Introduction
Many group project administrators require Join Requests in order to screen prospective project members. Having a join request requirement has both benefits and drawbacks:
Benefits
- Allows you to request additional information such as test type(s), genealogical information, or society membership status. For example, you can make sure a kit without a Y-DNA test will not join a Y-DNA haplogroup project.
- Helps to determine if the research goals of the new member fit with the goals of the project.
- For projects focused on genealogical societies, it can ensure that only society members can join.
Drawbacks
- Extra steps may discourage prospective members from joining.
- May inadvertently prevent group members from joining who might have useful information.
- Requires monitoring and responses by administrator or co-administrator.
- Non-customers may apply and not understand they have to purchase a test or transfer results to become a member.
Keep in mind that you have the option to remove group members at any time. This means if you choose not to have a Join Authorization to encourage more members to join, you may remove them at a later date if they do not meet your project criteria. In smaller projects it is usually fairly easy to keep track of who joins and if they are relevant to project goals, but may be less so in larger ones. You may find that vetting members after they have joined is hard to keep up with. If this becomes the case you can always add a join authorization requirement at any time. Conversely, you can also lift the requirement at any time.
If you require Join Requests, you also need to be able to respond to them within 48 hours. This will ensure positive service to your prospective project members.