Read below to stay in the know about subscription renewals.
Important Note: A guest cannot purchase a subscription due to the nature of subscription auto-renewals. Whether a member or not, they will need a record to link the subscription to.
Quick Links
Updating the Price of Subscriptions
Auto-Renewals for Free Subscriptions
Auto-Renewals for Subscriptions Paid Via Credit Cards
If Not an Auto-Renewal
If subscriptions are not set to auto-renew, the subscription will end on the "Subscription End" date and it will show in the canceled subscriptions list.
If a subscription is purchased as an auto-renewal, an admin can turn off the auto-renewal setting from the Subscriptions list by clicking on the green checkmark to change it to a red circle.
Auto-Renewals
Association Settings
In Association Settings select when subscription customers will be notified of their automatic renewal. Navigate to Association Settings > Ecommerce > Subscriptions.
Select the number of days prior to renewal that customers should be notified of their upcoming renewal. The default is set to 5 days prior.
The Subscription Renewal Notice email will contain:
Summary of the subscription purchase
Number of days until the subscription renews
A price adjustment notice if the price of the subscription has change since the last renewal
If a subscription product price is changed between the notification settings (X days prior to renewal) and the renewal date, a standalone email Price Adjustment Notice will be immediately sent to impacted customers
Price adjustment will only impact the next renewal date. For example, a subscription that is on annual renewal but is billed monthly will only see the new price take effect when the annual renewal date is passed
Sample Subscription Renewal Notice:
Product Settings
When creating a new product as a subscription, select how many days before the subscription expiration date the renewal should run.
When the auto-renewal runs, two things will happen:
1) The subscription renewal will appear on the Order list.
2) An Invoice or Sales Receipt will be generated for the subscription and will show in the Transactions list.
If invoicing once the invoice is generated, admins will need to review and email the invoice to the member(s). (This is similar to how auto-renewals for dues invoicing works.)
Keep in mind an invoice will only be generated in cases where the subscription is not set up to auto-pay via credit card. If it is, the user's default saved credit card will be automatically charged on the renewal date.
In those cases, there is a sales receipt generated instead of an invoice. The one exception is if the credit card is declined during the renewal auto-payment, then the system will create an invoice.
Items of Note:
When a product is set to be a subscription and Requires Fulfillment is checked, then admins will be notified upon renewal that the product requires fulfillment each time it renews.
If a subscription is set up as an auto-renewal:
When the product order is entered on the backend by an admin they will need to check the Auto-Renew box.
When the product is purchased on the frontend website the Auto-Renewal setting will be checked (i.e. ON) by default.
The member can also disable the auto-renewal setting from their Member Compass (on the My Orders tab) or at the time of checkout.
Updating the Price of an Existing Subscription
Updating the price of a subscription will only impact the next renewal date after an admin has updated the price. For example, a subscription that is on annual renewal but is billed monthly will only see the new price take effect when the annual renewal date is passed.
Auto-Renewals for Free Subscriptions
When offering free subscriptions, there are a few different ways to manage this:
1. Create a free subscription and set it to auto-renew.
2. Create a promo code for an existing paid subscription.
Note: The promo code discount will only apply to the first purchase, so if the subscription is set to auto-renew it will create an invoice for the full amount at the time of renewal. To avoid the invoice creation during renewal, an admin can go to the Subscriptions list and uncheck the Auto-Renew setting for the ones that are free. Since they won't be auto-renewing then, the admin will need to manually update the expiration date after a year.
3. If the free subscription is only for a few members and everyone else must pay, consider creating a custom field for the free ones, rather than having them purchase the subscription with a promo code (#2 above). This way, there's no need to manage an auto-renewal because they will always be included (until the custom field value is changed). To be clear, this means the people who do not pay won't actually sign up for the subscription.
Note: If you choose this approach, be sure to add a condition (based on the custom field) to all subscription-related Groups, Event Tickets, etc. This way the group/ticket will include the subscribers AND the records with the appropriate custom field value.
Example custom field: "News Subscriber" with a set of options "Yes" or "No"
Auto-Renewals for Subscriptions Paid Via Credit Cards