Adding memberships to organizations

Last updated August 5, 2026

Objective

This guide explains how to manually assign a membership to an organization within Recur. This process is essential for back-dating memberships, handling special cases, or manually onboarding organizational members who have already paid through external methods.

Key Steps

Step 1: Navigate to Organizations

  • Open the Recur dashboard and scroll to the top navigation bar.

  • Click on Contacts.

  • Select the Organizations sub-menu located directly underneath the main Contacts tab.

Step 2: Locate the Target Organization

  • Browse or search the list to find the specific organization you wish to update.

  • Click directly on the Name of the organization (e.g., "California Academic and Research Libraries Association") to open their detailed profile view.

Step 3: Access the Membership Profile

  • Once on the organization’s detail page, look at the middle section of the screen.

  • Locate the area labeled Membership Profile. This area displays any current or historical memberships associated with this entity.

  • Click the Add Membership button to open the assignment window.

Step 4: Select the Membership Product

  • Product Selection: Click the dropdown menu under Membership Product.

  • Note on Availability: Only memberships previously created under Revenue > Products will appear in this list. Select the specific membership tier or type intended for this organization.

Step 5: Define Dates and Finalize

  • Set Terms: Select the appropriate Start Date and Renewal Date for this manual entry.

  • Confirm: Click the Add Membership button to save the changes.

  • Verification: Confirm the membership now appears in the middle of the organization's page, displaying the correct Membership Name, Start Date, and Renewal Date.

Cautionary Notes

  • Product Dependency: You cannot create a new membership type from this screen. If the desired membership level is missing, you must first navigate to Revenue > Products to build it.

  • Manual vs. Automated: Manually adding a membership bypasses the standard checkout flow; ensure you have already recorded the corresponding revenue if applicable to keep your financial reports accurate.

  • Duplicate Check: Always verify the "Membership Profile" section before adding a new one to avoid overlapping active memberships for the same organization.

Tips for Efficiency

  • Pre-Work: Ensure your Membership Products are named clearly in the Revenue section so they are easy to identify in the dropdown menu.

  • Audit Trail: Use this manual method to quickly correct membership lapses or to grant honorary memberships to partner organizations.

  • Navigation Shortcut: If you are already looking at a Contact associated with an organization, you can usually click the organization's name from their contact card to jump straight to the profile needed for Step 2.

Link to Video

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