Arboretum members don’t use their cards the way zoo or museum members do. They come early in the morning to walk, they drop in for twenty minutes at lunch, they show up for the spring plant sale, a pruning class, and the holiday light walk. Many of them visit dozens of times a year. A plastic card that lives in a kitchen drawer, or a paper card that’s gone soft in a jacket pocket, gets in the way of that habit more than you’d expect.
A digital card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet fits how garden members actually behave. Below is what to think through before you switch, what has to be right in Altru first, and the arboretum-specific details that tend to get missed.
Why wallet cards suit arboretums in particular
- Frequent, short visits. A member who comes twice a week doesn’t want to dig for a card. A wallet pass sits on the phone they already carry on the trail.
- Several ways in. Many arboretums have a main gate, a parking lot entrance, an education building, and a gift shop, sometimes staffed by volunteers. A card that every member carries the same way makes those spots easier to staff consistently.
- Member perks beyond admission. Plant sale preview nights, shop discounts, class pricing, and event access all depend on someone confirming “yes, this person is a current member.” A card that shows the level and expiration date answers that quickly.
- Reciprocal visits. Garden members often use reciprocal admission at other gardens. Partner sites generally want to see a current card with a name and expiration date. Check your reciprocal network’s current requirements for what the card has to display, and confirm a digital card meets them before you stop mailing physical ones.
Get the Altru data right first
A wallet card is only as accurate as the membership record behind it. Before launch, spend an afternoon on these:
- Member names and cardholders. Household and dual memberships are common at gardens. Decide whether each adult cardholder gets their own pass, and make sure the second cardholder’s name is actually on the membership in Altru rather than only in a note.
- Email addresses. Cards are delivered digitally, so a missing or outdated email means a member who never gets one. Run a query of active members with no primary email and work that list before launch. Duplicate constituent records cause the same problem in a different way: the card goes to the old record’s address.
- Levels and benefits. If your levels carry different perks (guest passes, parking, a reciprocal benefit only at higher levels), confirm the level names in Altru are clear enough to print on a card. A volunteer at the shop register should be able to read the level and know what applies.
- Expiration dates. Spot-check recent renewals. If dates are off in Altru, they’ll be off on the card, and the member will be the one who notices.
Plan for the gate, not just the card
Arboretum entrances are often outdoors, sometimes at the edge of cell coverage. A pass already saved in a phone’s wallet generally displays without a connection, which helps. What you still need to decide:
- Look or scan? Some gardens are fine with staff glancing at the name and expiration date. Others want to scan the barcode so the scanner checks the membership status for them instead of relying on a quick look. If you want reliable counts of member visits, plan on scanning, and confirm with whichever scanning tool you use exactly how and where those scans are recorded against Altru.
- Devices at each entry point. If you scan, every entrance that admits members needs a device and someone trained to use it, including the volunteer-run side gate.
- A fallback. Some members won’t have a smartphone or won’t want a digital card. Keep a way to look them up by name, and decide whether you’ll still print physical cards on request. Keeping both options for a transition period is a sensible default.
Rolling it out to members
Some members will add the card the moment they see the link; others will need a nudge or a hand. Either way, what helps is making the first step obvious. Put the “add to wallet” link in new-member and renewal confirmation emails, mention it in your member newsletter, and have gate staff ready to help someone add the pass on the spot. A short sign at the entrance (“Members: your card can live in your phone”) reminds people at the moment they’re holding the old card.
Also decide what happens at renewal. Members should not have to delete an old card and hunt for a new one each year. Ask any vendor you’re evaluating how renewals and level changes show up on a card the member already saved.
Questions to ask before you choose a tool
- Does the card read from live Altru membership data, or from a periodic export someone has to run?
- Does it support both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet?
- What happens to the card when a membership expires, renews, or upgrades?
- Can each cardholder in a household get their own pass?
- Can the barcode be scanned at your entrances, and do those scans connect back to Altru?
Altru’s own options for digital cards may change over time, so confirm with Blackbaud support what is available natively for your account before deciding you need anything extra.
Where Social Good fits
Digital Membership Cards from Social Good gives Altru members an Apple Wallet or Google Wallet membership card, with Altru remaining where membership data lives. Gardens that want to scan those cards at the gate can pair them with our Ticket Scanner, which reads Altru membership barcodes on mobile devices.
Quick answers
Do we have to stop printing physical cards?
No. Many gardens offer digital cards as the default and print physical cards for members who ask.
Will a digital card work for reciprocal admission?
Often, but it depends on the reciprocal program and the partner garden. Check the program’s current card rules before telling members a phone card is enough.
