The holiday lantern walk costs more than a regular evening admission. The members-only preview is half price. The one-off curator talk has its own rate that nobody wants to see on any other date. In Altru, getting one event to carry a price different from its siblings is less obvious than it should be, and the right approach depends on which kind of “event” you’re actually building.
This guide sorts out where prices live in Altru, what that means for event-specific pricing, and the workarounds administrators commonly use when the built-in structure doesn’t quite fit.
First, which kind of event is it?
Altru uses the word “event” for two different things, and pricing works differently for each.
- Program events. These are scheduled occurrences of a program: a 2:00 planetarium show, a Saturday tour, a timed entry slot. They’re sold through daily sales, advance sales, group sales, and web forms. Prices are attached to the program through its price types (Adult, Child, Member, and so on), and every event scheduled under that program inherits them.
- Registration-style events. These are the one-off happenings handled through Altru’s event management: galas, lectures, member nights, fundraisers. They typically carry their own registration options and prices, set on the event itself.
If your “custom pricing” problem is a one-time special event with registrants, check whether it belongs in event management rather than as a program occurrence. Per-event pricing is usually much simpler there. If it needs to be scanned and sold like admission, with capacity per time slot and sales at the front desk, it’s probably a program, and the rest of this article applies.
Why program events all share the same price
Because prices sit on the program, Altru treats every event under it as the same product at the same rate. That’s convenient for ordinary daily admission and frustrating when one date needs to be different. As far as we know, there is no simple per-occurrence price override on a scheduled program event in the way many administrators expect. Altru’s configuration options do change over time, so if you’re unsure, test in a sandbox or ask Blackbaud support whether your version offers anything new before you build a workaround.
Workarounds that hold up in practice
1. Create a separate program for the special pricing
This is the most common and cleanest option. If the lantern walk costs more than standard evening admission, build “Lantern Walk” as its own program with its own price types and schedule its events there. You get:
- Clear pricing that front desk staff can’t mix up
- Its own capacity and schedule
- Revenue you can report on separately, which finance and programming staff usually want anyway
The trade-off is setup time and a longer list of programs. Use a consistent naming convention (for example, a prefix for seasonal programs) so staff can find things and you can retire old programs cleanly.
2. Add dedicated price types
If the special pricing applies to a recurring situation rather than a single event, a new price type can work: “Adult – Evening” alongside “Adult,” for instance. The catch is that price types attach at the program level, so staff (and web buyers) may see both options on every event. That only works if you can control which price types appear where, or if your team is disciplined about selecting the right one. Test how it displays on your web forms before relying on it.
3. Use discounts for lower prices
When the special price is a reduction, such as a members-only preview night, a discount may be a better fit than a new price. Altru supports discounts that can be applied at the point of sale, and depending on your setup they may be limited to certain programs or conditions. Confirm in a sandbox exactly which conditions you can set, whether they apply automatically or need staff to choose them, and how they behave on web sales.
4. Move one-offs into event management
For a ticketed lecture, dinner, or fundraiser, registration-style events usually let you set prices for that event alone. You lose some of the admission-style workflow, so check how you’ll handle check-in and whether you need sales at the front desk before choosing this route.
How to choose
- Is the price different for one date only? A separate program, or event management if it’s registration-based.
- Is it a recurring variation (every evening, every weekend)? A separate program or a dedicated price type, depending on how cleanly you can control which prices appear.
- Is it a reduction for a specific audience? Start with a discount.
- Does finance need the revenue reported on its own? Lean toward a separate program, since it gives you the cleanest split in reports and queries.
Before you go live
- Run a test sale through every channel that will sell it: daily sales, advance sales, group sales if relevant, and the web form.
- Check that revenue lands where your accounting team expects, including any GL mapping tied to the program or price type.
- Pull a quick query on the test transactions so you know the data looks right before real guests buy.
- Brief front desk staff with a one-line rule (“Lantern Walk tickets are sold only under the Lantern Walk program”) rather than a long explanation.
- Void or remove the test transactions afterward so they don’t skew reports.
Quick answers
Can I change the price on one scheduled event without affecting the others?
Not directly, as far as we’re aware, because prices belong to the program. Put that event under its own program, or confirm with Blackbaud support whether your version has a newer option.
Will a new program clutter the web form?
It adds another item to manage, but it also keeps the special event’s pricing from appearing on regular dates. Retire seasonal programs once their dates pass.
Is a discount or a separate price better for member previews?
A discount is usually simpler when members pay less than the public for the same thing. A separate program makes more sense when the preview is its own experience with its own capacity.
