Membership Renewal Reminders

    Overview

    Chasing lapsed memberships is nobody's favourite committee job. Horsify does it for you. There are two parts:

    • Automatic reminders — Horsify emails members when their fee is unpaid or overdue, and warns them before their membership expires, so they renew before they lapse. You control this with two simple on/off switches.
    • The Renewals queue — a hands-on list of everyone due or overdue for renewal, where you can send (or resend) a renewal notice to one member or a whole bucket at once, complete with a pay-now link or your bank-transfer details.

    Behind the scenes, smart guards make sure you never send a dead payment link or chase someone who has already paid.

    Who this is for: Organisers and committee members who manage club memberships.

    Key Features

    • ✉️ Automatic payment reminders — nudges members whose fee is unpaid or overdue
    • ⏰ Automatic expiry warnings — reminds members before their membership lapses
    • 🎚️ Two simple switches — turn each automation on or off for your club
    • 📋 The Renewals queue — see who's due, filter by how soon, and send with a click
    • 💳 Pay-now or bank transfer — renewal notices carry a Stripe link, or your bank details with a reference
    • 🛡️ Smart guards — no expired links, no double-charging, no chasing members who already renewed

    Part A: Automatic Reminders

    The two switches

    Horsify's automatic membership emails are controlled by two on/off switches — there's no schedule to configure, and they're email-only.

    • Membership payment reminders — "Emails members whose membership fees are unpaid or overdue — weekly while a fee is overdue or due soon."
    • Membership expiry warnings — "Warns members around 30 days before their membership expires so they can renew in time."

    Both are on by default for every club that manages members. Turn either off to stop sending it.

    Where to find them

    1. Go to Organiser → Communication Settings (/organiser/communication-settings).
    2. Find the Membership Reminders card — "Control the automated emails that nudge members about unpaid fees and upcoming membership expiry. Turn either off to stop sending it."
    3. Toggle Membership payment reminders and Membership expiry warnings as you like.
    4. Click Save Membership Reminder Settings.

    Note: Communication Settings is part of the Club Site subscription. If your club isn't on that plan, you'll see an upgrade prompt instead of the settings.

    How the automatic reminders behave

    • Email only. There's no SMS version of these reminders.
    • Payment reminders repeat weekly while a fee stays unpaid or is due soon, so a member who ignores the first nudge gets another the following week.
    • Expiry warnings go out in the weeks before expiry (around a month ahead) so members have time to renew before they lapse.
    • At most one reminder per member per week. Horsify won't email the same member more than once every seven days, and sends at most one email per membership on each pass — so nobody gets spammed.
    • Only active organisations send. Reminders pause automatically if a club is inactive.

    What the member receives

    • A payment reminder carries a "Pay Now" button with the amount, linking straight to a live, working card-payment page.
    • An expiry warning is a gentle nudge to renew before the membership lapses.

    Part B: The Renewals Queue

    When you'd rather drive renewals yourself — or top up the automatic reminders with a personal push — use the Renewals queue.

    Where to find it

    1. Go to Organiser → Members (/organiser/members).
    2. Open the Renewals tab (it shows a count of how many need attention).

    Filtering by how soon

    Use the bucket buttons to focus on who you want to contact:

    • All
    • Overdue
    • Due 0–15 days
    • Due 16–30 days
    • Due 31–45 days

    Each row shows the member, their membership type and amount, when it's due, whether a reminder has already gone out, and whether they have a pay-now link available.

    Sending a renewal notice

    • One member: click Send on their row (it becomes Resend once one has already gone out, and shows ✓ Sent afterward).
    • Several at once: tick the members you want and click Send {N} Renewals.

    What's in a renewal notice

    Renewal notices adapt to how your club takes payment:

    • If you use Stripe (card payments): the email includes a "Pay Now" button with the amount, linking to a live checkout page.
    • If you don't use Stripe: the email includes your bank transfer details — bank, account name, BSB, account number and a payment reference the member should quote — so they can pay you directly.

    Your club needs either Stripe connected or bank-transfer details saved for renewal notices to send. If neither is set up, add one first (see Bank Transfer Details or Stripe Account Management).

    The Guards (Why You Can Trust the Send Button)

    Horsify protects both you and your members from the classic renewal-email mistakes:

    • No dead links. Card-payment links expire and can even read as "already paid" once used. Before sending, Horsify checks the link is still live and mints a fresh one if it isn't — so members never receive an expired or broken pay button.
    • No double-charging. If a member has already paid (even if the confirmation was still catching up), Horsify recognises it, reconciles the payment, and skips the reminder rather than asking them to pay again.
    • No chasing people who already renewed. If a member has renewed through another path — the public renewal form, a second payment, or a fresh membership record — Horsify spots that they're already covered and quietly drops them from the queue so they're not pestered.

    Consent & Compliance

    Membership reminders are transactional — they're about a member's own account and payment, not marketing — so they're sent regardless of marketing-consent settings and don't carry a marketing unsubscribe link. The way to stop the automatic ones is the two org-level switches in Communication Settings (they apply club-wide, not per member).

    Best Practices

    ✅ Leave both switches on. They're the low-effort safety net that keeps renewals ticking over without you lifting a finger.

    ✅ Connect Stripe or save your bank details. Renewal notices need one or the other. A pay-now link renews far more members than "please transfer to our account."

    ✅ Work the Overdue bucket first. Start each renewal push with the people who've already lapsed, then move to "due soon."

    ✅ Use bulk send at season change. When everyone renews at once, filter to the right bucket and send the whole group in one go.

    ✅ Keep member emails current. Reminders only reach members with a valid email — an import or tidy-up of your member list pays off here.

    Troubleshooting Common Issues

    Issue: Renewal notices aren't sending

    Possible Causes:

    • Your club has neither Stripe connected nor bank-transfer details saved.
    • The automatic switches are turned off in Communication Settings.
    • The member has no email address on file.

    Solutions:

    1. Connect Stripe or add bank-transfer details.
    2. Check the two switches under Communication Settings → Membership Reminders.
    3. Make sure the member has a valid email.

    Issue: A member says they got a reminder after paying

    Explanation: Horsify checks for existing payment before it sends and skips anyone already covered, but if a payment landed at the exact moment a reminder went out, an overlap is possible. It self-corrects — the member drops out of the queue once the payment is recognised, so they won't be chased again.

    Issue: We don't want the automatic emails at all

    Solution: Turn off both switches under Communication Settings → Membership Reminders, then use the Renewals queue to send notices manually whenever you choose.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Do these reminders cost extra or count as marketing? A: No. They're transactional membership emails, sent regardless of marketing consent, and they don't use the marketing unsubscribe.

    Q: Can I change exactly when the reminders go out? A: Not in this version — there's no per-day schedule to set. You get two on/off switches; payment reminders repeat weekly while a fee is outstanding, and expiry warnings go out in the weeks before a membership lapses. For full control over timing and wording, use the Renewals queue to send manually.

    Q: Can members opt out of the automatic reminders? A: The reminders are transactional, so there's no per-member unsubscribe. The control is club-wide: your two switches in Communication Settings.

    Q: What's the difference between a payment reminder and an expiry warning? A: A payment reminder chases an unpaid or overdue fee and carries a Pay Now button. An expiry warning tells a member their membership is coming up for renewal so they can act before it lapses.

    Q: Will Horsify email the same member every day? A: No — at most once every seven days per member.

    Related Features

    Support

    Need a hand with renewal reminders? We're here to help.

    Set the two switches once and Horsify keeps your members renewing — then use the Renewals queue whenever you want to give it a personal push.\n\n---\n\nSource: wiki/features/MEMBERSHIP_RENEWAL_REMINDERS.md \nLast synced: 2026-09-07 11:51:42 UTC

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