A donation form with an empty “Promo code” box sends a strange message. Donors wonder if they’re missing a deal, some leave to search for a code, and a few email you to ask for one. The same goes for a membership renewal form where you never offer discounts, or a members-only reservation form where pricing is already set. The box belongs on your general admission ticket form, but not everywhere.
The trouble is that in Altru the discount or promotion code entry tends to come with the web form type, not with a per-form choice. Below is how to think about it, what you can try, and where the limits are.
First, decide what you actually need
“Hide the field” can mean two very different things, and the fix depends on which one you mean:
- A cleaner page. Nobody is abusing codes; you just don’t want the box showing up where it makes no sense. This is a presentation problem.
- Stopping codes from working on that form. Someone shared a ticket code on a deals site and it’s being used on memberships, or staff codes are leaking to the public. This is a pricing and permissions problem.
Hiding a field visually does nothing for the second case. Anyone who has the code and knows how to use a different form, or how to reveal a hidden element in their browser, can still try it. Keep that in mind before you treat a cosmetic fix as a control.
Check whether Altru gives you a per-form setting
Start by looking at the form itself. Open the web form you want to change and go through its configuration and display options carefully. Depending on the form type and how your site was set up, there may be options that affect what appears on the page. If you find a setting that controls the discount or promo entry for that form, you’re done.
If you don’t see one, don’t assume it’s hidden somewhere you missed. Ask Blackbaud support directly whether the promotion code entry can be turned off for a single form of that type, and test any answer you get in a sandbox or on a test form before changing a live one. In many setups there is no per-form switch, which is why people end up with the workarounds below.
Workaround 1: hide it with CSS (presentation only)
If your Altru web forms load a custom stylesheet, a CSS rule can hide the promo code area. The catch is targeting just one form. A rule that hides the field by its class or ID will usually hide it on every form that shares the stylesheet. To limit it, you need something unique to the page you’re changing, such as a wrapper class or ID that only exists on that form or the page that embeds it.
Practical tips if you go this way:
- Inspect the live form in your browser’s developer tools to find the element that wraps the promo code label and input. Don’t guess the selector.
- Scope the rule as narrowly as you can, and test every other form afterward to make sure the box still appears where you want it.
- Write down what you added and why. Altru updates can change form markup, and a selector that worked last season can quietly stop matching, so the box reappears and nobody remembers why it used to be gone.
- Recheck the form after each Altru update, on desktop and on a phone.
Again: this only removes the clutter. The field still exists in the page.
Workaround 2: restrict the discount, not the form
If the real concern is codes being used where they shouldn’t be, the fix belongs on the discount side. Review how each discount is set up in Altru and narrow it to the sales channels, items, or programs it was meant for, using whatever limits your version supports. Retire old codes that are still active, and avoid generic, guessable codes like a season name plus the year.
A query on recent revenue that used a discount, broken out by form or item, will tell you quickly whether codes are actually being applied in places you didn’t intend. If they aren’t, you probably only need the cosmetic fix.
Workaround 3: don’t use codes for that audience at all
For many groups, a code is the wrong tool. Members, school groups, and partner organizations are often better served by a separate form or link where the right price is already in place, so nobody has to type anything. Fewer codes in circulation means fewer leaks, and the public form can carry the promo box without confusing anyone.
When it’s worth stepping outside the standard web form
Some organizations get to the point where they’re stacking CSS tweaks on several forms just to control what visitors see at checkout. That’s usually a sign the standard web form layout is fighting what you want to show. Social Good’s Checkouts replaces Altru web forms for tickets, memberships, and donations with a branded, mobile-friendly checkout that writes the data back to Altru. If promo codes are one of several layout frustrations, it’s worth asking us how they would be handled for the specific forms you have in mind.
Quick answers
Does hiding the promo code box stop people from using codes?
No. It only changes what’s displayed. Limit or retire the discount itself if misuse is the concern.
Will a CSS fix survive Altru updates?
Not reliably. Form markup can change, so keep a note of the rule and recheck the form after updates.
