Promo codes
A promo code is a word a family types at checkout for a discount. Every code you create belongs to your whole organization and works on both paid activities and membership dues. Owners and co-leaders can manage them.
One code, both kinds of purchase
There is no split between activity codes and membership codes. SPRING25 discounts a field trip booking and a membership join request, and every redemption of it — whichever it was — counts against the same ledger.
That matters most for One redemption per family. A family who spends the code on a booking cannot then spend it on their dues.
Create a code
- Open the account menu and choose Manage organizations.
- Pick your organization.
- Open More, then Promo codes.
- Select New code.
- Fill in the form and select Create promo code.
The nine fields
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Code | What the family types. Letters, numbers, dashes and underscores, 3 to 50 characters. Stored in capitals and matched case-insensitively, so a family can type it any way. Must be unique within your organization. |
| Type | Percent off or Fixed amount off. |
| Percent off | 1 to 100. Shown when Type is Percent off. |
| Amount off | A dollar figure. Shown when Type is Fixed amount off. Never takes an order below $0. |
| Minimum order (optional) | The code only applies when the subtotal is at least this much. |
| Starts (optional) | Before this moment the code is Scheduled and will not apply. Leave blank to start now. |
| Expires (optional) | After this moment the code is Expired. Leave blank for no end. |
| Max total redemptions (optional) | A cap across everybody. Leave blank for no cap. |
| One redemption per family | Each family may use the code once, on a booking or on dues, not both. |
| Active — families can apply this code right now | The on switch. Untick to pause a code without deleting it. |
Percent off and Amount off are the same field wearing two labels — the form swaps one for the other when you change Type, so you only ever fill in one.
There is nothing else on the form. No membership duration, no member-only restriction, no way to limit a code to particular activities, and no per-family redemption count above one.
The five statuses
Every code carries one status, worked out from its own settings.
| Status | Why |
|---|---|
| Active | Working now. |
| Scheduled | Starts is in the future. It will begin on its own. |
| Expired | Expires has passed. Edit the date to bring it back. |
| Limit reached | Max total redemptions has been hit. |
| Inactive | Active is unticked. |
Reading the list
The Promo codes page lists each code with its value, how many times it has been used against its cap, its date window, its status, and any Minimum order or One per family restriction. Each row offers Edit and Delete.
Deleting is permanent, and families holding the code stop getting the discount straight away. Untick Active instead when you only want to pause a promotion — the code keeps its redemption history and you can switch it back on.
The three places a family uses a code
At activity checkout, there is a Promo code box. The family types the code, selects Apply, and the order summary shows a Discount line with the code name and the amount taken off.
On a membership join request, the field is labelled Discount code (optional). Nothing is charged until you approve the request, and the discount comes off that first charge.
On a membership they already hold, a family opens their own membership and uses Have a discount code? followed by Apply code.
That last one behaves differently, and it is worth knowing: a code applied to a membership that is already running discounts every renewal from then on, not just the next one. A code used on a join request discounts the first charge only.
Offering a code to a member who is failing
When a membership payment fails, the Subscriptions page under Billing puts your codes to work. Pick one from Offer a discount… on that member's row and select Offer.
The family then sees "Your group offered you a discount" on their own membership page, with a one-tap Apply button for that code. Because it lands on a running membership, it holds for every renewal — so offer a small percentage rather than a large one. See Membership dues.
How a code changes what you are paid
The platform fee follows what the family actually pays by card, so a discount shrinks the fee alongside it. You absorb the discount itself. Getting paid covers what comes out of a payment.
Existing bookings are never revalued. Changing or deleting a code leaves families who already used it exactly where they were.
Worked examples
Early bird on a summer camp
Codes cannot be limited to one activity, so lean on the date window instead. Set Expires to two weeks before the camp starts, tick One redemption per family, and announce it only to the families you want to reach.
First fifty families
Set Max total redemptions to 50 and leave the dates blank. The code flips itself to Limit reached on the fiftieth use.
A welcome offer on dues
Create a percent code and share it wherever families find your join page. Used on a join request, it comes off the first charge and nothing after. There is no setting that makes a join-request discount run for a fixed number of months.
A code that goes live on Monday
Set Starts to Monday morning. The code sits at Scheduled until then, so you can publish it in advance without anybody using it early.
Troubleshooting
A family says the code does not work. The message they see tells you which check failed:
- "This promo code is no longer active." — Active is unticked.
- "This promo code isn't available yet." — Starts is still in the future.
- "This promo code has expired." — past Expires.
- "This promo code has reached its redemption limit." — Max total redemptions is used up.
- "This code requires a minimum order of…" — the order is under Minimum order.
- "You've already used this promo code." — One redemption per family is on and they have used it, on a booking or on dues.
I can't create a code with the name I want. Codes have to be unique within your organization, and can only contain letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. Check whether an old inactive code is already holding the name.
I want a code for one class only. There is no per-activity restriction. Use the date window and share the code only where that class is advertised.
I want a discount that lasts a member's first three months. There is no duration setting. A join-request code discounts the first charge; a code applied to a running membership holds for every renewal. There is nothing in between.
I want to see who redeemed a code. The list row shows the running total against the cap. There is no per-redemption history page.
I can't open Promo codes. Only the owner and co-leaders can. See Members, roles, and messaging.
What's next
- Tickets and pricing — set the prices the codes discount.
- Membership dues — the other place codes apply.
- Getting paid — payouts and the platform fee.