Pipeline Management for Membership Growth: From Prospect to Active Member

Last updated: February 2026

Growing your membership requires more than just adding names to a list — it requires tracking prospects through a multi-stage process from initial interest to full membership. Sodalo's pipeline system helps you manage this journey, whether you use a simple one-step process or a formal fraternal investigation and balloting procedure.

This guide explains how membership statuses work, how to move prospects through your pipeline, and how to track membership growth over time.

Understanding Member Statuses

Every person in your Sodalo roster has a member status. This status determines:
- Whether they can access the member portal
- Whether they receive email blasts
- How they appear in reports
- What their relationship is to the organization

Sodalo supports 13 different statuses across three categories:

Pipeline Statuses (Pre-Members)

These are people who are not yet full members:

Prospect — Initial interest, considering joining
Applicant — Submitted formal application
Under Investigation — Being reviewed by investigation committee
Balloted — Voted on by membership
Pending Initiation — Accepted but not yet initiated/activated

Active Statuses (Members)

These are full members with portal access:

Active — Current member in good standing
Honorary — Honorary or lifetime member (usually exempt from dues)

Inactive Statuses (Former/Suspended Members)

These are people who are no longer active:

Inactive — Former member, not participating
NPD (No-Paid-Dues) — Behind on dues but not formally suspended
Suspended — Temporarily suspended (disciplinary or non-payment)
Resigned — Voluntarily left the organization
Expelled — Removed by the organization
Deceased — For memorial records

Two Pipeline Modes

Sodalo supports two ways of managing your membership pipeline:

Simple Mode (Default)

Best for: Civic clubs, volunteer groups, informal organizations

How it works:
- Two-stage pipeline: Prospect → Active
- No intermediate steps
- Someone expresses interest → you add them as prospect → when they join, change status to active

Statuses you see:
- Prospect
- Active, Honorary, Inactive, NPD, Suspended, Resigned, Expelled, Deceased

When to use it:
- Your organization doesn't have formal investigation or balloting
- New members join immediately after expressing interest
- You want to keep things simple

Full Pipeline Mode

Best for: Fraternal lodges, veterans groups, organizations with formal membership processes

How it works:
- Five-stage pipeline: Prospect → Applicant → Under Investigation → Balloted → Pending Initiation → Active
- Each stage represents a step in your membership process
- Track where each prospect is in the pipeline

Statuses you see:
- All 13 statuses listed above

When to use it:
- Your organization has a formal application process
- You conduct investigations on applicants
- Members vote on new members (balloting)
- There's a formal initiation or activation ceremony
- You need to track prospects through multiple stages

Switching Between Modes

To change your pipeline mode:

Go to Settings (gear icon) → General tab
Scroll to "Pipeline Mode"
Choose:
Simple — Just "Prospect" → "Active"
Full — Complete pipeline with all 5 stages
Click "Save Settings"

What changes:
- Simple mode: Intermediate statuses (Applicant, Investigating, Balloted, Pending) are hidden from dropdowns
- Full mode: All 5 pipeline stages appear in status dropdowns and reports

Note: Existing members keep their status when you switch modes. If you switch from Full to Simple, members already marked as "Applicant" stay as applicants (you just won't see that option in new dropdowns).

Managing Prospects (Simple Mode)

If you're using simple mode, here's your basic workflow:

Step 1: Add a Prospect

When someone expresses interest in joining:

Go to Members → + Add Member
Fill in their name and email
Set Member Status to Prospect
Optionally fill in:
Phone number
How they heard about you
Who referred them (select existing member)
Click "Save Member"

Step 2: Track and Communicate

Prospects are tracked separately from active members:
- View all prospects: Filter Members list by Status: Prospect
- Send email to prospects: When composing email, filter recipients by Status: Prospect
- Track how many prospects you have: Dashboard shows prospect count

Stay in touch with prospects:
- Send welcome email explaining next steps
- Invite them to events (they can RSVP even as prospects)
- Follow up regularly

Step 3: Convert to Active

When they're ready to join:

Go to the prospect's member page
Click Edit
Change Member Status from Prospect to Active
Fill in Joined Date (today or their official join date)
Click Save

They now have access to the member portal and receive member communications.

Managing the Full Pipeline (Full Mode)

If you're using full pipeline mode, here's the complete workflow for bringing someone from prospect to active member:

Stage 1: Prospect

What it means: Initial interest, not yet applied

How they enter:
- Someone attends an event and expresses interest
- Referral from current member
- Inquiry through your website
- Community outreach

What you do:
1. Add them to Sodalo with status Prospect
2. Assign Referred By (the member who brought them in)
3. Send welcome email explaining application process
4. Invite them to attend meetings or events

Moving to next stage:
- When they submit a formal application → change status to Applicant

Stage 2: Applicant

What it means: Formal application submitted, under review

What you do:
1. Change status from Prospect to Applicant
2. Collect application materials (forms, fees, references)
3. Assign to investigation committee

Typical duration: 1-4 weeks

Moving to next stage:
- When investigation begins → change status to Under Investigation

Stage 3: Under Investigation

What it means: Investigation committee is reviewing the applicant

What you do:
1. Change status to Under Investigation
2. Add Investigation Notes (staff-only field):
- Committee members assigned
- Interview date
- Character references contacted
- Any concerns or highlights
3. Investigation committee conducts review

Investigation Notes field:
- Only visible to staff (not the applicant)
- Free-form text field
- Use for internal tracking

Typical duration: 2-8 weeks (varies by organization)

Moving to next stage:
- When investigation is complete and ready for balloting → change status to Balloted

Stage 4: Balloted

What it means: Investigation complete, waiting for membership vote

What you do:
1. Change status to Balloted
2. Schedule vote at next meeting
3. Conduct ballot (vote) per your bylaws

After the vote:
- If accepted: Change status to Pending Initiation
- If rejected: Change status back to Prospect or remove from roster (or change to Resigned for record-keeping)

Typical duration: 1-2 weeks (time between meetings)

Moving to next stage:
- When vote passes → change status to Pending Initiation

Stage 5: Pending Initiation

What it means: Accepted by vote, awaiting formal initiation or activation ceremony

What you do:
1. Change status to Pending Initiation
2. Notify the applicant they've been accepted
3. Schedule initiation ceremony
4. Collect any remaining fees or dues

Typical duration: 1-4 weeks (until next initiation date)

Moving to active member:
- After initiation ceremony → change status to Active
- Set Joined Date to today (or ceremony date)

Stage 6: Active Member

Final step:
1. Change status to Active
2. Fill in Joined Date
3. Assign dues rate (if using dues tracking)
4. Send welcome email as active member

They now have full portal access and member benefits.

Pipeline Reports and Tracking

Viewing Your Pipeline

Dashboard Overview:
- Go to Dashboard
- See counts for each pipeline stage
- See how many prospects you have vs. active members

Filtering the Member List:
1. Go to Members
2. Use the Status filter dropdown
3. Select any status to view just those members
4. Example: Select "Under Investigation" to see who's currently being reviewed

Pipeline Metrics to Track

Conversion rate:
- How many prospects become active members?
- Track: Prospects added this year vs. new active members this year

Time in pipeline:
- How long does it take from prospect to active?
- Review individual members' history to see timeline

Drop-off points:
- Where do people drop out?
- If many stay as "Applicant" but never move to "Investigating," investigate why

Pipeline velocity:
- How many people are in each stage right now?
- Are stages getting backed up?

Exporting Pipeline Data

CSV Export:
1. Go to Members → Reports
2. Click "Export Roster (CSV)"
3. Spreadsheet includes Member Status column
4. Sort/filter in Excel to analyze pipeline

Example use:
- Export all "Under Investigation" members
- See how long they've been in that status
- Follow up on any stuck cases

Email Communication by Status

One powerful feature: send targeted emails to different pipeline stages.

Examples:

Welcome email to new prospects:
- Compose email
- Filter recipients: Status = Prospect
- Send welcome and explain next steps

Applicant update:
- Filter recipients: Status = Applicant
- Send timeline update on investigation process

Balloting results (accepted):
- Filter recipients: Status = Pending Initiation
- Send congratulations and initiation details

Active member communications:
- Filter recipients: Status = Active
- Send member-only announcements

This keeps communication relevant and avoids confusing prospects with member-only content.

Status Best Practices

Do's

Use "Prospect" liberally
- Add anyone who expresses interest
- Better to track than to forget someone

Move people promptly
- Don't let people sit in "Under Investigation" for months
- Review pipeline weekly

Use "Investigation Notes"
- Document key info while it's fresh
- Helps next officer when roles change

Set "Joined Date" when activating
- Important for tracking membership length
- Used for anniversary recognition

Use "Referred By" field
- Tracks who's recruiting new members
- Recognize members who bring in prospects

Don'ts

Don't delete rejected applicants
- Keep record for future reference
- Change to "Resigned" or leave as "Prospect"
- Organization may have bylaws about re-application

Don't skip statuses
- Follow your pipeline process
- Don't jump from "Applicant" to "Active" without tracking investigation/balloting

Don't leave old prospects forever
- Review prospects quarterly
- Follow up or remove stale prospects

Don't make prospects "Active" too early
- Wait until after dues paid, initiation done, formal acceptance
- Premature activation gives portal access too soon

Common Scenarios

Someone attends a meeting but isn't ready to apply

Status: Add as Prospect
- Invite to events
- Send periodic updates
- Follow up monthly

Someone submits an application

Status: Change from Prospect to Applicant
- Begin formal process
- Assign to investigation committee

Investigation reveals concerns

Options:
- Keep in Under Investigation while committee addresses concerns
- Change back to Applicant if more info needed
- Change to Resigned if they withdraw

Vote is delayed (no quorum at meeting)

Status: Keep as Balloted
- Schedule vote at next meeting
- Add note in Investigation Notes

Someone is initiated

Status: Change to Active
- Set Joined Date
- Assign dues rate
- Welcome as full member

A member stops participating

Status: Change from Active to Inactive
- Keeps historical record
- Removes from active member counts
- Can be reactivated later

A member passes away

Status: Change to Deceased
- Memorial record
- Excluded from email blasts
- Name retained for history

Limits and Quotas

Different Sodalo plans have different limits on pipeline size:

Community (Free):
- Up to 50 active members (Active + Honorary)
- Up to 5 prospects (pipeline limit)

Growth ($29/mo):
- Up to 300 active members
- Up to 10 prospects (any pipeline status)

Scale ($59/mo):
- Up to 750 active members
- Up to 25 prospects

Pro ($99/mo):
- Unlimited active members
- Up to 100 prospects

What counts as a "prospect":
- Any member with status: Prospect, Applicant, Investigating, Balloted, or Pending Initiation
- Once changed to Active, they count against active member limit (not pipeline)

When you hit the limit:
- You can't add more prospects
- You can still move existing prospects to Active
- Upgrade your plan to increase limits

Troubleshooting

"I can't see Applicant/Investigating/Balloted statuses"
- You're in Simple mode
- Go to Settings → General → Change Pipeline Mode to Full

"A prospect can't log into the member portal"
- Prospects don't have portal access (by design)
- Only Active and Honorary members can log in
- Change their status to Active when they join

"I want to track more details about prospects"
- Use custom fields: Add fields like "How did you hear about us?" or "Interest area"
- Use Investigation Notes for staff-only tracking

"Someone applied twice (duplicate record)"
- Merge not available — delete the newer duplicate
- Update the original record with current info

"I want to remove someone from the pipeline"
- Change status to Resigned (keeps record)
- Or delete the member record entirely (if very early/brief contact)

Need Help?

If you need help setting up your pipeline process or have questions about your specific membership workflow:

Email us: [email protected]

We're happy to recommend a setup that matches your organization's bylaws and procedures.

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