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Onboard a New Member with a Join Invoice

Invoice a visitor before they become a member. When payment is received, the system automatically creates an invitation and sends the activation email — the actual User and Member records are only created when the invitee clicks the activation link and sets their password.

This is different from the regular "Invite to Club" action, which immediately creates a free-to-join invitation. Use a Join Invoice when your club requires dues payment before activation.

Before You Begin

  • You must be a club officer.
  • The visitor must already exist in your Visitors CRM (they filled out the "Visit Us" form, or you added them).
  • Dues & Invoices must be enabled for your club.
  • Optional: connect Stripe if you want visitors to pay online by card. Cash, check, and other manual payments work without Stripe.

Send a Join Invoice

  1. Go to Visitors in the left sidebar.
  2. Find the visitor in the list.
  3. Click the Send Join Invoice icon (a dollar-sign invoice icon next to the "Invite to Club" person icon).
  4. Fill in the invoice form:
  5. Paid-Through Date — the date this payment covers the visitor through. Quick-set buttons for the next Toastmasters semi-annual cycle are provided.
  6. Due Date — when you'd like payment by (optional).
  7. Message on Invoice — the welcome message the visitor sees on the pay page.
  8. Line Items — add at least one item (e.g., "New Member Dues – $75").
  9. Click Create & Send Invoice.

The visitor receives an email with a secure link to review the invoice, accept your Terms of Service & Privacy Policy, and pay.

The visitor lands on a branded pay page showing:

  • Your club name
  • The line-item breakdown and total due
  • Your welcome message
  • A required checkbox to accept the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

They can't pay until the T&C box is checked. The checkbox click is logged for audit purposes (timestamp, IP, user agent).

Then they choose a payment method:

  • Pay Online with Card (if your club has Stripe connected) — redirects to Stripe to complete payment.
  • Agree & Confirm Payment by Other Means — they see a "thank you" page explaining they need to pay you by check, cash, Venmo, Zelle, etc.

What Happens When They Pay

Online (Stripe): The Stripe webhook marks the invoice paid automatically. An activation email is sent to the visitor within seconds.

Manual payment: You receive payment (check, cash, Venmo, etc.) and record it yourself:

  1. Go to the invoice detail page.
  2. Click Record Payment.
  3. Enter the amount, method, and reference.
  4. Save.

Once the invoice is fully paid, the system:

  1. Creates a member invitation with the new member's details.
  2. Sends the activation email containing a link for the new member to set their password and accept our terms.
  3. On activation, a Member record is created with Member Through set to the Paid-Through Date on the invoice.

Resending the Invoice Email

If the visitor didn't receive the email or lost the link:

  1. Open the invoice detail page.
  2. Click Resend Invoice Email.

The same payment link is regenerated and re-sent. Pay links are valid for 30 days.

Voiding a Join Invoice

If the visitor changes their mind or you made a mistake:

  1. Open the invoice detail page.
  2. Click Void.
  3. Confirm.

The invoice becomes uncollectible and the visitor's "prospective member" flag is cleared, so you can issue a fresh invoice if they change their mind again.

Common Situations

The visitor's email matches an existing active member

The system blocks Join Invoice creation with an error: "This person is already an active member." Use the normal Invite to Club flow if they need access to a different club, or update the existing member record if this is the same person.

The visitor's email matches a former (inactive) member

The system will reactivate the existing member record on payment rather than create a duplicate. The member keeps their history (past role assignments, etc.).

They have 30 days to activate. After that, contact the visitor and send a fresh invitation via the normal member-invite flow — the invoice payment is already recorded against their eventual member record.

You want to send a Join Invoice to someone who isn't in Visitors yet

Add them as a visitor first: go to Visitors → Add Visitor. Then follow the steps above.

The Join Invoice flow collects two separate consent events, both logged for GDPR/CCPA compliance:

  1. Pay-page consent — T&C + Privacy Policy acceptance before payment is processed.
  2. Activation-page consent — A second acceptance at the point User + Member records are created, plus explicit consent to have their contact info shared with other club members.

This belt-and-suspenders design means consent is captured both before any payment processing and at the moment of account creation.

See Also