Group Membership: Best Practices
Recommended steps for configuring your group and managing membership before opening it to users
Before opening your group to receive members Managing Your Group, Group Dashboard, first manage your group Managing Your Group, Group Dashboard.
We recommend going through the following steps (or just those that apply to your group).
1. Assign the Manage Members permissions Managing Officer Permissions to relevant group officers.
2. Be sure that all details on all tabs of the Group Settings are complete, starting the Basics and Contact Information tabs.
3. Configure Access & Privacy settings:
In the Group Settings, open the Access & Privacy tab Group Settings. These options control membership signups, validation, and more.
If your group membership is sensitive, be sure to note the last two options on this tab:
- Members can see each other: If enabled, all members will be visible to other members
- Membership should be private: If enabled, the group will not appear on members’ user profiles Access Rights: Privacy Settings.
4. Configure membership settings:
In the Group Settings, open the Membership tab Group Settings. These options control membership duration and expiration, privacy, and membership tiers fee structures.
5. Set up Member Tags and Sub-Groups:
- Member Tags: Tags viewable by officers only, for categorizing members (example: Paid and Unpaid)
- Sub-Groups Tags: Tags viewable and selectable by members, typically indicating specific interests (example: weekend socials, sporting events, cultural outings)
If you want users to answer one or more questions before they join, or submit other types of information, set up Member Custom Fields.
7. Create a welcome emailIf you want to greet new members, a nice opener is a welcome email Sending a Welcome Email to New Group Members.
Once your group is active and has members, you can also download your members list My Activity and generate member activity reports My Activity.