Creating Discount and Free Promo Codes for Chapter Events

Overview

Promo codes let a registrant lower the price of a ticket — or bring it to $0.00 — by entering a code during checkout. Chapters commonly use them for:

• Reduced rates — student, retiree, early-bird, or partner-organization pricing
• Free (comp) registrations — speakers, sponsors, volunteers, or board members
• One-off discounts — a set number of seats offered to a specific group

You create promo codes under Event Espresso → Promotions and attach them to one or more events. Registrants enter the code on the same checkout step where they choose a payment method.

Before You Begin

• The event must already exist. If it doesn’t, see Create first.
• The event needs at least one paid ticket. The promo code box only appears on the payment step of checkout, so it won’t show for events where every ticket is $0.00. See Ticketing for setting ticket prices.
• A payment method must be set up for paid tickets. Contact support if your chapter doesn’t have one yet.
• Decide on the code itself — short, easy to type, and not easy to guess (e.g. STUDENT26 or SPEAKERCOMP). Codes are what registrants type; they’re separate from the promotion’s internal name.

Creating a Promo Code

1. In your chapter site’s dashboard, go to Event Espresso → Promotions.
2. Click Add New Promotion.
3. Enter a Name for internal reference (e.g. Fall Seminar – Student Rate). Registrants won’t see this.
4. Enter the Code registrants will type at checkout (e.g. STUDENT26).
5. Choose the Type — Percent Discount or Dollar Discount — and enter the Amount.
6. Leave Apply Promo to ALL Scope Items set to No unless the code should work on every event on your site.
7. In the event list on the right side of the screen, check the event(s) this code applies to. Use the gear icon to filter by date, name, or category if the list is long.
8. Optionally set Number of Uses, Valid From, and Valid Until (see the next section).
9. Optionally customize the Accepted Message and Declined Message registrants see after entering a code.
10. Click Publish (or Update when editing).

Important: A code only works on the events you check in step 7. If you skip this step, the promo code box won’t appear at checkout.

Promotion Settings Explained

Tip: The Registrations CSV Report includes a column showing which promo code was applied to each order — handy for tracking who used a comp or discount.

Creating a Free (Comp) Code

A free code is a regular promo code set to take 100% off. Follow the steps above with these settings:

• Type: Percent Discount
• Amount: 100
• Promo is Exclusive: Yes
• Number of Uses: the exact number of comps you’re giving out (e.g. 3 for three speakers)

Using Percent instead of a dollar amount means the code still zeroes out the ticket if you change its price later.

Tip: For comps, create a separate code per group (e.g. SPEAKERCOMP, SPONSORCOMP) so you can see in your registrations who used which. Share free codes privately — never in a public post or event description.

Sharing and Testing Your Code

Test before you share. Open the event in a private or incognito window, start a registration, and continue to the payment step. Enter the code and click submit — the total should update and your Accepted Message should appear. Close the window without paying.

Share it with the right people. Send reduced-rate codes in your event announcement or member email; send free codes directly to the people receiving them. Let registrants know:

• The exact code (codes should be typed as shown)
• That the code box appears on the payment step of registration
• When the code expires, if you set a Valid Until date

See who used it. Open the event’s registrations and view an individual registration to see the discount in its price breakdown, or download the Registrations CSV Report (see Checking & Downloading Registrations).

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Submit a support ticket and include the event name and promo code.