Event Tools...
This is course 3 of 5 in The Features of Online Donation Providers
Easy Online Event Registration can take the hassle and paperwork out of coordinating events. Letting participants register online at their convenience, allows your organization’s staff more time to focus on planning and management of the event.
Online registrations should be flexible and allow a wide number of options to collect information from attendees. There are two main types of events that your online donation provider should be capable of providing, ticketed events and packaged events.
Ticketed Events
Ticketed events are events that sell only one type of ticket regardless of who attends. You should be able to tell your donation system what the event is about, when and where the event takes place (the venue), how much each ticket costs (including discounting for multiple purchases) and how many tickets are available.
The event system should specify what information you need to run your event. For example, you may need to collect just names from ticket holders, or you might want to collect names and addresses. If you need their names, or maybe their names and their phone numbers. You should be able to specify any necessary fields and instruct your system to collect that information from each ticket holder. Your event system should be able to handle this easily.
Your event system should also monitor ticket sales and stop selling tickets if the event is sold out, or be able to stop selling tickets at a pre-defined date. This gives your staff time to complete pre-event management.
Package Events
Package events are defined as a single event with multiple options an attendee can select from. A great example would be a Golf Tournament. In your organization's Golf Tournament you might want to sell individual registrations, or a Foursome. Maybe a company would like to sponsor a hole, or you could sell after party tickets to a dinner.
In each case, you should be able to customize each package with a custom price and a custom set of information to collect. For example, you may need to know t-shirt sizes for individual registrations and in foursomes, but not for hole sponsorships or after party tickets. Your event system should be flexible enough to know exactly what you need for each package. Your system should also know how many of each package you have and automatically remove that option from the event when the last of that package is sold.
Management and Reporting Options
Your Administration Area should include detailed reports and accurate counts of registrations for each event or package. Data should be searchable and downloadable with all the information contained in the search results.
Make sure your event system has downloadable and printable will-call lists so you can easily perform mail-merges to create nametags and have the will-call list at the door to check off attendees as they arrive.
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