Households · junior member guide

Manage Junior Memberships Without a Child Email

How clubs can keep a junior's individual membership record while an authorised adult manages appropriate portal tasks and contact.

A child does not need to be treated as an adult account holder to have a useful membership record. With household membership enabled, Member Link supports individual dependant records that can be managed through appropriately granted adult access.

Updated 2026-10-02 Member Link editorial team

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Keep the child's record distinct from the adult's

Create a record for each person so the club can correctly track membership type, status and history. Associate the junior with a household and identify the adult who is the approved primary contact or payer. Do not copy the adult's email into a child's email field to satisfy a form.

Member Link's household model has separate member records and household relationships. The portal can present authorised household members to a guardian account, with access controlled through household grants/capabilities. A relationship label by itself should not be treated as proof of consent or authority.

Set up guardian access intentionally

Enable household memberships and configure the adult's record and relationship before asking the adult to manage a junior's membership. Confirm which portal actions the account can perform, whether a grant has been accepted and whether access should be revoked or reviewed when circumstances change.

The app supports member portal actions including profile management and invoice payment, and household-related access checks. Payment may depend on an active household primary payer, invoice eligibility and the organisation's Stripe configuration. Confirm setup in your organisation; do not promise that every household automatically gets a single bundled subscription or payment.

Choose safe communications and information boundaries

Send renewal and operational information to the club-approved adult contact when appropriate, and retain the junior's own record. Collect only information needed for membership and safeguarding obligations; restrict sensitive details to authorised staff.

Use the club's consent, safeguarding and privacy procedures for photos, event registration, waiver signatures and changes of guardian. This guide is operational information, not legal advice; rules vary by activity and location.

Import carefully and review as the child grows

The CSV importer can accept an email-less row only when it is mapped as dependant/dependent and has a household name. Use consistent household names or keys and supported relationship values. Household import fields require the household feature to be enabled; primary contact/payer flags accept true/false, yes/no, 1/0 or y/n.

Review the junior's membership category and contact authority at age transitions. Keep a record of who approved the change, update access when appropriate and avoid leaving former guardian access active by default.

Download the fictional CSV import sample Household membership feature

Good to know

Common questions

Can a junior member have no email address?

Yes in a household-linked dependant workflow. The import accepts a blank email only for a dependant/dependent row with a household name; ordinary imported member rows require email.

Does a guardian automatically get every portal permission?

No. Household relationship and access grants/capabilities are separate concerns. Check the authorised access and the organisation's configuration before relying on a guardian workflow.

Can a guardian pay several household invoices at once?

The application includes grouped invoice payment for an eligible household primary payer, subject to account permissions, invoice checks and Stripe setup. It is not automatic subscription bundling.

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Useful downloads

Download the fictional CSV import sample

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Download the renewal email pack

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