People are not attached to chapters directly. A separate record sits in between, which is what lets somebody belong to more than one chapter and lets us keep the history when they move. Officers work the same way, with their own record and their own dates.
Both middle records are connectors. Neither is something you would go looking for on its own — they exist to join a person to a chapter, with dates and a role attached.
The chapter itself — its name, its code, its website, and whether it is currently active. There are relatively few of these and they change rarely, so treat them as reference data rather than something to create casually.
Connects one person to one chapter, with a flag marking whether it is their primary chapter. Somebody can hold several. This is the record that answers "who is in this chapter" and "which chapters is this person in".
Somebody holding a position — Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, President, Director and so on — with start and end dates and a Currently Serving flag. Past officers stay on the record, which is how you get a chapter's leadership history.
Committees work the same way as chapters: the committee is the thing, and a separate membership record connects each person to it with a role and an effective date. Same pattern, different purpose.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Who is in this chapter? | Chapter → Chapter Affiliations |
| Which chapter is this person in? | Contact → Affiliations, look for Is Primary |
| Who chairs this chapter? | Chapter → Officers, Currently Serving |
| Who chaired it three years ago? | Officers, using the start and end dates |
| Who should get the roster? | Officers → Receives Roster |
| Which committees is someone on? | Contact → Committee Memberships |
Because one person can hold several affiliations, a chapter's member count depends entirely on whether you count every affiliation or only the primary ones. Both are defensible; they give different numbers. Say which you used whenever you hand the figure to anybody.
A chapter affiliation says which chapter somebody is associated with. Whether their dues are current is on the Membership record. Somebody can be affiliated with a chapter and long expired — the two answer different questions and neither implies the other.
When somebody stops serving, set the end date and clear the currently-serving flag. Deleting the record erases the fact that they ever held the post, which we need for history, recognition and knowing who to ask about something that happened under their watch.
The Membership record has a chapter on it as well, because dues are tied to a chapter for a given term. It can differ from someone's current primary affiliation if they have moved. When they disagree, the affiliation reflects where they are now and the membership reflects where they were when that term was paid.