What Is a Trial Membership?

A trial membership gives new members access to full benefits for a limited time without a long-term commitment. It’s a great way to let prospects experience your offerings before deciding to pay for a full membership.

Enabling Trials for New Membership Types

1. Go to Membership Settings

   • Select Membership Types > Add Membership Type.

2. Find the Trial Section

   • Under General Information, locate Membership Trial Period.

3. Activate Trials

   • Check Activate this feature to enable trial period for this membership type.

4. Set Trial Length

   • Enter days in Trial Duration (days).

5. Configure Pricing

   • In in the next step, Price Configuration, choose:

     • Free Trial: Enter 0 (no payment).

     • Paid Trial: Enter a price; members go through payment as usual.

Application Fee Options During Trial

If your membership type has a separate application fee, choose during setup whether trial members need to pay it.

1. Go to Workflow Settings when creating a new membership type.

2. Application Fee

   • Check the box to remove the application fee for trial members.  Leave it unchecked if you want to charge the fee.

Trial Workflow Overview: 

• Application: Member fills out basic info.

• Payment: Trial fee is charged (if applicable).

• Complete: Trial membership is activated.

Enabling Trial Memberships for Existing Membership Types

To add a trial period to an existing membership type, follow this versioned setup process:

1. Edit Existing Type
   Go to your membership type settings, click the three-dot menu, then click Edit.

2. Enable Trial
   In the Membership Trial Period section, check the activation box. You will notice the box where you need to enter the number of days is grayed out. 

3. Save and Create New Version
   The system requires you to create a new version to avoid affecting current members.

4. Set Trial Duration
   After creating the new version, enter the trial duration in the first step, "New Version Information".

4. Enter Trial Pricing
   In the next step, New Version Pricing, proceed to configure the trial price.

5. Compete and publish version

   Continue through the next steps and publish the new version. For more instructions on how to create and publish a new membership type version, refer to this article.

Why Versioning?
This process ensures your existing members aren't affected while new applicants can access the trial option. Your current members remain on the original version, while new prospects get the enhanced version with trial capabilities.

Identifying Trial Memberships

To manage and track trial memberships, use the filters in the Memberships section:

• Active Trial Filter

  • Yes: Members currently in trial

  • No: Non-trial members

• Trial Upgraded Filter

  • Yes: Members who upgraded from trial

  • No

Trial Details on Membership Profiles

Each member profile displays:

• Trial Start Date

• Trial End Date

• Membership Status: Clearly marked as “Trial Membership”

• Term: Shows "Trial Term" instead of regular term

Tracking Trial Program Success

Check your Membership Dashboard Analytics to monitor performance:

• Trial Conversion Rate: Shows how many trial users convert to full members.

• Revenue from Trial Upgrades: Displays income generated from those conversions.

How Members Upgrade from Trial to Full Membership

Trial members can log in to My Glue, view their membership status, and click the Upgrade button directly from their profile. The system guides them through the upgrade process. You learn more about how members can access and use My Glue, click here to view our guide to My Glue.