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Membership Auto-Renew Options and Communications

Lee Malloy Stendardi

Hi,

I am wondering if any organizations utilize auto-renewal for memberships. If so, do you send any additional communications to members after they sign-up / right before they auto-renew? Would you be willing to share a sample of your communications? We activated this option a year ago, and we are now encountering complaints from members that claim they didn't want to auto-renew and are requesting refunds (not ideal). We are in the process of drafting a confirmation email and seeking any feedback to minimize customer service issues down the line.

Many thanks!

Lee

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Comments

Leslie Cheng

Our recurring gift process has been super tricky to get down, and is a constant work in progress. We've developed a communication system that seems to be working (so far), and here it is:

After a member sets up auto-payment, the vast majority of which is done online, they'll receive a standard email receipt
We send a physical acknowledgement/tax letter in the mail along with their permanent membership cards in ~2 weeks stating that they've agreed to renew each year in XX month on the credit card they provided
A month before their credit card is set to charge, we send them an email notification/reminder with the following points
1. We thank them for being a part of our family
2. We remind them that their membership is set to auto-renew next month and that there's no action needed on their part
3. We provide a link to our online membership portal as well as a number to call in case they need to update their credit card number (or cancel auto-payment altogether)
(if applicable) If we were unable to charge their credit card on their scheduled payment date, we'll send an email notification for them to call us with their updated payment information

Aside from the usual member communication (e-news, e-blasts, postcards, etc.), those are the only auto-renew-related communications we send to members. I'm happy to expand on any of the points if needed. Good luck!