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Inactivation Procedure

Purpose: To maintain an efficient and relevant database by identifying and managing disengaged individuals, ensuring that only actively engaged members are listed in the primary community database.

Scope: This procedure governs how profiles with status Disengaged or Members of the Community Members are made inactive.

Procedure for Inactivating Newcomers, Seekers, and Travelers

Every Quarter Engagement Coordinator or Admin Designate will run these clean up lists after the Quarterly Membership Status Review Meeting. 

Profiles with Membership Type: Disengaged 
Disengaged profiles will be made 'Inactive' one year after after an individuals Disengaged date. (c.f. disengaged status criteria). The reason will be Unresponsive / Disengaged Clean Up.

Disengaged Clean Up List

Profiles with membership type: Community Member / Member of Another Congregation
Community Member / Member of Another Congregation profiles will be made inactive One year after their last activity however if they are a member of an active PCO group they will be kept as active, or registered for any event in the last month, or they have a note in their profile.

They will be made inactive, reason: community member cleanup. 

List must be manually cleaned up Community Member Clean Up List.

  1. Classification of Disengaged Individuals:

    • Criteria for Marking Disengagement:
      • Newcomer: 3 consecutive months of no activity.
      • Seeker: 6 consecutive months of no activity.
      • Traveler: 9 consecutive months of no activity.
    • Once an individual meets the above criteria, they are marked as 'disengaged' in the database. The date on which they are marked disengaged is recorded as the 'disengaged date'.

Procedure for Inactivating Members

On an annual basis, assess the membership list to determine classification according to the following definitions:

Member- Active engagement, Financial Giving Requirement Met (Pledge, Donation, Waiver) , W/ Voting Rights

Inactive Member - Inactive engagement determination, not meet financial giving requirement, no voting rights,  status confirmed by inactivity not by action of congregant or board

Former Member - Removed from membership by congregant or board action. 

Annual Actions

  1. Members not giving or engaging (in the last 12 months, not: attending worship, giving, registering for events, or part of an active group)
    • February - Add to Annual Review of Inactive Members Workflow and initiate checkin from Caring Listeners to members of LIST: Inactive Members for Pastoral Checkin Q1, with the goal of making sure the member is well and discovering any needs
    • March - Send letter from board inquiring after member's wellfare,welfare, offering noticereminder that reengagement is required by May 1st in order to be eligible to participate in the upcoming Congregational Meeting, and that if the member does not reengage by the end of the year, membership will shift to Inactive statusstatus, without reengagement, andand, inviting the member to reengage TEMPLATE
    • May - send notice of upcoming Congregational Meeting with reminder that engagement is needed 30 days before meeting to ensure eligibility to vote
    • November - reach out as part of annual pledge drive, including reminders that reactivating giving is a way to maintain eligibility to participate in congregational governance
    • January - send notice that shift all those still on the list to FoFormer Member
  2. Members who are giving but not otherwise engaging (in the last 12 months, only action is giving, and not attending worship,  registering for events, or part of an active group)
  3. Members who are not giving but are otherwise engaging
    1. February - send letter from Board offering giving waiver LISTLIST: Annual Review of Members Not Giving but Engaged TEMPLATE

Each year according to these timeframes, run lists to determine and send the following

Annually in late December/Early January:

  • Review and refresh the lists above to fully determine who no longer meets active membership requirements
  • Send to WORKFLOW LINK
    •  Follow steps in workflow to send notice of shift to Inactive Membership Status LINK to template
    • Allow time to respond (1 week auto snooze)
    • If no response, shift to "Former Member" status in PCO, then inactivate profile 
    • If response indicates a desire for continued engagement and membership requirements are still not satisfied, shift to Former Member but do not inactivate profile, and refer to Partnership Team for engagement action
Then, to clarify, we already have the following actions in place to address inactivity and/or not giving: 
  • Giving and participation requirement introduced in Base Camp and Inquirers and in all correspondence from Lauren, as well as on website.
  • Within 2 months of becoming a member, personal outreach from stewardship team to introduce themselves and either thank them for a pledge or invite a pledge.  

  • For anyone who has not participated in anything of record (even if they have given) in the last year get an annual outreach from a Caring Listener inviting them to return, and also listening to what is preventing them from attending and addressing any concerns they have.  REFER TO PARTNERSHIP TEAM DEPENDING ON WHAT WE LEARN
Here are the new actions we are initiating / asking for your partnership on:

Every March (between 60 and 90 days out from annual meeting), the Board sends official letters out (by postal mail) with the following categories/asks:

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