A family buys an Individual membership in January. By May they have a new baby, a grandparent who wants to come along, and a strong opinion that they should have bought the Family level. They want to pay the difference from home on a Sunday night. Whether they can depends less on the payment page than on decisions your membership team may never have written down.
Mid-term upgrades are worth getting right. A member who upgrades is telling you they plan to visit more, and making them call during office hours is the easiest way to lose that momentum. This guide covers the decisions to make first, what to check in Altru, and how to handle upgrades online while you sort out the details.
Decide the rules before you build anything
Every upgrade raises three questions. Your answers determine what the online experience can look like, so settle them first.
1. What does the member pay?
- The price difference. Simple to explain (“Upgrade to Family for $40 more”) and easy for staff to apply the same way every time. It can feel generous late in the term, which is a trade-off worth making on purpose.
- A prorated amount. Fairer on paper, harder to explain, and harder to calculate consistently online. If you go this way, round to a few fixed price points by quarter rather than charging by the day.
- Full price for the new level. Usually paired with a fresh term. This turns the upgrade into a new purchase, not a change to the existing one.
2. What happens to the expiration date?
If the member pays the difference, the expiration date normally stays the same. If they pay full price, the term usually restarts from the upgrade date. Mixing these, such as charging the difference while extending the term, is where the confusing records come from. Pick one pairing and stick with it.
3. Is there a cutoff?
An upgrade with three weeks left on the term is really a renewal at a higher level. Consider setting a window near the end of the term where members are steered to renew at the new level instead. Pick a length that matches your renewal mailing schedule. That keeps desk staff from improvising and keeps your renewal numbers clean.
What to check in Altru
Staff can already change a member’s level inside Altru as part of normal membership processing. The questions that matter for doing it online are narrower:
- Can your membership web forms process an upgrade on an existing membership, or only new joins and renewals? This varies with how your forms and programs are set up, and we would not assume either way. Test it in a sandbox or a low-risk live test with a staff membership, and ask Blackbaud support if the result is unclear.
- How is the online payment applied? Confirm the revenue lands on the existing membership as an upgrade, not as a second, separate membership on the same constituent record. A duplicate active membership is an easy mess to create, and it shows up later in card printing, renewal mailings, and member counts.
- Does the member get correctly identified? If an online purchase creates a new constituent instead of matching the existing one, the upgrade has nothing to attach to. Check how your web forms match returning constituents by name and email.
- Are your membership levels set up for this path? Review the program’s levels, prices, and benefits so an upgrade from one level to another is a valid move, and decide how add-ons like extra cardholders are handled. They are often what members actually want.
If Altru’s online forms can’t do it cleanly
You may find your current web setup handles joins and renewals well but not upgrades. You still have reasonable options:
- Staff-assisted online upgrade. Put an “Upgrade my membership” form on your website that collects the member’s name, membership number, and desired level. Staff process the upgrade in Altru and send a payment link or call to take payment. It’s not instant, but it avoids phone tag, and you can promise a response time.
- Upgrade at renewal only. Some organizations simply let members choose a higher level when they renew online, and handle mid-term changes in person. It’s honest and low-effort, but you’ll miss members who would have upgraded in month four.
- Upgrade at the desk with an incentive. If most upgrades happen during a visit anyway, train staff to offer the upgrade at admission and apply that day’s tickets toward it. That’s a policy decision, so confirm how you want it recorded before staff start doing it.
Keep an eye on the results
Whichever route you choose, build a membership query that lists upgrade transactions with the old level, new level, amount paid, and expiration date before and after. Review it monthly for the first few months. You’re looking for expiration dates that moved when they shouldn’t have, members holding two active memberships, and amounts that don’t match your price list. Catching those early is much easier than fixing them at renewal time.
Also check your member-facing messages. Confirmation emails and membership cards should show the new level and the correct expiration date. A member who upgrades and then receives a card with the old level will call, and that call undoes most of the convenience you built.
Where Social Good fits
If you want members to handle this themselves, our Membership Portal lets members view their status, renew, upgrade, and update their profile online against live Altru data. The policy decisions above still apply; the portal gives members a place to act on them without calling your office.
Quick answers
Should an upgrade extend the membership term?
Only if the member pays full price for the new level. If they pay the difference, keep the original expiration date.
What if a member upgrades right before expiration?
Treat it as a renewal at the higher level. Set a cutoff window so staff and your website handle it the same way every time.
