Answers.Body: <p>Welcome!</p>
  <p>It's a little hard to answer your question with just the info you gave and no screenshots, but I'll try my best.</p>
  <p>When I go to <strong>Memberships » New Membership</strong>, this is the screen I see:
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/rKsdM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/rKsdM.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>Note that the <strong>Member</strong> field allows me to either type in the name of an existing contact, or I can press <strong>New Organization</strong> (or Individual or Household) to create the contact on the fly.</p>
  <p>To help us help you, it would be good to share the exact text of the error message and not a paraphrase.  Also, it's helpful to edit your original question so other folks see the whole issue at once.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-05-12T18:21:39.047Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2022-05-12T18:21:39.047Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Body: <p>What is the proper way to enter a new member (that is also a new company in the database).  I tried to do this via &quot;memberships&quot; &quot;new member&quot; and it did not seem correct and gave me an error message about missing a membership ID.  Is it necessary to add a new organization via &quot;contact&quot; first?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-05-13T09:30:17.543Z
Comments.Text: Welcome to SE! Just checking on terminology here ... Some organizations think of 'members' as being anyone on their mailing list or attending meetings etc but that usage does not need to involve CiviMember.  'Members' in Civi are (usually) time-limited and (often) paid - eg £10/year .  So, if you describe what membership means to you we can guide you better.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Aidan
Tags: <civimember><contacts><organization>
Title: New Member entry in Civi
ThreadText: # New Member entry in Civi
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-12)
  
  What is the proper way to enter a new member (that is also a new company in the database). I tried to do this via "memberships" "new member" and it did not seem correct and gave me an error message about missing a membership ID. Is it necessary to add a new organization via "contact" first?
  
  **Tags:** civimember, contacts, organization
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Welcome to SE! Just checking on terminology here ... Some organizations think of 'members' as being anyone on their mailing list or attending meetings etc but that usage does not need to involve CiviMember.  'Members' in Civi are (usually) time-limited and (often) paid - eg £10/year .  So, if you describe what membership means to you we can guide you better.  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2022-05-12. Score: 1
  
  Welcome!
  
  It's a little hard to answer your question with just the info you gave and no screenshots, but I'll try my best.
  
  When I go to **Memberships » New Membership**, this is the screen I see:
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/rKsdM.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/rKsdM.png)
  
  Note that the **Member** field allows me to either type in the name of an existing contact, or I can press **New Organization** (or Individual or Household) to create the contact on the fly.
  
  To help us help you, it would be good to share the exact text of the error message and not a paraphrase. Also, it's helpful to edit your original question so other folks see the whole issue at once.
  
  
  ---
  
  