this admin feature allows you to automate the process of sorting new and renewing members into a distribution list for each member level in your group. Learn how to automatically sort members into a distribution list based on levels

New report to track installment payments
The increased flexibility of installment plans for members is a feature that helps groups grow and retain membership. The ability for admins to accurately track and monitor the progress of installment plans as it relates to fundraising goals or membership dues will help you keep your group on target. Learn how to view all your group’s transaction reports, including installment.

Q1 2018 Tech Updates

We’ve kicked off the new year with some fresh tech updates to help make managing your members and growing your group even easier. All through the holidays, we’ve kept busy to enhance event management, improve our member database, and more. You gave us suggestions on how to update the user experience, and we’ve been listening! Check out what’s new and improved.

Improved member database download

New variable pricing for event tickets based on member levels

Simplified process to add payment method

Easier access to membership cards

New auto-populating member distribution list

Improved member database download

Admins of groups of any size, even those with more than 100,000 members, can now easily download their entire member database. The whole process runs behind the scenes, allowing admins to continue working on the platform without having to pause so the database can download. A notification email is sent to the admin when the download is complete. Learn how to download your member database.

New variable pricing for event tickets based on member levels

Admins can now assign special pricing for tickets based on member levels rather than a flat price. For example, the price of an event ticket can be different for each membership level in your group, allowing you to give discounts and create added value for long-standing members. Here’s how to create event ticket prices based on member levels:

1. After you create an event, click Tickets & Payment Items in the RSVPs & Tickets section
2. On the Basics tab, fill out the information fields to create a ticket for the event, and click Save
   
   
   
   
3. Select the Special Pricing tab
4. Click the Edit button for the event ticket you wish to create special pricing for
5. Select Set Custom Pricing

• To set separate prices for each member level, click Customize by Member Level. A field will appear for each of your membership levels. Fill in the dollar amount for each level, as well as pricing for non-members.

OR

• To set separate prices for members and non-members, fill in the dollar amounts.
  
  
  

6. Click Save
   
   

Simplified process to add payment method

We’ve made it even easier for your members or donors to make online payments. When users add a new payment method, they now have the option to add this payment method to any already active recurring payment schedules. This improves the user experience by limiting re-entry of information (because no one wants to update payment info twice), as well as making sure they don’t accidentally miss a payment.

Easier access to membership cards

We’ve cut down on the number of clicks it takes to download a member’s card from desktop, and membership cards are even easier to access from the mobile app. The next time Jim and Pam show up to an event or meeting without their member cards, simply have them pull up their cards from their smartphone. Learn how to access and download membership cards.

New auto-populating member distribution list

Sending a customized message to members who’ve renewed their paid membership just got easier. (And you should absolutely do that to make your renewing members feel valued and special!) Admins can modify settings in paid membership levels to automatically sort those who join or renewed their membership into a distribution list. It’s a great way (and best practice) to connect with members by tailoring your message to specific recipients. For example, if you have monthly announcements for those on your top membership level, you can email them without manually updating a distribution list before every send. This feature works like our Smart Lists, and best of all, it’s free! (Before you start, make sure you’ve already created the distribution list you wish to auto-populate.)

1. Click Membership on the left navigation bar
2. Select Membership Levels, Sign-up and Renewal in the Joining our Group section
   
   
3. Click the gear icon on the member level you wish to edit
4. Scroll down and click Edit on the Sign-up and Renewal section
   
   
5. Select the Add Member to a Distribution List checkbox
   
   
   
   
6. Select the distribution list you wish automatically add members to
7. Save and Close

We exist to simplify membership management, and for you and your admins, that means simplifying life as a leader. Share your thoughts with us on how we can further improve the customer experience by emailing suggestions@memberplanet.com.

Q3 2017 Tech Update

memberplanet continues to define the member management space by offering the best software to manage and engage members. To finish off the summer, we’re turning up the heat on your favorite features. We’ve developed new enhancements for the mobile app, membership cards, recurring payments, reporting, and more. Check out our exciting additions: 
 
Improved search for membership cards
Offline access to membership cards through the mobile app
Recurring payment enhancements
New member level history report 
New Member Circle member list and Member Circle custom fields report 

Offline access to membership cards through the mobile app

Need to access your membership card on the go but don’t have Wi-Fi? We’ve got good news -- you can now access your member card offline. Once you download your member card via mobile app, it will automatically save to your phone. Easily access your card, with or without internet! Learn more: How to download membership cards via the mobile app.

 

Recurring payment enhancements

Recurring payments is an essential set-it-and-forget-it feature for all member-based organizations. When it comes time for your members to renew their membership, they shouldn’t have to think about writing another check or pulling out cash from their wallet. Recurring payments allows for a more frictionless experience. We’ve streamlined our recurring payments functionality to make it easier for users to opt in and select the frequency, as well as stop recurring payments.
 
Installments, which we’ve also streamlined, are a great way to increase your fundraising dollars. Some people are more willing to donate a higher amount if they can pay in installments – and it’s a best practice to always give them the option. Learn more: Manage recurring payments on a Donation Site.

 

 

New membership levels history report

Our reporting features are great for keeping a bird’s-eye view on your group and to target and track member activity. With our new membership levels history report, admins can look at the history of each member level. The membership levels report can be found under the membership tab on the left navigation sidebar. On the levels tab, admins can click on the gear icon that corresponds with the membership level they want to view, then select View Members in the dropdown menu.
 
Admins can also level history by member. On the Members tab, select the gear icon next to the member name you wish to see the history for, then select Level History in the dropdown menu.

 

 

 

New Member Circle member list and Member Circle custom fields report

In addition to the member levels report, we’ve added new reports for Member Circles, which serves to give admins a more in-depth look at data collected for each subgroup. The Member Circles feature is an easy way to create a small grouping of individuals in your organization, and is a type of membership level that allows one person to manage the membership account for a group of people (such as a family or company account). Circle Member reports will list each Member Circle by members. The Member Circle custom fields report allows for the admin to view each response. These reports can be found under the members tab on the left navigation sidebar. Learn more about Member Circles.

 

 

 

Q2 2017 Tech Update

In the world of productivity, delegating work to your group’s admins is just as important as doing the work yourself. One way to effectively do this is by assigning and editing admin roles. This ensures that those you’ve tasked with managing your group have access to the tools they need.  For example, you may want to give one of your admins access to create email campaigns without giving that person access to your group’s finances.
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1. On the left navigation sidebar, click on Admins
2. Click the +Add a New Role button on the top right
3. Type the name of your role in the Role Name field
4. Select the features you want the admin to have access to
5. When selected, the permissions associated with the feature appears. The default permissions is set to Edit & View. If you desire to only assign view permissions, select Only View
6. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom

 

How Do I Assign and Edit an Existing Admin Role?

1. On the left navigation sidebar, click on Admins
2. Select the gear icon for the role you’d like to assign or edit
3. A drop-down menu of editing options appears. Click your desired option: Add this Role to Members, View Leaders, Edit Role, or Delete Role

 

Improved Member Level Renewal Emails

Everyone could use a friendly reminder now and then. We typically receive a phone call reminder about a doctor’s appointment booked in advance, or an email that the phone bill is due in a week. Membership renewals are the same way, and we’ve taken care of all the heavy lifting so admins can set up automated email reminders for specific member levels and time frames.
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To schedule up to three email reminders per paid membership level before a member’s renewal date:

​1. Hover over the Membership module in the left navigation sidebar

 

 

2. Click Manage Membership Levels in the submenu
​3. Membership levels will display. For the paid level you choose to edit, select the gear iconand click Edit from the drop-down menu

 

4. In the Reminders section, select a time frame to edit. The default is set to no automated reminder, so an action must be selected to activate this feature

 

 

5. Admins can edit the number of days before the renewal they’d like to send out a reminder
6. Check the boxes to specify who receives the email reminder: group leaders, members, or both. For group leaders, you will need to enter their email addresses
7. Admins can also edit the reminder email’s subject and part of the body

 

 

What happens when members are late to renew? You’ll likely have to pause their membership until they do renew, which means changing their level, removing them from email campaign lists, event invitations, and more. Doing all this manually is asking for a headache, but fortunately, you can set this up to happen automatically. Simply follow the same steps as above, but instead of the Reminders section, select the Late & Missed Renewal section. Admins have a number of options to choose from, including Change Member’s Status to “Lapsed” and Send an Email to the Member.

 

Added Member Level to the Member Homepage

As soon as your members log in, they can now see their member level displayed, and it serves as a quicker way to go directly to their account details.

 

Clicking on their member level will give them access to view payment schedules, their renewal date, and other membership levels.
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They can also click anywhere else on the module to expose quick links to Change Membership Levels, View Group Profile, and Leave This Group.

 

Added Link to Customize the Join Group Pages on Membership Dashboard

To give new members the best experience in joining your group, we consider it a best practice to customize the join process. That means using your group’s branding in the join email and including a message that emphasizes the value of joining. We’ve added a quick link to the Membership Dashboard so admins can get to the customization process faster.

1. On the left navigation sidebar, select Membership
​2. In the Joining Our Group section, select Add Custom Content to New Member Pages

 

 

​In this preview mode that displays what new members will see, admins can change the logo and add custom messaging.

 

 

Added a Short URL for Join Now Button

We realize there are many ways to get new members to the join process. Admins can send an email with a Join Now button or post a Join Now button to their website. But for those times when they want to send new members a link instead of a button, we’ve created a short URL that can be used anywhere, including posting to social media or sending a text to view on mobile.

1. On the left navigation sidebar, select Membership
​2. In the bottom section Get the Word Out, select Get a Join Now Link

 

3. A short URL will be provided in the pop-up overlay. Copy to Clipboard and get the word out

 

Added New Custom Field Types: Date, Radio Button

The best time to collect info from your members is during the join process, because that’s when they’re most engaged. This is the perfect time to collect custom info needed from the start, so you won’t have to hunt members down for it later. To make it easier to organize your custom data, we’ve added two new custom field types: date and radio button. 

Benefits include: Increased aesthetic options – for streamlining, printing or displaying data Ex. Dates can be entered in mm/dd/yyyy format so admins don’t need to spend time editing these manually in an effort to make them all the same Standardized input fields – for easier filtering and sorting of data Ex. Radio buttons allow members to select only one choice, so admins can easily filter by this data point if needed

 

How to edit or select custom field types:

1. On the left navigation sidebar, select Membership, then click Custom Profile Fields
​2. To edit an existing custom field, select the pencil icon, or click the +Add a Custom Fieldbutton to create a new field

 

 

3. In the Type drop-down menu, select the desired input field

 

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​Mobile App Enhancements

Members now have the ability to access their member card in offline mode after they’ve downloaded it for the first time.
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We’ve also streamlined and updated the app navigation menu for a more intuitive display.

 

Ready to make the most of managing your membership? Log in to memberplanet to explore these new enhancements. 

 

2017 Tech Updates

Smart Lists​

Targeting your communication to specific recipients makes a greater impact, and Smart Lists is a feature that allows you to do exactly that. Segment your contact list using data, such as member levels, and tailor your message to that audience. If, for example, you want to send an email to those who didn’t RSVP to an event, you could use Smart Lists to filter those contacts for you. Then craft a message to those recipients reiterating the value of attending your event.

Copy an event
Have you ever created an event page you liked so much that you wished you could make a copy of it and use it as a template? Voila! Your wish is our command! This is an easy way to copy and rehost without the setup time.
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​Member cards
We don’t think printing out membership cards should be a pain in the derriere. (That’s French, for ass.) Admins can now take advantage of our Avery standard business card size – easy for printing on perforated cardstock. Your members can view their cards by logging in to memberplanet on desktop or mobile app. And once it’s viewed on the mobile app, it’s stored for offline viewing thereafter.

​Record event RSVP
Admins can now record an event RSVP on behalf of someone – particularly useful if you’re recording offline payments on-site to a ticketed event. They can add to the RSVP list for other attendees to view, or keep impeccable records without the need for guests to RSVP themselves.

 

URL shortener
Any time you create a form (such as a survey) or event, you can now use our built-in URL shortener if the amount of characters is a concern when sharing the link. No need to venture outside of platform for this!

 

Drag-and-drop image uploader
You can now drag and drop images using our image uploader for emails, events, donation sites, forms and photo albums. Sexy, isn’t it?

 

Terms of use
Chances are, this wasn’t on anyone’s wish list, but we want to inform you that we’ve updated our legalese. Don’t worry – we’ve written it with non-techies in mind, so if you got through this blog, you’ll most likely understand the language we put forth regarding use of our services.

 

We’re always looking for ways to simplify your life and make member management as easy peasy as possible. So you can approach admin tasks like this:

 

 

​And NOT like this:

 

What else we can do to help simplify your life? Email us and let us know at info@memberplanet.com.

 

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