Discount and deal sites like Goldstar, plus group-buy platforms, tour operators, and hotel concierge programs, can bring you visitors who would never have found your website. The catch is that they sell tickets in their own system, and Altru doesn’t know those sales happened until a guest shows up holding a voucher or a name on a list.
As far as we know, Altru has no built-in, live connection to Goldstar or similar resellers. Before you design a process around that, confirm it with Blackbaud support or your account contact, since partner integrations can change. Assuming there isn’t one, the job is to make three things line up by hand: how much capacity the reseller can sell, how their buyers get admitted, and how the money and attendance end up in Altru reporting.
Decide what the reseller is actually selling
Settle the terms before you set anything up in Altru, because the setup follows from them:
- General admission or timed entry? General admission vouchers are easy to honor any day. Timed or capacity-limited programs (special exhibitions, tours, events) need a fixed allocation so the reseller can’t oversell a slot you’re also selling on your own site.
- Allocation size. Agree on a number per day or per time slot, and on what happens to unsold seats: does the reseller release them back, and by when?
- What the buyer receives. A reseller confirmation, a voucher code, or just a name on a will-call list. Find this out first, because it determines how your admissions staff check people in.
- Price and payout. Know the price the guest paid, what you net after the reseller’s cut, and how often you’re paid (per event, monthly, and so on). Your revenue reporting depends on this.
Holding capacity in Altru
For timed programs, the cleanest approach is to keep the reseller’s allocation out of the inventory your own channels can sell. How you do that depends on how your programs and events are built. Some organizations reduce the capacity available to public sales by the allocation amount. Others reserve the block as an advance or group sale under a placeholder constituent named for the reseller. Test whichever method you choose in a sandbox or on a low-stakes program first, and check that your website calendar and front desk see the reduced availability the way you expect.
Whatever you choose, have one person own releasing unsold seats on the agreed date. Allocations that never get released are the most common way reseller deals quietly cost you sales.
Admitting reseller buyers at the door
Before the first guest arrives, ask the reseller for a list of buyers for each date or time slot. Most deal sites can provide one. At admission, staff check the guest against that list and record the visit in Altru, typically in daily sales, using a price type or discount set aside for that reseller.
A few details make this go much better:
- A dedicated price type or payment method per reseller. Something like “Goldstar voucher” lets you count attendance and reconcile revenue later without reading transaction notes.
- A written redemption rule at the register. Spell out what counts as valid proof, what to do with someone who isn’t on the list, and whether vouchers can be used on a different day than the one booked.
- Keep the list where staff can see it. A printed or shared list per day is less elegant than a scan, but it works reliably, and seasonal staff can follow it without training.
If the reseller’s tickets were pre-sold as a block (the placeholder group sale approach above), check people in against that block instead of creating new transactions, so attendance isn’t counted twice.
Getting the money right
This is where reseller programs usually get messy. You record the sale at the door, but the cash arrives weeks later as one lump payment, minus a commission. Decide with your finance team how to handle that:
- Record at gross or at net? Some organizations record the full ticket price and book the commission as an expense. Others record only the net. Either can work as long as everyone uses the same one.
- Treat the reseller as a receivable. Admissions recorded under the reseller’s payment method build up a balance the reseller owes. When their payout arrives, match it against your Altru totals for the same period.
- Reconcile every payout. Run a query or report for that reseller’s price type or payment method for the payout period and compare counts with the reseller’s statement. Differences usually come from no-shows (paid but never admitted), refunds, or staff using the wrong price type.
Settle the no-show question in the agreement. If the reseller pays you for unredeemed vouchers, you need a way to record that revenue in Altru even though nobody came through the door.
The data you won’t get
Be realistic here. Many resellers treat buyers as their own customers and share little or nothing beyond a name. You may not get email addresses, and even if you do, check the reseller’s terms and the buyer’s consent before adding anyone to your marketing lists.
If you want these visitors in your database, collect their details yourself at the visit, for example with a sign-up at the desk or a post-visit offer for a membership discount. Count reseller sales as a way to fill capacity and reach new audiences. They are a poor source of constituent records.
Is it worth it?
Usually, yes, for off-peak dates, new exhibitions, or programs with seats you’d otherwise leave empty. The cost is staff time: allocation management, door lists, and monthly reconciliation. Before you renew a reseller agreement, use your dedicated price type to pull attendance and net revenue for the period, and compare that with what the same seats would likely have sold for through your own channels. That number will tell you more than the reseller’s own report.
Quick answers
Can Goldstar sales flow into Altru automatically?
We aren’t aware of a native connection. Confirm with Blackbaud support, and plan on manual entry at redemption plus periodic reconciliation.
Should reseller buyers get their own constituent records?
Only if you have real contact details and permission to use them. Otherwise, record admissions against an anonymous or reseller placeholder so you don’t clutter your database with name-only records.
