A dual membership is sold to two adults. They might be married. They might also be roommates, a grandparent and an adult grandchild, two friends, or a parent and a nanny who brings the kids on Tuesdays. When the form or the front-desk screen calls the second person “Spouse,” some of those people feel misread, and staff end up typing a roommate’s name into a field that says otherwise.
So the natural question is whether you can just rename “Spouse” to something like “2nd Member” or “Additional Adult” in Altru. The short answer: probably not everywhere, and you should be careful even where you can. The better approach is to separate the two jobs that label is doing.
“Spouse” is doing two jobs
In Altru, the spouse concept lives on the constituent record as a relationship between two people. That relationship feeds other things: how households are formed, how joint names and addressees are built, and how the pair appears in letters, acknowledgments, and reports. It is relationship data, not just a caption.
Membership is a different idea. A membership level can allow more than one member, and the people on that membership don’t have to be related at all. When staff reach for the spouse field to record a second cardholder, they’re mixing up “who is on this membership” with “who is this person married to.” That’s the root of the wording problem, and renaming a label wouldn’t fix it.
Can the label itself be changed?
Altru is hosted software, and most of the field labels on its standard screens are not something an organization can rename. We aren’t aware of a setting that changes “Spouse” to custom wording across the application. Because that can vary by area and change over time, confirm it before planning around it: ask Blackbaud support directly, and check the customization options for any specific form you care about.
Even if you could rename it, think twice. If “Spouse” became “2nd Member” while still driving joint salutations and household logic, you could end up with mailings addressed to two unrelated people as a couple, or households that merge a member with their roommate’s giving history. A cosmetic change on top of the wrong data model tends to cause quieter problems later.
What to do instead
1. Record second adults as members, not spouses
For dual or family levels, add the second adult to the membership as an additional member. Create a constituent record for them if needed, and only add a spouse relationship when the two people are actually spouses. This keeps membership rosters accurate without making claims about anyone’s personal life.
2. Use relationship types that fit
When you do want to record how two people are connected, look at the relationship types available in your configuration. Many organizations add neutral options such as partner, household member, or friend through the relevant code tables. Test how each type behaves with households and name formats in a sandbox or on test records before staff start using it.
3. Control the wording you can control
Members rarely see Altru’s internal screens. They see your web forms, your cards, your emails, and your printed letters. Focus there:
- Online membership forms: review the captions and help text on your membership web forms and use “Second adult” or “Additional member” wherever the form design lets you edit text. If a caption can’t be changed, add a short instruction near it.
- Letters and acknowledgments: check the name formats and salutations your templates use so a dual membership for two friends doesn’t print as a couple.
- Queries and exports: rename output columns to “Member 2” or similar, so anything that leaves Altru (mail files, card printing lists, spreadsheets) uses your language.
- Membership level descriptions: describe dual levels as “two adults” rather than “you and your spouse” on your website and price signs.
4. Give staff a one-line rule
Desk staff will follow whatever the screen suggests unless you tell them otherwise. Something like: “Second adult on a membership goes on the membership. Spouse relationship only if they tell you they’re married.” Put it in your training notes and at the register.
5. Clean up what’s already there
If your team has been using the spouse field as a stand-in for years, run a query of memberships where the second member is linked only by a spouse relationship. Spot-check a sample. You’ll likely find a mix of real spouses and people who were never married to each other. Decide on a policy before editing anything, and fix records in batches with a note on each so the change is understandable later.
A note on sensitivity
This isn’t only about tidy data. Assuming two adults are married can land badly with same-sex couples who prefer other terms, divorced co-parents sharing a family membership, and caregivers. Neutral wording on anything a member sees costs nothing and avoids an awkward moment at the door or in the mailbox.
Quick answers
Is there a global setting to rename “Spouse” in Altru?
Not that we know of. Confirm with Blackbaud support for your environment, but plan on changing the member-facing wording and your data practices rather than the internal label.
Will removing incorrect spouse relationships break anything?
It can change households, joint names, and how giving rolls up for those constituents. Try it on a few test records first and check the results before doing it in bulk.
