Immediate membership makes the person a member as soon as they sign up. A membership request requires administrator approval before the person becomes a member.
Everything else is the same: both form types are created in the same place, configured with the same steps, and shared in the same way.
This article first helps you choose between the two, then lists the 5 things that change on a membership request form.
- Which form type should I choose for my nonprofit?
- How do I create each type of form?
- What changes when I configure my form?
- What emails does the member receive in each case?
- Can I switch from one form type to the other?
Which form type should I choose for my nonprofit?
| Criteria | Immediate membership | Membership request |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator approval | No | Yes, required |
| Payment at sign-up | Yes | No (possible after approval) |
| Fee displayed to registrant | Yes | Hidden by default, can be enabled |
| Added to the Community | At sign-up | After approval, or after the first online payment |
| Automatic discount | Yes | No, entered manually at approval |
Choose the membership request when your nonprofit needs to review something before accepting a person: a document to verify, a spot to allocate, or a profile to assess.
Choose immediate membership when a person can become a member without any review, for example for a membership renewal.
A nonprofit can use both at the same time with two separate forms: immediate membership for renewals, and membership request for new memberships.
How do I create each of the two forms?
The creation process is the same for both form types. See the article Creating your Membership Form / Campaign for the full procedure.
One additional condition applies to the request for membership: the Request for Membership feature must be active. See the article Understanding and activating membership requests.
On the form type selection screen, choose Request for Membership instead of Immediate Membership.
What changes when I configure my form?
| Configuration step | On a request for membership form |
|---|---|
| 1 - General information | Identical |
| 2 - Membership fees and bundles | 3 behavioral differences |
| 3 - Form | Identical |
| 4 - Payment and confirmation | 3 differences |
| 5 - Publishing and sharing | Identical |
Step 2: what are the differences in fees and bundles?
Fees, membership bundles, and optional add-ons are created the same way. Three behaviors differ.
- No discounts can be configured on a request for membership form. The administrator enters the discount amount manually when approving the membership request. Include any discount conditions in the form description or as an attachment, in step 1 - General information.
- If you have limited the number of spots for a bundle, those spots are decremented upon approval, not upon sign-up. For offline payments, this happens as soon as the member clicks to confirm.
- The member is added to the group linked to the fee after approval, not at the time of their membership request.
To offer a free membership, set the price to $0 at the time of approval. This does not generate any accounting entries. If a discount is applied, it generates an entry in the 709000 - Discount account.
Step 4: What is different at the Payment and Confirmation step?
- Prices are hidden by default. The final amount due is set by the administrator at the time of approval. To display prices to members, check Show prices on the site at the time of the membership request.
- No payment is collected during the membership request. Payment takes place after approval, via a Payment Link or manual entry. You can, however, ask prospective members for their "preferred payment method for settlement".
- The Payment Link supports credit card only, in one or multiple installments. Check and cash remain available, but the administrator records them manually after approval.
When payment is split into installments, the number of payments and due dates are set by the administrator only. The settings apply to all approved members.
What emails does the member receive in each case?
On a membership request form, the person does not receive any email when they submit their request. They see an on-screen confirmation.
The email containing the summary, the amount due, and the Payment Link (or the payment method details for offline payments) is sent after an administrator approves the request.
Can I switch from one form type to the other?
No. The form type (immediate membership / membership request) can only be chosen at creation.
- The Membership Request feature cannot be added to a membership form that has already been created.
- An immediate membership form cannot be duplicated as a membership request form.
- A membership request form can, however, be duplicated once it has been created.
A membership request form includes an extra tab, Members to Approve, which groups all pending requests. The form can still be edited at any point during the year, but a membership that has already been approved cannot be modified.
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