Planning your membership levels before you set them up

It's tempting to open your membership software, click to add a level and start filling in boxes. The settings screen seems like the natural place to design your levels, but it isn't. Settings ask you to decide one field at a time, in whatever order the software presents them, and they rarely ask the questions that cause trouble later: what happens when someone upgrades, what a lapsed member sees, or where future content will fit.

Changing access rules once members have joined is awkward. People lose things they had, gain things they didn't pay for, or get confused by renamed levels. A few hours of planning on paper before you touch any settings saves you from most of that.

Start with the people, not the features

Each level should exist because a real group of members needs something different. Before you think about content or price, list the groups you expect to serve. For a hypothetical regional association of landscape architects, that might be:

• Practicing professionals, the core membership.
• Students, who need learning resources and contacts but have little money.
• Retired members, who want to stay connected but no longer need practice tools.
• Board members and volunteers, who need extra access to run things.

Notice that the last group isn't a paid level at all. Internal and complimentary access is easy to forget and awkward to bolt on later. If you're also designing paid tiers from scratch, the principles in designing membership tiers that make sense apply here: keep them few, and make sure each has an obvious audience.

Build an access map

Next, list every area of your site that could be restricted: content sections, downloads, courses, forums, events, directories and discounts. Then note which level gets each one. Group content into areas rather than listing individual pages, so new material can simply drop into an existing area later.

Here is how the association's access map might look, written as a simple list:

• Public articles and event listings: everyone, including visitors.
• Member news and the forum: all member levels.
• Practice library (contracts, fee guides, templates): Professional only.
• Continuing education courses: Professional and Student.
• Member directory listing: Professional and Retired.
• Event discounts: all member levels.
• Board documents: Board only, granted on top of the person's normal level.

Writing it out this way often reveals problems before they reach your settings. Is it right that students can't see the practice library, when they'll need contracts soon after graduating? Perhaps they should see a few sample documents. That's a far easier decision to make now than after launch.

Decide the rules at the edges

Most trouble with levels happens when members move between them or leave. Decide each of these in advance.

Upgrades and downgrades

When a member upgrades, do they get access immediately? Is the price difference charged right away or at the next renewal? When someone downgrades, do they lose access at once or at the end of the period they've paid for? A member-friendly default is immediate upgrades, with downgrades taking effect at the end of the paid period.

Lapsed and cancelled members

What does a former member see when they log in: an error, a friendly note with a rejoin link, or limited free access? Decide too whether they keep anything they earned, such as course certificates.

Billing periods

If you'll offer monthly and annual billing, decide whether they are separate levels or two payment options for the same level. Keeping access identical and changing only the billing is usually simplest; there's more on that choice in offering both monthly and annual options.

Special cases

Trials, complimentary accounts for speakers or partners, company memberships and members kept on an older price all need a home. Decide whether each is its own level or a variation of an existing one.

Test the plan with real scenarios

Before you build anything, walk through a handful of situations and check that your plan gives a clear answer to each:

1. A student graduates partway through their membership. How do they become a Professional, and what do they pay?
2. A Professional retires. Do they switch levels at renewal or immediately?
3. A board member's term ends. Who removes their extra access, and when?
4. A member's card fails and their membership lapses for a week. What do they see, and what happens when they pay?
5. You add a new course later on. Which levels see it, without you editing every level by hand?

If any scenario makes you hesitate, the plan has a gap. Fill it on paper now.

Leave room to grow

Your first set of levels won't be your last, and a few habits make future changes easier. Keep the number of levels small, because each one multiplies the scenarios you must support. Attach access to content areas rather than individual items. Keep a written record of what each level includes and why, so you can explain it to members and staff. And if you ever retire a level, plan how existing members will be moved before you stop selling it.

Your planning checklist

1. List the groups of people you'll serve, including internal and complimentary users.
2. List every restricted area of your site, grouped into content areas.
3. Write an access map showing which level gets each area.
4. Decide the rules for upgrades, downgrades, lapses and billing periods.
5. Run at least five real-world scenarios through the plan.
6. Only then open your settings and build the levels to match.