Caps and waitlists: fill the division, not the inbox
Every division or program needs a cap that the system enforces. When it fills, registration should move to a waitlist automatically, tell the family they are on it and where they stand, and offer the spot to the next family when one opens, with a deadline to accept. Done by hand this is a week of email; done as a setting it is nothing.
Decide in advance whether waitlisted families pay now (and are refunded if no spot opens) or pay when offered a spot. Paying on offer is kinder; paying now is simpler. Say which.
- Cap per division, enforced by the system
- Automatic waitlist with position shown
- Offer to next family with an accept-by date
- Pay-now or pay-on-offer decided and stated
Discounts that families understand
Keep discounts few and rule-based: early bird by date, multi-child by family, and a coach or volunteer discount if you offer one. Each is a rule the system applies, not a code someone remembers to send. Coupon codes are for exceptions: a sponsor's team, a scholarship, a make-good. Give each code a limit and an expiry so it does not live forever.
Publish the discount rules with the price. A family that finds out later about a discount they missed is a family that feels cheated.
- Early bird, multi-child, volunteer as rules
- Coupon codes for exceptions, with limits and expiry
- Discounts published with the price
Refund tiers and credits
Write the refund policy in dated tiers and show it at checkout: full refund before a date, partial until a later date, none after. Handle injury and relocation with a credit rather than cash; credits keep the money in the organization and are simpler to administer. Apply it identically to everyone.
Track credits on the family's record so they can be used at the next registration without anyone remembering.
- Dated tiers at checkout
- Credits for injury and relocation
- Credits on the family record, usable next time
Payment plans and what happens when one fails
If fees are large, offer automatic installments agreed at registration. Set the final installment before the point where non-payment costs you something. Decide the failed-payment path: a message, a grace period, then a hold on the roster or a conversation. Write it down; the system can send the messages, but the policy is yours.
- Installments agreed at registration
- Final installment before the money matters
- Failed-payment path written down
The messages families should get without you sending them
Confirmation with what they bought and the refund policy. Waitlist position and, later, the offer with its deadline. Payment reminders before an installment and a notice if one fails. The season schedule when it publishes and every change after. Each of these is a message from the roster, triggered by the setting, not a task on someone's list.
- Confirmation with policy
- Waitlist position and offer
- Installment reminders and failure notice
- Schedule and changes