Microsoft® Access® Small Business Solutions: State-of-the-Art Database Models for Sales, Marketing, Customer Management, and More Key Business Activities

Chapter 13. Managing Memberships

Almost all of us can claim membership in one or more organizations. If you belong to a church, a club, a lodge, a civic group, a study group, a computer user group, a baseball team, a committee, a parent teacher association, a lending library, or a buying group, then you are a member of an organization. Whether commercial or noncommercial, all but the smallest and most informal organizations need to manage memberships and related functions. Although your small circle of high school friends who still get together on a regular basis might be an exception, a larger group such as your high school class can benefit from a database application to keep track of classmates and notify them of reunions, homecoming events, and other activities. The purposes and requirements of the organization determine which features and functions of a database application will serve it best, but all organizations share some basic needs.

HOW THIS CHAPTER IS ORGANIZED

Many of the tables in this chapter are identical to or minor modifications of tables from earlier chapters, in particular Chapter 4, "People, Organizations, Addresses" and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Chapter 5, "Customer Relationship Management."

In those chapters we followed a common process to create the database. They started with a discussion of the business function to identify the information and details needed to support it. Then, the details were grouped into subjects, which we illustrated in diagrams. ...