A Membership is one term, not one person. Every renewal creates a new record, so somebody who has been with us for twenty years has twenty of them. Knowing that is the difference between answering "are they a member?" in five seconds and getting it wrong.
Cancelled sits outside this run — it means the membership was ended deliberately rather than simply running out.
A membership record carries a lot. These are the ones you will actually read.
Pending, Active, Lapsed, Expired or Cancelled. The first thing to look at, and the thing most questions come down to. Lapsed means the term has run out but they are still inside the window where renewing counts as continuous.
A checkbox marking the one record that represents this person's membership now. With dozens of historical records per member, this is what tells you which one you are supposed to be reading.
Adult, Senior, Family, Student, Organization, Family Life or Life. The two Life types behave differently from the rest — they are not on an annual renewal cycle, so expiry dates on them do not mean what they mean elsewhere.
Two different dates that get confused constantly. Member Since is when the relationship began and generally never changes. Current Term Start is when this particular term began. Recognition and anniversaries use Member Since; billing uses the term dates.
New, Renewal or Rejoin. Tells you how this term came about. Rejoin is the interesting one — it means somebody had lapsed completely and came back, which is worth knowing before you talk to them.
The chapter this membership is tied to, and whether it renews automatically. Auto Renew matters for anyone doing renewal outreach — chasing somebody who is already set to renew is a bad look.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Are they a member right now? | Membership → Is Current, then Status |
| When does it run out? | Expiration Date on the current record |
| How long have they been with us? | Member Since — not Current Term Start |
| Did they lapse and come back? | Latest Action = Rejoin |
| What did they pay? | The linked Engagement, not the Membership |
| Will it renew on its own? | Auto Renew |
| Which chapter are they in? | Chapter on the membership, or their Affiliations |
| Do they owe anything? | Balance |
Searching a membership record directly usually lands you on a random historical term. Start from the Contact and look at their memberships from there — you get the whole run in order, and it is obvious which one is live.
The overwhelming majority of membership records in the system are expired, because every completed term stays behind as history. A long list of expired memberships on someone's record is a sign of a long relationship, not a lapsed one. Look for the current record before drawing any conclusion.
Dues payments are Engagements with the Membership record type, linked back to the membership term they paid for. The membership itself carries billing dates and a balance, but the payment record is an Engagement. If you need the amount, follow the link.
These types cover a household or a company rather than an individual, so the Primary Member is one person among several who are covered. Before telling someone they are not a member, check whether they are attached to a family or organizational membership held in another name.