I'm using the free trial to evaluate WA for our organization and have the exact same issue. All memberships renew at the same time. Members who join during months 1-5 pay 100% of the regular amount, during months 6-11 they pay 50% of the regular amount, and if they join in the final month, they pay 100% of the regular amount but their initial membership is good for the next full year. I was thinking there were two possible ways to approach this.
First approach is at the beginning of month 6, go into the membership level settings and reduce all the membership fees by half. At the beginning of month 12, go into the membership level settings and change the membership fees back to the full amount. Since I have checked the box for "charge full regular fee AND extend renewal by one additional period", members joining in month 12 will pay the full amount but their membership would be good for 13 months. The problem I see with that approach, is that it might mess up what fee gets charged at the next renewal. I guess as long as the full membership fee is set when the renewal period begins (at the start of month 12), someone who paid the half price for joining in the second half of the membership cycle, would be charged the full amount when they renew (as opposed to paying half price again).
Second approach is to establish a 50% discount coupon that is only valid between the start of month 6 and the end of month 11. We'd have to make it clear in the description at the top of the membership page, that people joining during months 6-11 can enter a discount code (e.g., MIDYEAR) if they want to pay half price. That does seem sort of "kludgy"; but on the other hand, since we're a 501(c)(3) non-profit and membership fees are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, it can be up to the new member if they want to waive the discount and take a larger deduction.
I haven't decided which of those approaches to use, but it would be good to know what the WA technical folks have to recommend.
FBader
I'm using the free trial to evaluate WA for our organization and have the exact same issue. All memberships renew at the same time. Members who join during months 1-5 pay 100% of the regular amount, during months 6-11 they pay 50% of the regular amount, and if they join in the final month, they pay 100% of the regular amount but their initial membership is good for the next full year. I was thinking there were two possible ways to approach this.
First approach is at the beginning of month 6, go into the membership level settings and reduce all the membership fees by half. At the beginning of month 12, go into the membership level settings and change the membership fees back to the full amount. Since I have checked the box for "charge full regular fee AND extend renewal by one additional period", members joining in month 12 will pay the full amount but their membership would be good for 13 months. The problem I see with that approach, is that it might mess up what fee gets charged at the next renewal. I guess as long as the full membership fee is set when the renewal period begins (at the start of month 12), someone who paid the half price for joining in the second half of the membership cycle, would be charged the full amount when they renew (as opposed to paying half price again).
Second approach is to establish a 50% discount coupon that is only valid between the start of month 6 and the end of month 11. We'd have to make it clear in the description at the top of the membership page, that people joining during months 6-11 can enter a discount code (e.g., MIDYEAR) if they want to pay half price. That does seem sort of "kludgy"; but on the other hand, since we're a 501(c)(3) non-profit and membership fees are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, it can be up to the new member if they want to waive the discount and take a larger deduction.
I haven't decided which of those approaches to use, but it would be good to know what the WA technical folks have to recommend.
Regards, Fred