Two members walk up to the desk in October, and both have memberships that expire in December. One wants to move up from Family to Patron. The other wants to drop from Family to Individual. Most people would handle these two differently. The upgrader wants the new benefits now. The downgrader wants to keep the Family benefits they already paid for until December and switch to Individual after that.
Altru handles changing levels well enough. What it doesn’t obviously handle is timing, where an early change takes effect today in one direction and waits for the current term to end in the other. This guide covers what to settle before you configure anything, how to process each case, and how to keep records clean enough that a coworker can understand them later.
Be honest about what Altru does by default
In Altru, a renewal, upgrade, or downgrade is a transaction on the membership. The new level and dates come from that transaction and from the rules on the membership program. In general, the new level shows on the record as soon as the transaction posts. That’s fine for an upgrade. For a downgrade, it means the member loses their higher-level benefits weeks or months early.
We haven’t found a program setting that applies upgrades right away and holds downgrades until the current term expires. Settings can differ by program and by configuration, though, so check before you build a workaround. Process an early upgrade and an early downgrade in a sandbox or on a test constituent, then look at the level, start date, and expiration date on each. If you can’t tell from the results, Blackbaud support can confirm how renewal timing works for your setup.
Decide the policy before touching records
Settle these questions with your membership manager and finance contact first. The way you process transactions follows from the answers.
- Upgrade term: Does an early upgrade keep the current expiration date, or does it start a new full term today?
- Upgrade price: If the expiration date stays the same, does the member pay the full new price or only the difference? If a new term starts today, do they get any credit for the time left on the old level?
- Downgrade timing: Will you take payment for a downgrade before the current term ends, or ask the member to come back closer to expiration?
- Revenue timing: If you take a downgrade payment early, when does finance want that revenue recorded: when it’s paid, or when the new term begins?
Write the answers down in a short policy. Without one, each staff member makes a different call, and the records show it.
Processing an early upgrade
Upgrades are the easier case because immediate effect is usually what everyone wants.
- Process the transaction as an upgrade, not as a new membership. Otherwise you can end up with two active memberships on the same constituent.
- Check the expiration date Altru assigns against your policy. If the policy says the current expiration stays and Altru set something else, or the reverse, correct it on the record now.
- Add a short note that records what the member paid and why the dates are what they are.
- Reissue the card and anything else level-specific, such as guest passes or parking, right away so the member can use the new benefits on this visit.
Processing an early downgrade
This is the case that needs a workaround. There are three common approaches, and each has a tradeoff.
Option 1: Don’t accept downgrades early
Thank the member, tell them the Family benefits run through December, and invite them back to renew at the lower level when renewal time comes. It’s simple and leaves the records clean. The risk is that some members never come back. If retention is tight, that matters.
Option 2: Take payment now, process the downgrade on the expiration date
Take the payment and flag the constituent with an attribute or note such as “Downgrade to Individual effective at expiration.” Then build a query of flagged constituents with memberships expiring in the next few weeks, and have someone work that list on a regular schedule, processing each downgrade once the old term ends. Members keep their current benefits, and the level change happens on time. You’ll need a clear rule for how to hold the payment in the meantime. Settle that with finance before you offer this option, because early payments are where reconciliation problems tend to start.
Option 3: Downgrade now, extend the dates
Process the downgrade today and set the new expiration to a full term after the old expiration date, so the member doesn’t lose any time. The record stays accurate on dates, but the level drops immediately, so the member loses higher-level benefits early. This only works if the benefit difference is small or the member says they don’t mind.
Most organizations go with Option 2 at the desk and Option 1 for online renewals, because a web form can’t easily ask whether a level change should wait.
Don’t forget the web form
Members renewing online follow whatever rules your membership web form and program apply. They won’t see a staff note. Test an early downgrade on your form the same way you tested at the desk. If the result conflicts with your policy, you can limit which levels the form offers to existing members, or add a line to the renewal page asking members who want to switch to a lower level to call or email instead.
Keep an eye on it
Once a month, run a membership query for upgrade and downgrade transactions in the past 30 days that shows the transaction date, the old and new levels, and the new expiration date. Look for downgrades processed well before the old expiration and for upgrades with dates that don’t match your policy. A few minutes of review catches the records that would otherwise turn into confusing renewal notices next year.
