Sponsored Group FAQ
Overview
What is a Sponsored Group?
Sponsored Groups are a way to manage the payment for multiple Evernote Premium accounts in one monthly bill. A purchasing manager at a company could use it to pay for Premium for employees, a department head or project leader might use it for their team, or a school administrator for their students. We’re making it easier for groups of people to consolidate billing under one account so that everyone in the group can enjoy the benefits of Evernote Premium.
What are the benefits of creating a Sponsored Group?
You’ll get consolidated billing for member Premium accounts, top priority support handling, and escalation to a dedicated support team as needed.
Should I use my own account to create a Sponsored Group?
You can create a Sponsored Group using any Evernote account, whether it’s free or Premium. One important note: if an individual has a Premium account prior to becoming a sponsor, then any remaining Premium time is lost when the individual becomes a group sponsor. For this reason, many people choose to create a new account to serve as the “Sponsor” account.
What happens when I create a group?
When you create a Sponsored Group, you’ll be asked to enter new billing information. Once payment information is confirmed you'll be able to customize some things about the group, such as the name and a welcome message for potential group members to take a look at.
How do I build my group membership?
On the Invite tab we give you the option to have Evernote send invitations or you can copy an email template we provide and send the invites yourself. You can also take the URL for your group sign-up page and post it to an internal web site or wiki.
On the Customize tab you can set up how you’d like to approve new members. It can be automatic based on email address or you can require approval of each request. Either way you’ll always get an email notification of a new member that’s been automatically approved or for someone who’s requested to join and is now waiting for your approval.
How do I manage the membership in my group?
The group owner or any of the admins can manage your group’s membership using a web browser. Log into Evernote Web using the owner or admin account and click on your username in the upper right corner of the web page. You’ll see an option there that says Sponsored Group Settings. Click that and then you can manage your group membership from the Manage Members tab.
Can other people manage the membership list?
As part of managing your group membership list, you may designate other members as “administrators”. They can help with all group administration items except for billing.
How do I manage group administrators?
As the group owner, you have a “Manage members” feature available to you that lets you select one or more users to make admins. Admins can approve, reject, deactivate, reactivate, or block other group members. Admins cannot make other members admins or remove admin privileges from another member.
Can I change the name of my group after I create it?
Yes. There are several things that you can customize about your group once you create it. From the Customize tab you can set:
- The group name
- Your name
- The group Welcome Page text
- The image or logo that should display on the Welcome Page
- A portion of the Welcome Page URL.
- Whether you want automatic or manual membership approval
How do I stop sponsoring a group?
If you are the group owner, use your web browser to log into your account and click on your username in the upper right corner of the page. Choose the Sponsored Group Settings option in the list that appears. On the summary page you will see a Cancel Sponsored Group link at the bottom of the page, click that link to begin the cancellation process. Once you confirm that you wish to delete the group, the group will be deactivated and no new members may join. The existing group members will remain Premium until the end of the current billing cycle, after which they will return to their original account type. Please contact group members to let them know that their status will change.
Can I reactivate a group that I had turned off?
Yes. In your web browser, click your username in the upper right corner and then choose the Create Sponsored Group item that appears in that list. On the billing information page that appears next you will see a Reactivate group button at the bottom of the page. Reactivation will keep your original group settings and members will carry over from when your group was active.
Yes. Click the Summary tab directly below Group Discount on your Settings page. Complete the billing information and then click Reactive Sponsored Group. Your original group settings and members will carry over from when your group was active.
Can I make someone else the Sponsor?
- Add the person to the group to whom you wish to transfer ownership.
- Cancel your group. The cancel group link is in the Summary tab within your Sponsored Group Settings.
- Go to our support page and create a support ticket requesting transfer of ownership. Please be sure to specify the username of the person to whom you want to transfer the group.
- We will transfer the group over to the new owner and notify you when that’s complete. Transferring the group will retain all members and group information with the exception of billing. The new owner will need to reactivate the group by clicking Create Sponsored Group in the list of options under their username and then use the Reactivate group button once they’ve completed the billing information.
Is there a minimum number of members that a Sponsored Group must contain?
Evernote Sponsored Groups are intended for groups of 3 or more. Evernote will periodically review groups containing fewer than three members to make sure that Sponsored Groups are the best option. We understand that it may take some time to assemble your group.
Costs for Sponsoring Groups
How much do members in a group cost?
There is a sliding scale depending on how many individuals are in a group. Groups of 2 or fewer individuals are charged at $5 per individual per month. Groups of 3 through 99 individuals are charged $3.75 per month per individual. Groups of 100 or more are are charged $2.50 per individual per month. If you have a group of greater than 25 members and would like to discuss annual payment options, just submit the inquiry form and we’ll get in touch with you directly.
Can Evernote provide direct invoicing to my company or school?
Yes, Evernote can set up monthly invoicing for groups of 3 or more at your company or school. Please note: We are only able to offer invoicing to companies in the US and Canada at this time.
Does Evernote provide any discounts for educational institutions or non-profits?
Yes. We are very committed to both of these communities of users by making Evernote available at a significant discount to qualifying institutions. Sponsored groups paid for by qualifying educational and non-profit institutions are eligible for a 50% discount from the normal monthly Premium subscription price. Please check the appropriate box when entering payment information and we will apply discounted pricing, subject to verification.
Can I switch my group from credit card billing to invoice and vice versa?
Yes, the group owner can change the billing method. Log into your account on the Evernote web site and then click on your username in the upper right corner, then click the Sponsored Group Settings link in the list that appears. On the left hand side of the new page you’ll see a tab labeled Summary – in that page there’s a link to Cancel Sponsored Group. Click that link and then click OK on the warning dialog that comes up.
Open the list of options under your username again and choose Create Sponsored Group. You will then be able to enter new billing information and at the bottom of the page, click the Reactivate Group button. Your Sponsored Group will be reactivated with your membership and group customization settings intact.
Can I create a Sponsored Group and sell accounts to other people to build up my group?
Sponsored Group membership is limited to account holders for whom or which there is a pre-existing association, such as a school, business, affinity group or the like. Creating a group for the purpose of selling premium accounts is not permitted and we reserve the right to review group membership and terminate Sponsored Groups we determine to be incompatible with this policy.
Joining a Sponsored Group
What happens when I join a group?
When you join a Sponsored Group, you will become an Evernote Premium user and the cost for Premium will be billed to the group owner. Nothing else about your account changes. The group owner does not get access or ownership rights to your account or its contents, unless you enable that access (or we become legally compelled to share such contents, as described in our Terms of Service).
What if I had an Evernote Premium subscription prior to joining a Sponsored Group?
If you are Premium when you join a Sponsored Group, your Premium subscription will be paused. Whenever you leave the Sponsored Group, or sponsorship ends, the Premium subscription that you paid for will resume.
Does it cost me anything?
Nothing at all. The cost of your Evernote Premium subscription is paid for by the group owner.
What happens to my notes and notebooks? Can everyone in the group see them?
Definitely not! Your account and all of your notes and notebooks continue to be yours and yours alone. You may share selected notebooks with other Evernote users just as before, but there is no automatic sharing. Your memories are as safe and secure as ever.
What if I want to leave a group?
If you decide that you no longer want your Premium subscription sponsored by the group, log into your Evernote Web account. Click on your username in the upper right corner and choose Settings from the list of options. On the Account Summary tab you’ll see a Leave Group link next to Account Type. Click that to leave the group. As always, all of you Evernote notes and notebook will continue to be yours and yours alone – leaving a group does not affect your notebooks or notes in any way.
Site Licensing
How does site licensing work for groups?
For groups of 25 or more people, site licensing lets you set up a group with a fixed number of Premium “seats” and pay for the whole year of Premium at the beginning. Some important notes about site licensing:
- Once you confirm your request for a site license and create the group for it, we will generate an invoice based on the number of seats you request
- The number of members in your group will be capped based on the invoiced amount – once you hit that limit you can get in touch with us to add additional capacity to your group
- Just as with monthly group billing, a user who is a member of your group at any point in the month counts as a group member for the entire month
- Unused seats in your group are not refundable after the first month
Can I increase the size of my group later on?
Yes. We’ll bill you a pro-rated amount for the additional seats so that your group anniversary date stays consistent for the whole group.
Are there additional price breaks for site licensing?
Site license customers qualify for our highest level of volume discount at $30 per seat per year.
Does this mean I can run the Evernote service in my own data center or server room?
No – site licensing for Sponsored Groups is the same Evernote product and set of services with a different billing setup.
Why would I want to set up site licensing with Evernote?
Some people would prefer not to have monthly expenses to reconcile or invoices to pay; it also lets you take advantage of our 100+ group size discount with a smaller group size.
How do I get started?
Site licensing is pretty straightforward but we will need to confirm the size of your group prior to setup. Just submit the inquiry form and we’ll get in touch with you directly.
