Every November the calls start: “Can I buy my niece a spot in the spring nature camp as a holiday present?” or “My dad would love the behind-the-scenes tour, but I don’t know which date he can do.” It’s a great sale to make. The trouble is that a scheduled program in Altru is built around a specific date and time, and a gift usually comes with neither a date nor the recipient’s contact details.
As far as we know, Altru does not offer a dedicated “buy this program as a gift” option the way it does for gift memberships. If you’re not certain how your version behaves, test it in a sandbox or ask Blackbaud support before you promise anything publicly. In the meantime, there are three workable approaches. Which one fits depends on whether the giver knows the date.
First, decide which kind of gift you’re selling
Gift program purchases fall into two groups, and they need different handling:
- Date known. The giver already knows the recipient is free on the Saturday camp session or the June 14 tour. This is really an ordinary sale with a different person attending.
- Date unknown. The giver wants to hand over “a tour” and let the recipient choose. This is the hard case, because a scheduled program ticket can’t exist without a time slot.
Write down which case you’ll support online and which you’ll handle only by phone. Many organizations sell date-known gifts on the web and route date-unknown gifts through the box office.
Option 1: Sell the real ticket and record who’s attending
When the date is known, sell the program ticket to the giver as usual. The giver stays the buyer on the order, which keeps revenue and receipts attached to the person who paid. Then capture the attendee:
- Note the recipient’s name (and email, if you have it) on the order. If your program uses registrant or attendee details, add the recipient there so rosters and check-in lists show the right person.
- Decide who gets the eTicket. Most givers want it sent to themselves so they can print it or forward it with a card. Confirm before you change any email settings.
- Agree on an exchange policy. Gift recipients reschedule more often than ordinary buyers, so tell desk staff how far ahead an exchange is allowed and whether there’s a fee.
This is the cleanest option because nothing is left open. The ticket counts against capacity, reports correctly, and scans at the door like any other ticket.
Option 2: Sell a gift voucher that’s redeemed for a program later
When the date is unknown, sell something that isn’t a scheduled ticket: a gift certificate, a stored-value credit, or a non-scheduled item set up for this purpose. Exactly what you can use depends on how your Altru environment is configured, so check with whoever manages your sales setup. Whatever tool you use, settle these details first:
- What it’s worth. A dollar amount works for any program and survives price changes. A voucher for one specific program is easier for givers to understand, but it breaks if that program is retired or the price goes up.
- How it’s redeemed. The recipient calls or visits, picks a session, and staff apply the voucher as payment. Give the voucher a code or ID that staff can actually look up.
- Expiration and state rules. Gift certificate expiration and unclaimed-value rules vary by state. Ask your finance office or auditor before you print “valid for one year.”
- Revenue timing. The money is received when the voucher sells but earned when the program happens. Make sure your GL mapping and finance team agree on how that’s booked.
The trade-off is staff time. Every voucher becomes a phone call or a desk visit later, and capacity isn’t held, so a recipient may find the session they wanted is already sold out. Say that plainly on the gift page.
Option 3: Point gift buyers to a gift membership
Sometimes the giver doesn’t really care about the program. They want to give the place. If members get program discounts or priority registration, a gift membership may be the better present, and Altru handles gift memberships natively. Train staff to suggest it when the giver is unsure. It’s an easy redirect and often a larger sale.
Make the gift option findable online
Whichever approach you choose, givers need to know it exists. A few small things help:
- Add a “Buying as a gift?” line to each program page that explains the choices and links to the voucher or phone line.
- Add an optional field to the purchase for the recipient’s name and a gift message, if your web form allows it. If it doesn’t, ask buyers to include the name in an existing comments field.
- Build a query of program orders with a recipient note so staff can call recipients ahead of the session, confirm attendance, and catch no-shows before they happen.
Where Social Good fits
The policy decisions above are yours, and Options 1 and 3 work with plain Altru. If your bigger issue is that the online program purchase itself is clunky, especially on a phone during holiday shopping, our Checkouts product replaces Altru web forms with a branded, mobile-friendly checkout for tickets, memberships, and donations, with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the data writes back to Altru.
Quick answers
Can the recipient pick their own date online?
Not with a standard scheduled ticket, which needs a time slot when it’s sold. Use a voucher that staff redeem, or have the giver choose a date and allow exchanges.
Who should the buyer be on the record?
The person who paid. Keep the recipient in notes or attendee details so giving history and receipts stay accurate.
