A “20% off for lapsed members” campaign sounds simple until a current member hears about it at the front desk and asks for the same deal, and the cashier gives it to them. Or a promotion built for one level ends up applied to a different one. Membership promotions in Altru are good at controlling what the discount is and when it runs. They are much weaker at controlling who gets it.
This guide explains where that gap is, which controls you can actually rely on, and how to cover the rest with process and a bit of reporting.
What a promotion can and can’t check
When you set up a membership promotion, the controls generally describe the offer itself: the discount amount, the dates it’s valid, which membership program or levels it applies to, and whether it applies automatically or needs a code. Those are rules about the transaction.
Eligibility usually depends on facts about the person: are they a first-time member, did their membership lapse more than a year ago, are they in a specific segment you mailed. As far as we know, Altru doesn’t evaluate a promotion against the constituent’s history at the moment of sale. If you need it to, confirm with Blackbaud support or test it in a sandbox before you build a campaign around that assumption.
Daily sales adds a second wrinkle. A staff member at the register is the one choosing to apply a promotion, and how tightly a promotion is tied to its intended levels in that screen can differ from what you’d expect from the setup. Before launch, ring up a test sale in daily sales for a level the promotion shouldn’t apply to and see what happens. Then do the same on your web form. Treat what you observe as the real rule.
Controls you can rely on
Scope the promotion as narrowly as Altru allows
Limit it to the exact program and levels the offer is for, and give it a tight date range. A promotion that ends on a specific date is far easier to keep in its lane than one that runs until someone remembers to turn it off.
Require a code, and only give the code to eligible people
This is the most dependable way to restrict eligibility. Build a query that selects the people who qualify (for example, constituents whose most recent membership expired in a certain window and who have no active membership), export that list, and send the code only to them. The eligibility check happens when you build the list, not at checkout. Avoid codes that are easy to guess or that you also post publicly.
Use a separate price or level for truly restricted offers
For offers that must never leak, such as an employee or corporate-partner rate, some organizations skip promotions and create a dedicated level or price that’s only available on a specific form or to specific staff. It’s more setup, but it removes the “can I get that discount too?” problem because the general public never sees the option.
Limit who can apply discounts at the register
Review the security roles for your front-line staff. If your configuration allows it, reserve manual promotions and discounts for leads or supervisors. Confirm what your version of Altru supports for this with your admin settings or Blackbaud support rather than assuming.
The process side
Because the system won’t catch everything, write a short rule for staff that answers three questions:
- Who qualifies? One sentence, in plain language. “Members whose membership ended before January 1 of this year.”
- How do I check? For example, look up the constituent and confirm there’s no active membership and the last expiration date is before the cutoff.
- What do I say if they don’t qualify? Give staff a polite script and, ideally, something else they can offer, such as the standard renewal or an add-on.
Post it at the register for the length of the campaign and go over it at the start of shifts. Seasonal and part-time staff are the ones most likely to apply a promotion to whoever asks, and that’s usually because nobody told them otherwise.
Audit after the fact
Since enforcement at the point of sale is partial, plan to check usage while the campaign is running. A membership query that pulls transactions using the promotion, along with the member’s previous expiration date and membership status before the sale, will show you who received it and whether they fit the rule. Run it weekly while the promotion is live, not just at the end.
When you find people who didn’t qualify, decide how to handle it before you look at names. Many teams honor the price once it’s been given and use the misses to coach staff or tighten the setup. Reversing a discount after the fact rarely goes over well.
A quick pre-launch checklist
- Promotion is limited to the right program, levels, and dates.
- A code is required, unless the offer really is for everyone who buys that level.
- The eligibility query is saved, and the code goes only to that list.
- You’ve run a test sale in daily sales and on the web form for a level that shouldn’t qualify.
- Staff have the one-sentence rule, the lookup steps, and the decline script.
- A weekly usage query is scheduled for whoever owns the campaign.
Quick answers
Can Altru limit a promotion to first-time members automatically?
Not that we’ve been able to confirm. The reliable approach is to find first-time prospects with a query and send them a code, then audit usage.
Why did a promotion get applied to the wrong level at the desk?
Usually it comes down to how the promotion was scoped, or to a staff member applying it by hand. Test it in daily sales before launch, and limit manual discounts to trained staff where your security settings allow.
