3.19 New Feature: Come an’ Get Your Combos!

One feature I am really excited about coming in Altru 3.19 is online combos! To start with I must confess, I am a big fan of combos – whether at the Chipotle counter or a museum front desk! Combination tickets for those curious, is the ability for us to sell tickets to two or more events at the same time.

Combinations are really neat because they are a win-win for both: your patrons and your organization. Patrons intuitively associate the term “combination” with not just discounts, but discounts with the added value of a richer experience. A family that has piled into a minivan to visit the zoo is more likely to catch the afternoon show “while they are there” if it is presented as a combination. Or a person who has signed up for an art class may decide to pick up a general admission combination as they may have not gone through the galleries “in a while.” Combinations have the added benefit of a more positive experience for patrons as it eases decisions and they spend less time purchasing separate tickets.

Extending the patron visit through combinations has a number of direct and indirect benefits for your organization. Increased participation can prompt a more engaged patron to transition into a donor or membership. Needless to say, additional time between activities can also result in a visit to the café or the gift store.

Online combinations have a been a part of our community discussions for quite a while so it is really neat to see how everyone’s input has helped add this community idea to Altru! Some quick highlights as you start exploring this new feature:

Existing Combinations: One thing I really like about this new feature is that it is nice and streamlined. We do not have to set up separate combinations for online sales. If the combination qualifies (more on this later), we can just trigger existing combinations for online sales. As simple as that!



If the combination does not qualify, the online sales method is ghosted with a prompt that explains the reasons why combinations do not qualify. This is really helpful because it can save you a lot of time in determining what adjustments are need to have a particular combination available online.



Web Form Set up within Combination:  As we can set up the Combination Web form and its details from within the combination feature itself, we also save some time. We do not have to hop over to the Web module to configure the form or view it. That lops off a few clicks right there! I also like the fact that we have the ability of adding Web descriptions for the various facets of the combination. Not only can we have a Combination Description to promote this combination offering at the top of the Web form, but we can also slip in Web descriptions for the program groups and individual program events. This is useful as it allows us a lot of flexibility in promoting this Combination and providing additional details – all of which help patrons make a quick decision.



Be sure to check out the online video that explains this simple streamlined process!

There are some restrictions when it comes to determining which combinations qualify for online sales so please be sure to review these as you plan to bring your combinations online:

1. 
   
2. The events have to occur on the same day.
   
3. The program group should include only one program.
   
4. Member and Constituency restrictions are not allowed.
   

Please also note that the online combination Web form will trigger just the Default Acknowledgment email set up for your online forms.  So it would be a good idea to review the content you have on the Default Acknowledgement email to make sure it accommodates for those that may have purchased combination tickets online.

Another factor that we should be careful of is that online combinations allow for tickets to be purchased for overlapping events. So please make sure that your Combination Web Description includes an alert for your patrons in case the events for which you are offering combinations have the potential of overlap.

Online combinations are a great offering for your patrons. Not only do they present a new set of options to purchase tickets at patron’s convenience, but this way, they allow a user to make popular combination purchases through one form as opposed to jumping across different web forms to purchase tickets.  Needless to say, many orgs have reaped the benefits of patrons printing e-tickets at home and fast-tracking through admissions!

All in all, I am really excited about how this channel is opening up new opportunities for your organization and looking forward to hearing some fun stories in the community of your experiences!