A common question from non-InviteRight users is what happens when guests RSVP or register for their event? Where does the information go?

One of the best features about using InviteRight is you have access to every guest response whenever you want it, simply by signing into your administration area. And guests are automatically send a confirmation email listing their RSVP/registration details.

After you have opened your event to registration, sign in to your Administration Area to view who has responded for each event created. From your admin area you can also:

1. View a summary of all the guests coming to your event
2. Add and edit details of each response
3. Sort, search, and export a report of your responses/registrations
4. View all the events and event forms you have created

For a more in-depth explanation of searching, sorting and filtering your guest responses, check out our FAQ page. And if you want to learn more about how to look like a hero to your finance people, read Eric’s blog on custom reporting.

Working for eventIQ has given me the luxury of experiencing many different types of events and while every gala has similarities – tables, chairs, food – each one has something unique about it.

Even though I’ve managed to hang around here for two years now, I still haven’t experienced as many fundraising events David Kravinchuk who works with fundraisers to enhance their donor campaigns. Kravinchuk, who cut his fundraising teeth at the MS Society of Canada and now consults through Fundraising Pharmacy, recently spoke at a luncheon for the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Edmonton.

In his blog he gives five ideas to save your next fundraising event:

1. Invite the right people.  Make sure you have a healthy mix of donors at your event. And they can be an excellent time to inspire loyal annual giving donors to increase their giving level or make a stretch gift.
2. Make your mission the shining star.  Even if you have a ‘celebrity’ hosting or appearing your event, make sure that it’s your mission that is the biggest star.  Have the people your charity serves play key roles at the event by delivering a passionate speech, thanking people for coming at the door or handwriting personal welcome notes to use as place cards.
3. Remind people why they are there.  Set a goal for the evening and let your attendees know. Give them updates throughout the night, thanking them often along the way.  Try cutting one speech for every fundraising milestone achieved.
4. Show your work.  Get your event attendees excited by showing them the work you will accomplish with the funds raised that night.  Have the doctor who will be using it give a short presentation about what it will do and the impact it will have on an individual patient.
5. Do something awesome.  This is the hard one, but you’re smart and creative.  One of my favourite ideas is a stroke of genius a former colleague of mine had while she was working for a big-city hospital foundation. She did a live auction of naming rights for hospital rooms at their gala dinner!

So, please give it another go.  It is possible to raise more money, control costs and create a brilliant and memorable event.

What are life hacks you ask? Well, they are little hacks that make your life a little easier. The following “hacks” may help you be more organized, solve solutions in an inexpensive way, do things a lot quicker and maybe teach you something you never knew before.

Like Paul Revere galloping through the night to warn his neighbors that the British Invasion was coming, the InviteRight team is charging to Washington, D.C. this weekend with equal vigor.

We’re going to the North American Association of Commencement Officials (NAACO) conference to chat with commencement and special event organizers from all over North America. So it was with great interest that I read the following blog from The George Washington University’s Student Activity Centre. Here are some of the local landmarks they suggest you visit in the D.C. area:

1.  Take your binoculars to the National Cathedral and find…Darth Vader? After you view the impressionable stained glass windows and beautiful architecture within the cathedral, make your way outside and search for the infamous villain sculpted into the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

2.  Take a trip down historic U Street; get your last half-smoke or burger from Ben’s Chili Bowl.

3.  Spend a nice evening in Old Town, Alexandria. Catch a local spotlight band on Thursday evenings at the Torpedo Factory or visit George Washington’s Masonic Memorial.

4.  Need to get out of the concrete jungle? Grab a friend and get your paddle on around the Tidal Basin!  More info at http://www.tidalbasinpaddleboats.com/index.htm.

5.  Discover a Speakeasy – Have you ever noticed the random unmarked door between Marvin Bistro & Bar and Jin Lounge on U Street? Do you know where the blue light is on King Street? There is good reason for the confusion and secrecy! You’re not supposed to find a speakeasy unless you’re told how to!  Click on the following link to PX Lounge on King Street or call The Gibson on U Street (202) 232-2156 for more information.

If you want to read what the other landmarks that GWU students suggest are must-see’s, click here.

Who should learn this: Event Organizers & Assistants
Purpose: Make it easier to create questions with long text
How to: In the Create or Review stage, click and hold the textbox handle in the lower right hand corner. You can now stretch out your question text box!

For more information see the FAQ: 2.7. How do I stretch out a question textbox?

BEFORE STRETCHING

AFTER STRETCHING

Imagine the embarrassment a student would feel, not to mention frustration, if they wait in line for 40 minutes to buy their tickets to graduation. Only when they get to the front of the line, they are turned away because of outstanding student fees.

Or as a parent, perhaps you weren’t thrilled with having to leave work to pay school fees. Only to hear that fees are going up again so the district can make up a shortfall in funding — essentially making you pay for someone else’s child that hasn’t paid their fees.

Your school policy prohibits them from attending graduation until those fees are paid up so the student is sent away, either to a cash machine, their parents or perhaps after this negative experience they decide not to be part of grad at all.

Even the most stoic business manager would be a little emotional about this scenario, wouldn’t they?

This scenario could be avoided when using InviteRight. We can show you how to use InviteRight to collect those fees at the beginning of the year instead of having your office staff chase them at the end of the year.

OK, your interest is piqued. How does this work?

• We create your free collection form and link it to your school website
• Students or parents pay for textbooks, bus passes and rentals then pick their lockers
• Monitor collect fees and generate reports through InviteRight
• Students are emailed a receipt with a locker number and material list
• Collect fees at the beginning of the year or before school begins, saving teachers a bunch of after school time

There’s a little more to the process than what I’ve listed but you get the idea. If you want to capture some of that outstanding money and give yourselves more accurate budgeting, then call us (1-866-811-3144) or email sales@eventiq.com to set up a short demonstration.

Another aspect of InviteRight is that you have such great control over your grad ticket sales. For instance, if your school is using InviteRight to sell tickets to graduation then you can collect fees in the spring, when grad tickets go on sale, or give credits to a student for fundraising.

I love it when things are simple, don’t you?

Concerts and theatre events can energize a school and be very rewarding to plan and direct. But like graduation or any other big school event, teachers give up a lot of after school time to ensure these events are successful.

Here are some tips that teachers gave us at last year’s Best Practices Seminar that can be used to make your next school drama production or musical even better:

MORE HEROES NEEDED: Music department heads are supremely organized, but shouldn’t try to take on this monumental task alone while also handling a full teaching load.

BIG PRODUCTIONS ON A SMALL BUDGET: Tailor the program to whatever you have on hand for sets, decorations, etc. to keep the cost down. Also consider music or songs that haven’t appeared on Broadway as the licensing cost for these songs is cheaper.

NEW FASHIONED PUBLICITY: Besides tacking your poster to bulletin boards around your school, put on your Facebook page, school website, and send to various media. E-mail, Tweet and Facebook message lots of reminders to parents — don’t let it slip their mind!

EARLY BIRD GETS THE TICKETS: Start ticket sales as early as possible but only sell them for two weeks. A short ticket sales window will create more buzz for your event and actually drive more people to buy tickets.

INVOLVE YOUR AUDIENCE: Make your production interactive by asking attendees to wear certain colours, like red and green for instance, or encourage them to dress as their favourite character from the play or musical being performed. Your theatre will be awash in colours and costumes, making for a great visual and being fun for the audience.

I used to think office ergonomics was for wimps — as long as I had a desk, phone and chair I would get right to work.

Worrying about the distance between your laptop screen and your eyes or what angle your back is when leaning over your portable device seemed trivial. I held this belief until one day the Human Resources department at my previous job insisted I use an ergonomically friendly chair. I honestly didn’t understand how a new chair would help me do better at my job, but I was given no choice. So I opened the box and pulled out all the parts. While bending over to tighten screws with an Allen Key I pulled a muscle in my ribcage and missed a day of work, but I digress…

My new chair did make a difference — and so did the tips on how to work on my laptop in an ergonomically-friendly way. Whether at the office or at home, your comfort is important — being unproductive because you’re neck and back aches from hours of bad posture is no help to anyone. Here’s some inexpensive and easy tips for working on your laptop:

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Whenever my daughter brings a piece of “artwork” home she pushes it in front of my face and wants an instant critique. Of course the drawing or painting always receives a glowing review from me and it immediately goes up on the fridge door.

It doesn’t have to look like a sailboat or a horse or resemble anything that she describes as being in the picture. Even if I have to squint my eyes and tilt my head to make out a shape, I’m still a proud poppa because my little girl did the artwork.

I feel a similar sense of pride when it comes to the eventIQ corporate website. I’m just so happy with the re-design that I feel the need to share.

Maybe you don’t build websites for a living and you may not notice a big difference. Every car has windows and doors, right? This website has words and pictures…so what’s the difference?

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Being someone who loves numbers and statistic (mainly sports statistics, but still…), I find it’s great you can come up with some interesting patterns and analysis with the raw data we give you in your Election Admin area. If you click on Results Details, you will presented with an untraceable ballot number as well what candidates were cast from that ballot.

You might see a trend that if someone voted for Candidate Y for board president, they were more likely to vote for Candidate A for treasurer. There’s all sorts of ways you can compile this data and come up with some unique analysis.

Give it a try in your next election!