Your subscription is billed based on the number of contacts in your database on your subscription anniversary date.
This article explains how billing works, including:
What counts as a "contact"
A contact can be a member, donor, volunteer, employee, etc. In other words, anyone with a profile record under Community > Contacts counts as a contact and is factored into your billing.
You can easily track your contact count in two places:
- On the Dashboard;
- Or by checking the number of rows (profile records) under Community > Contacts.
Please note: if you have access to the Structure module, each structure counts as a contact, just like an individual person.
The tier system
Your subscription is based on tiers determined by your number of contacts.
Example: the Serenity plan at $26 lets you manage your nonprofit with up to 50 contacts.
You choose your base tier when you first sign up for your Springly subscription.
To keep things running smoothly during busy periods — such as membership drives or donation campaigns — the platform allows you to exceed the contact limit of your chosen tier.
However, if your contact count remains above your tier limit throughout the billing period (see the next section), an additional invoice will be generated.
To avoid overage charges, you have a few options:
- Archive inactive contacts (see the article: archiving a person). Archived contacts remain accessible in the archived persons database, but they do not count toward billing the way active contacts do.
- Upgrade your tier if your nonprofit is growing. Moving to a higher tier will likely be more cost-effective than paying monthly overage charges.
Billing schedule
Overage billing — for additional contacts and any optional add-ons — occurs every month.
It typically runs on your subscription anniversary date, though there may occasionally be a slight delay.
Monthly subscription
If you exceed your tier, your nonprofit will be billed for both your subscription and the overage at the same time.
A single invoice will be issued covering next month's subscription fee along with all overage charges from the previous month.
Annual subscription
In this case, overage billing — for additional contacts and any optional add-ons — still occurs every month.
An invoice will be issued for all overage charges from the previous month.
If you are over your tier limit when billing runs, you will be charged for the overage.
How overage charges are calculated
Let's walk through two concrete examples to illustrate how the calculation works.
My nonprofit is on the Serenity plan. I have 40 contacts and pay annually. My subscription started on January 15.
Going over your tier with no extra charge
Scenario 1
A few days later, I launch my membership drive.
My contact count rises to 70. On February 10, I archive the members from the previous year who did not renew their membership.
After archiving, my count drops back down to 48 contacts.
- On February 15, I am still within my tier (50 contacts max).
- Even though I exceeded my tier during the past 30 days, I am within my limit on my subscription anniversary date. No additional invoice is issued.
Going over your tier with an extra charge
Scenario 2
This time, I launch both my membership drive and a donation campaign at the same time. Together, they push my nonprofit from 40 to 130 contacts!
Everyone remains active and I don't archive anyone before February 15. I am now above my current tier (capped at 50 contacts) and even the next tier up (capped at 100 contacts).
Let's calculate the overage charge:
- The monthly cost of my current tier (1–50 contacts) is already covered by my subscription;
- The monthly cost of the tier I'm actually in (101–150 contacts) is higher, and I haven't paid for it yet.
The difference between the two tiers is the overage amount I owe.
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