Managing chapters

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You can manage your chapters and their members directly from the Staff site (Membership > Chapters). Staff users are able to edit roles and use queries to search for active, future, and past members. Chapter members are able to access their chapters directly from the Member Quick Start Site. On the initial login page, chapter members will see a link to their chapters. Members can also access their chapters from the My Participation tab on their profile page.

Creating chapters

Chapters can be created with or without registration fees. Creating a chapter with a registration fee is similar to creating a new product, and allows you to designate separate dues or memberships for chapters or local groups. A Standard price must be defined in order for the chapter to become a membership product.

Note: If necessary, you can configure additional fields (for example, Region, Division, or Area) to appear when creating a new chapter. See System options for more information.

To create a new chapter, do the following:

  1. Go to Membership > Chapters.
  2. Select Add new chapter.
  3. Enter a Code. Choose a code that is unique and descriptive of the chapter.
  4. Enter a unique Name for the chapter.
  5. (optional) If you have defined additional chapter fields, enter those values.
  6. (optional) Provide a Description of the chapter.
  7. (optional) Enter any Notes for the chapter.
  8. (optional) Configure Pricing options:

    9. Note: The Pricing options are only available to staff users who are assigned the Dues: 5 module authorization level. See Module authorization levels for more information.

    1. Define a Standard price for Non-members, and a Discount price for Members. These prices must be written in standard currency format.
    2. Chapter products are typically listed with other billing products, for example, memberships, subscriptions, or voluntary contributions. The Pay priority value determines the order in which the billing products are displayed and paid for. The higher the priority number, the lower the priority. A product with a Pay priority of 1 will always come first.
    3. Enter a Term span in months if you want to override the Standard billing interval. This indicates the number of months that the chapter will be renewed for when payment is received. See Configuring billing options for more information.
    4. Select a Prorate fee. See Membership settings for more information.

      5. Note: The Prorate fee options that appear depend on the default prorating options defined in the Membership settings window. If Do not prorate is enabled, the Prorate fee options will not appear.

  9. (optional) Configure Accounting options:

    Note: The Accounting options are only available to staff users who are assigned a Dues: 5 module authorization level. See Module authorization levels for more information.

    1. Select the Financial entity in which the chapter fee will be deposited to. If this is a Charitable item, be sure to select a charitable financial entity. If this is left blank, the default financial entity will be used.
    2. Enable Charitable item if the chapter registration fee is to be recognized as a gift.
      • Enter a Fair market value. This value defines the value of the benefit (if any) that a donor is receiving in exchange for purchasing the Charitable item with which the Fair market value is associated.
    3. Select the Income and Deferred general ledger accounts to associate with this chapter product. These accounts are defined in the GL_ACCOUNT general lookup table. See General lookup tables for more information.
  10. Click Save & Exit.
Managing chapter members

Managing chapter members consists of new members joining or being manually added by a staff person, editing enrollment dates for chapter members, and deleting chapter members.

Adding

Contacts are only able to be added to a chapter when they are joining as a member. New members are able to select a chapter when they elect to use Join Now. When a member renews a membership, the chapter fee is included.

Selecting a primary chapter when joining

You are also able to configure the billing cycle to allow members to enroll with multiple chapters. See Setting up billing cycles for more information.

Selecting multiple chapters when joining

Editing

After a member has been assigned to a chapter, you can only change the Begin and End date of the member's enrollment term:

  1. Enable the ability to manage chapter memberships directly from the member list:
    1. Go to Settings > Membership.
    2. Enable the Allow staff to manage chapter memberships directly from member list option.
    3. Click Save.

      4. Enabling the allow staff to manage chapter memberships directly from member list setting

  2. Go to Membership > Chapters.
  3. Select the chapter.
  4. Click the Member list tab.
  5. Click Member next to the member's name to open the Group member detail window:

    6. Selecting member next to a members name

  6. In the Group member detail window, click the Edit icon:

    7. Clicking the edit icon in the group member detail window

  7. Enter the new Begin and End dates.

    8. Updating the begin and end dates

  8. Click Save & Close.
Managing non-fee based chapters

Staff users and chapter administrators can modify the chapter rosters of non-fee based chapters. Members can be added, removed and their membership dates modified. Chapter membership roles can also be adjusted.

From the Staff site (Settings > Membership), authorized users can enable the following settings, which are disabled by default:

Note: Non-staff Chapter Administrators can access their chapters from the My chapters and sections area in the My Participation tab of their account page.

  • (staff only) Allow staff to manage chapter memberships directly from member list (recommended only if all chapters are complimentary)
  • (chapter administrators only) Allow Chapter Administrators to manage chapter memberships directly from member list (recommended only if all chapters are complimentary)

    • Note: It is strongly recommended that these settings are only enabled for systems with complimentary chapters, as no billing or invoice will be created for new contacts who are added when these settings are enabled.

Using these Membership settings for non-fee based chapters, authorized users can do the following tasks:

  • Add contacts to a chapter – Authorized staff users can add existing contacts to the chapter. Chapter Administrators can only add new contacts to the chapter.
  • Assign the Chapter Administrator role - Chapter Administrators can assign the Chapter Administrator role to existing chapter members.
  • Edit chapter memberships – Authorized staff can modify the Begin and End dates of chapter memberships. However, the chapter administrator role Begin and End date cannot be edited.

    • Updating the begin and end dates

  • Delete members from the chapter – Authorized staff and Chapter Administrators can delete members, and those assigned the Chapter Administrator role, from the chapter.

Assigning the Chapter Administrator role

As a staff user, if your organization has a Group Administrator license, you can assign the Chapter Administrator role to non-staff members of your chapters. Chapter Administrators are able to assign or remove the Chapter Administrator role to other chapter members, pay dues on behalf of chapter members, as well as edit chapter member profile pages. Chapter Administrators have access to the chapter dashboard which displays information about chapter members and their engagement. See Understanding Staff site dashboards for more information.

Requirements: You must have the Group Administrator license key in order to use this feature. Please contact ASI for more information.

To add the Chapter Administrator role, do the following:

  1. Go to Membership > Chapters.
  2. Select a chapter.
  3. Click the Member list tab.
  4. Select the chapter role of an existing member to view their membership details.

    5. Selecting the members role from the member list

  5. Select Add.
  6. Select Chapter Administrator from the drop-down.

    7. Using the group member detail window to define the chapter administrator role

  7. Click Save & Close.

This chart compares the responsibilities between the Company Administrator, Committee Administrator, and Chapter Administrator.

Company Administrators can perform actions on records linked to the company for which they are the administrator. Chapter Administrators can perform actions on records within a given chapter. The Chapter Administrator role requires a Group Admin PLUS license. For more information on these roles, see Managing iMIS security settings.

Note: System administrators have access to everything in iMIS, such as assigning logon credentials and user types (Public, Casual, Full), adding roles and groups, assigning access for staff users, assigning the System Administrator role to other users, and disabling user accounts.

Tip! Fee-based chapters require payment to become a member, meaning contacts only become members through a join- or renewal-billing process. Non-fee based chapters are free and members can be manually added to the chapter at any time.

Table 1: Administrators Overview
  Company Administrator Committee Administrator Chapter Administrator
(fee-based)

 

Chapter Administrator
(non-fee based)

License required? No No Yes
(Requires Group Admin PLUS license)		 Yes
(Requires Group Admin PLUS license)
Can add contacts to the group? Yes
Company Administrators can add new contacts to the organization; however, duplicate checking is not performed and the administrator cannot search to determine if the contact already has an account. This is to ensure company administrators do not have access to contacts they should not have access to.		 Yes No Yes
Chapter Administrators can add new contacts to the organization.
Can edit contacts in the group? Yes No Yes Yes
Can edit the group? Yes
Company Administrators can edit the organization. 		No No Yes
Can add new roles? Yes Yes Yes
The Chapter Administrator can add the Chapter Administrator role only. 		Yes
The Chapter Administrator can add the Chapter Administrator role only.
Can edit roles? Yes
Company Administrators can edit two roles only: Member and Company Administrator.		 Yes
Committee Administrators can edit multiple roles (committee positions).		 No Yes
Can delete roles? Yes No Yes
The Chapter Administrator can delete the Chapter Administrator role only. 		Yes
Can assign the role to other members? Yes
Company Administrators can assign the Company Administrator role to other members within their company participant list. 		Yes Yes Yes
Can edit relationships on members' profile pages?

No

Administrators cannot edit Relationships on a member's personal profile page. Editing a relationship must be done by a Staff user or System Administrator.
Can select other queries or email? No
Only staff users can edit the queries. 		No
Only staff users can edit the queries. 		No
Only staff users can edit the queries. 		No
Only staff users can edit the queries.
Can pay invoices and membership renewals for members? Yes
Company Administrators can pay invoices and membership renewals for members. They can also join as a member On Behalf Of contacts in the company, and the invoice can be billed to the company. 		No Yes
Chapter Administrators can pay invoices and membership renewals for members. The invoice cannot be billed to the chapter. 		Yes
Chapter Administrators can pay invoices and membership renewals for members. The invoice cannot be billed to the chapter.
Can register members for events and bill registrations to the organization?

Yes

Company Administrators can only register members for events that are in their primary organization.

Company Administrators cannot see members from any other company for which they are also a Company Administrator.

 No No No
Can make donations on behalf of contacts? No No No No
Emailing chapter members

Staff users can send an email to the entire roster of active chapter members. You can also search for other chapter members to send an email using the Find other members link.

To send an email to chapter members, do the following:

  1. Go to Membership > Chapters.
  2. Select a chapter.
  3. From theFind members tab, select the queried list of chapter members you need to email.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the member list, then click Email.
  5. Compose your email or load an email template as you would for any communication.

    6. Note: For more information on sending communications in iMIS, see Sending communications to contacts.

  6. Click Add attachment and set a communication Type if desired.

    7. Note: To provide an opt out option for your committee members, use communication types. For more information, see Managing communication preferences.

  7. Click Preview, then click Send All Now.
Searching for chapter members

Staff users can search for applicants and proposed members who are not yet members of a chapter. The results can be filtered on the chapter member's name, the effective or expiration date, or the chapter member's role.

Do the following to search for chapter members:

  1. Go to Membership > Chapters.
  2. Select a chapter.
  3. From the Find members tab, select one of the following queries:
    • Active Members
    • Chapter Administrators
    • Expired Members
    • Future Members
    • Search Members

      • Note: To add custom queries to this drop-down, add the queries to the Chapter Group Members folder ($/ContactManagement/DefaultSystem/Queries/Groups/Chapters/Members).

Assigning chapters by zip code

When a user joins or renews their membership, their primary chapter can be automatically assigned based on their zip code.

Configuring iMIS to assign chapters based on zip code

Do the following to enable the Automatically set chapter based on zip code setting:

  1. Go to Settings > Contacts > System options.
  2. Scroll down to the Address purpose section.
  3. Enable Automatically set chapter based on zip code (US only).
  4. Select the Address to use for chapter selection.

    5. Updating the address to use for chapter selection option

  5. Click Save.

Associating chapters with zip codes

Do the following to associate a chapter with a zip code:

  1. If you need to, create the chapters first. See Creating chapters.
  2. After chapters have been created, go to Settings > Contacts > System options.
  3. Scroll down to the Address purpose section.
  4. If Automatically set chapter based on zip code (US only) is not enabled, enable it.
  5. Select Edit zip codes.

    6. The Zip Codes window comes preconfigured with zip codes, cities, states, and county combinations of all of the zip codes in America at the time the data was added. Any new zip code can be manually added by selecting Add new zip code.

    Selecting the edit zip codes link

  6. From the search fields, locate the zip codes you need to associate with a chapter. For example, if you need to associate all zip codes that begin with "3316" in the city of Miami, enter "3316" in the Zip starts with field and Miami in the City field.

    7. Searching for zip codes

  7. If there is a zip code missing, you will need to add the zip code by selecting Add new zip code.
  8. Enable the select all checkbox.
  9. From the Chapter drop-down in the bottom-right, choose the Chapter you want to associate with the chosen zip codes.
  10. Click Set Chapter.

Important! If a chapter is set with a blank zip code field and the Automatically set chapter based on zip code (US only) setting is enabled, all contacts created without an address will be assigned to the set chapter.

Adding or editing a contact

When a new contact is added, the CsContact.Chapter property is automatically populated based on their zip code. When a contact's address is edited and the new zip code is attached to a chapter, a prompt will display to confirm that the user wishes to update the primary chapter.

The user can click No to decline the chapter reassignment. If the user clicks Yes, their membership subscription is updated to reflect the new primary chapter.

Example confirmation message after changing an address

Joins and renewals

Joins and renewals without pre-existing chapter assignments will have the primary chapter automatically set based on the address purpose designated for the Address to use for chapter selection setting. If the contact's address purpose matches the address purpose specified in the setting, the chapter will be updated. For instance, if the system option is set to Address and the contact's address purpose used is Home Address, the chapter will not be automatically assigned.

If Include all chapters is enabled and the contact's primary chapter is not included in the billing cycle, the primary chapter will display in the itemized renewal page as the selected chapter. If Include all chapters is not enabled and the contact's primary chapter is not included in the billing cycle, the primary chapter will not display in the itemized renewal page. Only chapters that are included in the billing cycle will display in the itemized renewal page.

For renewals, once a billed chapter becomes inactive because of an address change, the new chapter is preselected as the primary chapter on the itemized renewals page. However, another chapter can be selected from the Chapter Membership Fees drop-down, or it can be removed.

Importing zip codes for chapters

Zip codes are imported in the form of a tab-delimited file. System administrators can import files containing the missing zip codes that can then be associated with chapters.

To import zip codes, you must enter the data in a tab-delimited file that contains columns. Most spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel, can create tab-delimited files (.txt). You must arrange the columns in the tab-delimited file in the same order as they are listed in the table:

Important! Remove the column header row before importing.

Table 2: Column options for tab-delimited file
Column Description
A. Zip codes

(required)

Zip codes can contain only the first five digits. Extended zip codes are not supported.
B. City

(optional

There is a 40-character maximum for cities.
C. State

(optional)

Must use state abbreviations. State must also match a value already defined in iMIS.

D. County

(optional)

There is a 30-character maximum for counties.
E. Chapter

(optional)

There is a 15-character maximum for chapters. Must match a chapter already defined in iMIS and you must use the chapter code, not the chapter name.
F. Tax code

(optional)

There is a 15-character maximum for tax codes. Must match a tax code already defined in iMIS.

Note: Unused columns must still be included and left blank. Blank values will not overwrite existing values for that zip code.

Warning! You will receive warnings at the top of the page if the file contains errors (e.g., file is not tab delimited or there are extended zip code entries).

Do the following to import zip codes:

  1. Go to Settings > Contacts > System options.
  2. Scroll down to the Address purpose section.
  3. Enable Automatically set chapter based on zip code (US only).
  4. Select Edit zip codes.
  5. Click Import Zip Codes.

    6. Clicking the import zip codes button

  6. Select Chapter Zip Codes in the File format drop-down.

    7. Note: Chapter Zip Codes is the same option for taxes and chapters.

  7. Click Browse and select the text file containing the zip codes.
  8. Click Upload.
  9. Once the text file loads below Process import files, select Process.

    10. Selecting the process link from the import zip codes window

  10. You will receive the following message:

    11. Example message that the file is processing

  11. Select the Click here to refresh link.

If there are warnings associated with the import, they are recorded in the Review log files section with a description. There will be errors if the state/chapter/tax authority are invalid or if they do not exist in iMIS. The rows where the errors are found are not processed and the zip codes are skipped.

Creating queries with chapter data

The Chapter business object contains the chapter name, product code, and chapter code.

Example data pulled from the chapters business object

Use the following relation with NetContactData to return chapter member data: Chapter.Chapter Code = NetContactData.Chapter

Adding a relation between the chapter and net contact data business object