Joint Membership Overview

How it all works, when your LCO gets paid, how to read your membership reports, and more.
Members are the lifeblood of local climbing organizations, but managing a membership program is challenging. Access Fund’s joint membership program helps LCOs boot up a new membership program or strengthen an existing membership program.

Our joint membership program pays out over $70,000 to LCOs every year funded by more than 4,500 members who decided to donate directly to their LCO alongside Access Fund. It’s non-exclusive to your existing donation or membership programs, making it a no-brainer add-on to your overall fundraising program.

How It Works

On the Access Fund membership form, climbers are given the option to join as a joint member of Access Fund and their LCO. This lets them support climbing advocacy at the national and local levels with one easy donation. Then, each quarter Access Fund totals up the donations to your LCO and sends them your way, along with a report including member and transaction details.

Let us do the hard work of managing a membership program for your LCO so your board or staff doesn't have to. Instead, let your organization focus on access, conservation, stewardship, and keeping your local climbing areas open. You get all of the benefits of a membership program without getting bogged down in the administrative work that goes into it.
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Pricing Structure: 

LCO Payouts:

Annual/One Time memberships: Your LCO receives $25 per transaction.

Monthly memberships: Your LCO receives $3 per transaction. 

Joint Membership FAQs

How much and how often do members pay for joint membership?
When members join through one of the joint membership specific forms, $25 of their membership goes to the LCO for one-time gifts. Or they can choose the monthly frequency and $3 will go to the LCO per transaction.

How and when does my LCO receive payment?
At the beginning of each quarter, Access Fund staff will pull all transactions for the previous quarter and total them up. We will email your LCO with a report that includes:


All current members, plus two months of expired members (in case your LCO has the capacity to encourage these folks to renew).
 List of transactions from the previous quarter categorized by gift frequency (one-time or monthly).
 The total amount to expect in the payout.

All payouts are made via direct deposit into your LCO’s bank account. We’ll initiate the transfer shortly after we email your report.

When your LCO was on boarded for joint membership, a list of emails from your LCO was passed to Access Fund staff to receive these payout reports. If you have board turnover or need to update that list for other reasons, email localsupport@accessfund.org.

How can I get reports and statistics on membership?
Aside from quarterly payouts, you’re probably wondering how else you can get access to current member reports. Access Fund staff can pull those reports for you quickly. Just email localsupport@accessfund.org and ask for an updated report.

Who do I contact if a member has questions about their joint membership?
If a joint member reaches out to you with questions about their membership (payment details, membership shirts, benefits, etc), provide them with our membership email (membership@accessfund.org) and our team will take care of them.

Confirmation and renewal notices?
When a member joins Access Fund and your LCO, they receive a co-branded email confirmation with their membership details. When a member is close to expiring, Access Fund will email twice with co-branded language to encourage the member to join both organizations again. Two co-branded paper letters will also be sent if the member has opted into paper mail. If they still don’t renew, they will be marked as lapsed and continue to receive encouragement from Access Fund with various messaging strategies.

Does Access Fund ever have discounted memberships?
We have several campaigns a year that push a $85 joint membership which includes a shirt and all member benefits. This deal is normally $100. We'll give your LCO a heads up so you can share this opportunity with your communities and hopefully fundraise more. The payout amounts to your LCO are the same regardless of the total membership amount - $25 per annual membership and $3 per monthly. 

Co-Branded Marketing Examples:

Membership Confirmation Email

Renewal Email

Renewal Letter Front

Renewal Letter Back