# How to Set Up Membership Plans and Recurring Payments

## Overview

Membership Plans let you define the tiers families choose from when joining your co-op. Each plan can have a name, a description, feature bullets, and one or more billing intervals (monthly, semester, or annual). Once you save a plan it becomes active immediately and appears on your co-op's public membership page.

**Before you start:** Your Stripe account must be connected under **Payouts & Billing** before you can create paid plans. Free plans do not require Stripe. See [Setting Up Stripe Payments](https://kb.cooplyhq.com) for setup instructions.

---

## Step 1: Open Membership Plans

1. Sign in to your co-op admin panel.
2. In the left sidebar, click **Membership Plans**.

![Admin Membership Plans page — empty state](https://kb.cooplyhq.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/portal-admin-settings-plans-desktop.png)

The page shows all your active plans. If you have not created any yet, it shows "No plans yet" with a **Create Plan** button.

---

## Step 2: Create a Plan

1. Click **+ Create Plan** (top-right) or the **Create Plan** button in the empty-state card.

The **Create Plan** modal opens.

![Create Plan modal with fields for name, description, features, and billing](https://kb.cooplyhq.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/portal-admin-settings-plans-desktop.png)

2. Fill in the plan details:

| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| **Plan Name** | Short, recognizable name (e.g., "Basic", "Family", "Premium") |
| **Description** *(optional)* | One or two sentences describing what the plan includes |
| **Features** *(optional)* | Bullet points shown to families on the enrollment page — click **+ Add Feature** to add more |

---

## Step 3: Set Pricing and Billing Intervals

### Free plan

Toggle on **Free Tier** if families join at no cost. No Stripe connection is required for free plans. Skip to Step 4.

### Paid plan

Leave **Free Tier** off. Under **Billing Periods**, enable one or more intervals:

- **Monthly** — families are billed every month
- **Semester** (6 months) — families are billed twice a year
- **Annual** — families are billed once a year

For each enabled interval, enter the price in dollars.

**Processing-Fee Handling** — choose how Stripe's processing fee is covered:

| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Absorb** *(default)* | Your co-op pays the processing fee. Families are charged exactly the listed price. |
| **Gross-up** | The processing fee is added into the displayed price. Families see one all-in amount. |

You can mix intervals and fee modes — for example, offer both Monthly and Annual with different fee settings on each.

---

## Step 4: Set Optional Limits

Scroll down in the modal to configure optional settings:

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Member Limit** *(optional)* | Maximum number of members allowed on this plan. Leave blank for unlimited. |
| **Requires Application** | When on, each signup must be manually approved by an admin before the family gains access. |

---

## Step 5: Save the Plan

Click **Create Plan**. The plan saves and is immediately **Active** — no separate publish step is needed.

To edit a plan later, return to **Membership Plans** and click **Edit** on any plan card.

---

## Step 6: How Families See and Enroll

Once at least one plan is active, families can visit your co-op's public membership page at:

```
https://yourco-op.cooplyhq.com/membership/plans
```

The page lists all active plans. If you offer multiple billing intervals (e.g., Monthly and Annual), a toggle at the top lets families switch between intervals to compare prices.

![Family-facing Membership Plans page](https://kb.cooplyhq.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/membership-plans-desktop.png)

Families click **Join Now** to begin a three-step application:

1. **Contact Info** — primary contact name, email, and phone number
2. **Household** — children and household details
3. **Membership** — plan and billing interval selection, then payment

![Family join form — Step 1: Contact Info](https://kb.cooplyhq.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/join-desktop.png)

After completing the form, families are taken to Stripe Checkout to pay (for paid plans) or directly to a confirmation page (for free plans).

---

## Step 7: View Active Memberships

To see who has applied or enrolled:

1. In the left sidebar, click **Membership Signups**.

![Admin Membership Signups page showing status tabs](https://kb.cooplyhq.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/portal-admin-signups-desktop.png)

The **Membership Signups** page shows all applications with status tabs:

| Tab | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Completed** | Enrollment is finished and payment (if required) has been received |
| **Awaiting Payment** | Family submitted the form but has not yet paid |
| **Paid — Pending** | Payment received; awaiting admin approval (when "Requires Application" is on) |
| **On Hold** | Admin has placed the application on hold for review |
| **Rejected** | Application was not approved |
| **Draft** | Family started but did not submit the application |
| **Abandoned** | Family started and did not complete within the session |

Click any row to view the full application details and take action.

---

## What's Next

- **Signup Questions** — Add custom questions to the enrollment form: in the sidebar go to **Signup Questions**.
- **Coupons** — Create discount codes for your plans: in the sidebar go to **Coupons**.
- **Payouts & Billing** — View Stripe payouts and check your balance: in the sidebar go to **Payouts & Billing**.