Two days before a donor dinner, someone prints the registrant list to check names at the door. The hosts are in order, but under each one the guests come out in whatever order they were entered. Under one host you get “Zimmerman, Abbott, Lee.” Under another you get two rows that just say “Guest of Patel.” It looks fine until a volunteer has to find someone fast.
This article covers why that happens with event guests in Altru, what to check before you go looking for workarounds, and three practical ways to get a host-then-guest list sorted alphabetically at both levels.
Why guests don’t sort the way you expect
In Altru, an event registration is built around a host (the registrant) with guests attached to that registration. On-screen registrant lists and many standard outputs group guests under their host, which is helpful. In our experience, though, the order inside each group usually follows how the guests were added, not their last names. Unnamed guests (“Guest of” placeholders) add to the mess because there is no name to sort on.
We have not found a reliable setting that changes the sort order of guests within a host on the standard event screens. Altru changes over time, so before you build anything, confirm this for your own version: open a test event in your sandbox, add a host with three guests out of alphabetical order, and see what the registrant list and your usual event reports do. If you’re still unsure, Blackbaud support can tell you whether a sort option exists on the specific list or report your team uses.
Clean up the data first
No sort will help if the records underneath are inconsistent. Before an event, spend ten minutes on these:
- Name unnamed guests. When a host tells you who they’re bringing, replace the placeholder with a real constituent (search first so you don’t create a duplicate). Anyone left unnamed will sort as a block, not by name.
- Check last-name fields. Guests entered quickly at the desk sometimes end up with the full name in one field. They’ll sort in the wrong place.
- Decide how couples appear. If a household registers together, agree whether the spouse is a second registrant or a guest of the first. Mixing the two breaks any grouping you build later.
Option 1: An event registrant query with two sort levels
This is the approach we’d reach for first, because you can reuse it for every event.
- Create an ad-hoc query based on event registrants (the exact source name varies, so look for the one that includes registrants and their host or “guest of” relationship).
- Filter on the event name, and add a prompt on the filter if you want to reuse it for other events.
- Output the host’s last and first name, the guest’s last and first name, and anything your door staff need (table number, meal choice, attended status).
- Sort by host last name, then host first name, then guest last name, then guest first name.
For the host’s own row, the “host” fields and the “guest” fields may point to the same person or the host fields may be blank, depending on how the query source is designed. Run it against your test event and look at a few rows before trusting it. If hosts appear in the wrong spot, add a column that marks whether the row is a host or a guest and sort on that between the host name and the guest name, so each host lands first in their group.
Option 2: Export and sort in a spreadsheet
If you only need this for one event, export the query (or an existing registrant list) to Excel or Google Sheets and use a multi-level sort: host last name, host first name, a host/guest flag, then guest last name. It takes a few minutes and you can format it for printing however you like.
The drawback is that the file is a snapshot. Anyone who registers after you export won’t appear, so re-export the morning of the event and throw the old copy away.
Option 3: Adjust a report, if your team edits reports
Some organizations have a custom name-badge or check-in report built in-house or by a consultant. If yours does, the grouping and sort order live in the report design, and whoever maintains it can usually add a secondary sort on guest last name inside the host group. Treat this as a change to test in your sandbox first, since a sort change can also shift page breaks and badge layouts.
Which one to use
- Frequent events with door check-in: build the query once (Option 1) and save it with a prompt for the event.
- An occasional gala or lecture: export and sort (Option 2).
- Printed badges or place cards: fix the sort in the report itself (Option 3), so the output matches the check-in list.
Quick answers
Can I sort guests alphabetically on the event’s registrant screen?
We haven’t found a dependable way to do it on the standard screen. Test in your sandbox, and ask Blackbaud support if a sort option exists for the list you use.
Why do some guests show only as “Guest of” a host?
They were added as unnamed guests. Replace them with real constituents when you get names, or they’ll stay grouped without a name to sort on.
