Membership

Member Intake

The first step is to get the minimum contact information into the database and tagged as a “potential member” in the non-members database.Enter phone and email This can be done by the outreach person who conducts a public meeting, an event administrator who has a sign up sheet at an event open to the public, a call manager who answers the phone, or by someone on the member intake team. 

Member intake needs to contact each person who expresses interest, preferably within a day or two. Get Phone Number of Potential Members This brief phone call serves to screen out those who are ineligible, (wrong age, not in the service area, misperception about what the Village does). Some Villages have two tiers of membership, one receiving services and one that is a social membership which is also sometimes called a supporting membership. In general, there is no need for an in-home interview for social or supporting memberships, so these people are admitted as soon as they fill out the paperwork and pay their dues. 

For full memberships (those receiving services), a more in-depth interview is required. This is needed to ensure that the member understands the limitations of the services that the village performs, as well as to let them know the needed advanced notice and how to request services. 

Members also need to learn about anticipated Village events, the how to join activities, and what group activities are currently open to new members. Some Villages run an “ambassadors program where existing members welcome and guide new members. Others hold a welcome party for new members.

If the new member has paid by check, the check needs to be forwarded to the treasurer for deposit. In general, memberships are annual, but provision can be made for monthly or quarterly payments.

The membership team collects information about the member and is responsible for entering it into the database as "Additional Member Data".  For more information on what needs to be collected see see the section on Special Instructions.

When a potential member calls the office or puts their name on a sign-up sheet at a public event, we typically get only minimal information. We set their category to "Potential Member" so that we know they need a phone call.Enter phone and email

The Membership Director needs to call them to assess the seriousness of the interest and to schedule an intake interview for members who will receive services. After the phone call, find the member tin the people database  people database and change the "mailing list category" from "potential member" to "interview pending" so that the we know who needs an interview.

After the interview is completed, and payment is received, the person is converted to a member by finding them in the database and use "more options", "convert to a member" and made "active".

When a potential member signs up online, using the "become a member" option on the public menu, the process is slightly different. The membership wizard collects more information initially and classifies the person as a member. The entry is flagged as a "Prospective Member". The Membership Director is aware of the signup because they get an email from the system.

The Membership Director still needs to make an initial assessment call to welcome the member and determine if they are seeking services or want a social membership. A social or supporting membership probably does not require an interview and the member can complete the application and payment online. If the member needs services then, in the people database People Manager they need to have the "Interview Pending" email category checked and an intake interview scheduled. 

When entering a household membership, there are primary and secondary members.  The primary member should be the person who most reliably reads their email and/or is more likely to be responsible for managing service requests, event attendance and membership renewal.  The other member(s) of the household should be the secondary members.  

The membership team is responsible for filling out the "special instructions" field of "additional member data".  This field is free form and includes the following information, to the extent it is applicable.

1)  If the member reliably reads their email, include the phrase "Reliably reads email" as the first line of additional member data.  This tells the call manager that when someone signs up for a service request the confirmation email to the member is sufficient and no phone call is needed to let the member know they have a volunteer.  If the member really prefers getting a phone call, don't add this.

2)  If there are mobility issues such as "uses a lightweight wheel chair", or "cannot get into a high pickup truck or SUV" include that so that a volunteer who has no room for the wheel chair or can't lift it, or has the wrong type of vehicle will know not to sign up.

3)  Include instructions on how to get to the members house or where to park at the member's house.

Membership Services Assessment