Yes, you can add members to the exemption list for a paid group. Adding them as an exemption will make it so that they can access the paid group for free.
How to make new members exempt from payment
A Pre-Onboard Exemption lets someone who hasn't joined yet get a paid Offer for free.
- Go to Settings > Revenue > Offers and open the Offer.
- Click the arrow next to Add Members and choose Add Pre-Onboard Exemption.
- If the Offer has tiers, choose the Tier they should get.
- Enter their email addresses, separated by commas or line breaks, and click Add.
No email goes out. Share one of the Offer's Sign Up Links with them, and they'll join without a payment page as long as they sign up with the email you added. They're listed under the Pre-Onboarding Exempt tab on the Offer until they join.
Why is an exempt member still seeing the payment page?
The exemption only applies on Sign Up Links that belong to the same Offer. Check these three things:
- The link. They need to join through a Sign Up Link or Page of the Offer you added them to. A link for a different Offer takes them to that Offer's checkout, and a free Sign Up Link lets them in without the Offer's Access Groups.
- The email. It has to match the one you added exactly.
- Whether they've already joined. Pre-Onboard Exemptions are for people who aren't members yet. For existing members, use Add Members as described below.
If they see "Your email has not been approved to join this community", the Sign Up Link is set to Pre-approved, which limits who can join through it. An exemption doesn't get anyone past that. Add their email to the link's approved list instead.
A 100% off promo code still asks for a card at checkout, even though nothing is charged. To let someone join without entering a card, use a Pre-Onboard Exemption.
How to give existing members an exemption
To do this, go to Settings > Revenue > Offers, and after selecting your Offer, click on the "Add Members" button.
On this dropdown, you can search for the specific user you want to give an exemption to, and then select Add. If a paid Offer has multiple tiers, you can choose the tier that you want to give the exempt member access to.
How to make a subscribed member in the Offer exempt
If a member is currently subscribed but you want to grant them a temporary or complete exemption, you will first to either re-add them as a free member or create a discount that will grant them free time on the Offer.
Making a subscribed member permanently exempt
To do this, you will first need to cancel their subscription and remove them from the Offer. Go to Settings > Revenue > Offers, and select your Offer.
Then, search for the member you want to make exempt and press the 3-dot menu and select "Remove".
Doing this will terminate their access to the Offer as a paid member and cancel their subscription. Then, still on your Offer, press the "+Add Members" button to re-add this member for free. They will have perpetual access as an Exempt member until they live your community or you cancel their membership.
Making a subscribed member temporarily exempt
The easiest way to achieve this by creating a promotional code as we cover on How can I make a promo code for my community?
This code will grant them free access for as long as you set up, since discount codes in Heartbeat can be set to only be active for a limited time.
How to give an exemption to a paywalled member
Go to Settings > People > Members and select Paywalled in the dropdown at the top left of the list. Press the 3-dot menu on the member's row and choose Give Exemption. This lifts the paywall and gives them free, permanent access to that Offer's content.
If they already pay through another Offer, choose Remove from Offer instead. See How to remove a paywall from a member.
Why are members listed as Exempt when nobody gave them an exemption?
Heartbeat works out the Exempt list itself. On an Offer that gives one Access Group, anyone in that Group who hasn't paid on this specific Offer is listed as Exempt. That includes members who pay on another Offer that gives the same Group, admins in the Group, and anyone who joined it another way, for example by starting a Course whose Course Access Group is that Group.
On an Offer with tiers, someone is listed as Exempt only if they're in a paid tier's Group without an active purchase that gives it. In both cases the label goes away by itself once they leave the Group.
How can I remove an exemption?
To do this, you can access your Offer and press the 3-dot menu to select "Remove Exemption".
Removing an exemption takes the member out of the Offer's Access Group, so they lose the content it unlocks. It doesn't check whether they pay for that Group on another Offer, so check the Revenue tab on their member page first. If they're paying on another Offer, leave the exemption as it is.
Your member can then resubscribe or if you have an active paywall, you can add them back into the Offers via the +Add Members button and then select "Show paywall" to ensure that they can make a purchase again.