Getting started: set up memberships for your organization

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a published membership level that prospects can find and apply for, an application form with the fields you need, and renewal reminders configured so members know when to renew. It takes about 20 minutes.

What you’ll need

An admin account for your organization
Your membership pricing decided (you can change it later)

Step 1 — Create your first membership level

Your first task is to describe the membership you’re offering — its name, price, and how renewals work.

Before you set pricing: If you plan to collect dues online, connect your payment processor first so members can pay at checkout. Connect Stripe — it takes about five minutes. You can set a price now and connect Stripe later, but members won’t be able to pay online until Stripe is connected.

Go to Memberships > Levels in the admin sidebar.
If this is your first level, you’ll see three preset starter options. Select Use this as a starting point on the preset closest to what you want, or select Start from scratch.
On the level form, fill in the Name and Price.
Choose a Billing period — most organizations start with Annual.
Under Renewal, leave the default Rolling setting. This anchors each member’s renewal to the day they join, which is the simplest option.
Under Visibility, leave Public so prospects can find this level on your sign-up page.
Select Save.

You should now see your new level in the Levels list with an “Active” status and a “Public” badge.

Step 2 — Configure the application form

Next, choose what information you collect from people when they apply.

Select your new level from the Levels list.
On the level detail page, select Application form.
Review the fields listed in the Builder tab. Email address is always required and can’t be removed — it connects the applicant to their member record.
To make any field required, select Edit on that row, check Required, then select Save field.
To remove a field from the form, select Edit, uncheck Show on form, then select Save field.
If your organization requires members to accept terms, scroll to Terms acceptance, check the Require terms acceptance on this form checkbox, and type your terms text.
Select Save form.

You should now see a “Form updated” confirmation. Select Preview as prospect to see the form as applicants will see it and confirm your fields look right.

Step 3 — Set up renewal reminders

Finally, configure when MapleGather sends members a heads-up before their membership expires.

Go to Memberships > Settings > Auto-renewal.
Under Org-default reminder cadence, review the default offsets (for example, “−30 days before renewal” and “On the renewal date”).
To add or change a reminder, select + Add reminder offset and choose your timing.
Select Save.

You should now see a “Settings saved” confirmation.

What you’ve set up

You now have a live membership level that prospects can apply for, a form that collects the information you need, and renewal reminders that go out automatically. Next, you might want to:

Build your membership application form — add custom fields or adjust required settings
Configure auto-renewal, reminders, and catch-up — fine-tune your reminder cadence or retry schedule
Set up a family or household level — add a second level for families