Whether you are a Novi Novice or Novi Pro, it never hurts to brush up on Novi's terminology. Below is some of the terminology used throughout the Novi software.

Quick Links:

Also referred to as your forward-facing website, this is the side of your website usually used in the context of what your users see and interact with. 

This is the core functioning area of the Novi software that your users on the frontend would not see. The backend is where you, as an association admin, will primarily manage features of your website that includes (but is not limited to): 

One of the most popular (and fun!) features in Novi AMS is the control admins have over their website's content and how easy it is to make changes to formatting. Novi utilizes a frontend editor, meaning admins can make real-time updates to their websites from the frontend and see exactly how the change will display before hitting the "Save" button.

Activity types track changes, updates, and communications on records. While some activities are tracked automatically (such as renewals, drops, event registrations, etc.), association admins can add activities like communication-related notes and to-dos including calls, meetings, emails, and more.

A Novi admin, short for administrator, is any individual that has some level of access and editing privileges to your Novi database and/or website. There are three Admin levels:

Association Settings is a management area where an organization's contact information can be updated, enable or disable select features, and set the defaults for the members' experience and interactions with your website.

A way to track committee members and their terms (or Board of Directors, or sponsors, or any segment really!). Committees can be synced to Constant Contact or Mailchimp, given access privileges to certain content, and displayed on the frontend.

If an association has additional data that doesn't fit into member fields, custom fields can be customized to your organization. These fields are super powerful and are utilized for event registration forms, Novi groups, products, custom reports, and more.

Directories are an invaluable benefit and have the potential to be a non-dues revenue stream! Directories are powered by Novi Groups, and directories provide options such as the ability to:

Ecommerce Products in Novi can be anything sold outside of membership dues and event tickets. Products can be physical, such as a promotional item or classroom rental, or non-physical, such as a sponsorship or legislative contribution.
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Ecommerce Orders are created when purchases of products are made.

Subscriptions allow Novi admins to sell subscriptions that include subscription options like End Dates and Auto-Renewals. Subscriptions are generally not used for membership dues.

Novi Groups allows admins to easily categorize and segment their databases. Groups can be created based on conditional logic and custom fields or based on specific records such as board members.

Groups have six main purposes:

A way to display groups of individuals or companies/organization in a particular order, and display additional titles if needed.

The backend of Novi provides numerous list options that can be customized for quick reporting and exporting, and list views are available in areas including Members, Ecommerce Orders, Events, and many more.

A individual can be granted management access in Novi, meaning from their Member Compass they have access to update information for the company/organization they are connected to, and review/add/update/remove staff, review and pay transactions, and grant management access to other staff members. The three levels of management access include:

An individual’s dashboard to their activity within the association and access to a member's personal membership history, if any. It includes:

Novi has a standard set of fields that can be shown, hidden, and/or required on company/organization and individual records. Member fields may not just be limited to members and can be utilized to gather information about non-members. Member fields include email, phone, address, etc. and admins can turn off or edit any these fields at any time.

The Members List in Novi is the default landing page on the backend when you login as an admin. This list displays all of the records in the database.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measurement tool that provides insight into customer or member loyalty and satisfaction. Admins can use this feature in Novi to identify their biggest supporters as well as identify areas for improvement.

There are two sections in Novi where admins can store and manage the association's website files:

Promo codes are a great way to offer special discounts on events, products, or membership.

The Recent Signups List is a great tool for admins to see and review details about who has joined their association; it's important to engage with Recent Signups to ensure new individuals and/or companies/organizations are legitimate.

The Task Center allows Novi admins to manage tasks from inside of Novi for the entire team, including an area that lists assigned tasks with due dates and additional information.

A User Account is created when an individual sets up their account with, at minimum, their email, password and name. This gives them access to their Member Compass.

The term “Parent” is typically used to describe the company/organization that an individual works for or is associated with and assigned under that company/organization.

However, when used in relation to a company/organization being a child of another company/organization, the Parent would be the top-level that oversees another company/organization (or multiple). 

When a person is assigned a Parent (which could be a company, organization, or even another person), the individual is a Child of their Parent.

When the child is a company/organization connected to a Parent, it is called a "sub-company."

This is the categorization of members into specific types of members; in Novi, a record can have 1 member type while having a non-Current membership status.

Novi offers two conditions to easily compile members into custom reports: Designated Member Type and Effective Member Type.

For an association, a "Dues Paying Member" is the company/organization or individual listed in an association's bylaws as eligible for membership and who is ultimately responsible for paying dues. 

This is the individual(s) or company(ies)/organization(s) that inherit member benefits from the Dues Paying Member. Within a specific member type, it under the Member Benefits tab that determines who should inherit benefits/receive benefits.

Dependent members are a membership type that requires another type of membership in the dues paying member's family tree. 
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​This is typically used within trade organizations when one company's membership is dependent on another company/organization. 

Membership Status shows the relative standing of records in your database. The following statuses apply in Novi:

Auto-renewal is a renewal process that's easier for for staff and members alike. When auto-renewal occur, two things happen:

Auto-pay is the process that allows members to store credit cards to be automatically charged as a payment toward the dues invoice generated during auto-renewal. This automates the payment for the member and saves time by not having to worry about collecting open A/R. Individuals can also be placed into a member type that requires auto-pay.

In Novi AMS, the way to process drops for unpaid members is with Non-Renew & Credit. Remember that when a membership auto-renews, two things happen: an invoice is created and the member's expiration is moved forward to the next year.

Non-Renew & Credit comes in when a member hasn't paid their invoice and you essentially want to un-do that renewal.