Everything there is to know about monthly or yearly membership renewals

When setting up your memberships on Zeffy, you can choose from four different renewal options: Monthly, Yearly (365 days), Yearly (on a specific date) or No Expiration.

🔁 Activating Renewal

In your Zeffy dashboard, go to campaigns andclick on edit to the right of your membership form. There, set the desired validity period of monthly or yearly to propose automatic renewal to members.

The membership will be renewed on the payment method used during the first membership purchased but members always have the ability to update their payment method in their account. 

Here's how each renewal schedule works:

1️⃣ Monthly Memberships

For memberships with monthly renewal, payments will renew every month on the same day as the initial membership purchase.

On monthly memberships, it is not possible to opt out of automatic renewal. A monthly membership being purchased automatically opts the user in for automatic renewals.

How it works:

• Renewal Date: The membership will renew exactly 30 days after the sign-up date. For instance, a membership purchased on the 1st of January, the membership will renew on the 1st of each following month.

• Confirmation: Members receive your customized thank you email each month when the payment goes through.

• Cancellation: Members can cancel monthly renewals anytime from their account. Memberships can also be stopped by the non-profit in their Zeffy admin account.

2️⃣ Yearly Memberships - renewal after 1 year

For yearly memberships whose renewal date is set to "payment date", memberships will renew exactly 365 days after sign-up.

How it works:

• Renewal Option: The automatic renewal on yearly memberships is optional. Members can choose to to opt-out of automatic renewal during their payment.

• Renewal Date: Annual memberships automatically renew 365 days after the initial membership purchase.

• Expiration Reminders: Members get an email reminder 30 days before their membership expires. If they’re set up for automatic renewal, this reminder will confirm their card will be charged. Otherwise, it prompts them to go and purchase a new membership manually.

3️⃣ Yearly Memberships - custom day and month

Yearly memberships can also be set to renew on a specific day and month for all members, regardless of the purchase date. This type of membership is ideal if you need everyone on the same renewal schedule.

How it works:

• Renewal Option: The automatic renewal on yearly memberships is option. Members will be able to select whether or not they'd like their membership automatically renewed via a checkbox during the payment process.

• Renewal Date: All memberships will expire on the set date, regardless of sign-up date.

• Grace Period: The membership form has a 3-month grace period, so if a member signs up within three months of the set expiration, their membership expiration will carry over to the next year.

• Expiration Reminders: Members get an email reminder 30 days before their membership expires. If they’re set up for automatic renewal, this reminder will confirm their card will be charged. Otherwise, it prompts them to go and purchase a new membership manually.

4️⃣ No Expiration Memberships

If you would prefer for memberships not to expire or renew, you can opt for the No Expiration option.

How it works:

• No Renewal Needed: Since there’s no expiration date, these memberships don’t renew.

• No Expiration Reminders: Members won’t receive any expiration notices or reminders for these memberships.

Discounts and Additional Donations

When a member signs up with a discount code or adds an additional donation to their membership purchase, these only apply to the first payment. Automatic renewals will charge the full membership price without the discount or additional donation.

Discount Codes

If a member applies a discount code during signup, the discounted rate applies to that initial purchase only. All future renewals will process at the full membership price.

Additional Donations

Members can choose to add a donation to your organization when purchasing a membership. This additional donation is a one-time contribution—it will not be included in automatic renewal charges. The renewal will only charge the membership price.

Duration Limitations and Workarounds

Zeffy currently offers monthly, yearly, and no expiration membership durations. A specific 6-month (semi-annual) duration is not available, but you can achieve similar results using these workarounds:

Option 1: Use Monthly Memberships

• Members can sign up for a monthly membership and manually cancel after 6 months

• Provides flexibility for members who want shorter-term commitments

• Requires members to actively manage their membership duration

• Members can cancel from their donor account, or you can stop the renewal from your admin Payments section

Option 2: Use Yearly Memberships with a Custom Renewal Date

• Set up the membership to expire on a specific date (e.g., June 30 and December 31)

• Members renew twice a year on fixed dates, creating a semi-annual rhythm

Both approaches ensure members receive the standard 30-day expiration reminder before their membership ends. For yearly memberships with automatic renewal, members can opt out during the payment process, or you can stop automatic renewals at any time from the Payments section.

Adjusting Rates or Expiration Dates on renewing memberships

Changing the price, expiration date, or other details of an existing membership affects all current members with that membership. For example, if you update the "General Membership" rate or expiration in your settings, all existing members under that plan will renew at the updated terms.

To avoid unintended updates, you can:

• Delete the existing rate and create a new one with the updated details. Even if the new one has the exact same name ("General Membership", in this example), it will count as a different membership than the one that previous members had bought and not affect their renewal.