Automated Membership Renewals - Club Renewals Made Easy

Remember the iconic opening scene to The Lion King? The sunrise, the animals greeting the day, Lebo M belting out the intro to The Circle of Life. Timeless. 

 

 

The Circle of Life, however, is more than just an iconic movie song. It is also an apt metaphor for how things grow and renew, including your club. 

Just like in the animal kingdom, your club has its own cycle: You start a club, you get a few members, you earn more money, you improve the club, more people join, and around and around it goes. But there's one crucial stage that can make or break the whole system; membership renewals.

 

 

As I'm sure you know, membership renewals can be very costly and time-consuming. If you spend a disproportionate amount of time and money on your membership renewals, it can throw off your entire club life cycle. With less money coming in at renewal time, there's less money to improve the club, meaning fewer members will join, meaning less money to improve your club and then fewer members renewing their memberships. Keeping your renewal process quick, easy (for both you and your members), and cost-effective is the key to sealing the loop and keeping everything running smoothly year after year. 

So, today, let’s talk about the solution to the time-consuming and expensive task of managing your membership renewals; an automated membership renewal system like the one that is part of the Member Jungle membership management system. In this article, we will cover: 

• What automated membership renewals are
• How automated renewals work
• What the benefits of automated renewals are
• How to get an automated renewals system for your club 

What Are Automated Membership Renewals?

An automated membership renewal system pretty much does what it says on the tin. It's a digital system that takes the hassle out of managing memberships, saving you time and money while improving the member experience.

Here's is a brief overview of how it works: 

• Automated renewal notifications: Schedule renewal notices to automatically be sent out to members when their memberships are due to expire.
   
• Simple setup: You configure the system with your different membership types, costs, and durations.
   
• Flexible options: Choose whether you want memberships to expire all at once (fixed) or on a rolling basis based on each member's join date. 
   
• Member-friendly: Members can easily log in, renew their membership, pay online, and get instant confirmation. They can also update their payment information or contact details with ease.
   
• Automated communication: The system can automatically send renewal confirmations to members, so members instantly get the peace of mind that their membership has been renewed.
   
• Automatically updates the expiry date on members' digital membership cards when they renew their membership. 
   
• Detailed reporting: Get insights into your membership renewals, track revenue, and identify trends to optimise your offerings.

 

Plus, on top of all that, there is no longer a need for spreadsheets, manual data entry, printing membership notice renewal notices, posting notices, chasing checks and banking cash. It is all digital, easy and stress-free. 

Before we move on to how automated renewals work, however, here is a quick Lion King fun fact, because why not? 

The Lion King is loosely based on Hamlet. The outcast prince gets revenge on his uncle, who killed his father in order to become king and marry the queen. Scar even does the “Alas, poor Yorick” scene with a skull. 

  

How Does Member Jungle’s Automated Membership Renewal System Work?  

Once your club or association has implemented the Member Jungle membership management system, you can set up your memberships with all the necessary details. This includes the cost of each membership, expiration dates, access levels for members, and much more.

Renewal Reminders 

Once that is done, you can set up multiple renewal reminder emails to go out a set amount of days before and after your members’ memberships are due. How many of these you have and how often they go out is up to you. You could only have one reminder that goes out one week before renewals are due, or you could have a dozen scheduled both before and after the renewal date. 

 

The ability to add multiple renewal reminder emails that are automatically sent both before and after membership renewals is incredibly useful. This allows you to set up your renewal reminders just once, eliminating the need to manually email members whenever their dues are approaching. 

This not only saves you a significant amount of time and effort but also helps increase member retention by more effectively encouraging members to renew their memberships. It allows you to achieve better results with less time, money, and effort.

In case you were wondering, according to industry data, starting to send out renewal reminders three months before renewals are due and then continuing to send out renewal reminders up to three months after a member’s renewal has lapsed is the most effective way to use renewal reminders to boost membership renewal rates. Don't worry; the Member Jungle system won't send renewal notices to members who have already renewed. This means you won't accidentally bother those who have already renewed their memberships by sending out reminders after the fact. 

Customising Reminder Emails

Member Jungle's automated renewals go beyond simple reminders. While pre-scheduled and automatic, these emails can be customised to feel personal and engaging, using eye-catching formats and dynamic fields to tailor messages to each member. This means no generic, cold automated reminders. 

 

 

You are also able to set up different renewal email messages for different membership levels. This will allow you to further customise your messaging to the different groups within your club. This extra level of customisation will help make your renewal reminders feel even more personalised. 

Members Can Renew Online  

Member Jungle simplifies membership renewals, making it a breeze for both clubs and their members. With just a click on a personalised email reminder, members can access a pre-filled renewal form and securely pay online in moments. The system instantly updates membership records, sends confirmation emails, and even automatically adjusts expiry dates on digital membership cards. While embracing modern efficiency, Member Jungle still accommodates those who prefer manual payments, allowing clubs to record these transactions seamlessly within the system.

Before we move on to the benefits of automated membership renewals, let’s once again take a quick look at Lion King. 

The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride is the worst film in the trilogy; yes, it is actually a trilogy because, of course, it is. While the original was based on Hamlet, the sequel is based on Romeo and Juliet. 

Simba’s daughter falls in love with the son of the leader of a rival pride of evil lions. Which eventually leads to the warring prides being brought together by their children’s love. The only notable way it differs from the source material is that the main characters don’t end up dying due to their love.

 

What Are The Benefits Of Automated Renewals?

Automating your membership renewals truly offers a wealth of advantages. It's undeniably more cost-effective and efficient than traditional methods, eliminating the hassle of printing, mailing, and manually processing renewals. Members receive instant confirmation and updates, while clubs enjoy accurate record-keeping and effortless payment tracking. This streamlined approach frees up valuable time and resources, allowing your club to focus on what truly matters: fostering a vibrant and engaged member community. 

Just take a look at the table below that estimates the time and cost of manually managing membership renewals for a club of just 500 people with old-fashioned methods.

 

 

Renewing the memberships of 500 members using traditional methods would cost over a thousand dollars and take an estimated 172 hours to complete. In contrast, using a membership management system allows for free renewals that require no time to process. The advantages are clear. Even considering the cost of a membership management system like Member Jungle, which offers numerous additional features, I believe we still have a definitive winner. 

As I work for Member Jungle, I have an obvious bias, so I will leave the final decision to you.

There are a lot more benefits to an automated membership renewal system besides the fact that they are cheaper, easier and more efficient. These include:

• Boosting member retention: Automated reminders help members stay on top of renewals, leading to higher retention rates and a stronger club community.
   
• Gaining valuable insights: Track renewal patterns and identify trends to understand member behaviour and tailor your offerings accordingly.
   
• Improving member satisfaction: Offer a smooth and convenient renewal experience, increasing member happiness and loyalty.
   
• Reducing errors: Eliminate manual data entry and minimise the risk of costly mistakes.
   
• Enhancing your club's image: Project a professional and modern image with a streamlined, automated system.
   
• Freeing up valuable time: Allow staff to focus on member engagement and other important tasks instead of tedious administrative work.
   
• Take online payments easily: You can accept online digital payments for membership renewals. No need to burn time handling cash payments. 
   
• Improving data security: Ensure member data is securely stored and managed with robust data protection measures.
   
• Increasing predictability: Generate consistent revenue streams with automated recurring payments, making financial planning easier.

 

These are just some of the many ways an automated membership renewal system can benefit your club. By streamlining processes and enhancing the member experience, you can create a thriving and sustainable organisation.

For our final dive into Lion King fun facts, let’s turn to the third Lion King movie. 

The Lion King 3, known as “Lion King 1.5”, is a criminally underrated film based on the absurdist play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which sees the titular characters retelling the events of Hamlet from their perspective. 

In Lion King 1.5, Timon and Pumba sit in a cinema, retelling the events of the original movie from their perspective.  

 

 

 

If you haven’t watched Lion King 1.5 or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, I’d highly recommend them.

How To Get An Automated Renewals System For Your Club 

As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, Member Jungle offers an automated renewal system as part of our membership management system, and we think it’s a pretty good one. However, in the pursuit of always being open and honest with you, i have to mention that we aren’t the only game in town, and there are plenty of other great membership management systems out with their own automated renewal systems. 

So, if you want to know more about some of the alternatives to Member Jungle, read The 3 Best Membership Management Software Systems In Australia.  

If you do want to learn a bit more about us here at Member Jungle, what we do and what we stand for, check out How Does Member Jungle’s Membership Management System Work?