> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.groupflow.app/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Setting Up Member Dues > Create membership plans, set prices and term lengths, and offer a trial Dues in GroupFlow are described by **membership plans**. A plan has a name, a term length, and one or more price options members choose between. Most groups need one plan; groups that offer, say, a student rate and a household rate put those in the same plan as separate price options. Set your plans up before you invite members to join, so the Join page has something to offer them. Members can only pay their dues online once payment processing is set up for your group. See [Payments](/guides/payments). ## Creating a membership plan In the admin menu, go to **Members & Users › Settings** to open **Membership Settings**, then press **Details** beside **Member Dues**. Under **Plans**, press the **+** button. Enter a **Plan Name**, such as "Regular membership", and press **Next**. The rest of the plan's fields appear. **Description text** is shown to members alongside the plan, so say what it includes. Under **Price Options**, press the **+** button. Enter an **Option Name** and an **Amount**, then press **Ok**. Repeat for each rate you offer. If your group has one plan, the option you tick **Make default?** is the one already selected when a member opens their dues page. Enter a **Term length in months** — 12 for an annual membership, 6 for semiannual, 1 for monthly. A new plan starts at 12. Press **Save**. ### Memberships that never expire Tick **Is lifetime term?** instead of setting a term length, and members see the plan as a lifetime membership. **Term length in months** disappears while it's ticked. A lifetime plan doesn't stop a membership expiring. A member who pays on one still gets a **Membership end date**, and GroupFlow sets them to **Inactive Member** when it passes. Mark life members **Dues exempt** on their **Dues** tab as well — see [Membership Lifecycle](/concepts/membership-lifecycle#when-a-membership-expires). This is a bug, tracked as [gf-root#817](https://github.com/moxleydata/gf-root/issues/817). ### Reordering and retiring plans Drag a plan by the handle to its left to change the order members see. The order is saved as soon as you drop it. A plan can't be deleted — the form says "Membership plans cannot be deleted, but they can be disabled." Tick **Disabled?** on the plan instead. Disabled plans get a **Disabled** badge and are hidden until you tick **Show disabled plans**. Price options work the same way, with **Make disabled?**. Disabling a plan stops new members choosing it. It doesn't change the membership of anyone already on it. ## Offering a free trial On the same **Member Dues** page, **Trial term length (days)** sets how long a new member's trial lasts. Press **edit** beside it, enter a number of days, and save. Entering `0` means no trial period, and the page then reads **No trial**. A member on a trial counts as an active member, so they can see member-only pages and events for the length of the trial. ## Renewal: automatic or manual Whether a membership renews itself is the **member's** choice, not yours. On their own dues page each member has a **Dues auto-renew** setting, shown as **on** or **off**, which they change with **change**. Turning it on needs a saved card: "Requires a valid payment method on file to be enabled." With auto-renew **on**, GroupFlow charges the member's default card when the term ends. With it **off**, the membership expires and the member renews by paying again. You can see the setting but not change it. Open the member's record, go to the **Dues** tab, and **Auto-renew** reads **Enabled** or **Disabled**, with the note "Auto-renew can only be changed by the member". The same tab has **Dues exempt**, which you *can* set, for honorary or life members who shouldn't be billed. ## Reminder letters GroupFlow emails members as their dues come due and after they lapse. Go to **Membership Settings › Dues Reminder Letters** to review them. There are six: | Letter | When it goes out | | - | - | | **Auto-Renew Reminder** | A set number of days before an auto-renewing membership renews and is charged | | **Trial Membership Expiring** | A set number of days before a trial ends | | **One Month Before Expiration** | An early reminder to renew | | **Two Weeks Before Expiration** | A more urgent reminder | | **Membership Expired** | When the membership expires | | **After Expiration** | A set number of days after expiry, as a final invitation to renew | Each letter has a toggle reading **Sending this letter** or **Not sending this letter**, and an **Edit Letter** button for the wording. The letters sent a set number of days from a date also have a days field with a **Save** button beside it; the number must be between 1 and 365. **Membership Expired** goes out on the day the membership expires, so it has no days field. If two letters to the same members would land on the same day, the page warns you that members will receive both. A letter that hasn't been set up for your group yet can't be edited, and **Edit Letter** is greyed out for it. ## Who the emails come from Dues emails are sent from your group's membership address, under **Membership Settings › Email Address**. Set a **Sender Name** and **Sender Email Address** there. Don't replace the default `@groupflow.app` address with one at your own domain until that domain has completed email sender verification, or your emails won't be delivered. Only GroupFlow Support can run that process — contact [support@groupflow.app](mailto:support@groupflow.app) to start it. ## What's next How dues and event payments are taken, refunded, and recorded. Member statuses, profiles, and the member directory. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.