A family registers four people for a Saturday camp session or a guided program. They show up with six. At check-in, someone at the desk adds two more names to the party “just to get them in the system,” and now your roster, your capacity count, and your revenue no longer agree. Nobody paid for those two spots, and the program leader has more kids than the ratio allows.
This is less a software bug than a gap between what the check-in screen lets staff do and what your policy says they should do. Below is how to think about it, what to check in Altru, and the controls that actually hold up when a line is forming.
Why names get added at check-in
For preregistered programs, the check-in step exists to confirm who arrived. In practice it also becomes the place where problems get solved, because it’s the screen staff have open when a guest is standing in front of them. The common reasons extra names appear:
- Substitutions. A registered child is sick and a sibling comes instead. Staff add the sibling rather than swap the name.
- Walk-up add-ons. A parent asks if a friend can join. The desk adds a name and plans to “sort out payment later.”
- Data cleanup on the fly. The original registration only had the buyer’s name, so staff type in the real attendees and accidentally increase the count instead of replacing placeholders.
- No clear owner. Seasonal or volunteer staff don’t know whether adding someone is allowed, so they default to being helpful.
Each of these is reasonable in the moment. The trouble is that every added name bypasses the sale, the capacity check, and any waivers or forms you collect at registration.
Is there a setting that locks party size?
Be careful here. We aren’t aware of a single, documented Altru switch that freezes the number of names on a preregistered party at check-in, and behavior can differ depending on how your programs, price types, and registrant information are set up. Before you build a process around an assumption, confirm it:
- In a sandbox or test program, create a registration for a set number of people, then try to add a name during check-in using an account with the same security role your desk staff use.
- Repeat with an administrator account. If the admin can add names but the desk role can’t, you’ve found your lever.
- If both can, ask Blackbaud support directly whether adding registrants at check-in can be restricted, and whether it is tied to capacity or price type settings in your version.
Whatever the answer, don’t rely on the screen alone. The controls below work either way.
Controls that work
1. Tighten security roles
Altru’s system roles determine which tasks and features each user can reach. Review the role your front-line staff use for program check-in and compare it with what they actually need. If the ability to edit registrations or registrants can be separated from simply marking people as arrived, give check-in staff only the second. Keep editing rights with a supervisor or your programs coordinator. Test any role change with a real desk login before the next session, since removing too much can stop check-in entirely.
2. Make every addition a sale
Write a simple rule: a new person is a new registration. If someone wasn’t registered, staff process a sale for that person first, through daily sales or whatever path you use for same-day program registrations, and only then check them in. That keeps capacity honest and puts the revenue where it belongs. If the program is full, the answer is no, or a waitlist, not a squeezed-in name.
3. Handle substitutions as swaps, not additions
Substitutions are legitimate and you probably want to allow them. Decide who can make them (a supervisor, not every cashier) and how: the original name is replaced, not supplemented. If your setup doesn’t make replacing a name easy, have staff note the substitution and route it to the coordinator to fix after the session, rather than adding a second name to the party.
4. Fix placeholder names at registration, not at the door
Many “extra name” problems start with registrations that only captured the purchaser. If attendee names matter for the program, require them during registration, online and at the desk. When the roster is complete before the day, staff have far less reason to type anything at check-in.
5. Give staff a printed or on-screen roster
A roster with each registered attendee and the party size gives staff something to point to. “I have four names for this registration” is easier to say than an improvised refusal. Pull it from a query on the program and session so it’s always current.
Catch it after the fact
Even with good rules, some additions will slip through. A short audit closes the loop:
- Build a query on program registrations for recent sessions that shows the original number purchased alongside the number of attendees or names recorded. Anywhere the second number is higher deserves a look.
- Include the user who last changed the registration, if that field is available to you. Patterns by user tell you who needs a refresher, not who to blame.
- Review it weekly during busy program seasons and monthly otherwise. If the list keeps shrinking, your controls are working.
For additions that turn out to be unpaid, decide on a consistent response before you find them: invoice the family, absorb it as a one-time courtesy, or note it on the constituent record for next time. Consistency matters more than the specific choice.
Tell families up front
Your registration confirmation is the cheapest control you have. One plain line, such as “Only registered participants can be checked in; please contact us before the program for substitutions or additional spots,” moves most of these conversations to before the day, when someone has time to handle them properly.
Quick answers
Should check-in staff ever add a name?
Only through an approved path: a paid registration for a new person, or a supervisor-approved substitution. Otherwise, no.
What if the program has open spots?
Sell the spot. An open seat is still revenue and still counts toward ratios and any required forms.
Do these rules slow down check-in?
Slightly, for the few parties that don’t match. For everyone else, a clean roster makes check-in faster.
