How is membership management different from recurring payments?

While memberships and recurring payments are closely related, they serve different purposes in BetterUnite. Understanding the difference helps ensure memberships are managed correctly and member expectations are clear.

In BetterUnite, memberships represent the meaning you assign to recurring giving. A membership allows you to define what a supporter’s ongoing contribution represents—such as a membership level, donor circle, annual pass, or access tier—while recurring payments simply handle how and when money is collected. In other words, membership gives context and purpose to recurring giving, while payments take care of billing.

Understanding this distinction helps ensure memberships are managed correctly and member expectations are clear.

In short:
Membership management controls access and benefits, while recurring payments handle billing.

What is membership management?

Membership management is focused on the relationship and benefits associated with being a member.

It answers questions like:

Is this person an active member?
What membership level do they have?
When does their membership start and end?
What benefits or access does the membership provide?

Memberships typically include:

A defined start date and end date
A status (Active, Completed, Canceled, etc.)
Access to member-only benefits, content, or pricing

Memberships can exist with or without payments (for example, complimentary or manually granted memberships).

What are recurring payments?

Recurring payments are focused on billing and financial transactions.

They answer questions like:

How often is the donor charged?
How much is charged each cycle?
What payment method is used?
When is the next charge scheduled?

Recurring payments are responsible for:

Automatically creating charges on a schedule (monthly, annually, etc.)
Processing payments through a payment processor
Recording donation or payment history

A recurring payment is essentially the billing engine, not the membership itself.

How memberships and recurring payments work together

In most cases, a membership subscription includes both:

A membership record (access, benefits, term)
A recurring payment schedule (billing)

However, they are still managed separately so you have flexibility.

Examples:

A membership may continue until the end of its term even if renewal is stopped
A recurring payment can be stopped without immediately canceling the membership
A membership can be canceled manually regardless of payment status

This separation allows organizations to handle real-world scenarios like:

Letting a member keep benefits through a paid term
Pausing billing without removing access
Granting memberships without requiring payment

Common scenarios explained

“I stopped renewal — why is the membership still active?”

Stopping renewal stops future payments, but the membership remains active until its end date.

“I canceled the membership — what happens to payments?”

Canceling the membership stops the membership immediately and prevents future charges.

“Can I have a recurring payment without a membership?”

Yes. Recurring payments can exist independently (for example, ongoing donations not tied to a membership).