An e-ticket gets more attention than almost anything else you send. Guests open it in the parking lot, hand their phone to a scanner, and screenshot it for the rest of the family. Yet many Altru e-tickets still look like the default: a logo, a barcode, a block of merge fields, and very little that tells the visitor what to do next.
A fair amount can be improved inside Altru. Some things people want from an e-ticket, though, are hard or impossible to get from the built-in templates. This guide covers both, so you can decide where to spend your time.
What you can usually change in Altru’s e-ticket templates
Altru lets you set up e-ticket templates that are filled in from the sales transaction. Exact options depend on your version and configuration, but administrators generally work with:
- Branding basics. Your logo, header text, colors where the editor allows them, and footer contact details.
- Merge fields. Program or event name, date and time, ticket type, price type, order or transaction details, and the guest’s name.
- The barcode. The scannable element your front gate depends on.
- Static text. Admission policies, refund terms, hours, address, and a general “before you visit” note.
If you have several templates available, use them. A timed-entry general admission ticket, a special exhibition ticket, and a group visit confirmation often need different instructions. Assigning the right template to the right program is one of the simplest upgrades you can make, and it costs nothing but setup time.
Where the built-in templates tend to fall short
These are the gaps administrators run into most often. If you are not sure whether your Altru setup supports one of them, test it in a sandbox or ask Blackbaud support before you promise anything to your marketing team.
Conditional content
You may want parking directions only for evening events, a waiver link only for a behind-the-scenes tour, or a members-only message when the buyer is a member. Templates that work mostly from fixed text and merge fields don’t handle “show this block only when” logic well. The usual workaround is more templates, which gets hard to maintain quickly.
Layout on phones
Older-style HTML in an e-ticket can render poorly on mobile mail apps: tiny text, a barcode that has to be zoomed, or a layout that scrolls sideways. If you edit the HTML yourself, keep it to a single column, set a reasonable max width, and make sure the barcode is large enough to scan from a phone screen at arm’s length.
Multiple tickets in one order
A family buying five tickets may get one long email or several separate ones, depending on how your templates and delivery are set up. Neither is wrong, but check what your gate staff expect. If the scanner needs each barcode, guests should not have to dig for ticket four of five.
Anything beyond the ticket itself
Add-to-calendar links, wallet passes, upsell offers, a pre-visit reminder the day before, a thank-you after the visit: these are things people often want “on the e-ticket,” but they really belong to a broader email program. Altru’s e-ticket templates aren’t designed to be a marketing email tool, and forcing them into that role usually means fragile HTML.
Printed tickets
Print layouts are a separate concern from the email template, and options are more limited by your ticket printer and stock. Treat them as their own project, and don’t assume a change to the e-ticket carries over.
A sensible order of work
- Collect real complaints. Ask front-of-house staff what guests ask at the gate. “Where do I park?” and “Which entrance?” are content problems you can fix in the template today.
- Rewrite the static text. Lead with date, time, and entry instructions. Move refund policy and fine print to the bottom.
- Split templates by experience, not by every program. Three or four well-maintained templates beat fifteen that drift out of date.
- Test before you publish. Send test orders to Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail accounts, open them on a phone, and scan the barcode with the same devices your gate uses.
- Keep a copy of every version. Save the HTML outside Altru before each change so you can roll back quickly if something breaks.
Protect the barcode above everything else
Design changes are worth nothing if tickets stop scanning. Don’t resize the barcode merge field into something blurry, don’t place it on a colored background, and don’t wrap it in an image or link that some mail clients block. After any template edit, scan a live test ticket at the gate before the change goes out to the public.
When to move beyond the template
If your wish list is mostly better wording, cleaner layout, and per-experience instructions, the built-in templates are probably enough. If it includes conditional sections, consistent mobile design, reminders before the visit, or follow-ups afterward, you are describing an email program built on top of Altru data rather than a ticket template.
That is the gap Social Good’s Email Designer covers: it sends automated, branded emails, including eTickets, from Altru queries without manual exports, while Altru keeps the ticket and transaction data.
Quick answers
Can I use my own HTML in an Altru e-ticket?
It depends on what your template editor exposes. If you can edit the HTML, test changes in a sandbox first and keep the original saved; if you aren’t sure what is supported, ask Blackbaud support.
Will editing the e-ticket template change tickets already sent?
Emails already delivered stay as they were in the guest’s inbox. Before resending an older ticket after a template change, send yourself a test first to confirm which version goes out.
