“Buy one membership, get a second one free” sounds like a simple promotion. Marketing can write it in an afternoon. Building it in Altru takes more thought, because Altru has no single setting that says “when a guest buys membership A, make membership B free.” You have to assemble the offer out of pieces Altru does have, and each approach changes how the second membership shows up in revenue, reporting, and next year’s renewals.
This guide covers the realistic ways to run a BOGO (or “buy one, get one half off”) membership offer, what each one costs you in admin time, and the decisions to make before launch.
Decide what the “free” membership actually is
Settle three questions before you build anything. Most problems with BOGO campaigns come from skipping this step.
- Who gets the second membership? If it goes to someone else (a friend, a grandparent, a neighbor), you get a second household, a second constituent record, and a second renewal next year. If it’s really a longer or upgraded membership for the same household, that’s a different promotion and is usually easier to build as a special level or a discount.
- Is the second one free, or discounted? A $0 membership and a 50%-off membership are handled differently in revenue and in acknowledgment letters. Ask your finance team how they want a complimentary membership recorded before you choose.
- What happens at renewal? The second member renews at full price, or not at all. Plan for that now, because that renewal is the real payoff of the campaign.
Option 1: Discount the second membership at the point of sale
The most direct approach is to sell two memberships in one transaction and apply a discount to the second. Altru supports configured discounts, but whether a given discount can be applied to membership sales, and whether it can be limited to “second item only,” depends on how your discounts and membership programs are set up. Don’t assume it works. Test it in your sandbox (or on a test constituent you can reverse) before you train staff.
If it works in your setup, this option keeps both memberships at their normal level with normal benefits, and the discount is visible on the transaction. The downside is that it depends on staff doing it correctly every time. Write a one-page desk procedure that covers:
- Create or look up the purchaser’s constituent record.
- Create or look up a separate record for the second member, with their own address and email. Search first, so you don’t create a duplicate.
- Add both memberships to the same sale.
- Apply the named BOGO discount to the second membership only.
- Confirm the total before taking payment.
Option 2: A temporary promotional level or bundle
Some organizations create a limited-time membership level, priced at the cost of one membership, that the purchaser buys with the understanding that a second membership will be issued. Staff then add a complimentary membership for the recipient afterward.
This is easier to sell online, because the guest only sees one item at one price. It’s also more work behind the scenes. Someone has to watch for each promotional sale and issue the second membership, and there’s a lag before the recipient gets a card. If you go this route, build a query that lists every promotional-level sale without a matching complimentary membership, and assign one person to work that list daily.
Retire the promotional level as soon as the campaign ends so it doesn’t get picked by accident months later.
Option 3: Offline or desk-only promotion
If online membership forms can’t support the discount in a way you’re comfortable with, it’s perfectly reasonable to run the offer only at the admissions desk, by phone, and at events. You lose some convenience, but you get a trained person on every transaction. For a short campaign, such as a holiday weekend or a member drive, this is often the least risky choice.
Whether your Altru web forms can apply a promo code or discount to memberships is worth confirming with Blackbaud support or in your sandbox before you promise “online only” in your marketing.
Track the campaign so you can judge it later
A BOGO offer only makes sense if some of those free members renew. Set up tracking before the first sale:
- Tag both memberships. Use a source code, appeal, or constituent attribute (whatever your organization already uses for campaigns) on the purchaser and on the recipient, marked so you can tell them apart.
- Save a query now. Build the query that lists every BOGO recipient and their expiration date. Next year you’ll want to know how many renewed, and that’s much easier if the list already exists.
- Watch for duplicates. Gift recipients are often entered quickly with partial information. Review new records from the campaign weekly and merge duplicates before renewal mailings go out.
Plan the renewal before the offer launches
The recipient never chose to join; someone else chose for them. Their first renewal notice is the moment they decide whether they’re a member. Consider:
- A welcome message to the recipient that names the person who gave the membership.
- A mid-year reminder of the benefits they’ve used or haven’t tried yet.
- A renewal notice that states the full price plainly, so it isn’t a surprise.
- A separate series for purchasers, who may be candidates for an upgrade.
A few cautions
- Acknowledgments and tax receipts. If memberships carry a deductible portion, a discounted or $0 membership changes what the receipt should say. Have finance review the letter template.
- Benefit levels. Make sure the free membership is the level you intended. “Get a free family membership” with the purchase of an individual membership is an expensive typo.
- Fine print. State the end date, whether the offer applies to renewals or new members only, and whether the second membership must go to a new household. Staff will be asked all three.
The honest summary: Altru can support a BOGO membership campaign, but as a combination of discounts, levels, staff procedure, and queries rather than a ready-made promotion type. Pick the simplest option your setup can handle reliably, test it before launch, and put most of your planning into the recipient’s first renewal.
