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Gift memberships

Someone can buy a membership as a gift. They pay now; the person receiving it signs up whenever they like and pays nothing.

The thing that changes hands is a voucher, not a membership. That matters: the buyer never has to know the recipient's address, their children's names, or sign a waiver on their behalf. All of that happens later, when the recipient signs up themselves.

Buying one

Two ways, and both produce the same voucher:

• Online. Turn on "Sell gift memberships" in Settings → Public page. Anyone can then buy from your public gift page and pay by card — no account needed. This needs Stripe onboarding.
• At the desk. Members → Gift vouchers → Sell a voucher. Take cash, EFTPOS or a bank transfer, then print the voucher and hand it over. This works with or without Stripe.

The price is the membership fee. Membership types that carry a joining fee or a bond aren't offered as gifts — a gift priced for a brand-new member doesn't fit someone who has already paid those, and we'd rather not sell anyone the wrong thing. If you'd like gift vouchers for those types, contact us.

What the buyer gets

An email with the code, and a link to a voucher page. That page shows a printable card they can put in an envelope, and it stays useful afterwards: it always shows whether the voucher is still valid, has been used, or has expired. Their browser's print dialog can also save it as a PDF.

You can re-send that email any time from Members → Gift vouchers.

Redeeming one

• Online. The recipient signs up as normal and enters the code where the form asks for payment.
• At the desk. Enrol them as you normally would and enter the voucher code on the enrolment form.

Either way the membership is created on the terms that were bought, not today's. If your fees went up between the purchase and the redemption, the gift still covers it — that is the point of the snapshot.

A gift can also renew an existing member: because a voucher only ever covers the membership fee, redeeming one never overlaps with a joining fee or bond they have already paid.

Expiry, and money back

Vouchers last three years, which is the legal minimum for gift cards in Australia. A voucher that is about to run out gets a reminder email 60 days beforehand. If one does expire, staff can extend it from the voucher list rather than the member missing out.

An unredeemed voucher can be refunded from the same list. A redeemed one cannot — the membership it paid for already exists.

Keeping track

The gift voucher list shows the total value of vouchers sold but not yet used. That is money you have taken for memberships you have not granted yet, which is the number a treasurer or committee will want at the end of the year.