Creating an Event - Registration & Fees

Click Registration & Fees and then the Edit (pencil) icon to configure how people will register for the event, it’s capacity, what fees if any they will pay, whether you will track attendance, and what information to collect if non-members can register.

Registration

The Registration field controls how online registration is handled. The following options are available:

*Choosing one of these options for registration and setting a registrant capacity enables the Waitlist feature.

Administrators will still see the Register Now under circumstances when other users will not see it (for example, if the event was in the past.) This allows them to register attendees even if registration has closed for members and/or non-members.

Registrant List Visibility

Select from one of the three options:

• None – the list of registrants is not available.
• Public – the list of registrants is available to everyone.
• Members Only – the list of registrants is only available to members.

If Public or Members Only is selected, the Event View page shows a “Registrants” button. Clicking this button displays a list of people who have already signed up for the event. Some people like to see who’s coming before they decide whether to come (or not!)

Register Button Text

Use this option to specify the text on the Register Now button. You can configure a default to use for all your events on the Event Defaults screen. If you don’t have a default and you leave this field blank, the system will use “Register Now”.

Avoid Duplicate Registrations

Select Yes to have the system check for duplicate registrations and block them if possible. For members, this is reasonably straightforward since the member has logged in to register. For non-members, the system checks on last name and email address and will block a registration if both match. But there’s no way to stop a non-member registering using a different email address.

Sequence Numbers

If this feature is enabled under Event Defaults, you can tell the system to optionally generate a unique sequence number for each registration and/or each registrant. Specify or change the label to be used and the starting number at each level (for example, 1001 instead of 1.)

This information will be included on the Registration Details screen and also in the appropriate exports at each level. You can use it in a number of ways:

• At the registration level, to number each information packet handed out;
• At the registrant level, a running or cycling club could register each runner or rider signed up for a specific event;
• For an annual banquet or dinner, each registrant could receive a unique number used in a prize drawing.

Capacity

If the event capacity is limited, select Yes then specify the maximum number of attendees that can be accommodated for the event. Capacity is strictly enforced for members and non-members registering for events (although admins can always add members even if the event is full.) If an event is close to capacity and multiple people are signing up at the same time, some of them may not be able to complete their registrations since the event will fill up under them.

You also have the option of showing the capacity and of showing the number of available slots, which you might do if you expect the event to be popular and there are limited slots available.

Setting a registrant capacity and choosing one of the starred options for registration enables the Waitlist feature.

Waitlist

If a specific registration option is selected (Recommended, Required, Required by Date) and a registrant capacity is set, you have the option to enable a Waitlist for the event.

Select "Yes" to enable the Waitlist or "No" to skip the section.

Enter in the capacity of the Waitlist, and the number of hours the person has to register once a spot opens in the event and the Waitlisted person is notified via email. For example, if Waitlisted registrants are given 8 hours to register and they are notified at 8:00 AM, they will have until 4:00 PM to register for the event .

Members are notified by email as soon as a spot becomes available, for example if another member or non-member cancels their registration, or if event capacity is increased by an administrator or event coordinator.

Determine how the Waitlist will be processed, either manually or automatically. A Waitlist processed manually will require administrators or event coordinators to send notifications to Waitlisted registrants manually by notifying each person individually or all Waitlisted registrants at the same time. A Waitlist processed automatically will send a notification to the user added to the Waitlist first. If the notified user does not register for the event within the time limit set, the next user on the Waitlist will be notified.

Fees / Payments

Specify whether a fee is charged for all or part of the event. For a single activity event, the system will later prompt you to enter the fee(s) for the whole event for each registrant type. For a multi-activity event, the system will later prompt you to enter the fee(s) for each activity for each registrant type.

You can also select an option where “Members pay their own charges”. This option is suitable for an event held at a public location which charges a fee, such as a mother’s playgroup trip with kids to the local zoo. The club is not charging a fee per se, but the event does have a cost associated with it.

You can select an option where registrants can only pay by schedule, where you will be prompted to define the payment schedule.

Click Edit to configure the payment schedule.

If an amount is to be collected upon registration, enter the amount in Initial Payment. For the remaining scheduled payments, enter a date and define a percentage of the total payment due on that date, then click Add to add the schedule item. If you have entered an Initial Payment amount, the remaining percentages in the schedule will be based on the total amount minus the initial payment.

The last option is “Charges will be added to your monthly bill”. This option is only for clubs and associations that manage member billing outside ClubExpress. When this option is selected, event registrations will not generate transactions that need payment. Any required payments have to be handled separately.

Specify whether payment must be collected in advance, or whether it will only be collected at the event, or whether either option is acceptable.

Scheduled Payments

For some types of events, you can enable partial payment support that allows registrants to pay on a schedule. This option is suitable where the event is expensive and may be paid in installments.

Ski clubs often organize multi-day trips to a remote ski resort and members pay for the event over a number of months leading up to the event. If this option is enabled, the Immediate Payment Required option is not available.

Specify the minimum amount that can be paid with each installment. The system will enforce the amount for members, although admins can bypass this limit. The recommended amount is shown on the payment screen when a member makes a payment. (If the actual amount owing is less than the recommended amount, this actual amount is used instead.)

Click Edit Schedule to open the Payment Schedule popup.

Payment schedules use percentages instead of actual dollar amounts because the amount owing may be different for each registration (based on the options selected and on the number of companions attached to the registration.)

Enter a date and percentage and click Add. Click Remove to remove an existing schedule item. The system tracks the total and status for you and will not allow you to save the schedule until the total is 100%.

An event report is available to show you each registration for an event, the amounts paid, and whether that registration is up to date compared to the schedule.

Immediate Payment Required

This option is only available if “Payment in Advance Only” is selected above. Select Yes to require users to pay for this event immediately (the default is No.) When this option is enabled, users will see a special note on the summary and payment pages indicating that immediate payment is required for this event. If a payment is not recorded for the event within 30 minutes, the registration will be cancelled (flagged as “Cancelled-not paid in time limit”) and a cancellation email is sent to the user. These registrations cannot be reactivated.

Does the Fee Change After a Certain Date

If the event fees change after a cut-off date, select Yes then specify the date.

The date entered represents the first day that the new fee applies.

Financial Account and QuickBooks®Item Name

Specify the non-archived financial account that will be used for event registration fees.

If QuickBooks®is enabled, specify the item name into which fees for this event will be categorized when you export transactions.

Attendance

Select Yes to record attendance for this event. A new “Attendance” option will appear on the admin ribbon bar allowing you to record who actually attended.

For clubs that track attendance throughout the year, you can also flag this event as being eligible for attendance credit. Many community service clubs (Rotary, Lions, Exchange, etc.) require members to attend a minimum number of events throughout the year. You can set these options on the Control Panel – Club Options screen.

At the event level, ClubExpress includes a report to track who attended each event. At the event module level, ClubExpress includes a report to track each member and how many events he or she attended within a specified date range.

Registrant Options

If guests are allowed, the “Maximum Guests” option controls how many guests may be added to the registration by the primary registrant. You can set the initial or default value of this option on the Event Defaults screen.

When members or non-members register for this event, which mailing list category will they be assigned to. When you create a category for a specific event, it allows you to export all attendees or to send them a blast emailing.

Non-Member Settings

For each of non-members and member guests, you can separately control what data is collected.

The grid lists five general categories of non-member and guest data, and allows you to configure the fields that should be displayed and that should be required. The options are:

• Do Not Show
• Show (not required)
• Show and Require

With the Address fields that even if they are required, “Address2” is always optional.

If you have text messaging enabled and would like to send non-member and guest registrants text messages, you need to collect a mobile phone number upon registration.

Check the “Panel Complete” box when you’re done. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Event Admin screen, or Cancel to return without saving.