Understanding the Membership_Status Field

The Membership_Status field enables Action Network admins to identify which of their members is eligible to take part in internal elections. It also enables admins to identify where activists are in their membership journey which can help with volunteer engagement, membership retention and overall improvements in the member journey.

Current

Member Status
Pending	When a member signs up with a Direct Debit membership there is a period of eight days before we request the funds from their nominated bank account. They will move to a Pending status when first signing up, which will update when their membership fee is requested. Members paying by debit or credit card will bypass this status and move straight to Current.
Once an activist's payment has been received the Membership_Status field will update to Current. Their membership will remain as current as long as their membership period end date has not passed and they have not actively cancelled their membership.
Grace	If an activist's Membership_Period_End date has passed, and a new payment has not been received they will move into Grace. They will be prompted to make payment, or update their existing payment details. This gives the member the opportunity to make payment and avoid the Member_Status field from moving to Cancelled.
Cancelled	The Membership_Status field will update to Cancelled if a member has actively cancelled their membership.
Expired	The Membership_Status will update to Expired if a membership is cancelled due to non-payment, at the end of the Grace period.
Suspended	Should a member be suspended their Membership_Status will be updated to Suspended.
Expelled	Should a member be expelled their Membership_Status will be updated to Expelled.

When a Direct Debit instruction is first created, no payment can be collected until Day 10. However, payment is requested on Day 8. It's this request for payment that triggers the change from Pending to Current for members paying by Direct Debit. As such, there is the possibility that a small number of activists whose payment fails will move from Pending, to Current, to Grace in a short span of time- and that these activists will temporarily show as Current members even when we haven't received any payment.

The Membership_Status field will show in the Custom Fields section of an activist's record.

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