.. done Church Membership Process ========================= .. glossary:: Membership Profile Automation TouchPoint has a simple automated system to help you manage your church membership process. This is a real time-saver and keeps you from forgetting a step in the process. The business rules for the automation are built around the following 2 requirements: - **New Member Class attendance** - Required for all decision types. - **Baptism** - Required by those making a POF or Statement Requiring Baptism. The appropriate statuses are set based on which Decision Type you select. These :ref:`Members Statuses and Decision Types ` are described below. Click :ref:`here to see section below regarding the New Member Class `. Steps in a Nutshell ------------------- After each step save your changes and let the system handle any changes to Member Status, Join Type (how joined), and so forth. Step 1 Select **Decision Type and Decision Date** Step 2 **Schedule Baptism** if required Step 3 Record **Baptism Completed** Step 4 Record **New Member Class Attended** :ref:`See below for more information about what happens at each of these steps` Videos ------ We have a series of very short videos that show you how the automated process works and how to record a membership decision, schedule a baptism, record a completed baptism, record a New Member Class attended, and more. Click below to start viewing the Membership playlist. Or you can view them individually in the sections below. .. raw:: html User Roles re Membership ------------------------ Edit Member Tab To record any membership changes on the Member Profile and to upload (or delete) Membership Documents, a user must have the role `Membership`. View Membership Documents To **view Membership Documents** attached to a record, assign the role `MemberDocs` (without Membership role) and that user can view, but not upload or delete, the documents. Nor can he edit anything on the Member Profile tab. .. seealso:: :doc:`MemberDocs_Index` .. _DecisionTypes: Member Status and Decision Types -------------------------------- .. glossary:: Member Status TouchPoint has very basic Member Statuses. - Not Member - Member - Pending Member - Previous Member These status are automatically set based on the start of and completion of the membership process or when the person is dropped from membership. Simply record the person's **Decision Type** first and the system sets the appropriate **Member Status** and **Join Type** (at the completion of the requirements). We recommend that you keep the Member Statuses solely relating to the person's membership and not add more statues based on attendance or family makeup. These have to be maintained manually. TouchPoint uses Search Builder and Status Flags to identify people based on their current status without having to use Member Status to do so. .. admonition:: Just Added Status This is a pseudo Member Status assigned to all new records, and it is designed to be temporary. The New People Manager will change Just Added to Not Member after vetting the new record. .. seealso:: :doc:`NewPeopleManager` .. glossary:: Decision Types These are the dropdown selections representing how a person is joining your church. When recording a Decision, select the appropriate Decision Type and a date. When you save the changes the business rules will set the appropriate statuses. This is always the first item you select when someone joins your church. These are the standard types. :ref:`See below for the triggers associated with each Decision Type `. - POF (profession of faith) for Membership - POF not for Membership - Letter - Statement (having been baptized) - Statement Requiring Baptism Record a Decision ----------------- Step 1 Go to the `Profile > Member` tab on the person's record, and select the `Decision type` from the list in the dropdown menu. Step 2 Select the `Decision Date`. This would be the date the person speaks with a counselor/pastor and completes a Decision Information Form. Step 3 Press `Save Changes` .. tip:: If you want to record the person's previous church at this time you will do so on that tab. This is also a good time to set the person's Statement and Envelope Options. :ref:`See note below regarding Statements and Envelopes ` .. _DecisionTriggers: Decision Type Triggers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the definitions of the Decision Types and what happens when you select that type. .. glossary:: POF for Membership Decision Type Joining the church by Profession of Faith and requires **Baptism** and **New Member Class Attendance**. - **Member Status** changes to **Pending Member** - **Baptism Type** changes to **Original** or Biological - **Baptism Status** changes to **Not Specified** - **New Member Class Status** changes to **Pending** - **How Joined** remains **Unknown** - After completion of the requirements - Member Status becomes **Member** - How Joined becomes **POF by Baptism** - Join Date is the date the last requirement was completed. .. seealso:: :doc:`MembershipMiscNotes` for definition of Biological **Click below to view the video "Record a Profession of Faith for Membership Decision"** .. raw:: html .. glossary:: **POF not for Membership** Decision Type Profession of Faith, but not joining the church. This Decision Type requires only **Baptism**. - **Baptism Type** changes to **Non-Member** - **Baptism Status** remains **Not Specified** - **Member Status** remains **Not Member** - **New Member Class Status** remains **Not Specified** - **How Joined** remains **Unknown** even after the person is baptized - After completion of the requirement - Baptism Status changes to **Completed** and there are no other changes **Click below to view the video "Record a Profession of Faith Not for Membership Decision** .. raw:: html .. glossary:: **Letter** Decision Type Joining from a church of the same denomination. This assumes that the previous church will verify the person's membership with a letter and requires only the **New Member Class**. - **Member Status** changes to **Pending Member** - **New Member Class Status** changes to **Pending** - **Baptism Type** remains **Not Specified** - **Baptism Status** remains **Not Specified** - **How Joined** remains **Unknown** - After completion of the requirements - Member Status becomes **Member** - How Joined becomes **Letter** - Join Date is the date they attend the New Member Class **Click below to view the video "Record Letter Decision and New Member Class"** .. raw:: html **Click below to view the video "Track Letter Requests to Previous Churches"** .. raw:: html .. glossary:: **Statement** Decision Type Joining from a church of a different denomination, having had believer’s baptism requires only the **New Member Class**. - **Member Status** changes to **Pending Member** - **New Member Class Status** changes to **Pending** - **Baptism Type** remains **Not Specified** - **Baptism Status** remains **Not Specified** - **Join Type** remains **Unknown** - After completion of the requirements - Member Status becomes **Member** - How Joined becomes **Statement** - Join Date is the date they attend the New Member Class **Click below to view the video "Record Statement Decision and New Member Class Attendance"** .. raw:: html .. glossary:: **Statement Requiring Baptism** Decision Type Joining from a church of a different denomination, and never having had believer’s baptism requires both **Baptism** and **New Member Class**. - **Member Status** changes to **Pending Member** - **Baptism Type** changes to **Required** - **Baptism Status** changes to **Not Scheduled** - **New Member Class Status** changes to **Pending** - **Join Type** remains **Unknown** - After completion of the requirements - Member Status becomes **Member** - How Joined becomes **Baptism SRB** - Join Date is the date the last requirement was completed. **Click below to view the video "Record Statement Requiring Baptism"** .. raw:: html Cancelled This Decision Type is used if you have already posted a decision and the person requests that you cancel it. Select `Cancelled` as the Decision Type, and enter the Decision Date. This will remove all the Pending statuses. Unknown You should only use this if you know a person is a Member, but do not know how they joined. You will need to manually set all the other settings. Completing the Membership Process --------------------------------- After you have recorded the Decision, the next step is to schedule and mark complete any requirements - Baptism and/or New Member Class. Once these requirements have been recorded as completed, the system will make the appropriate changes to the person's Member Status, Join Type and Join Date. See below for how to Schedule and Complete Baptisms and New Member Class. For most of these processes, you will use Search Builder to find those that fit each category - that is, those who need their baptism scheduled, those that need to attend the new member class - so you can communicate with them regarding the next step in their membership process. .. _ToggleTip: .. tip:: Set the Welcome Header toggle to **open person in new tab** and you can work directly from your search and move easily from the search results to an individual and back to the search to move to the next person without losing your search. When following the instructions below, just click the first person in the search results list, make the changes on his record, return to the tab with your search and select the next person. .. seealso:: :doc:`../Miscellaneous/Welcome` Baptism - Scheduled, Completed ------------------------------ Find those Needing Baptism Scheduled Use the following search Conditions: - Member Status **Equals** Pending Member - Baptism Type **One Of** POF for Membership, POF Not for Membership, Statement Requiring Baptism - Baptism Status **Not One Of** Scheduled, Completed, or Cancelled Using the search results send an email or make a phone call to find out when the person want to schedule his baptism. Then follow the instructions below to record that his baptism is scheduled. Record Baptism as Scheduled See the :ref:`Toggle Tip ` above. - Click `Edit` on the person's Profile > Member tab. - Change the **Baptism Status** to `Scheduled`. - Select the **Scheduled Date** - Click `Save Changes`. - This does not trigger any other changes on the Member tab. .. caution:: Be sure to select the `Scheduled Date` and not the other Date Field. The other date is to be used for the date they are actually baptized. **Click below to view the video "Record Scheduled Baptism"** .. raw:: html Find those that Were Baptized You will need to get a report from whoever handles the actual baptisms in order to know who to mark as Completed. So, for this process, you will work from an outside document or list. Record a Completed Baptism - Click `Edit` on the person's Profile > Member tab. - Change the **Baptism Status** to `Completed`. - Select the **Date** the person was actually baptized. - Remove the Scheduled date. You no longer need this once they have been baptized. However, if you prefer to leave the scheduled date you can. - Click `Save Changes`. **Click below to view the video "Record Completed Baptism"** .. raw:: html New Member Class ---------------- :ref:`See note below regarding New Member Class and Requirements. ` Find those Needing to Attend the Class We recommend that you create an organization for your New Member Class so that you can invite people to the class and to record attendance. Use the following search to find those to invite to the New Member Class. - Member Status **Equals** Pending Member - New Member Class Status **Not Equal** Attended The search will find those that are Pending Members and whose New Member Class Status is **not** Attended. This will keep from including those that have Admin Approval, Grandfathered, or Exempted Child. Those are statuses that, when selected, will function the same as Attended. From the Search Builder results, just send an email with an RSVP Link inviting them to attend the upcoming class. If you have multiple classes scheduled you can include multiple RSVP Links and the person can choose the one they want to attend. .. seealso:: :doc:`../EmailTexting/ComposeRSVPLinks` .. note:: If you want, you can record the date they expect to attend the class in the New Member Class Date field on the person's Member tab, just be sure to leave the Status as Pending. After people have responded to the RSVP you can use Convert to Search > Registered Attending from the meeting. Then you can add the future date to each person's record. Find those that Attended the New Member Class We recommend that you create an organization for your New Member Class and record attendance. If you have multiple classes that are required, find those that have attended the last one in the series and record them as Attended at that point. Instead of using a saved search to find those that attended, you can do the following: - Go to the **meeting** for the most recent class. - Select the **gear** on the blue Toolbar and then select `Convert to Search > Attendees`. Record Attendees of New Member Class See the :ref:`Toggle Tip ` above. - Click `Edit` on the person's Profile > Member tab. - Change the **New Member Class Status** to `Attended`. - Select the **Date** of the class. - Click `Save Changes`. .. seealso:: :doc:`MembershipMiscNotes` **Click below to view the video "Record New Member Class Attended"** .. raw:: html **Click the video below to see how to find those that attended and record attendance when you have multiple attendees.** .. raw:: html .. _BusinessRuleOptions: Business Rule Options --------------------- Turn Off Rules ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you choose to turn off the business rules, your System Admin will set `UseMemberProfileAutomation` to **false** in the Settings. .. seealso:: :doc:`../Administration/Setting_Index` Deceased Rules ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you do not use the full Membership Automation, you can use the automated process as it relates to marking someone deceased. Using this part of the automation you only need to record a Deceased Date and a number of other fields change automatically and the person's enrollments are dropped. See the article below for how to use this portion of the automation process. .. seealso:: :doc:`../Administration/MemberProfileAutomationDeceasedOnly` .. _NewMemberClassRequirements: New Member Class(es) Required or Not Required ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not Required If you do not have a required New Member Class at your church you can set the New Member Class Status to `Admin Approval` or `Exempt` **at the time you record the person's Decision**. Each of those settings has the same effect as having recorded them as Attended. Multiple Required Classes If your church has **multiple New Member Classes** and all are required, just recorded them as Attended on the Member tab **after they attended the last class**. You will track each class by using an organization and recording attendance, but you may also want to track them (and make that information more visible) by using a Checkboxes type of Standard Extra Value. When someone completes one of the classes you select that checkbox in the Extra Value. You can also create a Status Flag search for each of those and add them as badges on the person's record. .. seealso:: - :doc:`../ExtraValues/ExtraValuesSettings` - :doc:`StatusFlags` .. _StatementsEnvelopes: .. admonition:: Statement and Envelope Options Every record will by default will have both of these set as **Not Specified**. These are on both the `Profile > Member` Tab as well as on the `Giving > Statements` tab. These items can be edited by either the person with Membership role, Finance role, or by the person himself, if he has at least a My Data account. While these are not specifically membership decisions, they are typically settings for church members. That is why, when you record a Decision is a great time to set these options. Some churches mail envelope sets to church members, or give them boxed sets, so that is why these options are included with the membership process. .. seealso:: :doc:`../Finance/ContributionStatementTypesEnvelopeOptions`