Printing membership cards from Altru comes down to two decisions: what you print on (a plastic card printer, perforated paper card stock, or an outside print shop) and when you print (at the desk while the member waits, or in batches afterward). Altru supplies the member data either way. The real work is matching the card layout, barcode and workflow to the way your organization sells memberships.
Below are the common setups, what each one asks of you, and the details that tend to trip people up.
Option 1: Plastic cards printed at the admissions desk
Here a direct-to-card printer sits at the desk and the card prints right after the membership sale. The member walks in with a new card the same day, which is the best experience if your volume and budget support it.
Things to sort out before you buy a printer or design a card:
- Printer compatibility. Altru runs in a browser, so the card printer needs to be installed and working as a regular printer on each desk workstation. Confirm the driver supports your card size (usually CR80, standard credit card size) and test from the actual workstation, not just a manager’s laptop.
- The card layout in Altru. Altru’s membership card setup is where you decide what prints on each card, typically member names, membership level, expiration date and a barcode. Expect less control over layout and fonts than a design tool gives you, so test early. If you’re unsure whether a field you need can go on the card, try it in a sandbox or ask Blackbaud support.
- Pre-printed stock. Many organizations order cards with the logo and artwork already printed on the front, then have the desk printer add only the member-specific text and barcode. That keeps the desk printer simple and the cards looking sharp.
- Ribbons and cleaning. Card printers stop at the worst moment. Keep spare ribbons and cleaning kits at the desk, and give a lead staffer a short checklist for clearing jams.
Option 2: Batch printing after the fact
Memberships sold online, by phone or through the mail can’t get a card at the counter. Most organizations collect those and print them in a batch once or twice a week, then mail them.
The key to batch printing is knowing exactly which members still need a card. Build a membership query that pulls new joins, renewals and upgrades since your last print run, and track whether a card has been printed. Depending on how your memberships are processed, Altru may already flag cards that are waiting to print, but confirm how your setup handles web and phone sales before relying on it. A simple attribute or a “card printed” date on the membership gives you a dependable fallback.
Batch printing works on the same card printer as Option 1, or on paper stock (Option 3).
Option 3: Paper or stationery cards with a mail merge
If plastic cards aren’t in the budget, or your members mostly receive cards by mail, paper works fine. The usual approach:
- Export a membership query with names, member ID, level, expiration date and mailing address.
- Use a mail merge (Word or a similar tool) onto perforated business-card or membership-card stock, or onto a letter with a tear-off card at the bottom.
- Generate the barcode in the merge with a barcode font or merge field, using the same number your scanners expect.
- Print a test sheet and line it up against the stock before running the full batch. Small alignment errors add up across a sheet.
The letter-with-card format is popular because it also carries the welcome message, benefits summary and renewal date in one mailing.
Option 4: Send it to a print vendor
Organizations with large membership bases sometimes send a regular query export to a fulfillment vendor who prints and mails plastic or paper cards. You trade speed for consistency and less staff time. Agree on a fixed file layout, a secure transfer method and a turnaround time, and keep that query saved so the export is the same every time.
Details that matter whichever way you print
Get the barcode right
The card is only useful at the gate if the barcode scans. Decide which number the barcode encodes (often the membership or card ID from Altru), confirm the symbology your scanners read, and test a printed card on every scanner you use. Do this before ordering a thousand pre-printed cards.
Decide whether the expiration date goes on the card
Printing the expiration date helps the desk spot lapsed members at a glance, but it means a new card at every renewal. Leaving it off lets one card last for years, with the desk checking status in Altru at scan time. Either is reasonable; pick one deliberately, because it drives how much you’ll be printing.
Plan for households and add-ons
Dual and family memberships raise the question of one card or several. Decide how many cards each level gets and which names appear, and make sure your query or card setup produces that consistently. Reprints for lost cards should follow the same rule.
Keep the reprint process short
Lost cards are a constant. Give desk staff a quick way to reprint a single card, and decide whether reprints are free or carry a fee so the answer doesn’t vary by who is working.
Paper, plastic, or phone?
Many organizations now run printed cards alongside digital ones, keeping plastic or paper for members who want something physical and offering a phone-based card to everyone else. That can cut down on print runs, postage and lost-card reprints. Social Good’s Digital Membership Cards put Altru membership cards into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, so members have a card on their phone without anyone printing or mailing one.
Quick answers
Can Altru print membership cards without extra software?
Altru has membership card printing tied to its membership records, so you usually don’t need a separate design program for basic cards. You will still need a compatible printer and card stock, plus time testing the layout and barcode in your own setup. If your needs go beyond what Altru’s card layout supports, a mail merge or print vendor fills the gap.
What size are membership cards?
Most use the standard credit card size (CR80). Paper cards on perforated stock are often business-card size, which fits a wallet just as well.
