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#1 Log into NB and go to the People section.

#2 Before you create a new profile in NB, check whether the individual is already in the database by entering their name in the Search People box. 

NOTE: NB searches for an exact match.  If it doesn't find the person and you suspect it should, try searching on the first or last name alone. 

#3 If NB finds a match in the database, please see faq_profile_update.

#4 If no profile exists, click on the New Person button. 

 

#5 Enter the new member's information on the Contact details page, including phone number(s), email and address.

#6 Enter all of the following tags into the +Add tags field. The purpose of each tag is explained below the New Person screenshot.

Local League tag (choose from list below), member, sbl, mdcomms, education_advocacy, election_advocacy, energy_advocacy, fiscal_advocacy, health_advocacy, housing_advocacy, police_accountability_advocacy, transportation_advocacy

[Local League tag choices are: AACo, BaltCity, BaltCo, Calvert, Carroll, Fred, Harford, HoCo, Kent, MidShore, Mont, PG, QAnnes, StMarys, WashCo]

sbl            Tags person to receive the State Board Letter, a monthly e-newsletter from the LWVMD Board

mdcomms  Tags person to receive event announcements and other general email communications from LWVMD

*_advocacy Tags person to receive action alerts from eight LWVMD advocacy teams: education, elections, energy, fiscal, health, housing, police accountabiity and transportation.

NOTE: Members have the opportunity to opt out of receiving some or all of these communications at any time by going to lwvmd.org/unsubscribe.

#7 In addition to the tags listed above, a student tag has been created to identify and facilitate communications with student members.  Please include this tag when adding new student members.

#8 You may also choose to add tags specific to your local League (optional).

#9 Click the blue Add person button at the bottom of the screen.

#10 When you save your entry, a box will pop up confirming the addition and containing a live link with the name of the new profile.  To continue, click on this link or type the individual’s name in the  “Search people” box.

#11 Click Edit in the menu below the person's profile, then click Custom fields from the submenu.

#11 Click on “Custom fields” and fill in values for the fields indicated below:

 

*League ID: local League identifier assigned by LWVUS (see below)

First joined date: optional but worth recording when known

*Membership expiration date: last day of current membership term

*Member status: choices are “active,” “inactive” or blank 

*Member types: choices are “Primary”, “Additional”, “Student” or “Life”

*Required

#12 You may record notes and other member information in the remaining custom fields (optional). 

#13 When complete, click the blue Save custom values button.

#14 If this is a household membership, go back to step #4 and create a separate new person for the additional member. 

NOTE: To record a new member in your League's NB membership roster, see faq_nbmember_cks.

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For any number of reasons, people often visit a League's website before they decide to join.  If NB captures their email address or a social media account while they're interacting with the website, it creates a profile. However, that isn't the only reason a profile may already exist. Before you add an existing NB contact to your active member roster, it's important to do a little sleuthing.

#1 Log into NB and go to the People section

#2 Use Search People box to find your new member's profile

NOTE: NB searches for an exact match.  If it doesn't find the person and you suspect it should, try searching on the first or last name alone. 

#3 Look below the NationBuilder ID to see what tags they already have.

#4 Normally, Leagues add the following tags to all new member profiles. 

Local League tag (choose from list below), member, sbl, mdcomms, education_advocacy, election_advocacy, energy_advocacy, fiscal_advocacy, health_advocacy, housing_advocacy, police_accountability_advocacy, transportation_advocacy

[Local League tag choices are: AACo, BaltCity, BaltCo, Calvert, Carroll, Fred, Harford, HoCo, Kent, MidShore, Mont, PG, QAnnes, StMarys, WashCo]

sbl            Tags person to receive the State Board Letter, a monthly e-newsletter from the LWVMD Board

mdcomms Tags person to receive event announcements and other general email communications from LWVMD

*_advocacy Tags person to receive action alerts from eight LWVMD advocacy teams: education, elections, energy, fiscal, health, housing, police accountabiity and transportation.

NOTE: Members have the opportunity to opt out of receiving some or all of these communications at any time by going to lwvmd.org/unsubscribe.

#5 However, with an existing profile, it's possible that the person unsubscribed from some of these communications before joining your League. To check, click on Dashboard in the menu below the tag list.

#6 Scroll through the activity in the Dashboard to see whether the person unsubscribed from any communications by removing tags themselves.

#7 Excluding any tags that the person has removed, enter the tags indicated in Step #4  in the Add tags box on the person's profile page.

#8 Next, click Edit in the menu below the person's profile, then click Custom fields from the submenu.

#9 Click on “Custom fields” and fill in values for the fields indicated below:

 

*League ID: local League identifier assigned by LWVUS (see below)

First joined date: optional but worth recording when known

*Membership expiration date: last day of current membership term

*Member status: choices are “active,” “inactive” or blank 

*Member types: choices are “Primary”, “Additional”, “Student” or “Life”

*Required

#10 If you discover that the individual was previously a member, either of your League or of another Maryland League, look for an expired tag in their tag list and delete it.

#11 You may record notes and other member information in the remaining custom fields (optional). 

#12 When complete, click the blue Save custom values button (see above).

NOTE: To add this person to your League's NB membership roster, see faq_nbmember_cks.

 

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First, look on the member's profile to see whether it shows a relationship.

If there is, click on the live link in the profile or on Relationships in the menu bar.

Any existing relationships will be listed at the bottom. NB offers a number of relationship options that can be applied to household memberships.  

Don't despair if the member's record doesn't show a household relationship. Household members reside at the same address so this mystery can usually be solved using NB's Household View. 

#1 Use tags or a filter to select your League members.

#3 Click on the View box and select Household view

#4 Scroll through until you find your household.

 

#5 If you don't find the pair using the Household view, it could be that the addresses on the two profiles don't match exactly.  Try filtering using one part of the address, e.g.

#6 Last but not least, you may find the additional member's name in the primary member's custom fields.  

 

LWVMD recommends leaving the profile of a deceased member in the NB database as a way of acknowledging and preserving their League record. However, several steps are essential to protect the family from continuing to receive League communications addressed to the deceased.

# Log into NB and go to the People section.

#2 Select the deceased member's profile using the Search people box.

#3 Remove the member tag and all tags related to communications (e.g. sbl, mdvoter, action_alert, *_advocacy) and add the deceased tag.

#4 Click on Edit in the menu bar.

#5 Check the box next to Do not contact, period.

#6 Scroll down and click the + sign next to Demographics.

#7 Scroll to the bottom and check the box next to Deceased.

#8 Click the blue Save person button.

#9 Click Location in the menu bar.

#10 Delete the street address and click the blue Save location button.

#11 Click on custom fields in the Edit submenu.

#12 Click the "x" in the member status box so that it is blank.

#13 Put the date of death in the Notes custom field, if you know it.

#14 Click the blue Save custom values box.

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YES!  A built-in feature of NB allows local Leagues to define specific member types, customize the reminders members receive and automatically send those reminders.  Members then have the option to renew by mail or online.* 

This NB feature identifies current, grace period, and lapsed League members, helping membership chairs focus their follow-up email or phone call efforts.  While it doesn't completely eliminate manual inputs and updates, if fully implemented, it can replace custom fields as the source of accurate and up-to-date League rosters.

Because Leagues have different membership renewal policies, the steps for implementing this feature will vary. To get started, log into NB and click on People (side menu) and Memberships (top menu).

There you'll find a list of membership types. (At present, NB doesn't allow sorting or filtering.) There is one universal membership type for Life members; all the others are specific to a local League (LL). As you scroll through you'll see some local variation in types. However, all Leagues that plan to use the NB membership feature for roster management will have these three types: (LL) Primary, (LL) Additional, and (LL) Student.

(LL) Primary: This type encompasses individual League members as well as, in most cases, the primary (dues-paying) members of a household membership. This is a LL's target group for receiving automated renewal and lapsed membership notices. The League determines the content of the email notifications, the date they're sent and the length of the grace period before the membership expires. The notifications contain a direct link to a renewal page on the LL's website.

(LL) Additional: These are the second members in a household membership. Because the primary member pays dues for both, additional members are not sent automated renewal notices and their membership and contact information must be manually input and updated.

(LL) Student: LWVUS defines a student member as anyone enrolled full- or part-time in an accredited institution. LWVUS and LWVMD do not assess per-member-payments for student members. It's up to the LL to decide the duration of the student membership (e.g. semester or year) and whether to charge dues. As with primary members, the LL determines the content of the email notifications, the date they're sent and the length of the grace period before the membership expires. Notifications also contain a direct link to a renewal page (with or without dues) on the LL's website.

Life or (LL) Life: This type applies to individuals who have been League members for 50 years or more. Life memberships never expire so renewal notices aren't necessary. LLs may opt to use the universal or create a League-specific Life member type. By using the universal Life member type in combination with the LL tag or LeagueID custom field, LLs can readily identify their life members. LLs with significant numbers of life members may find it easier to have a League-specific Life member type. 

(LL) Household (optional): This type may be used, instead of (LL) Primary to track the primary member of a household.  As with primary members, the LL determines the content of the email notifications, the date they're sent and the length of the grace period before the membership expires. Notifications also contain a direct link to a household renewal page on the LL's website. 

LLs are encouraged to consult the NB Support article for detailed instructions on setting up membership types, and to check out the existing League member types for ideas. To learn how to transfer current members into your (LL) NB membership types, see faq_nbmember_transfer.

*In order to accept online dues payments through NB, the League must have a payment processor account, e.g. with Stripe, PayPal or NB.

 

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When preparing to implement NB membership types, be mindful of your League's membership renewal date vis-a-vis the date you've set for automated renewal notifications to be sent.  For example, if your League's memberships expire on April 30, and renewal notices are programmed to go out 30 days before, members must be entered in the appropriate member type by March 31 to receive the notice.

In LWVMD's NB database, current member information is stored in the custom fields and verified as of January 31 each year.  Here are the steps to assign current members to your local League's NB membership types.

#1 Log into NB and go to the People section.

#2 Create a new list for each League member type, e.g. pgcprimary, pgcaddl, pgcstudent, pgclife.

#3 Filter using "matches all of the following"

custom field LeagueID = your LL LeagueID (e.g. MD105)

custom field member status = active

custom field member type = primary

#4 Make sure you're in List View, then click on the down arrow on the Actions button and add all to list (in this example, pgcprimary)

#5 Repeat steps #3 and #4 to add your League's active additional, student and life members to the other lists you created.

#6 Click on Lists in the top menu, type your first list's name on the search line, click on the name to open the list, and click on Batch Update.

#7 Click on Memberships, Select "Add" and fill in the appropriate information (NB member type, active status, expiration date*)

#8 Repeat steps #6 and #7 for the remaining member types.

#9 Return to the People section and click on Memberships in the top menu to verify that your member types were properly populated.

*NOTE REGARDING EXPIRATION DATES

The steps outlined above are ideal for Leagues with fixed renewal dates, and can be replicated to override the renewal date NB generates when online payments are received (usually set to one year).

If your League's memberships have a floating renewal date based on the anniversary of when dues were last paid, leave the expiration date blank when performing the batch update (except for Life members) and contact Online Services ([email protected]) for assistance.

To learn about keeping NB membership information current for members who pay dues by check, see faq_nbmember_cks.

For instructions on setting up online join and renew pages, go to faq_member_joinrenew.