Topic Doc: Single Section Activity Lottery Enrollment
RecTrac 3.1.10.32.00
Table of Contents
Document Summary
Activity lottery enrollments allow you to register patrons for Activities and then select the Rosters (Enrollees) through a random assignment process (the Lottery Spin) rather than on a first-come, first-served basis. The lottery registration option is useful for popular Activities where more people wish to register than you have room for enrollment.
RecTrac can process two different types of lotteries: Multi-Choice and Single Section.
- Multi-Choice lotteries are designed for use with summer camp registrations and other large-scale lotteries where programs are high in demand. When lottery participants sign up, they choose their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. choice programs. If there is more than one participant in a Household, those participants can choose to enter the lottery as part of a Linked Enrollment, where participants share a lottery number, or by Individual Enrollment, where each participant has their own lottery number. The Lottery Spin allows participants to win only once per Lottery Group.
- Single Section lotteries are designed for use in the special recreation community and with small-scale lotteries where filling open enrollment slots is the primary goal of the Lottery Spin. Lottery participants sign up Section by Section. They do not choose 2nd, 3rd, or any additional choices, and cannot participate in Linked Enrollments. The Lottery Spin allows participants to win as many times as they are randomly drawn.
This document covers the setup and processing required to run a Single Section lottery. For more information on Multi-Choice lotteries:
See Also: Topic Doc: Multi-Choice Activity Lottery Enrollment
The Single Section lottery enrollment process enables your patrons to sign up for Section-specific lotteries using the standard checkout process. Patrons do not choose a 2nd, 3rd, etc. choice of programs. All processing prompts with a Transaction Type of “Lottery Enrollment,” including any Lottery Enrollment fees, must be completed to enroll into a Single Section lottery.
Once the Lottery Spin has been processed, winners are either directly enrolled OR they receive an enrollment offer into their program. If you choose to send enrollment offers, a winner must accept their enrollment offer to finalize their enrollment. If an enrollment offer is not accepted or rejected before the Enrollment Offer Expiration Date and Expiration Time (set on the Lottery Spin), that enrollment offer expires and is treated as a Cancellation.
License – Maintenance Agreement
The Activity Lottery Enrollment Interface is free. Use of the interface requires a Vermont Systems license and annual maintenance agreement for RecTrac and the component modules discussed in this document. Before implementing any process outlined in this document, please contact the Vermont Systems Sales Department at 1-877-883-8757 to verify that you are authorized to use the modules discussed in this document and if not, to obtain a quote and/or approval.
Setup Steps
This document provides the basic File Maintenance and Daily Processing steps required to:
- Create Single Section Lottery Groups in Lottery Group Management.
- Set the Registration Option on your Activity Sections to Lottery.
- Link a Lottery Group to Activity Sections.
- Set up an Enrollment Offer Expiration Scheduled Event.
- Process Single Section Lottery Enrollments.
- Run the Lottery Spin and report on the results.
If you have additional questions about Activity Lottery Enrollment setup and processing after reading this document, please contact Vermont Systems Customer Service by phone at 887-883-8757 or generate a Support Case through the Customer portal of the Vermont Systems website using your Customer ID and password.
Before You Begin
This document is written with the following assumptions. If any of the items listed below are NOT true, contact Vermont Systems Support before continuing, as the steps in this document may prove difficult to complete and unexpected results may occur.
- Your organization is running RecTrac 3.1.10.32.00 or greater.
- You have a full understanding of how programs are managed in your organization, including but not limited to: the programs for which lottery enrollments will be used and how enrollment into them is currently managed.
- You understand RecTrac Activity Management and have created the Activities and Sections for which Activity Lottery Enrollment will be allowed.
- You understand RecTrac Lottery Group Management, have created at least one Single Section Lottery Group, and have linked that Lottery Group to all Sections for which Activity Lottery Enrollment will be allowed.
- The User ID with which you sign into RecTrac has the requisite permissions and ability to access all modules and functions pertaining to Activity Lottery Enrollments, including but not limited to: Lottery Group Management, Activity Section Management, Scheduled Events Management, and Global Sales.
- You understand RecTrac DataGrids and how to maneuver through them.
File Maintenance Setup
You will visit the following program modules to configure Lottery Group, Activity, and Scheduled Event logic in RecTrac:
- Lottery Group Management
- Activity Section Management
- Scheduled Events Management
Note:
All file paths and screen/tab locations in this document refer to file paths and screen/tab locations as they appear in the standard, default Vermont Systems Design. Your setup and design may vary.
Lottery Group Management
The Lottery Group Management program enables you to create two different kinds of Lottery Groups: Single Section and Multi-Choice. This document covers the steps required to create Single Section Lottery Groups. For more information on Multi-Choice lotteries:
See Also: Topic Doc: Multi-Choice Activity Lottery Enrollment
Creating a Lottery Group allows you to target the specific Activity Sections that should be available as part of a lottery enrollment period. Once a Lottery Group is linked to Activity Sections, those Sections become part of the Lottery Group and inherit the settings defined on that Lottery Group.
Single Section Lottery Groups are designed for use in the special recreation community and with small-scale lotteries where filling open enrollment slots is the primary goal of the Lottery Spin.
A Single Section Lottery Group can be linked to as many different Activity Sections as is required. During your lottery enrollment period, patrons enroll in each Section separately using the standard checkout process. Then, when the Lottery Spin is run, results are drawn for all Activity Sections linked to that Lottery Group. Patrons can win enrollment into whatever number of Activity Sections they are selected for during the Lottery Spin. In other words, there is no cap on the number of times an individual can win.
To create a Single Section Lottery Group:
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • System Management • Misc Management Programs group • Lottery Group Management.
- Click Add. You will continue to the Lottery Group Update screen.
- In the Lottery Choice Option field, select Single Section Lottery.
- Set up the Lottery Enrollment Start and End Dates according to your organization’s requirements.
- Click Save.
- Repeat this process for each Lottery Group that you need to create.
Activity Section Management
The Registration Option field is located in the Miscellaneous Settings group of Activity Section Update. This field must be set to Lottery and a Lottery Group must be selected for all Activity Sections into which you will process enrollments by lottery.
Note:
A lottery Section’s Begin and End Dates should be in the future of your Lottery Enrollment period (as set up on the Lottery Group) AND in the future of the date you will run the Lottery Spin program.
To enable your Sections for lottery enrollment:
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • Activity Management • Activity Management Programs group • Section Management.
- Highlight/select the first Section for which you will process lottery enrollments and click Change. You will continue to the Activity Section Update screen.
- Expand the Miscellaneous Settings group.
- Expand the Drop-down list for the Registration Option and select Lottery.
- Click the picklist for the Lottery Group and select the appropriate Single Section Lottery Group record.
- Click Select. You will be returned to the Activity Section Update Screen.
- Click Save.
- Repeat this process for each Section for which you will process lottery enrollments.
Note:
Use the Bulk Change program to expedite this process, if desired. From the Activity Section Management screen, click Bulk Change. Select a range of Sections. Add Registration Option and Lottery Group to the Bulk Changes to Complete column of the Dual Select List. Then click Process Bulk Change.
Scheduled Events Management
As of 3.1.10.32.00, winning the lottery may not result in automatic Activity enrollment. The Lottery Spin program allows you to determine whether winners are:
- Directly enrolled in their Activity Sections OR
- Sent an enrollment offer that must be accepted in order to finalize their enrollment.
If you elect to use enrollment offers, the Lottery Spin program enables you to set an expiration date and time for the offers associated with each Spin. To trigger the offer expirations, you must first visit Scheduled Events Management and create a scheduled Enrollment Offer Expiration program. Once set up, this program checks for enrollment offer expiration dates/times every one (1) minute. When it finds an enrollment offer that has expired, the program cancels the enrollment offer and sends an email notification to the patron. When it finds an enrollment offer that has an upcoming expiration, the program sends a warning email to the patron.
Enrollment offer emails can be updated from Comment Code Management using the following VSI Reserved Comment Codes:
- LotterySpinResults01
- OfferExpiration01
- OfferExpiration02
Note:
To ensure enrollment offers are triggered as expected, it is recommended that custom version(s) of Language Code Rcpt-AR-00006 are deleted prior to using this feature.
To delete a custom Language Code:
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • System Management • Misc Management Programs group • Language Code Management.
- Locate the Language Codes DataGrid at the bottom of the screen.
- Type “Rcpt-AR-00006” into the Phrase ID column filter and press the Enter key. If a custom Language Code exists in your database, it will appear on the DataGrid.
- Select the custom Rcpt-AR-00006 Language Code.
- Click on the More button group.
- Click Delete.
- When the Information confirmation popup appears, click Yes. Your Language Code will be deleted.
To create an Enrollment Offer Expiration Scheduled Event:
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • System Management • Misc Management Programsgroup • Scheduled Events Management.
- Click Add Misc Event. You will continue to the Scheduled Program Update screen.
- Select Enrollment Offer Expiration from the Scheduled Program drop-down list.
- Select the Run As user. By default, VS recommends selecting the ZZS User ID as the "Run As" User. If you select a different User ID, please ensure that user has the appropriate administrative permissions in ProfileAssignments.
- Enter the number of hours before offer expiration that a warning email will be sent to patrons.
- Click Save.
The Single Section Lottery Enrollment Process
When signing up for a Single Section lottery, patrons complete the checkout process as though signing up for a standard Activity program. Any processing prompts with a Transaction Type of “Lottery Enrollment” (including fees) must be completed at the time of lottery enrollment.
The following presents the basic steps required to enroll a Family Member into a single class, the roster for which will be determined by Lottery Spin.
To enroll a Family Member into a Single Section lottery from RecTrac:
- In RecTrac, go to Global Sales.
- Lookup and select the Household/Family Member you wish to enroll.
- Select the Lottery Activity from the Activity tab.
- Click Add to Cart. Complete any processing prompts that appear.
- Confirm that the correct Activity Section was added to the Shopping Cart.
- Click Payment and complete checkout as you normally would.
Note:
The Enrollment Status on the Receipt reads, "Lottery," and Lottery is the Enrollment Status in Section Inquiry (Inquiry Ribbon • Section Inquiry). Similarly, “Lottery” would be displayed were you to run an Activity Roster Report with Enrollment Status included.
To enroll a Family Member into a Single Section lottery fromWebTrac:
- Sign into WebTrac.
- Go to Activity Search.
- Select the Lottery Activity and find the applicable Lottery Section.
- Click Add To Cart. Complete any processing prompts that appear.
- Confirm that the correct Activity Section was added to the Shopping Cart.
- Click Proceed To Checkout. You will continue to the Checkout page, where you will be able to select your payment method.
- Click Continue. You will be taken to the Checkout Confirmation page.
- You will also receive an emailed Enrollment Receipt and will be able to view and cancel your lottery enrollment from the My Pending Enrollments page.
Note:
The Enrollment Status on the Enrollment Receipt and the Pending Enrollments from Lottery DataGrid reads, “Lottery.”
Drawing Lottery Results via Lottery Spin
The Lottery Spin should be run only after the close of your registration period and only upon completion and verification of all lottery enrollments. This program affects Activity Section file records and Household file records. It is therefore important to run this program when changes are not actively being made to Activity or Household files (i.e., run the program after hours when it is unlikely that clerks will be in the database and/or Households will be using WebTrac). This is especially applicable for large Lottery Spins.
The following instructions offer the basic information required to run the Lottery Spin program. Use the "i" and "?" Help icons for field definitions, if needed.
Note:
While not mandatory, Vermont Systems advises creating an online backup before running the program.
To run the Lottery Spin program:
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • Activity Management • Period End Processes group • Lottery Spin. You will continue to the Lottery Spin program.
- Expand the Processing Option drop-down list and select Preview Results or Draw Lottery.
- Preview Results generates a report of the lottery results without committing those results to your database.
- Draw Lottery commits the results of the lottery in addition to generating the report.
- Click the Picklist icon for Lottery Group to select the Lottery Group for which you wish to process the Lottery Spin.
- Select the User Name, Cash Drawer, and Posting Date that should be associated with the Lottery Spin once processed. The information entered into these fields will be linked to all transactions associated with the Lottery Spin.
- Please note that these fields are only applicable to transactions that deal with money. $0.00 transactions will continue to show the User Name, Cash Drawer, and Posting Date applicable to the logged-in user.
- Determine whether you wish to Directly Enroll Winners.
- The Directly Enroll Winners toggle is deselected as part of the default VS Design. Leaving this toggle deselected when the Lottery Spin is processed means that lottery winners receive enrollment offers into their Activity Sections. A winner must accept the enrollment offer to finalize their enrollment. All processing prompts, fees, waivers, etc. with a Transaction Type of “Purchase” must be completed at the time of offer acceptance to fully enroll.
- Enabling the Directly Enroll Winners toggle means that lottery winners are fully enrolled in their Activity Sections during the Lottery Spin. No enrollment offers are sent, and any Purchase fees are added as debit balances to the winners’ Household accounts. Please note that if Section Lottery Enrollment fees and Purchase fees are set up to be the same amount, no debit balances will be created, as the previously paid Lottery Enrollment fees will satisfy payment of the new Purchase fees.
- If Directly Enroll Winners is deselected, use the Calendar to select the Expiration Date of the enrollment offers that are sent to lottery winners.
- Enrollment offers expire after a set period. Use the Expiration Date field to determine the exact date that enrollment offers resulting from this Lottery Spin expire.
- Refer to RecTrac Date Select Fields for a listing of selection definitions and examples.
- If Directly Enroll Winners is deselected, use the Time field to select the Expiration Time of the enrollment offers that are sent to lottery winners.
- This field works in tandem with the Offer Expiration Date field. Enrollment offers expire at this time on the Expiration Date.
- Leave the Member Fee Codes and Household Categories fields at their Default Settings to run the Lottery Spin for everyone
- OR make selections in one or both of these fields to filter the lottery by the desired code or category.
- Determine whether you wish to Change Sections' Registration Option to ‘Standard’ after the Spin.
- This is the recommended option if you allow enrollment into lottery Activities after the lottery results have been drawn, either to offer enrollment from the waitlist in the event of a cancellation or to fill any empty slots.
If you would like to delay standard enrollment into Activity Sections that will be processed by the Lottery Spin, create a “Disallow Purchase” Rule for your WebTrac interface type and link it to those Sections. Then check the Change Sections' Registration Option to ‘Standard’ after the Spin toggle and process the Lottery Spin.
- This is the recommended option if you allow enrollment into lottery Activities after the lottery results have been drawn, either to offer enrollment from the waitlist in the event of a cancellation or to fill any empty slots.
- Determine whether you wish to Send Emails to Lottery Winners and Waitlisted Patrons.
- Select this option to email lottery result notifications, receipts, and enrollment offers (as applicable) to patrons after the Lottery Spin process completes.
- De-select this option to delay sending lottery result notifications. To print paper bills, go to the Bulk Print program and select the Lottery Spin option.
- Click Process to run the Lottery Spin program. You will proceed to the Report Information screen. These settings dictate the disposition of the by-product Lottery Results Report (print, preview, or email).
- Accept the default settings or make changes as needed. Click Continue when ready. Read the Success message and click Close. You will be notified when the Lottery Spin process is completed.
Note:
As of the 3.1.10.32.00 release, the Lottery Spin program processes the following fees:
- Lottery Enrollment Fees – If a patron paid a Lottery Enrollment fee when signing up for a Single Section lottery, they will be refunded that Lottery Enrollment fee during the Lottery Spin.
- Purchase Fees – If you choose to Directly Enroll Winners when processing the Lottery Spin, Activity Section Purchase fees will be charged to lottery winners in the form of a debit balance on their Household. If you do not Directly Enroll Winners, Purchase fees will be satisfied at the time enrollment offers are accepted.
- Waitlist Fees - If a patron is waitlisted by the Lottery Spin, any Waitlist fees associated with the Activity Section will be charged to their Household as a debit balance.
-
Refunds and Charges - If a patron is both refunded and charged by the Lottery Spin, the refund will be automatically applied to the new charge.
- For Example: A Single Section lottery program has a fee of $5.00 with Transaction Types of “Lottery Enrollment” and “Purchase.” A patron pays the $5.00 Lottery Enrollment fee when they sign up for the lottery. Then, when the Lottery Spin is run, they are refunded the $5.00 Lottery Enrollment fee and charged the $5.00 Purchase fee. Because the $5.00 refund and $5.00 charge are part of the same Lottery Spin receipt, the refund and charge resolve each other, and the patron owes nothing.
The Lottery Results Report
The Lottery Results Report details the results of the Lottery Spin and includes columns for Section Code, Section Description, Household Number, Member Name, Receipt Number, Enrollment Option, Section Choice Number, and Lottery Result. A Summary of total enrollments offered to lottery winners, total waitlists, and total cancellations for non-winners is also included.
Accepting and Rejecting Enrollment Offers
The following instructions are applicable only if the Lottery Spin was run with the Directly Enroll Winners toggle disabled.
Once the Lottery Spin has been processed, winners receive enrollment offers into one of their selected lottery Activities and must accept enrollment offers to finalize their enrollment in the program.
An enrollment offer can be accepted or rejected by the winner on the WebTrac My Pending Enrollments page OR by a RecTrac user via Purchase History in Global Sales.
Note:
For Family Members to be able to accept enrollment offers via the My Pending Enrollments page, relevant Activity Sections must have a Display Section On Web field that is set to “Yes.”
Accepting an Enrollment Offer – RecTrac Global Sales
The following presents the basic steps required to accept an enrollment offer on behalf of a Family Member via Purchase History in Global Sales.
To accept an enrollment offer from RecTrac Global Sales:
- In RecTrac, go to Global Sales.
- Lookup and select the Household/Family Member who wishes to accept an enrollment offer.
- Click on the Purchase History tab.
- Select the Enrollment Offer from the Purchase History DataGrid. Note that the status of the Activity Section will be Enrollment Offered.
- Click Add to Cart. Confirm that the correct Activity Section was added to the Shopping Cart.
- Click Payment and complete checkout as you normally would. All Processing Prompts, Fees, Waivers, etc. associated with enrolling in the Activity Section will appear.
Accepting an Enrollment Offer – WebTrac
The following presents the basic steps required for a patron to accept an enrollment offer via the My Pending Enrollments Page on WebTrac.
To accept an enrollment offer from WebTrac:
- Sign into WebTrac.
- Go to the My Pending Enrollments page.
- Locate the Enrollment Offer that you would like to accept on the Pending Enrollments From Lottery DataGrid. Note that the status of the Activity Section will be Enrollment Offered.
- Click Accept. Confirm that the correct Activity Section was added to the Shopping Cart.
- Click Proceed To Checkout and complete checkout as you normally would. All Processing Prompts, Fees, Waivers, etc. associated with enrolling in the Activity Section will appear.
- Process the Transaction. You will receive an emailed Enrollment Receipt.
Rejecting an Enrollment Offer – RecTrac Global Sales
The following presents the basic steps required to reject an enrollment offer on behalf of a Family Member via Purchase History in Global Sales.
To reject an enrollment offer from RecTrac:
- In RecTrac, go to Global Sales.
- Lookup and select the Household/Family Member who wishes to reject an enrollment offer.
- Click on the Purchase History tab.
- Select the Enrollment Offer from the Purchase History DataGrid. Note that the status of the Activity Section will be Enrollment Offered.
- Click Cancel > Cancel Selected Items. Confirm that the correct Activity Section was added to the Shopping Cart.
- Click Payment and complete the cancellation as you normally would.
Rejecting an Enrollment Offer – WebTrac
The following presents the basic steps required for a patron to reject an enrollment offer via the My Pending Enrollments Page on WebTrac.
To reject an Enrollment Offer from WebTrac:
- Sign into WebTrac.
- Go to the My Pending Enrollments page.
- Locate the Enrollment Offer that you would like to reject on the Pending Enrollments From Lottery DataGrid. Note that the status of the Activity Section will be Enrollment Offered.
- Click Reject. Confirm that you would like to reject the enrollment offer by clicking Yes on the confirmation popup.
- Complete checkout as you normally would for a WebTrac cancellation. You will receive an emailed Cancellation Receipt.
Note:
The Enrollment Status on the Enrollment Receipt reads, Cancelled - Rejected.