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 enables auto-renew at sign-up, their card is charged automatically near the renewal date. If the charge succeeds, the membership extends and a receipt email goes out. If the charge fails, MapleGather retries up to three times over about two weeks. If all retries fail, the membership lapses.

How it works

Auto-renew enrollment

When a member joins a level that supports auto-renew, they can check an “Enable auto-renewal” option during sign-up. Doing so creates a subscription — the recurring billing record. The member’s My membership page then shows an upcoming charge panel with the next renewal date, amount, and card being charged.

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, Stripe initiates the charge against the card on file. 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.
Stripe retries the charge automatically on a schedule (by default: 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days after the first failure).
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 customize the retry schedule under Memberships > Settings > Auto-renewal. See Configure auto-renewal, reminders, and catch-up.

Renewal reminders

For members without auto-renew (or with auto-renew turned off), MapleGather sends renewal reminder emails 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.

Reminder emails link directly to the renewal page so the member can pay in one click.

Lifecycle email and unsubscribing

Renewal reminders and receipts are lifecycle email — they’re required for billing transparency and cannot be turned off like marketing email. Members can turn off marketing email (newsletters and announcements) without affecting their 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.