Two questions, two records
Registration and attendance are easy to blur, but they answer different questions. Registration says who signed up or is eligible for a program. Attendance says who actually came. A program can have twelve people registered and seven who show up on a given day, and both numbers are correct.
Keeping them straight is the foundation of honest reporting. It also connects directly to counting unique participants versus total visits.
What registration tells you
Registration is a record of intention or eligibility. It usually happens once, ahead of time or at first contact.
Who has signed up for a program or is eligible to join.
The information you collect when someone first enrolls.
A planning number: how many to expect, and how full a program is.
What attendance tells you
Attendance is a record of what actually happened, session by session.
Who came to a specific session, and when.
How participation changes over weeks.
The basis for counting visits and reach.
Why the difference matters
Funders and boards often ask different questions, and mixing registration with attendance produces numbers that do not add up. If you report registrations as if they were visits, you overstate participation. If you report only one session's attendance as your reach, you understate it. Keeping both lets you answer accurately: how many enrolled, how many attended, and how often.
Keeping both without extra work
The trick is to capture attendance at the moment of sign-in rather than reconstructing it later. When registration happens once and attendance is a quick tap each session, both records stay accurate without extra work. This is exactly what participant management software is built to do.
Frequently asked questions
Trying to make your centre run more smoothly?
OpenCommunity helps neighbourhood houses and family centres manage sign-in, programs, and attendance in one place.
Note: This article is general information only, not legal or professional advice.