Acknowledge existing donors who make the initial payment for a membership, and convert new members into highly engaged, long-term sustainers.
For example, Chris is an existing donor who previously made a first-ever donation. Chris creates a new membership schedule and makes the initial payment on that schedule. Your organization can acknowledge that initial payment in a special way that inspires loyalty and repeat donations.
Automate & Save Time
To acknowledge initial payments for memberships, create an automation and let Bloomerang do the work for you.
How It Works
Use Journey Automation to create an Initial Membership Payment automation. This option appears only if you have the membership management add-on.
Constituents automatically enter an Initial Membership Payment automation if they:
Are active individual constituents
Already made a first-ever payment (first payment on their timeline)
Make their initial payment on a new membership schedule after you publish the automation
You can create a general Initial Membership Payment automation for any amount, fund, campaign, or appeal. Or, create multiple Initial Membership Payment automations customized for different segments. For example, create automations for each membership level by adding a filter for the payment amount.
When you create this type of automation, you select the Initial Membership Payment entry source. This entry source has built-in rules and optional filters that define how the automation works and how constituents qualify to enter the automation. Read more about the Initial Membership Payment entry source.
Priority also affects whether a constituent qualifies to enter an automation. First Ever Donation automations take priority over Initial Membership Payment automations. Read more about automation priority.
Before You Begin
Review emails that you currently send to donors, such as confirmation emails and online payment confirmation receipts. For each email, make sure the purpose type is Receipt, not Acknowledgement.
If you currently use scheduled emails to acknowledge donors, plan how automations will replace those emails.
If your automation will include emails other than an acknowledgment, decide which email interests and email purposes to use for those emails.
(Recommended, but optional) To save time, create templates for next donations at Communications > Emails before you create the automation and emails.
Create an Automation for Initial Membership Payments
To create an Initial Membership Payment automation, you can:
Start quickly: Edit the example automation, which is named New Member Onboarding Journey. This draft appears if your organization has never created a draft automation from the Initial Membership Payment entry source.
Start from scratch: Create an Initial Membership Payment automation from scratch.
Tip: Follow the Recurring Donor Onboarding Journey Template to build your automation. The template is for recurring donations, but you can modify it for memberships.
To begin:
Click Communications.
Click Journey Automation.
In the settings for that automation, click Choose an Entry Source.
Do one of the following:
To start quickly:
In the Donor Lifecycle > Current Donor Automations section, click the New Member Onboarding Journey draft automation. If you don’t see this draft automation, start from scratch.
In the entry source, click the three vertical dots and then click Edit.
To start from scratch:
Click New Automation.
Name your automation and click Save.
In the settings for that automation, click Choose an Entry Source.
In the Donor Lifecycle > Current Donors section, select Initial Membership Payment.
(Optional) To use the donation amount to control which donors enter this automation:
Click Amount.
From the drop-down list, select an option: Any Amount, More Than or Equal To, Less Than or Equal To, or In Between.
If you selected a range, enter an Amount.
(Optional) To use funds, campaigns, and appeals to control which donors enter this automation:
Click Funds, Campaigns, and Appeals.
Select any funds, campaigns, and appeals. Donors enter the automation if their donation matches at least one selection in each category. If you don’t make selections in a category, the donation can match any in that category.
Click Save. The automation saves as a draft.
To edit the entry source before you publish the automation, click the three vertical dots and then click Edit.
Add Steps: Email Actions, Time Delays, and Task Actions
Next, one or more steps to your automation. At least one step must be an action:
Add an email action for each email in a series.
Assign task actions to remind a staff member to contact the donor.
You can also add a time delay before each email action to control when Bloomerang sends each email.
Test the Automation
You can send test emails from an automation before you publish it. This is an optional step.
Publish the Automation
When you’re ready for constituents to enter the automation, publish it. If you have multiple automations for the Initial Membership Payment entry source, you must order the automations by priority before you publish. Read how to prioritize and publish automations.
Next Steps: Manage Automations
After you create and publish an automation, you can monitor participation, manage automations, view emails sent by automations, and view tasks assigned by automations. Read Manage Automations.
Example Automation for Initial Membership Payments
In this example, you create an Initial Membership Payment automation personalized for members who join at your Gold membership level.
The automation has an entry source with these settings:
Entry source: Initial Membership Payment
Entry source filter: Amount is more than or equal to $1,000, which is the amount for your Gold membership level
The automation has these steps:
Automation Steps | Description |
Email action | Email a membership payment acknowledgement personalized for Gold members. Welcome the new member to your Gold membership level, explain membership benefits, and invite the member to get involved.
Arrives: One day after the initial membership payment (because of the 24-hour hold) |
Task action | Assign a task to Anne Smith to call the Gold level member or send a mobile video acknowledgement within three days.
Happens: A few days after the initial donation |
Time delay | Wait 30 more days |
Email action | Email an impact report. Arrives: One month after the initial donation |
Time delay | Wait 60 more days |
Email action | Email an exclusive update with insider access and behind-the-scenes content.
Arrives: Three months after the initial donation |