How auto-renewal and the renewal lifecycle work

This page explains how MapleGather handles automatic renewal charges, what happens when a payment fails, and when reminders go out — so members and admins both know what to expect.

The short version

When a member has auto-renew on, their saved card (or PayPal account) is charged automatically near the renewal date.

Not available yet: automatic renewal charges. MapleGather doesn’t yet run the scheduled renewal charge or the automatic retries described on this page — the renewal-charge engine isn’t built at this release. A member with auto-renew on keeps their subscription and saved payment method, and the charge will run automatically once the engine ships; until then, members renew from their My membership page when reminded. New members can choose auto-renewal when they apply — see below. Once the renewal charge runs: if it succeeds, the membership extends and a receipt email goes out; if it fails, MapleGather will retry it on the schedule your organization sets — by default up to four times over three weeks — and if every retry fails, the membership lapses. Automatic retries aren’t running yet either: until they are, a failed charge stays unpaid until the member pays it.

How it works

Auto-renew enrollment

When someone applies for a level that offers auto-renewal, the application form shows an Enable auto-renew checkbox. It starts unchecked — leaving it unchecked means they’ll renew manually.

Checking the box doesn’t charge anything or set anything up on its own. After paying (or straight after submitting, on a level with nothing to pay up front), the applicant finishes a short auto-renewal step:

Saving a card for renewals, if one is needed. The card used for the first payment can’t be reused for renewals, so card payers save a card here. Saving a card doesn’t charge it. Applicants who paid with PayPal usually don’t need this — their PayPal account is used.
Confirming the terms, if the organization requires a second confirmation. The step shows how much will be charged, how often, and on which payment method, together with the organization’s own auto-renewal terms, and the applicant confirms again.
Renew manually instead is available at every point, and switches the application back to manual renewal.

The subscription — the recurring billing record — is created only when the organization accepts the application, never before. At that point the new member gets an email with the next charge date, the amount, and the payment method, and their My membership page shows the upcoming charge with the payment method being charged.

Admins: if an applicant asked for auto-renewal but didn’t finish the auto-renewal step, accepting the application shows Nothing was created — only the applicant can finish it, so ask them to complete it from the browser they applied in — or select Approve with manual renewal to accept them now as a member who renews manually. The new member is emailed that their membership will renew manually (unless their email address isn’t confirmed yet), and their original auto-renewal request stays on the application’s record. Whether a level offers auto-renewal is set on the level (Offer auto-renewal at signup), and whether applicants must confirm the terms a second time is set under Memberships > Settings > Auto-renewal.

Members can turn off auto-renew any time from the My membership page. Their membership stays active through the current expiry date; future charges stop.

When the renewal charge runs

Near the renewal date, MapleGather charges the card on file through your payment processor. This happens in the background — the member doesn’t need to do anything.

Charge succeeds: the membership expiry date extends by one billing period, a payment row is recorded, and the member receives a “Your membership renewed” receipt email.
Charge fails: see below.

When a charge fails

If the renewal charge fails (for example, because the card expired or had insufficient funds), MapleGather enters a dunning phase:

An immediate email goes to the member: “We couldn’t renew your membership.” It names the reason in plain language (for example, “insufficient funds — your card doesn’t have enough to cover this charge”) and links to the Update payment method page.
MapleGather retries the charge automatically, spreading the retries over the retry window your organization sets (by default, up to four attempts over 21 days). Like the renewal charge itself, automatic retries aren’t running yet — see the note at the top of this page.
If the member updates their card before all retries are exhausted, MapleGather retries the charge immediately against the new card.
The membership stays Active throughout the retry window — the member keeps their membership and benefits, except they can’t register for new events until the payment is resolved.
If all retries are exhausted without a successful charge, the subscription is cancelled and the membership transitions to Lapsed. A final notice email goes to the member.

Admins: you can set the maximum number of retry attempts and the retry window under Memberships > Settings > Auto-renewal. See Configure auto-renewal, reminders, and catch-up.

Renewal reminders

MapleGather sends renewal reminder emails to active members in its daily membership run, on a schedule configured by the admin. By default, reminders go out 30 days before the renewal date, 7 days before, and 1 day before. A level uses the organization’s schedule until its own reminders are saved. Each member gets at most one reminder per run and never the same reminder twice for the same renewal date. In a household, only the billing member gets reminders; archived members get none.

Every reminder — with auto-renew on or off — says the membership is due for renewal on its date and links to the renewal page. Because automatic renewal charges aren’t running yet, the reminder doesn’t say the membership renews automatically and doesn’t state an amount.

When a membership isn’t renewed

If a membership reaches its renewal date without being renewed, MapleGather marks it Lapsed at its next daily membership run and emails the billing member once to say it has ended, with a link to renew (linked household members aren’t emailed, and no email goes out more than 14 days after the renewal date). If the member renews later, the membership becomes Active again. A membership the member cancelled ends the same way — it shows Cancelled after the next daily run following its end date — and no lapse email is sent.

When a member or an admin cancels a membership, any automatic renewal on it stops at the same moment, and the member gets an email confirming the cancellation. After a member’s own cancellation it ends “If you did not mean to cancel, please contact” the organization; after an admin’s it says the organization cancelled the membership and to contact it with questions. An immediate cancellation says the membership “has been cancelled and has ended”. If an admin undoes the cancellation before the email goes out, it isn’t sent. A member can’t undo their own cancellation; an admin can undo an admin’s cancellation within 48 hours.

Lifecycle email and unsubscribing

Renewal reminders and receipts are lifecycle email — they’re required for billing transparency, so turning off marketing email (newsletters and announcements) or email in general doesn’t stop them. There is no member control to turn renewal reminders off in the portal (Story 2.5.4). An unsubscribe recorded through the API or the catch-up email is honoured only while the level respects member preferences (the default). Every reminder ends with a line saying renewal reminders are part of the membership and are sent while it’s active, with a link to the member’s email preferences for their other email. The exception is the one-time catch-up reminder an admin can send to members whose membership has already lapsed: it skips anyone who has turned off email generally or marketing email, as well as anyone who unsubscribed from renewal reminders.

Why it works this way

Retrying failed payments over several days gives members time to notice a problem and fix it without losing their membership. Naming the specific decline reason in plain language — rather than a generic error — helps members understand exactly what to do. Members keep access during the grace period so they don’t face an abrupt cut-off while sorting out a card issue.

Edge cases & boundaries

Lifetime levels have no auto-renew and receive no renewal reminders.
The fixed 14-day grace period applies at M1. Configurable grace periods are a future feature.
Manual renewal (for members with auto-renew off) follows a separate pay flow. See Renew your membership.