Attract and retain more members with installment membership payment options

Offering the convenience of installment payment options for membership dues delivers big benefits for your association and your members – especially when the economy is tight.

Read on to learn more.

Creating the right membership packages and pricing is vital to attracting new members, moving members to the next level, and driving renewals. But what about the options you give members to pay for their memberships? 

Offering convenient installment payment options, such as monthly, quarterly, and/or bi-annual payment of membership dues, can deliver big benefits for your members and your association. Let’s take a look at the advantages of this approach. 

How installment payment options help members

Giving your members and potential members the option to pay their membership dues in installments offers them multiple benefits. Students, new graduates, those early in their careers, and those between jobs will appreciate the option to space out their payments over a year instead of making one big payment. Also, any member will appreciate budget-friendly installment payment options when their company is not footing the bill for membership dues and the economy is tight.   

Research shows that installment payment plans are growing among younger generations. 

How installment payment options help your association

Providing installment payment options helps your association, too. Consider these benefits: 

• A lower monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual price tag, versus a big annual payment, reduces the cost barrier to membership, making members more likely to sign up and renew. 
• Combined with an auto-renewal option, installment payment options simplify renewals, making the process much easier for your members and your association’s staff.
• If your association offers multiple membership tiers, it can be easier for your members to move to a different membership level as needed

Find the right association software to support membership installment payments

Research shows that 76 percent of U.S. consumers are more likely to make a retail purchase if a payment plan backed by a simple and seamless point of sale experience is offered. So, be sure to look for association management software (AMS) that supports a smooth installment payment option for membership dues. 

For example, YourMembership AMS by Community Brands makes it easy to offer monthly, quarterly, and bi-annual membership dues payment options. It also allows you to give members the option to automatically renew membership, with the membership fee charged to the member’s credit card. You can set up this option, with corresponding automated emails that notify members when their membership has been renewed. If members decide not to renew, or want to change their payment frequency, they can simply update their account information online.

This functionality – plus the ability to manage multiple membership tiers and allow members to manage their information via an online portal – makes the dues payment and renewal process much easier for your members and your staff.  

Learn more 

Providing installment payment options for membership dues is just one way to attract members and keep them around for the long haul. As your association grows, it’s critical to have membership management software in place that supports multiple ways to recruit and retain members while reducing workload on your staff. 

Explore why thousands of associations choose YourMembership to attract, engage, and manage their membership: Attend the free group demo, How to Increase Member Retention Using YourMembership AMS.