You’re setting up the spring gala, a members’ preview night, or a behind-the-scenes tour. The guest list is the easy part. What you really need is a meal choice, a dietary note, the name of each guest in the party, whether someone uses a wheelchair, or which session they want to attend. Then you open the special event web form in Altru and find it collects payment and contact details, but there’s no obvious place for a free-text question or a comments box.
This is one of the more common gaps people hit with Altru events. Below is what’s realistic to do inside Altru, the workarounds that hold up in practice, and the trade-offs of each.
Start by checking what your version actually offers
Altru’s special event setup has more to it than the web form shows at first glance: registration options (the price levels or registrant types), event capacity, and the registrant and constituent records behind each sign-up. What it does not reliably give you, in our experience, is a simple “add a question” control on the public event web form where you type a prompt and get a text answer back.
Because Blackbaud updates Altru over time, don’t take that as the final word. Before you build a workaround, do two things:
- Test in a sandbox or on a throwaway event. Create a test event, build its web form, and look at every editable section. Submit a test registration and see what lands on the registrant and constituent records.
- Ask Blackbaud support directly whether your version supports custom registration fields or comments on event web forms. Ask specifically where the answers would be stored and whether you can query them, because a field you can’t report on doesn’t help your caterer.
Workarounds that work inside Altru
1. Turn the question into registration options
If the answer comes from a short, fixed list, build it into the registration options themselves. Instead of one “Gala ticket” option, create “Gala ticket – Beef,” “Gala ticket – Fish,” and “Gala ticket – Vegetarian” at the same price. The choice is captured with the registration, it shows up in event reports and queries, and nobody has to retype anything.
This is the cleanest option for meal choices and session selection. It breaks down quickly if you have more than one question, because the combinations multiply (three meals times two sessions is already six options), and it can’t handle anything free-form like allergies or guest names.
2. Use the form’s existing fields carefully
Some teams repurpose an existing optional field on the form for a short answer. It’s tempting, but it puts event data onto the constituent record, where it can overwrite real information or confuse the next person who looks at the record. If you go this route, test exactly where the value is saved and make sure it won’t land somewhere important, like an address line.
3. Collect the answers after registration
Often the most practical approach: let Altru handle the registration and payment, then send registrants a short follow-up form (any form tool your organization already uses) asking the details you need. Include the registrant’s name and email on the form so you can match responses back.
The cost is a second step for guests and a matching job for staff. Expect some people not to answer. Set a deadline, send one reminder, and decide in advance what happens for non-responders (for example, they get the default meal).
4. Record the answers where you can report on them
However you gather the answers, store them somewhere queryable rather than in a spreadsheet that only one person has. Common choices are a constituent attribute (good for things that stay true, like a dietary restriction or accessibility need) or a note on the record (better for one-time details tied to this event; check whether your version lets you note the event registrant itself or only the constituent). Attributes are easier to pull into queries and lists; notes are better for context. Pick one per type of answer and stick with it so your reports stay reliable.
Handling guests in a party
Guest names are the hardest piece. When one person buys four seats, you may need four names for name badges or a seating chart. Check whether your event setup lets the purchaser add guests as registrants. If it doesn’t on the web form, the follow-up form approach above is usually the fastest fix: ask the purchaser for each guest’s name and meal in one place, then add them as registrants before the event.
Deciding which approach to use
- One question with a few fixed answers: registration options.
- Several questions, or free-text answers: follow-up form, then attributes or notes.
- Details that matter beyond this event (accessibility, allergies): constituent attributes, so the next event already knows.
- Small, invitation-only events: a phone call or personal email may honestly be less work than any form.
When the web form itself is the problem
If the event form’s layout, mobile experience, or limited fields keep forcing workarounds, it may be worth looking at a different front end for your registrations. Social Good’s Checkouts replaces Altru webforms with a branded, mobile-friendly checkout for tickets, memberships, and donations, and the data writes back to Altru. If custom registration questions are a must for you, ask us specifically how they would be handled for your events before deciding.
Quick answers
Can I add a comments box to an Altru event web form?
Not as a simple built-in control in the setups we’ve seen. Confirm against your current version in a sandbox or with Blackbaud support, and use a follow-up form in the meantime.
What’s the fastest way to collect meal choices?
Create one registration option per meal at the same price. It’s captured automatically and shows up in event reporting.
