Camp registrations, behind-the-scenes animal encounters, kayak tours on the garden pond, overnight sleepovers in the galleries: sooner or later, an event needs a signature. Usually it’s a liability waiver or a photo release, sometimes a parental consent for a minor. And the first thing most administrators discover is that the Altru event registration form has no obvious place to sign.
Here is the honest picture: as far as we know, Altru does not offer a native electronic signature field on event registration or web forms. We haven’t seen one in standard configurations, but Blackbaud updates the product, so confirm it for your own database before you build a workaround. Ask Blackbaud support directly, or look through the form options in a sandbox if you have one. Ask specifically about “signature capture,” not “agreements” or “terms,” because a checkbox and a signature are different things to a lawyer.
Assuming the answer is no, you still have workable options. Which one fits depends on what your legal counsel actually requires.
Start with the legal question, not the software question
Before choosing a method, get a clear answer from whoever advises your organization on risk: does this event need a drawn or typed signature, or is a documented acknowledgment enough? Many organizations find that a required “I have read and agree to the waiver” acknowledgment, with the full waiver text linked or displayed and a timestamped record of who agreed, satisfies their insurer. Others, especially for activities involving minors, animals, water, or physical exertion, need something closer to a true signed document.
That answer decides everything below. Don’t let the tool limitations quietly make the legal decision for you.
Option 1: An acknowledgment inside the registration itself
If an acknowledgment is acceptable, the cleanest approach is to capture it during registration so it lives with the registrant’s record. Depending on how your event and web forms are set up, you may be able to add a required question or checkbox to the registration. Test this in a sandbox first: check that the answer is actually stored, that you can pull it back out with a query, and that it’s tied to the right person when one buyer registers several attendees.
Things to get right:
- Show the actual waiver text. Link to a versioned PDF or put the language on the page. “I agree to the terms” with no terms visible is weak.
- Version your waiver. Put a version or date in the document name, and note which version was live for each event. When the language changes next year, you’ll want to know who agreed to which version.
- Watch out for group registrations. One parent buying for three children is one checkbox from one adult. Make sure your wording covers “on behalf of myself and the participants I am registering.”
Option 2: A separate e-signature step after registration
When counsel wants a real signature, most organizations send registrants to a dedicated e-signature or online forms tool after they register. Plenty of general-purpose services handle signed waivers, and many nonprofits already have one licensed for HR or volunteer paperwork.
The weak point is the connection back to Altru. These tools generally don’t know who your constituents are, so you need a way to match them up:
- Include the registrant’s name, email, and event in the signature form, ideally prefilled from the confirmation email link so people can’t mistype them.
- When a waiver comes back signed, record it on the constituent in Altru. An attribute such as “Waiver signed” with a date, plus a note or attachment pointing to the signed document, works well because you can query on it.
- A few days before the event, run a query of registrants who don’t have a current waiver attribute, and follow up by email or phone.
The manual step in the middle (recording the signature in Altru) is where things slip. Assign it to one person, and set a deadline before the event, not at the door.
Option 3: Paper or tablet signing at check-in
For small events, or as a backstop for options 1 and 2, signing on arrival still works. Print a roster from Altru with a signature line beside each registrant, or set up a tablet running your e-signature tool at the check-in table. Paper is fast and familiar. The cost is filing and retention: someone has to scan or store the sheets, and you need to know where they are years from now if an incident is ever questioned.
If you go this way, still mark the constituent record afterward. Otherwise next year’s staff will have no idea who signed what.
A setup that holds up over time
Whichever method you pick, the organizations that handle this well tend to share a few habits:
- One place to answer “did they sign?” That should be Altru, through an attribute or a consistently named note, even if the signed document itself lives elsewhere.
- A retention rule. Decide how long signed waivers are kept and where. Waivers for minors often need to be kept longer, so check with counsel.
- A recurring-participant plan. For members or families who come to multiple programs, decide whether one annual waiver covers everything or each event needs its own. Annual waivers cut friction considerably, but only if your attribute carries an expiration date you actually check.
- A no-signature, no-participation rule that front-line staff know and are backed up on.
Quick answers
Can I just put waiver language in the event description?
You can, but on its own it doesn’t record that anyone read or agreed to it. Pair it with a required acknowledgment or a separate signature.
Do I need a signature for each attendee or just the buyer?
That’s a legal question for your organization. Adults usually sign for themselves, and a parent or guardian signs for minors. If one buyer registers several adults, a single acknowledgment may not cover the others.
Is an attribute enough proof?
An attribute tells staff who signed. The proof is the signed document or the acknowledgment record itself, so keep that somewhere retrievable and reference it from the constituent.
