48 relationship types?

CiviCRM offers a very broad range of configuration options. You can make it as complex or as simple as you want.

Usually with a little forethought, you can use simple configurations that make your life easier, even when it seems like your data is very complex.

Last week I spoke with someone who is tracking 48 membership types in their CRM. And that complexity is giving them significant headaches in reporting and communications.

But if you look at it another way, they don't really have 48 types of memberships. They've just configured CiviCRM to track 48 “membership types.” Here’s an example:

• Premium member, standard price, 1 year

• Premium member, standard price, 2 years

• Premium member, student price, 1 year

• Premium member, student price, 2 years

• Associate member, standard price, 1 year

• etc.

That list really just contains two membership types: premium, and associate. The rest of it is just variation in the member’s expiration date and pricing discounts.

Sure, if you multiply every membership type by all the variations in pricing, expiration date, and other attributes, then you can get to 48 membership types pretty quickly..

But you don't have to.

After all, a membership type is really just a benefits package. What the member paid, or how many terms they're entitled to, is a separate question. So it can make a lot of sense to track it separately.

Here's the thing:

This isn't just true for membership. It applies to event participant roles, event types, contribution types, and much more.

As things grow organically, you can encounter a kind of “configuration sprawl”

… like a city that grows up from a small village without careful planning.

Fortunately, we don't have to let that happen.

Careful forethought, combined with the occasional cleanup effort, can do a lot to prevent that sprawl and create a healthy system that's genuinely easy to use.

All the best,
A.