---
title: Recreation Software Demo Scorecard for Evaluating Vendors
description: "How to evaluate recreation software demos: four live scenarios, a scoring rubric, and reference questions that surface problems before you sign."
---

[The Playbook](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook)

# [Recreation Software Demo Scorecard for Evaluating Vendors](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-demo-scorecard)

 Written by [Brian M.](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/author/brian-m) | Aug 20, 2026, 8:00:00 AM

Ninety minutes. A sales engineer with a clean demo account, a fictional city, and a registration that goes through on the first click every single time. Everyone nods. Six months later your staff is doing manual workarounds for a scholarship discount that will not stack with a sibling discount.

The demo was not a lie. It just was not a test. Nobody made it one. If you are comparing recreation software vendors, this scorecard turns the demo into one.

## Run your scenarios, not theirs

Send every finalist the same four scenarios one week ahead, in writing, with your real fee table and your real facility list. Tell them they will drive, live, with your staff watching the screen. No slides, no video, no "we can show that offline."

Then hold them to it. A vendor who cannot do it in a controlled demo is unlikely to manage it in your busiest registration week. If you are still building the shortlist, start with [how to evaluate the field](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/best-recreation-management-software-evaluate), and put the scenarios below into your [RFP requirements matrix](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-rfp-requirements-matrix).

## The four scenarios

- **Sibling registration with a scholarship.** One parent, three kids, two different programs, a fee assistance award applied to two of them and not the third. Does the discount stack with the sibling rate? What does the receipt say? What does the revenue report say the program actually earned?
- **The double booked field.** Put a league block and a rental request on the same field, same hour. Does the system stop it, warn about it, or cheerfully take the money twice? Then have staff resolve it and see who gets notified.
- **The mid season refund.** A kid breaks an arm in week 4 of an 8 week program. Prorate it, refund partially to the original card, credit the rest to the household account, and produce the audit trail your finance office will want.
- **The failed payment.** A recurring membership charge declines. What happens automatically, what does the family see, how many days until access is cut, and how does the front desk retry it without asking for the card number over the phone?

## Score it while you are watching

Build a simple rubric and fill it in during the session, not after. Three columns per scenario: completed without a workaround, number of screens the staff member had to touch, and did the money end up right. Every evaluator scores independently before anyone talks. The conversation after that is worth more than the demo itself.

Weight the scenarios against your own scoring criteria, and notice how much of your published rubric actually measures software behavior versus proposal writing. Keep the [full cost of the quote](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-cost-breakdown) in a separate column so price does not hide a failed scenario.

## The reference calls are the real product review

Two published RFPs show what a serious reference requirement looks like. The City of Rock Island, Illinois asked vendors to [include three client references of similar size and scope that are currently live](https://www.rigov.org/DocumentCenter/View/19770/RIPR-Recreation-Management-Software-RFP), each with the project's go-live date. Redmond, Washington went further in its [registration and facility booking RFP](https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21842/RFP-10752-22-Parks-and-Recreation-Registration-and-Facility-Booking-Software), asking for the installation date and the name and version of the deployed solution for each of three references, and stating that the City reserves the right to contact references without prior notification.

Those details do the work. Similar size stops you from hearing about an agency ten times your scale. Installation date and version stop you from hearing about software you are not being sold.

## Questions that surface problems

- What did go live week actually look like, and what broke? (Our [go-live plan](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-data-migration-golive) shows what to check.)
- What did you pay in year one that was not in the proposal?
- What does your staff still do in a spreadsheet?
- How long does a support ticket take, and what happened the last time you had an outage during registration?
- Would you buy it again? If not, what would you buy?

If a vendor cannot get through four scenarios and five phone calls, it is unlikely to hold up through your season. Before you sign, also score the exit: [contract exit rights](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-contract-exit-rights) are the part most scorecards skip.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do you evaluate recreation software vendors?

Send every finalist the same written scenarios ahead of time, have them run those scenarios live with your fee table, and score each one independently. Then check references of similar size that are currently live.

### What should a recreation software demo include?

Your own scenarios, not a scripted happy path. Four worth testing are a sibling registration with a scholarship, a double booked field, a mid season refund, and a failed recurring payment.

### How many references should I ask a recreation software vendor for?

Rock Island, Illinois asked for [three client references of similar size and scope that are currently live](https://www.rigov.org/DocumentCenter/View/19770/RIPR-Recreation-Management-Software-RFP). Redmond, Washington also [asked for three references](https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21842/RFP-10752-22-Parks-and-Recreation-Registration-and-Facility-Booking-Software), with installation date and deployed version.

### How do I score a software demo?

Fill in a rubric during the session with three columns per scenario: completed without a workaround, number of screens touched, and whether the money ended up right. Have each evaluator score before any discussion.

[Start with the free cost recovery audit](https://www.recreationhq.net/audit) if you want a number to evaluate against.

[View full post](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-demo-scorecard)

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