When renewing memberships, it's important to communicate with members so the organization receives the dues payment in a timely manner and to remind members of outstanding invoices.
Novi's Smart Renewal Notices allows for customization of the renewal and auto-pay email notices. Remind renewed members of association benefits and when payment is currently due - hyperlinks and images can even be included in the Smart Renewal!
The number of customizable emails within a Member Type depends on its Auto-Renewal settings.
This article covers:
How to View & Edit "Smart Renewal Notice" Email Messages - Learn how to find and update these customizable emails on the backend of your site.
How to Send Smart Renewal Notices - Once you've dialed in your email verbiage and renewals have run, learn how to send the notices via email so members can start submitting payment!
Types of Custom Renewal Emails - Learn more about the types of Smart Renewal Notices available, including who receives them and when.
Available Merge Fields for Email Messages - Customize your email messages so members receive personalized information about their membership renewal.
How to Send a Sample Email - Send a sample email to yourself to make sure everything looks good (and test hyperlinks)!
Items of Note - Please take a look at these notes for additional information.
<Sample Renewal Notice Email>
How to View & Edit "Smart Renewal Notice" Email Messages
On the backend, go to Members > Member Types > select a member type.
Go to the Renewal tab.
Check your Auto-Renewal settings (second section) - This setting (Yes, No, or Disabled) will affect which of the renewal emails* are displayed for this member type.
Scroll down past the auto-renewal settings to view and edit the email messages (more info on each type of email below).
*If auto-renewal is disabled you will only see the Renewal Notice Email. Otherwise, you will see all of the emails described below.
Sending Renewal Notices
The system can be set up to automatically send renewal notices, once renewals have run - OR - for admins to manually send renewal notices. Either way, these notices must be sent before members are notified of their renewal and auto-pay runs.
See the Admin Member Type Setup section of the Auto-Pay For Membership Renewals article for more information and our recommendations for these settings.
Types of Custom Renewal Emails
The number of customizable emails on each Member Type depends on the auto-renewal settings, which are also found on the Renewal tab.
Click on the AE Tip™ next to each type of renewal email for more info.
Each email type will populate with default verbiage, but feel free to make changes at any time.
1. Renewal Notice Email
Which members receive this email?
Members who are renewed via the Novi system who have not chosen to auto-pay their membership dues.
For companies, renewals are sent in the following if the first is not available:
Billing Contact
Company Email
Primary Contact
Members who are manually renewed by an admin on the backend. This is likely to occur when a member is not set to auto-renew.
When do they receive this email?
For members who are renewed via the Novi system or manually by an admin, they will receive this email once you send them their invoice and select the Smart Renewals option. You can do this as a batch action or as a single email.
Exception to the above - If you utilize the setting to email renewal notices/invoices when the invoices are created, this email will be automatically sent once Novi runs your renewals. This setting should be used with extreme caution.
Additional Notes:
The dues invoice will be attached and the email will include a link for the member to pay the invoice. They do not need to be logged in to pay via this link.
Note: If auto-renewals are disabled for a member type, this is the only email you'll see on the Renewal tab.
Pay Invoice Screen For General Renewal Notice
For members who receive this first renewal invoice above, they will also have a link to pay their invoice directly in Novi. They do not need to be logged in to pay this invoice - the link in the email is a "magic" link that shows them the invoice details and allows them to pay, but they aren't shown anything else.
If they are logged in, they will have the option to set up auto-pay for future renewals. They can also print a copy of the invoice and view other transactions from their Member Compass. If you want to encourage members to log in, include a link to the Member Compass in the Auto-Pay Renewal Notice Email (more info below).
2. Renewal Payment Confirmation Email
This email is triggered when a renewal invoice is paid. It's sent to the member record's email (designated member) and the primary and billing contact for the member, if applicable.
This is not a receipt. This is an acknowledgment of payment for the membership.
If you prefer not to send this email, leave the email body blank.
This email will not send to auto-pay success members. There is a separate email for that: Auto-Pay Charge Success Email (number 6 below)
3. Auto-Pay Renewal Notice Email
The auto-pay renewal notice email is sent to members if they have elected to auto-pay their membership dues and have a valid credit card on file.
The valid credit card must be set as their default payment method (which is done by the member via their Member Compass).
This email notice is meant to let customers who are on auto-pay know that their default payment method will be charged in a few days. The number of days is based on a setting you can control on the Renewal tab of the member type. The default setting is 5 days after this email is sent to the member.
When it comes to the auto-pay renewal notice, certain things must be included in the email. This includes the card's last four digits. Because they must be included, we insert that text automatically below the customizable text region.
Note: Here's a side-by-side comparison showing what can be customized and what is generated automatically by the system when the email is sent. Note that the curly brackets { } denote a variable that will be pulled based on the member to which this notice is sent.
4. Auto-Pay Pre-Failure Warning Email
The auto-pay pre-failure warning email is sent to members as a warning that they elected to auto-pay their membership dues but they do not have a valid payment method on file.
This "failure" could be because they've removed all of their payment methods, or their default credit card may have expired.
The dues invoice will be attached and the email will include a link for the member to pay the invoice.
5. Auto-Pay Failure Notice Email
The auto-pay failure notice email is sent when Novi is unable to automatically charge for their membership dues.
The reason for the failure is most likely because their credit card on file was either declined or expired.
The dues invoice will be attached and the email will include a link for the member to pay the invoice.
6. Auto-Pay Charge Success Email
The auto-pay charge success email lets members know that their membership dues were successfully charged to their default payment method.
Merge Tags for Email Body
The following merge fields (also called merge tags) can be added to the Email Body to personalize your messaging.
Default Merge Fields
To use a built-in merge field, be sure to include the double brackets and no spaces. Also, merge fields are case-sensitive.
[[FirstName]] - this will return “FirstName” for individual based member-types only.
NOTE: If your member type is company-based, this will not apply and you should use [[Name]] instead.
[[LastName]] - this will return “LastName” for individual based members only.
NOTE: If your member type is company-based, this will not apply and you should use [[Name]] instead.
[[Name]] - for company-based member types this will display the company's name, and for individual member types it will display the person's full name (first + last)
[[NameAbbreviated]] - this is your organization's name abbreviated
[[ParentName]] - this is the name of the parent member to which a person or organization is connected.
[[MembershipPeriodStartDate]] - this is the member's most current "Member Since" date. That is, the Membership Period Start Date will display the Member Since date that reflects the membership period covered by the current dues invoice.
[[CurrentExpirationDate]] - this is the member's expiration date prior to the renewal
[[NewExpirationDate]] - this merge field is included by default (below the custom message), even though you don't see it in the Email Body
[[PaymentDueDate]] - this merge field is included by default (below the custom message), even though you don't see it in the Email Body
[[TotalDues]] - this merge field is included by default (below the custom message), even though you don't see it in the Email Body
[[LinkToCompass]] - this is a link to the Member Compass
[[LinkToContactUs]] - this is a link to your website's Contact Us page
[[LinkToPayInvoice]] - this link allows the user to submit payment without logging in, BUT that means they will not have the option to save their credit card or opt-in to auto-pay (if available for their member type)
Custom Merge Fields
You can also create your own merge fields for any Custom Fields on your site. To create a custom merge field, be sure to include the double brackets and keep any spaces (if applicable). Also, merge fields are case-sensitive and should include any punctuation or special characters (like ampersands or apostrophes).
For example, if you have a custom field called "Rank" with options like Chief and Lieutenant, you could add this as a merge tag to address the renewing member.
If the custom field has a Field Name that's different than the Display Name, you should use the Field Name for the merge tag.
In the example in the screenshot above, the merge tag would be:
[[Annual Sales Volume - Associate Members]]
Items of Note:
Consider if the member type is company-based or individual when using any of the "Name" merge fields.
The following information is included by default in all of the email templates above, and will be displayed below the custom messaging you enter:
Clicking the Pay Invoice Now button (in the screenshot above) will take the user to a screen where they can pay the invoice without logging in. If you want to encourage them to log in, so they will have the option to save their credit card and opt-in to auto-pay future renewals, you can include the Member Compass merge field in your custom messaging - [[LinkToCompass]].
When using the "Link" merge fields, you can use them as shown in the screenshot below...
Adding Images to the Email Message
When inserting images in smart renewal email messages, you can use 600px as the recommended maximum width since that's the width of the email template. For the image height, that's totally up to you!
After you add the image and save your changes, send yourself a sample email to see what the image, text, etc. will look like for your members (see next section for more info).
Sending a Sample Email
Each email template has a field where you can enter your email address to receive a sample of the email. This can be found below the Email Body. Be sure to save any changes before sending the sample!
Items of Note
The "Smart Renewal Notice" emails described above will be the default (and recommended) way of sending dues renewal invoices from Novi, but you can still select the "QuickBooks Invoice" email to send the default messaging that you've set up in QuickBooks Online. Learn more about sending transactions via email.
The "Smart Renewal Notice" emails will not be sent for other types of invoices like event registrations and product purchases, and dues invoices that are not renewals, have an overdue status, or have already been paid will also be excluded. Instead, these types of transactions will be sent using the QuickBooks Invoice. Learn more about how to edit this message in QuickBooks Online.
If a dues invoice is over the credit card payment limit, Novi will send the standard QuickBooks Online Invoice Email (not one of the custom emails above). If your association is using QuickBooks Payments and Online Delivery is set up, members will be able to pay invoices immediately through the QuickBooks Payments gateway, without having to log in to their Member Compass.
Members must be logged in when paying an invoice to have the option to save their credit card or opt-in to auto-pay for future renewals (if available for their member type).