“Half-price admission on Tuesdays.” “Ten percent off the summer camp, but only for the Wednesday sessions.” “Senior discount, weekdays only.” These offers are easy to write on a flyer and surprisingly awkward to enforce in Altru, because the discount setup and the calendar don’t talk to each other the way you might expect.
This guide covers what’s going on, the workarounds Altru administrators actually use, and how to pick the one that fits your offer.
The short version
As far as we know, Altru discounts don’t include a built-in rule that says “only apply this when the program or event date falls on a Tuesday.” Discounts are generally tied to what is being sold and who qualifies, not to the day of the visit. That said, Blackbaud updates Altru regularly, so before you build a workaround, check the current discount options in your environment (or ask Blackbaud support) to confirm nothing new covers your case. Test any change in a sandbox if you have one.
If the native option isn’t there, you have three realistic paths: put the day restriction into your programs or price types, control it with timing and staff process, or move the rule into how the offer is sold online. Most organizations combine two of them.
First, be clear about which “day” you mean
Before touching configuration, pin down the offer. Two very different things get called a day-specific discount:
- Day of the visit or program. “Tuesday tickets are half price,” regardless of when the guest buys them. This is the harder one, because an advance sale on Saturday for next Tuesday should get the discount, and a sale on Tuesday for Saturday should not.
- Day of the sale. “Everything sold at the desk on Giving Tuesday is 20% off.” This is easier, because the rule lines up with when staff are processing transactions.
Write the offer down in one sentence that answers both questions. Many discount mistakes trace back to staff and the marketing team each assuming a different version.
Option 1: Build the day into the program or price
When the discount is about the date of the visit, the most reliable approach is to make the discounted day a different thing in Altru, rather than a discount on the same thing.
Separate price types
Create a price type such as “Weekday Adult” or “Tuesday General” and make it available only on the events or time slots that fall on those days. The guest pays the lower price because they picked a Tuesday slot, not because anyone applied a discount. This works well for timed ticketing and scheduled programs where each day already exists as its own event.
Separate programs or events
For classes, camps, and tours, some teams set up the discounted days as their own program or as distinct events within a program. A “Wednesday Explorer Camp” priced lower than the Monday-Friday version leaves no room for interpretation at the register or online.
Trade-offs: more price types and programs to maintain, and your reports will split one offer across several lines. Plan your queries so you can roll them back together, and use consistent naming so “Weekday Adult” is easy to find and filter.
Option 2: Control it with timing and process
When the rule is about the day of the sale, timing usually does the job.
- Turn the discount on and off. If your discount setup supports start and end dates, use them for one-off events. For a recurring weekly offer, someone has to activate and deactivate it, which is fragile. Put it on a shared calendar with a named owner and a backup.
- Staff-applied discounts at daily sales. For a small, recurring desk offer, it’s often simpler to keep one discount available and train staff to apply it only on the right days. Post the rule at each register in plain language.
- Audit after the fact. Build a query on transactions that used the discount and check the dates. A short weekly review catches misuse early, before it becomes habit.
Process-based controls depend on people. They’re fine for low-value offers and short campaigns; they’re a poor fit for anything with real revenue at stake or heavy online volume.
Option 3: Handle the rule in how you sell online
Online, the cleanest path is usually to avoid relying on a promo code that guests could use on any date. Instead, show the discounted price only on the qualifying days, which is what separate price types on day-specific events accomplish. If you do use a code, make sure the terms on your website say exactly which visit dates qualify, and decide in advance how staff will handle someone who used it for the wrong day.
Choosing the right approach
- Recurring weekday pricing for admission: separate price types on the qualifying events.
- Discount on specific sessions of a class or camp: separate programs or events at their own price.
- A one-day sale tied to a campaign: a dated discount, plus a post-campaign query to confirm it was used correctly.
- A small desk courtesy: a staff-applied discount with clear written rules and a periodic audit.
Before you launch
- Run a test sale for a qualifying day and a non-qualifying day, both at the desk and online.
- Run an advance sale (buy today, visit next week) to confirm the price follows the visit date if that’s your intent.
- Check that revenue lands where finance expects it, especially if you created new price types or programs.
- Confirm your reports or queries can show total usage of the offer in one place.
Day-specific pricing takes a little more setup in Altru than a simple percentage off, but once the discounted days are their own price or program, the offer mostly enforces itself and staff stop having to remember which day it is.
