An application group lets one group administrator collect several membership applications for themselves and others, then pay for them in one order. This article shows you how to find, start, and manage groups in the Console. Adding individual applicants to a group and completing a group checkout are covered separately.
When to Use This
Use this article when you need to find a group that a member or organization started, start a new group for an organization, correct the process or owner, change the order of applications, cancel a group order, or delete a group that never moved forward. If you need to add or register individual applicants, or complete the group checkout, use the group’s own page for those actions.
An application group can also be a practical alternative to assigned or flowdown organizational memberships in some cases. For example, use an application group when you want each person billed and tracked as their own individual application instead of bundled under one organization membership. It can also help when an organization needs to manage a larger or more variable number of memberships than a fixed group-membership setup allows. If another bulk tool is not available, an application group is also a way to create several application processes in one batch.
Prerequisites
- Permission to reach Application Groups in the Console.
- Permission to create or edit application groups, if you need to start or correct one.
- Permission to delete application groups, if you need to remove an empty one.
Find an Application Group
- Go to Membership & Committees › Application Groups.
- Review the Groups and Group Applications counters to see how many groups are in progress and how many were started recently.
- Search by name or identifier, or leave the search blank to show every group.
- Select a group’s name in the results to open it.
Result
The group’s page opens with its owner, its applications, and its order once one exists.
Tip
Your recently viewed application groups appear beside the search form, so you can return to one without searching again.
Start an Application Group on an Organization's Behalf
- Go to Membership & Committees › Application Groups.
- Select Create an Application Group.
- Choose the group’s owner, either a contact or an organization, and pick the Group Application Process the group should follow.
- Select Save Changes.
Result
Rhythm creates the group and opens its page, where you can add applicants and check out when the group is ready.
From the group’s page, use Submit New Application to add each person. After at least one application in the group is complete, Complete Group Application Purchase becomes available so you can check out the whole group as one order.
Tip
Rhythm fills in the group’s name from today’s date and the owner’s name each time you choose an owner, so you do not need to type one yourself. If the owner is an organization, choosing a contact does not replace an organization name that is already in the field.
Warning
The Group Application Process list shows every active group application process in your Rhythm account, without checking eligibility. This is different from the Portal, where group administrators only see the processes they qualify for. Choose carefully when you start a group on someone’s behalf.
Reorder or Edit the Applications in a Group
- Open the group and go to its Applications tab.
- To change the order applicants appear in, use the up and down arrows on a row. The arrows work in any group status, including groups that have already been processed.
- To correct one applicant’s own application, select its edit icon, make your changes, and save. Rhythm returns you to the group’s page afterward.
Result
When you reorder applications, Rhythm shows a confirmation after the swap is saved. When you edit an application, Rhythm returns you to the group.
Tip
If your association’s group application process uses tiered discounts, each application’s discount is based on its position number in the group, in the order applications were added. For example, applications 5–7 might get a 20% discount, and applications 8–14 might get a 30% discount. Reordering applications here can change which discount tier an application falls into.
Cancel a Group's Order
- Open the group.
- Select Cancel Group Application Order.
- Follow the confirmation to cancel the order.
Result
Rhythm cancels the order using your Rhythm account’s usual order cancellation. The button only works after the group has an order recorded, because a group that is still being filled has nothing to cancel.
Tip
If you use a group’s order number to find every membership it created, be aware that this can miss some memberships. When the group’s order does not fully complete, not every membership ends up linked to that order number.
Delete an Application Group
- Open the group.
- Select Delete Group.
- Confirm that you want to delete the named group, since this cannot be undone.
Result
Rhythm deletes the group.
Warning
Delete Group is disabled while the group still contains any application, and it disappears entirely after the group has an order. Remove or reassign every application in the group first if you need to delete it. A group with an order cannot be deleted from here.
Rhythm also prevents you from deleting a contact or organization that owns a group. If you are trying to remove an owner record and cannot, check whether it still owns an application group.
What Can Stop a Save
To start or edit a group, you need a name, an owner, and a group application process. For either owner type, the owner must include a contact. When the owner is an organization, the owner must also include an organization. If your Rhythm account has no active group application process, the process list opens with nothing to choose, and you cannot save the group until one exists.
A Processed Group Can Still Look Unprocessed
In some reported cases, a group whose order was already created still opens with no order number, and Submit new application and Complete Group Application Purchase are still available as if nothing had been processed. If a group’s page looks unprocessed but you know an order exists, check the organization’s or contact’s own order history before resubmitting, and contact Support if the group’s page will not reflect the existing order.
Related Reading
For how staff process the individual applications a group’s applicants submit, see Create and Manage Applications in the Console. For why a person or organization is or is not offered a particular application path in the first place, see How Rhythm Decides Which Application Paths You Can Start. To find the organization a group belongs to, see Find, View, and Pick an Organization.