Events

What is an event?

An EVENT may be a gala, a workshop, or any activity with a start and end time for which you want to offer and manage registrations:

  • A volunteer event with no fee and a limit to registrations where the volunteers will receive a t-shirt in their size
  • A parent-child class where the parent can register multiple children
  • A ticketed gala with different entry times and fees with a meal choice
  • A tabled event, with the ability to sponsor an entire table and enter the attendees later
  • A multi-day, multi-track event with different activities packaged and priced differently for early-bird and full-price registration

Other DonorPoint items can be associated with an event when it is published to your catalog:

  • Donations in lieu of attendance
  • Corporate sponsorships or advertisements
  • Raffles
  • Merchandise

Creating an event:

An event contains the basic properties of name, date of the event, and an image, if desired.

Events also contain the following elements:

  • Event packages, for selling registrations to the event
  • Optional time & location for presentation in the catalog
  • Optional start and end time for public registrations
  • Optional limit to the number of registrations for the event
  • Activity items - optional detailed activities happening within the event that you want to track discretely
  • Ticket template - optional HTML document with available merge fields that will be generated for each registrant and attached to the email receipt
  • Registrations - records for each registrant to the event

Event Packages

You sell registrations to your event by publishing EVENT PACKAGES. Event packages are defined like other items in DonorPoint. They have the common item properties of name, image, price, custom fields, and restrictions as to the dates of sale and number of registrations available for purchase.

Event packages are where the number of registrations, or persons attending an event (ATTENDEES), are determined. In addition, limits can be set on the number of attendees and special information about the attendees can be collected through the creation of custom fields.

CUSTOM FIELDS can also be created on event packages to collect additional information from each purchaser. You can SELECT an existing custom field or create a new one. Add as many custom fields as you need.

Merchandise included as part of purchase, such as t-shirts, grab bags, or meal selections may also be added to your event packages.

Understanding Attendees

Additional contacts in events are called ATTENDEES, and these are the people who will be attending the event. Attendees can be the person who is making the purchase or others whom the purchaser designates. You define the details about the attendees on the Attendees tab.

Attendee definitions are reusable in DonorPoint. In this way you can set up standard definitions for event types such as children’s classes or sit-down dinners. When creating an event package, you can select an existing definition from the dropdown menu or create a new definition specifically for that event package.

By default, it is assumed that the buyer and the attendee are one and the same. If you want to support a scenario where the buyer may not be the attendee, or where a registration includes more than one individual, you will define that on the Attendees tab.

Attendee definitions are reusable in DonorPoint. In this way you can set up standard definitions for event types such as children’s classes or sit-down dinners. When creating an event package, you can select an existing definition from the dropdown menu or create a new definition specifically for that event package.

The fields defining attendees for an event are:

  • Name: Internal name for the definition. Choose a name that will make the use clear so you can easily find it in the dropdown menu for future use.
  • Prompt on Pages: This is the prompt that appears on the item when a buyer is purchasing it.
  • Rule type: This defines the number of possible attendees included in this registration.
    • None
    • One: One attendee per registration
    • Fixed: There are a fixed number of attendees possible (i.e., 2 for a couples ticket or 8 for a table of eight).
    • Open Number: There are an unlimited number of possible attendees
  • Include Buyer?: Should it be assumed that the buyer is one of the attendees?
    • Buyer – Assume that the buyer is an attendee
    • Not Buyer – Assume that the buyer is not an attendee (i.e., parent buying registration for a children’s art class)
    • Either / Prompt – The buyer may or may not be an attendee and will be asked if he/she will be attending or if the registration is for someone else
  • Prompt For Contacts: If there are a fixed number of attendees, you may expose all the fields for the full number of possible attendees, or you may prompt the buyer to click “ADD” to add attendees as needed. For larger numbers of attendees, such as tables, this is preferred.
  • Number: Number of possible attendees on this registration. Enter 999 if RULE TYPE is OPEN NUMBER.
  • Checkboxes: Select the information you want to collect for each attendee.
  • Custom Fields: Add custom fields to collect additional information for each attendee (i.e., t-shirt size, meal choice, etc.). You can SELECT an existing custom field or create a new one. Add as many custom fields as you need.
  • Minimum Required: The minimum number of attendees that must be specified (includes the buyer if appropriate)

## Confirmations

The following are automatically created for you as part of your event set up:

  • A CONFIRMATION PAGE which the purchaser will see on their device when they have completed their purchase.
  • A CONFIRMATION EMAIL which will be sent to the purchaser after they have completed their purchase.
  • !! These confirmations may be customized to your organization’s specifications. For details on how to do this, contact DonorPoint technical support at help@donorpoint.com.

Ticketing

When TICKETING is enabled for your event, an HTML document with optional merge fields will be generated for each registrant and attached to the email receipt. The document can contain a ticket or other important information that the attendee will need, such as directions to the venue, parking details, or other instructions.

Ticket template definitions are reusable in DonorPoint. You can set up standard templates for event types such as children’s classes or large parties. When creating an event, you can select an existing definition from the dropdown menu or create a new definition specifically for that event.

Seating - Advanced

When SEATING is enabled on your event, tables may be created with the available number of seats per table. These tables will be available for all event packages that are created. You can also set up tables that are associated with a specific event package.

Options for seating assignments are set on the Seating tab on the event packages. You can set the specifics in the Seat Assignment Type dropdown as to how seats should be assigned:

  • Automatically assign table and seat - a table and seat will be assigned to attendees at the time of purchase
  • Prompt for table, assign seat automatically - at the time of purchase the system will prompt the purchaser for the table they want to be assigned to. The seat assignment will be set automatically.
  • Assign table and seat manually - table and seat assignments are made on individual registrations from the Registrations tab on the event.

Structuring your event with activities – Advanced

ACTIVITIES allow you to manage a multi-day and/or multi-track event efficiently:

  • A convention with professional and spouse/guest tracks with different pricing
  • A multi-day event with different activities on different days when people may arrive on any day and take part in only a limited part of the event

By using activities, you can keep accurate counts of the number of registrants to the discrete parts of your event which you can use to manage vendors specific to those events:

  • How many professionals are attending the seated luncheon
  • How many guests are taking the day tours
  • How many total professionals and guests are attending the closing banquet

You create activities on the Activities tab of the event or any event package, and you add activities to an event package on the Activities tab of the event package using the Select button.

Activities can be configured with a cost or to be free of charge. They can be customized like other DonorPoint items, and restrictions may also be set regarding the dates of the activities or the number that are available for purchase.