Ask members what they carry everywhere and the answer is their phone, not a laminated card. So the front desk ends up hearing “I left my card at home” a lot. Then staff search by last name, find three households with the same surname, and the line behind them waits. A membership card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet fixes most of that, as long as it’s built on clean Altru data and scans the same way a plastic card does.
This guide is for museum membership and admissions staff who use Altru and are weighing wallet cards. It covers what a wallet card actually is, what has to be true in Altru before you launch, and the questions worth asking before you commit.
What a wallet membership card is (and isn’t)
A wallet card is a digital pass that lives in the phone’s built-in wallet app, next to boarding passes and event tickets. It usually shows the member’s name, membership level, expiration date, and a barcode the front desk can scan. The member doesn’t need to download a museum app or log in to anything to show it.
It is not a replacement for the membership itself. The membership, its dates, and its household members still live in Altru. The card is a view of that record. If the record is wrong, the card will be wrong too, just more conveniently.
As far as we know, Altru doesn’t issue Apple Wallet or Google Wallet passes on its own. Altru’s membership tools are built around printed cards and the membership record. Blackbaud does change things, so if you’re writing a budget proposal, confirm the current state with Blackbaud support before you say so in writing.
Get the Altru side ready first
Most problems with digital cards turn out to be data problems. Before you send a single pass, check these:
- Email addresses on primary members. Wallet cards are usually delivered by email or link. Run a query of active memberships where the primary member has no email address. That list is your “these people will still need a plastic card” group, and a good reason to collect emails at the desk.
- Duplicate constituents. If one person exists twice in Altru, one record may hold the membership and the other the email. The card either goes to the wrong record or doesn’t go out at all. Clean up duplicates before launch, not after.
- Household members. Decide whether every adult on a household membership gets their own card or whether one card covers the household. Then make sure the second adult actually has an email address on file in Altru.
- Expiration dates you trust. A wallet card displays the expiration date front and center. If you have members whose dates were set by hand or carried over oddly at renewal, members will notice them now.
The barcode decision matters more than the design
Staff will spend far more time scanning cards than looking at them. Before anything else, find out what your current printed cards encode in the barcode and how the desk looks members up when they scan it. A digital card should encode the same lookup value, so a scan works the same whether the member holds out plastic or a phone.
Then test it on the actual hardware. Some older laser scanners read printed barcodes fine but struggle with phone screens. Hold a phone at the desk, turn the brightness up, and try it on every device you use, including any mobile devices you take to special events or members’ nights. Better to find out in a test than at the start of a free members’ preview.
Questions to ask before you choose a provider
- Where does the card data come from? It should come from Altru, not a spreadsheet someone uploads every month. Ask how membership level, name, and expiration date get onto the card.
- What happens when a member renews or upgrades? Find out whether the existing card changes, a new card is sent, or the member has to do something. Ask to see it, not just hear about it.
- How are cards delivered? Email after a join or renewal is the usual path. Ask whether staff can resend a card from the desk when a member says they never got it.
- What about lapsed members? A card that still looks valid after the membership expires puts your desk staff in an awkward spot. Ask how expired memberships show up, both on the card and at the scanner.
- Does it work for both iPhone and Android? Your members use both. A card that only works in one wallet leaves part of your membership on plastic.
Rolling it out without a pile of support emails
Start with new joins and renewals rather than emailing every member at once. That spreads out the “how do I add this to my phone?” questions and gives the desk time to get comfortable scanning phones. Once that’s working, send cards to the rest of your active members in batches.
Keep printing plastic cards for anyone who asks, and for members without an email address. Plenty of members, often longtime ones, would rather have something in their wallet than on their phone. Offering both costs little and avoids complaints.
Finally, show the desk what a valid digital card looks like. A printed example at the register, with the member name, level, and expiration date called out, helps seasonal staff spot an expired pass or a photo of someone else’s card.
Where Social Good fits
We built Digital Membership Cards for organizations that run memberships in Altru and want to keep it. It issues Apple Wallet and Google Wallet membership cards to Altru members, using the membership data you already maintain in Altru. If you’re evaluating it, bring the questions above to the demo and hold us to the same standard as anyone else.
Quick answers
Do members need to download an app?
No. Wallet passes open in the wallet app already on the phone.
Should we stop printing cards?
Not right away. Run both for at least a full renewal cycle, watch how many members still ask for plastic, and decide from there.
Will digital cards fix wrong expiration dates?
No. The card shows what’s in Altru. Fix the membership record first, then confirm with your provider how a corrected date reaches cards members already have.
