Frequently Asked Questions About Memberships and Online Payments – Help Center

Here are answers to questions you may have, as well as the most frequently asked questions from our webinars on memberships and online payments.

Setting up your Membership Campaign
Managing your forms
Tracking memberships
Tracking payments
Online payment and E-wallet
Payment Link
Other questions

Setting up your Membership Campaign

Check out this article for more details: Creating your Membership Campaign (and the ones that follow).

How do membership renewals work?
The process is the same as a new membership — just encourage members to sign in to their account first. This allows the platform to recognize them and link the membership and their information to the right contact. Here is a step-by-step guide covering the member experience: Renewing a membership and paying online.

Can installment payments be offered only for optional add-ons, while the membership itself is paid in a different number of installments?
Currently, installment payments are configured at the form level, not per pricing tier. That said, you can set up multiple forms if needed. For example:

A Membership Campaign with installment payments.
A Product Sales form for your optional add-ons, restricted to members only, with a 3-installment payment option.

How can card payments be handled when someone joins in the 2nd or 3rd quarter, so they only pay from the quarter they join?
Set up multiple membership tiers at step 2 of your form, specifying the dates and prices for the 2nd and 3rd quarters respectively.

Can a discount be created for someone who signs up through multiple forms? For example, a person registers for a membership + a piano class for themselves, plus a membership and a violin class for their child.
You can enable the discount system from Settings > Forms and ticketing. From there, configure the discounts of your choice. Learn more: Configuring discounts on a form.

Some members purchase 10-class passes or annual subscriptions. It would be useful to have online booking for each class, with both a check on remaining classes and a cap on the maximum number of participants.
This is a bit advanced, but here is a setup that can work:

From Settings > Community, create a numeric field called "Remaining tickets" that only Administrators can edit.
Once your members have joined, find the Registrants who purchased 10-class passes and use a bulk edit to set their "Remaining tickets" value to "10".
Create a dynamic Group populated by people who have tickets.
Create Event ticketing for each class and restrict access to members of that Group.
Administrators will need to update the ticket count as people sign up for classes.

Can the first card payment be deferred? (for example, signing up in June but paying in September)
No, that is not currently possible. Feel free to submit this as a feature request at support.assoconnect.com.

Is it possible to pay by wire transfer? And how does it work?
You can manually record a wire transfer payment on a transaction, but the actual transfer takes place outside of Springly, through your bank.
In that case, you will need to regularly check your bank account for incoming payments, identify the payer in the Registrants list, record the wire transfer payment, and perform a bank reconciliation. This is significantly more work than using online payments.

Our nonprofit offers 2 activities with different licenses. Can a pilates license be linked to a pilates class, and a yoga license to a yoga class, without allowing cross-enrollment (conditional logic)?
That is not currently possible, but it is a great suggestion — we have noted it! For any other feature ideas, you can submit them here: support.assoconnect.com. Thank you!

Does the nonprofit's website have to be built on Springly?
Not at all!
Using the iframe link (found in the "Distribution" tab of your form), you can embed it on any external website. Your members will not notice the difference — they will stay on your site the whole time!

Can a form be embedded in an existing website?
From the "Distribution" tab of your form, copy the iframe link to embed it on an external website. How you embed it depends on your website hosting provider. :) This article walks you through the process: Embedding a Springly form on an external website.

Can a payment be split — part by card and part by another method (such as a voucher)?
Yes, this is possible using Payment Links: record part of the payment manually, then send a Payment Link for the remaining balance.
Once payment is received, simply match the payment to the outstanding balance via Accounting > Entries > Accruals.
Learn more: Recording payments received via a Payment Link.

How can a discount be applied for members from a specific city or area?
Create a dynamic Group based on location, then restrict a discounted pricing tier to members of that Group.
Learn more: Configuring discounts on a form.

Can wire transfer be offered as a payment option?
Yes — select "Other" as the payment method and enter the wire transfer details in the field that appears below.
Keep in mind that wire transfers require manual follow-up: you will need to regularly check your account for incoming payments, identify the payer in the Registrants list, record the wire transfer, and perform a bank reconciliation. That is significantly more work than using online payments.

How can a license and a membership be bundled to make both mandatory?
A member must select exactly one membership tier — no more, no less.
Suggestion: if both a license and a membership are required, simply create a membership tier called "Membership + License" (or multiple tiers if there are different membership levels and license types).

Why are no additional information fields showing at step 3 of the form?
This depends on whether you have set up Custom Fields from Settings > Community. If you have, they will appear at step 3.

How can membership and payment forms be shared without going through the nonprofit's website? What about sharing via an email campaign?
You can simply share the direct form link — publishing it on a website is not required. The form is accessible via a link alone.

How can dynamic Groups be created directly from the Membership Campaign?
That is not possible. Here is what can be automated:

Automatically add a Member to a fixed Group based on the membership tier or optional add-on they selected (e.g., a specific class).
Create a dynamic Group based on information stored in contact profiles. When a contact meets the criteria you defined, they are automatically added to the Group. Criteria can include profile information, donations, or memberships.

In short: start by creating your Groups from Community > Groups, whether fixed or dynamic. A fixed Group can be populated based on a membership tier or optional add-on selection; a dynamic Group is populated when a contact meets criteria you have defined (personal information, membership, donations).
Learn more: How fixed Groups work.

How can a mandatory checkbox be added (for example: "I accept the nonprofit's bylaws")?
You can make fields required in your form settings.
This article can help you set it up: Configuring your contact database fields.

Can members upload documents themselves? Is that an option?
Yes!
Add a "Document upload" field from Community > Settings, then include it at step 3 of your form.
Learn more: Configuring pricing and information fields on Membership Campaigns.

For an activity, is it better to create a fixed Group or a dynamic Group? We have 20 different activities in our nonprofit.
A fixed Group is generally recommended.
Start by creating your 20 Groups from Community > Groups.
Then configure your Membership Campaign so that when someone selects the pricing tier for Activity A, they are automatically added to the corresponding Group. The assignment happens automatically.
And if needed, you can always add people to Groups manually.

Why is the form label limited to 100 characters?
To ensure proper display.

Are subsidies such as sports vouchers or regional passes automatically applied?
No, this is not automatic, but you can enter them on a case-by-case basis based on the amount.
This article may help: Managing payments made with vouchers and subsidies.

How are Groups created? For example: adult classes and children's classes?
Go to Community > Groups > "New group" and add people manually — or create the Group and configure your membership pricing so that, for example, anyone who selects an "adult" tier is automatically added to the "adults" Group.
Another option: create dynamic Groups based on date of birth!
Learn more: How fixed Groups work.

Is it possible to restrict access to a service or Event based on whether someone is a Member?
Yes — you can make a form accessible only to Members or to members of a specific Group, for example. This restriction also applies at the pricing tier level. In all cases, users must be signed in to their account (otherwise the platform has no way of knowing who is purchasing or whether they are a Member).

We offer a couples rate — how can this be set up on a form?
You can configure a discount for this: Configuring discounts on a form.

Can memberships be managed without using forms?
Yes, but you lose all the benefits of automation. You can manually add people to your Community (or import a file) and mark them as Members by entering their membership dates. This allows you to segment your database, but it does not connect to accounting, automatic invoice sending, online payments, and so on.

How can a second contact information field be added?
Add a Custom Field via Settings > Community, then update the information on individual contact profiles (or via an import).

How can discounts based on the number of activities be managed?
The current discount system works based on the number of participants or their profile, as explained in our article: Configuring discounts on a form.
Unfortunately, activity-based discounts are not yet supported — unless you set them up manually as optional add-on pricing tiers. We have noted your suggestion!

How can a discount be automatically applied during membership sign-up?
This article walks you through setting up discounts: Configuring discounts on a form.

How can a multiple-choice dropdown question be added?
Go to Settings > Community, add a multiple-choice field, then include it at step 3 of your form.

Managing your forms

From one year to the next, should the form be archived? If so, will member data for the following year still be populated?
It depends on what we are referring to. Here is what we recommend:

Duplicate your form each year to save time, then update the copy for the new year.
Archive your old form to keep your Forms > Memberships page clean.
Do not archive your Community contacts — this preserves the history of past Members.

We already have a form from last year that was archived. Should it be unarchived, or should a new one be created? What do you recommend?
We recommend creating one form per year — it makes management simpler. If you do not want to start from scratch, duplicate the archived form and update the details for the new year (title, membership dates, etc.).

For online renewals, how should the transition from the old form to the new one be managed? When can the new form be published?
Several options depending on your situation:

Create separate forms — one for renewals and one for new memberships — if they have different requirements.
Create a single form and share it first with existing Members so they can re-enroll (especially if spots are limited and you want to reward long-term commitment). You can have multiple forms published at the same time. A few tips:
When a year's memberships are wrapped up, you can "pause sales" on the form or archive it from the top of the settings page. Either way, forms are never permanently deleted.
Duplicate forms (including archived ones) to save time.

Should two Membership Campaigns be created, one per activity?
There is no single rule. What we most commonly see among our nonprofits is one Membership Campaign that combines the membership itself with sign-up for one or more activities.

Can — and should — memberships and donations be managed through Donation Campaigns alone?
Yes, you can combine memberships and donations on a single form. There are trade-offs either way.
If donations are a priority for your nonprofit, a dedicated Donation Campaign is the better choice: it lets you suggest multiple giving amounts, explain their impact, add Donors to specific Groups, and more.
If donations are more of a secondary feature, you can add a donation option directly to your Membership Campaign. That said, there are some limitations:

If a Tax Receipt is requested, it will cover the entire order — not just the donation portion.
You cannot offer a donation option if VAT is enabled on your membership tiers or Event pricing.
Only one donation tier can be offered per Membership Campaign or ticketing form. Choose what works best for your nonprofit.

How does the Request for membership form work?
It works very similarly to a direct Membership Campaign, except that you approve or decline each request. Learn more: Managing membership requests.

Tracking memberships

Check out this article: Viewing the list of Members (active and former) and membership periods

Can documents be uploaded through the online form? (We are a sports nonprofit that requires members to submit a health questionnaire or medical certificate to join our federation.)
If you are referring to documents that Members must provide when signing up online, these are stored in their profile.
You can export all files linked to your Community contacts from Community > Settings > Advanced options.

Can a health questionnaire be required after a member selects their tier but before they pay?
Not exactly — the member journey always follows the same flow:

Select a membership tier and any optional add-ons,
Fill in the requested information, which is added to their profile,
Pay online (recommended) or submit an offline payment. That said, you can ask people to complete their membership first and then fill in additional information from their profile — but you cannot enforce this unless the fields were set as required in the Membership Campaign.

How can new Members be identified?
You can find them directly in the new form, depending on how you use it. Alternatively, run an advanced search in your Community. More details are available in this article: Searching for a contact in your Community.

Where can form responses be found?
The information collected through the form appears in the profile of the person who just joined. If you are referring to answers from the "Free text" field that can be configured with membership tiers, those are available in the Members table and on the transaction detail page.

Is it possible to fill in each member's information and leave only the card payment for them to complete?
Yes, this is now possible thanks to Payment Links.

Manually enter the membership and member information.
At the payment step, click "Do it later".
Send a Payment Link to the member.

Can organizations be Members, or only individuals?
Both — use Springly however works best for you. Note that on the Professional plan, you have access to a "Structures" CRM that lets you:

maintain a separate database of legal entities alongside your individual contacts,
link one or more individuals to one or more organizations, and vice versa,
offer memberships to organizations.

Which contact is charged the membership fees when an additional member is added on the same form?
We may not have fully understood the question, but here is what you should know:

If one person purchases their own membership plus someone else's in a single online transaction, Payment Fees are charged only once (since there is only one payment).
Payment Fees are not added on top of what the member pays — they are deducted from the amount deposited into the nonprofit's E-wallet.

Once a membership has been recorded, is it possible to add an optional activity for the member?
No, that is not possible.

If an existing member wants to renew for the new year but does not have an account, how does the system link the renewal to the right record?
The link is made using the identifier you selected (email, for example). If the member uses different details from one year to the next, two profiles may be created — but you can merge them. More details here: Merging duplicate profiles.

Can members view and update their personal information and see their transaction history?
Yes, based on the settings you configured in Settings > Community. They can also view the full transaction history linked to their profile.

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Can the account creation step be removed?
If you are referring to the account creation/sign-in page during the membership process, it is essential — it allows members to access and update their information later.
That said, we are working on making the "Continue without an account" button more visible to simplify the sign-up experience.

In practice, when a member renews, how can you ensure they have reviewed and updated their personal information if needed?
There is currently no built-in mechanism for this, since information already stored in a contact's profile is not re-requested. Two options to consider:

Non-binding: send a communication to members asking them to sign in to their account and update their information if anything has changed.
Binding: each year, create new Custom Fields in the Community settings and make them required in the membership/renewal form. Since these fields are new, they will be empty for everyone — new and returning members alike — and must be filled in.

How can the form be previewed as a new, unregistered member would see it? (Since I am signed in to Springly while editing the form, I see it pre-filled with my own information.)
Open your Membership Campaign in a private/incognito browser window — that way, you will not be signed in to your account.

When renewing, how can members avoid re-entering all their information while still being able to update a field if needed (e.g., address, phone number)?
Today, members only need to fill in fields that are not yet in their profile. We are actively working on improving this experience!

How can new members who have completed and submitted the form appear in the Community without having to re-enter their information?
If you are using a direct membership form (not a Request for membership that requires approval), this should happen automatically. If it is not working as expected, please contact our support team so we can look into it :)

How can a membership be deleted — for example, if no payment was made at the start of the season?
Find the membership in the form's Members table, open the transaction details, and click "Delete all". This article explains the process: Deleting a manually recorded purchase.

Is it possible to register multiple people on a single form (e.g., a family membership for 2 adults + children)?
Yes! An "Add a member" button appears, unless you have limited Sign-ups to one person per form. This article can help you set up group memberships: Managing group memberships (e.g., families).

Tracking payments

We accept electronic vouchers. How are they managed?
Electronic vouchers are handled the same way as paper vouchers. This article covers the process: Recording discount vouchers and subsidies.

How can an invoice be generated after a payment?
Invoices can be issued and sent automatically. You can configure this, edit the details, and preview invoices from Settings > Tax Receipts and invoices.

How are invoices and receipts sent automatically, and through what channel?
It is all automatic :) Just set it up from Settings > Receipts and invoices.

Why does the amount paid not appear in the data export (we have several member categories)?
It is hard to say without more context, but you can export memberships and their associated payment information for a given period from your Exports menu.

Can payment be made by check (outside of voucher programs)?
Yes, absolutely. When manually adding a payment, you can select any available payment method. Check is one of the options.

I am currently collecting payments for next season's memberships. I need to record deferred revenue for each membership. Is it possible to do this all at once?
That is not currently possible. We recommend reading this article: Recording transactions for the next accounting period.

How are electronic vouchers managed?
This article walks you through the process: Managing voucher payments.

For a payment recorded under "Other", does the payment need to be entered manually, or does the bank reconciliation handle it?
You need to enter the payment manually first, then you can reconcile it in your accounting once it clears in your bank.

Online payment & E-wallet

Check out our articles on online payments, and our dedicated guide 📖

What is the E-wallet? Is it a bank account?
The E-wallet is a virtual account hosted on Springly and linked to your bank account. It collects all online payments (by card) received through Springly. You can then transfer funds from the E-wallet to your nonprofit's bank account.

How are funds transferred from the E-wallet to the bank account?
Initiate the transfer from Payments > E-wallet > Transfer to my bank. The transfer takes a few days to arrive. Note that this is only available once your E-wallet has been verified (learn more: Documents required for E-wallet Verification).

When a member pays by card, does the transaction label on their bank statement show "Springly" or the nonprofit's name?
It shows your nonprofit's name :)

How is E-wallet Verification completed?
It is straightforward and fully guided in the platform, from Payments > E-wallet → Verify my account. These articles walk you through it: E-wallet Verification.

How secure is my bank account when using the Springly platform?
All data is fully secured, and Springly does not have access to your bank account — of course! Money flows only between payers' accounts and your E-wallet (e.g., when they pay for a membership online by card), and between your E-wallet and your bank account (when you initiate a transfer). All transactions are secured through Adyen, our payment partner and one of the world's leading payment processors.

For installment card payments, does the system handle each installment automatically, or does the nonprofit need to send reminders?
The system handles all installments automatically. If a payment fails (expired card, stolen card, etc.), the follow-up reminder is also sent automatically. Learn more: How installment online payments work for memberships, events, and product sales.

What is the maximum number of installments for a membership payment?
12 installments — though we recommend keeping it lower. Fewer installments protect your cash flow and reduce the risk of cards expiring before the final payment. Even though cardholders are notified and prompted to update their card, it is best to avoid the situation altogether.

What happens if members at a nonprofit using the tip-based model generally leave no tip, or an average below the fixed fee threshold?
Nothing — that is part of the deal. However, if we find that you are actively discouraging members from leaving a tip, we will consider that a violation of the terms, and the free service will no longer apply. We will always reach out to discuss it first.

Can the tip be set to zero?
Yes.

When there is a change of board president, is it possible to update the Legal Representative?
You can update the Administrator (Adding an Administrator), but it is not necessary to immediately update the Legal Representative declared during E-wallet setup. Verification must be renewed periodically — the new Legal Representative will be updated at that point. In the meantime, you do not need to redo the verification with every board change.

What happens if none of the members who pay online leave a tip?
Not much — we simply do not get paid, but you will not be charged either. That said, you cannot explicitly ask your members not to leave a tip.

Can the nonprofit see how much tip each member left?
No, that information is not available in Springly.

Are Payment Fees charged to the nonprofit automatically recorded in Springly's accounting?
Yes!

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Can the default tip amount be changed? It seems significantly higher than 1.8%.
The default tip amount cannot be modified, but it is clearly indicated that members can change it.

Can membership amounts differ depending on whether payment is made by card?
No. Pricing tiers remain the same regardless of the payment method used.

How much is the tip?
Three suggested amounts are displayed based on the total being paid, and the final amount can be adjusted. The person paying has the choice.

What does the tip prompt look like for the member?
Here is an example:

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If I understand correctly, if a member leaves no tip, nothing is charged to the nonprofit?
That is correct! That said, you cannot explicitly ask your members not to leave a tip — otherwise we would no longer be able to offer this tip-based model :)

Can the tip model or fee coverage be chosen individually for each campaign?
The choice applies to all online payments — it is not set per campaign. That said, you can change your preference at any time!

Are card collection fees charged?
It is your choice:

Pay transaction fees on online payments: in this case, online payments are deposited into your E-wallet minus the Payment Fees.
Use the tip model: a tip is suggested to the payer at checkout, and no Payment Fees are deducted. Learn more: How the E-wallet works and associated fees.

What is Springly's commission rate?
It is 1.8% + $0.25. As a reminder, you can choose between transaction fees and the tip model (from Settings > Online payment).

If funds are transferred from the E-wallet to the bank account, how can a refund be issued if a member requests one?
Online refunds are not possible if your E-wallet balance is empty. If there is any chance you may need to issue refunds, keep some funds in your E-wallet. You can control this since you choose how much to transfer to your bank — it does not have to be the full amount.

Payment Link

When a Payment Link is sent to cover an outstanding balance, the funds arrive in the E-wallet but are not reflected against the membership. Does a manual journal entry need to be made to move things to the right place?
You simply need to "group" the online payment received with the outstanding balance (what was still owed).
Go to Accounting > Entries > Track accruals. Search for the entries (filtering by amount and date helps), select both entries, and click "Group payments". All related accounting entries are generated automatically — no manual work required.
Learn more: Recording payments received via a Payment Link

Is the Payment Link sent manually a link that enables online card payment?
Absolutely, that is exactly right!

Can a Payment Link be shared as a QR code?
Not directly — it is a URL link :) That said, you can copy the link (using the "Copy" icon on the table row) and convert it to a QR code using a tool like https://fr.qr-code-generator.com/.