Streamline Registration by Managing Your Data
Check in and check out can change the opinion of your guests’ event experience. As the first point of contact with you on event day and the last impression on their way out the door, registration plays a huge part in your success and figuring out a streamlined system is imperative. When registration is an obstacle for guests you divert their attention from your great work and ask them to worry about elements that get in the way of making it easy for them to participate in your fundraising.
Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives took a critical look at their registration process for their Dancing With the Stars event this year and decided that their critical addition would be an auction data management software, and they chose Greater Giving.
Previously, the lack of a real-time data computer system at their event made their process more cumbersome than it needed to be and necessitated a lot of follow-up on the back end. This year, with a solid and accurate database at their fingertips at each registration station, they were ready for all of their guests upon arrival, creating an easy flow into their event.
They were able to quickly do data entry for onsite bidding and purchases so that when guests were ready to leave, their receipts were complete and payment was all taken care of. No post-event follow up needed.
To create ease at check in and check out, there are a few simple tips you can follow regardless of the auction software you use:
- Make sure guest names are all entered into the system in advance and placed in the correct groups
- Make sure bid #s are pre-assigned and have a label on each number with the name and table # for the guest
- Have bid #s in numerical order vs. in alphabetical order of the guest name for quick check in–numbers are easier to say than names
- Have extra unassigned bid #s onsite for quick guest additions/changes
- Make sure all packages for sale are entered into the system in advance, so anything guests will purchase the night of needs to exist as a package
- Have one computer station per 100 guests at the event and a troubleshooting area to send guests to so there is no line hold up
- Check for duplicates guest entries prior to the event to have a clean database
- Don’t have guests complete contact information at the registration computer, have a separate form they can fill out at another table to keep your line moving
PCRI took these ideas to heart and was able to create great entry and exit from their event, leaving guests to just enjoy themselves and support a great cause.
Photos by Cameron Browne
