Kavi Members® defines a renewed membership as a membership issued to an existing member. Membership renewal isn't the process of extending the same membership, but the process of acquiring a series of memberships, even if this may not seem obvious at first. Imagine a member who renews a yearly membership for 2006 with a yearly membership for 2007. These two memberships are distinct: they have different terms, different membership fees may apply, etc. When an expiring membership is renewed, the type of membership with which it is renewed is recorded in a column in the database.

Kavi Members allows members to renew existing memberships with any available membership type. For example, a member who joins an organization with a Standard membership type may wish to renew the expiring Standard membership with a higher level membership type such as Sponsor at the end of the membership term.

Memberships can be renewed even if a considerable amount of time has elapsed since the previous membership expired. As long as the company or individual member exists in the Kavi Members database, they are sent through the same membership renewal process as other renewing members.

Kavi Members provides forms for existing members to renew their own memberships online. An active member can log into the Web site and use Member forms to manage their memberships. Emailed renewal reminders can point members to these forms well in advance of the membership expiration date, giving the member time to renew the membership before it expires. The renewed membership will go current immediately after the old membership expires, allowing the member to remain continuously in good standing.

Figure 22.1. Renewal forms for active members

Some members let memberships lapse long enough that their accounts are deactivated before they get around to renewing. Deactivated members can't log in, so they don't have access to the members-only renewal forms. In this situation, members may try to apply for an entirely new account through public signup forms. This won't work either, because Kavi Members requires each company's name to be unique and the member already has a record in the Kavi Members database.

To help lapsed members renew memberships when they can't log in, Kavi Members sends a special renewal link by email when an authorized user attempts to renew a membership through a public form. The link contains a unique key identifying the member. Once the member clicks the link, a renewal form is displayed where they can select the membership type they want and complete the membership renewal process. When the application is accepted and the new membership becomes current, Web site access privileges are restored.

Figure 22.2. Public request for renewal link form

Existing memberships aren't always eligible for renewal. There are several factors that determine eligibility, including the membership's state, rules governing the number of memberships a member may hold simultaneously and whether the membership has already been renewed. Administrators viewing a member's information may notice that the 'Renew' link is not displayed next to certain memberships.

When a membership is renewed and the new membership goes current, the old membership automatically moves from the expired state into the archived state. Types are always removed when a membership is archived, so this ensures that any types assigned through the old membership are removed when they should be. This assures the member always has the types assigned through their current membership only, and doesn't retain types assigned through previous memberships.