Usually, renewal of subscriptions will occurs automatically. Every 4 hours (this was previously once a week), the system looks for subscriptions that expire today or earlier and attempts automatic renewal. As the renewal occurs on the last day of the users subscription, there is no gap where they do not have a subscription. 

Early renewal is really a concept for those organisations who have fixed term subscriptions (ie 1st July to 30th June). But you can use Auto Reminders if you have members who have various start dates and end dates to create an "early renewal reminder" email and action.

Some organisations like to request their member to renew their membership. Here we discuss some of the tools available to help you do this. There are several pages and emails you can send to have users renew early. There are two main reasons to do this, to request a donation at the time of renewal & the other popular reason is to try to promote revenue before the end of financial year, some members prefer to pay their fees before the end of the financial year so they can claim it in their tax return this year too.

You can renew a users subscription early manually; admins and staff can use the "Early Renewal" button on a users subscription to create the next years subscription (see Members > [select a member] > Membership > Subscriptions > [Edit subscription] > Click "Early Renewal" button. You can do this as long as the new membership start date is less than 11 months away. We do this to prevent the common mistake of using this function twice accidentally.

If you want to setup a subscription for future years.

If a subscription fails to renew 4 times, it is no longer attempted to be renewed.

Subscriptions are setup to renew and they can also attempt to take payment too. See subscriptions for more information.

There are two email template variables created to help you with your messaging.  

Ideally send these to members whose subscriptions are going to expire in the next few months. 

With donations: [WebsiteURL]/pay/earlyrenewal This will allow members to renew their subscription early and optionally donate to your organisation. Ideally send this to members whose subscriptions are going to expire in the next few months.

Without donations: [WebsiteURL]/pay/earlyrenewalsimple Allow member to renew their subscription early, but does not ask for a optional donation.

Donation page: [WebsiteURL]/pay/donation If you want to ask for a donation without actually having to do any renewals etc, you can do it with this page.

You can use these to send to members prior to your financial year end, or if you use rolling subscriptions (the subscription period starts when the user joins), use the auto reminders to send emails as their subscription is about to expire.

Allow users to upgrade or downgrade their subscription on early renewal.

Before the renewal has occurred, staff can set a list of subscription codes eligle for upgrade / downgrade per subscription. See Admin Settings > Members > Subscription Upgrade Path

Subscription Upgrade Path

Use this screen to control which subscription plans users can renew, upgrade, or downgrade to.

Each upgrade path is defined using Discount Codes.

How it works

Each row represents one subscription type.

FieldWhat to enterDiscount CodeThe discount code for the current subscription (e.g. Annual)Discount Codes MatchA comma-separated list of discount codes this subscription can change to (e.g. Quarterly,Monthly)

Example

If you want users on Annual to be able to switch to Quarterly or CourseBook, enter:

• Discount Code: Annual
• Discount Codes Match: Quarterly,CourseBook

This means:

✅ Annual → Quarterly
✅ Annual → CourseBook

Important Notes

• The user’s current subscription is always included automatically as a renewal option — you do not need to list it in the match box.
• Upgrade paths are one-way.
  If you allow:Annual → Quarterlythat does not automatically allow:Quarterly → AnnualIf you want both directions, create both rows.
• Discount codes must match your subscription setup exactly (spelling and punctuation matter).

Where users see this

Individual Users can renew or switch plans via:

/pay/earlyrenewal (for no donation option)

/pay/earlyrenewalsimple (for donation option)

(up to 11 months before expiry)

Users who were given free subscriptions via their Company and are linked to the company cannot do early renewals, these will roll-over for free at the time of subscription ending automatically (providing the subscription is set to auto renew).