DONATE Tickets
Sell tickets and check guests in
Entry tickets for your dinner, show or open day, set up in a few questions. Each guest gets a QR code ticket, scanned at the door with the DONATE App on volunteers' phones.
- A quick start that makes your ticket page in a few questions
- Tables, family tickets, timed entry and free entry
- Guest names and questions
- Optional donations at checkout, with Gift Aid
- A free prize draw with every ticket
- QR code tickets by email
- Check-in on volunteers' own phones with the DONATE App, even offline
- Free tickets, cash sales, a waitlist and an event report
Updated
How it works
Tickets lives in your DONATE portal. A quick start asks a few questions and makes your ticket page in Preview, so you can try it first. Guests book on their phones, and volunteers check them in with the DONATE App.
Tickets in six steps
- Create your event: a name, the date or the times, your tickets and an optional donation.
- Set up your tickets: prices, limits, tables, early birds and timed entry.
- Add any extras: guest questions, donations, a free prize draw.
- Try it in Preview with test tickets, then go live and share your link.
- On the night, volunteers scan tickets with the DONATE App on their own phones.
- After the event, read the report. DONATE sends the thank-you email.
What buyers see
Buyers need no account and no app. They book on your ticket page, pay by card and get their tickets by email straight away.
Booking
- Places are held for 15 minutes while someone pays. If they do not finish, the places go back on sale.
- Every person on a booking gets their own ticket with a QR code, to show on a phone or print.
- A buyer can put a ticket in a guest's name. The QR code stays the same.
- For timed entry, buyers pick a day and a time, and can move their booking to another time with places until their time starts.
- Lost tickets? Buyers type the email they booked with on your event page and have them sent again.
Your ticket page
The date, doors and venue, then each ticket with its price, and how many are left where there is a limit.
An optional donation, with Gift Aid
If you take donations, the buyer can add one and Gift Aid it. The page says they can come without giving.
A ticket with a QR code
Each person has their own ticket page with a QR code to show at the door, and Print ticket.
Create your event
Tickets is switched on for your organisation by DONATE. If you do not have it yet, email hello@nationalfundingscheme.org. Then open Tickets and click New event: the quick start asks four questions, then you check and create.
The quick start
- What: One date (a dinner, a concert) or Timed entry (a light trail, a grotto), and a name.
- When: for one date, the date and start time, and booking closes when it starts. For timed entry, the days, opening hours, length of each time and places in each, and each time stops taking bookings when it starts.
- Tickets: pick a starting point, then add prices and how many. One date offers Seats and tables, Family tickets, Free entry and Start from scratch. Timed entry offers Family tickets, Free entry, Timed entry and Start from scratch.
- Donation: optional. Choose one of your live campaigns, or DONATE sets one up for these tickets. Free entry always asks for an optional donation.
- Check: nothing is made until you click Create in Preview. Everything else is on Setup afterwards.
- Rather set everything yourself? Click Set it up yourself on the first screen.
One date or timed entry
Choose One date or Timed entry, and give the event the name buyers will see.
Pick a starting point
Seats and tables gives a Standard ticket and a Table of ten. Type the prices and how many to sell.
Ask for a donation
Optional. Choose a live campaign or let DONATE set one up, write one line of ask and suggest amounts.
Set up your tickets
Setup holds everything about the event. Open a ticket to change it.
Ticket types
- Admits is how many people one ticket lets in. A table of ten admits 10, a family ticket 4. Each person still gets their own QR code.
- For an early bird, give one ticket an On sale until date and start the next one then.
- Hidden takes a ticket off the page. Only people with its direct link can book it, so it suits guests of the charity.
- Free entry, donations welcome: the ticket has no price, and anything people give is a separate donation.
- A new ticket starts switched off. A ticket with bookings is switched off, not removed.
- Member prices are not set up in the portal. Email hello@nationalfundingscheme.org about prices for members.
Dates and times
- Sales open as soon as you go live, unless you set Sales open. Sales close: empty means sales stop when the event starts.
- For timed entry, change any single time's places, or switch it to Closed.
Your tickets at a glance
Each ticket shows its price, how many are sold and left, and whether it is on sale.
Tables and early birds
Under Advanced, Admits, Fewest and Most per order, On sale from and until, and Hidden.
Change any single time
For timed entry, each time shows its places. Give one more places, or switch it to Closed.
Add the extras
Guest questions, donations, a prize draw and check-in each sit on Setup as a short card. Click its Yes button to use it.
Donations and Gift Aid
- Donations must be optional, and the page says so. No amount is picked for the buyer. Donors get nothing extra, and donation amounts never show on the guest list or at the door.
- Tickets never carry Gift Aid. Only a donation can, from a UK taxpayer giving their own money.
- Charities: DONATE claims it and pays it to you with your payout, less 40 per cent. Do not claim Gift Aid on these payments yourself as well.
- Companies raising for charities: it goes on to their charities, less 40 per cent. Other organisations, such as clubs and schools: DONATE still claims it, and keeps all of it as the fee instead of the 5 per cent.
- How buyers donate is one way per event, Add a donation at checkout or Included in ticket prices. Donations are kept apart from ticket sales.
Free prize draw
- Every place sold, paid or free, gets one free entry, one for each person a ticket admits. Nobody can buy more.
- Nobody pays to enter, so no lottery licence is needed. Keep it that way. Do not raise ticket prices for it, and never say what the prizes are worth.
- Make a new prize draw enters every ticket sold so far. You then add the prizes. Winners are told by email.
Ask your guests questions
Short answer, pick from a list, or a tick box, asked for every guest. Required, and Show at the door for the DONATE App.
Choose where donations go
Where donations go, How buyers donate, your ask and suggested amounts.
A free prize draw
Make a new prize draw enters every ticket sold so far. Keep entry free.
Go live
A new event starts in Preview. The ticket page works, so try it end to end before anyone can pay.
Preview and going live
- In Preview, bookings are free test tickets. No payment is taken and no email is sent.
- Test tickets work in the DONATE App too, marked TEST, so volunteers can practise.
- Going live deletes every test ticket. Sales open straight away, unless you set Sales open.
- The QR code and Short link are safe to print in Preview. The same code keeps working after you go live.
- Your ticket page is easydonate.org/your-organisation/event/..., with a short link too.
Try it in Preview
Straight after the quick start, book a test ticket, test checking in, or jump to more options.
Switch Live on
Put tickets on sale? ends the preview, deletes the test tickets and lets people book and pay by card.
Share your event
Copy the Ticket page or Short link, or download the QR code for posters and flyers.
Check guests in
Volunteers check guests in with the DONATE App on their own phones, at app.easydonate.org. Nothing to install, and no portal login needed. Everything to set it up is under Check guests in on Setup and on the Check in tab.
Getting volunteers on
- Click Invite a volunteer and send the link, or the code, to one person. It works once, for 14 days, and lets them straight in.
- Anyone who finds your organisation in the app by name or charity number waits until you approve them on the Volunteers page. Approve only people you know.
- Your portal users are let straight in when they set up with the mobile number on their portal account.
- Volunteers add their name, mobile and email, and type the code we text them. Next time they tap Already set up? Sign in.
At the door
- Tap SCAN and point the camera at the ticket, or search by name or ticket ref and tap Admit.
- After a scan, the note shows the guest's ticket and any answer you marked Show at the door.
- A ticket used twice turns the note red, with the time it was first admitted and who let them in.
- A code that is not on the list shows Not a ticket for this event. If they have paid and you are sure, tap Admit anyway. It goes under Needs a look on the Check in tab.
- The app does not show the time on a timed ticket or flag early or late guests. You decide.
- The app lists an event until two days after it starts, or for timed entry until a day after its last time. After that, admit guests from Guests.
No signal
- The guest list is kept on the phone, so scanning carries on if the signal drops. Check-ins are sent when the signal is back.
- Open the event with signal before the doors open and leave the app open. With no signal it cannot open the guest list again.
- If two phones admit the same ticket while offline, the first admission stands and it goes under Needs a look.
- Signing out removes the guest list from the phone.
The Check in tab
How many are admitted, the DONATE App link and QR code, Invite a volunteer, the night before list and Needs a look.
Volunteers set up the app
Volunteers open your invite link, or find your organisation under Find your charity or Charity number or code.
Scan the QR code
Admitted Anne Clarke, and her row shows the time and who let her in. The count goes up straight away.
Keep scanning with no signal
With no signal the scan still admits, marked offline, and the row says queued until the signal is back.
Manage bookings
The Sales tab shows how you are doing. The Guests tab lists everyone coming, with their answers, and the waitlist.
Guests
- Each guest's actions are Edit guest, Resend tickets, Admit or Undo check-in, Move to another time for timed entry, Refund this place on a paid ticket, and Void.
- Void stops a ticket working and sends no money back. Use it for a free ticket or a mistake. For refunds, see Fees and refunds.
- Download CSV gives the guest list with every answer. Print it the night before, in case a phone fails.
- When places come back, email the next people on the waitlist with Email the next. The first to book gets them.
Ticket sales at a glance
Places and ticket sales, checkout donations, and each ticket type paid online, free online, offline and given free.
Change, admit or void
Each guest's menu has Edit guest, Resend tickets, Admit and Void.
Free tickets and cash sales
Add tickets gives a complimentary ticket, or records a sale you took in cash, by cheque or by card in person.
After the event
The report shows who came and what was given. DONATE sends the thank-you email and removes guest details for you.
What happens next
- At 9am the morning after the event (after its last time, for timed entry), buyers of tickets that were checked in get a thank-you, with a link to your donation campaign if you chose one.
- Names, emails and answers are removed the number of days after the event (after its last time, for timed entry) that you set in Options, 30 by default. Your sales totals stay.
The event report
Attendance, no-shows and Given on the night, then ticket sales by type.
Fees and refunds
There is nothing to pay to set up. Online ticket sales are paid out with your other income, through your usual DONATE payouts. For Gift Aid, see Add the extras.
Fees
- Online ticket sales: 4.5 per cent plus 22p for charities and companies raising for charities, or 5 per cent plus 22p for other organisations. No booking fee is added for buyers.
- Donations at checkout. Charities, and companies raising for charities: 4.5 per cent plus 22p without Gift Aid. With Gift Aid there is no percentage fee: you keep the donation less 22p, plus 60 per cent of the Gift Aid, and our fee is the other 40 per cent. Other organisations: 5 per cent plus 22p; when the supporter adds Gift Aid, DONATE claims it and keeps all of it as the fee instead of the 5 per cent.
- A company's ticket money, like everything it raises, goes to its charities, split as its campaigns are. The company is never paid.
- Offline sales (cash, cheque, card in person) are already with you. DONATE pays nothing out for them and charges no fee.
- Charges on each payout: a usage fee of £3 for each week (Monday to Sunday) in which your organisation receives £10 or more (at most £12 a month), and a transfer charge of £7.50 plus 0.5 per cent of the payout for charities and companies raising for charities, or 1.5 per cent for other organisations (at least £3 either way).
Refunds
- Refund one place yourself: in Guests, open the guest's actions and choose Refund this place. That place's share goes back to the card that paid, and the place is free to sell again. The buyer's other places are not touched.
- Once the money is in a payout to you, even before it reaches your bank, a refund is refused. The buyer then asks you, and you refund them yourself.
- Refunding a place never refunds a donation made at checkout in the same payment.
- To cancel a free ticket or one entered by mistake, void it from Guests. Voiding sends no money back.
Settings reference
Setup, Event page and Details
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| About the event | What people see above the tickets. Up to 5000 characters. | Empty |
| Picture | Optional. Shown at the top of your ticket page. | None |
| Name | Shown on the ticket page and on every ticket. | Required |
| Venue | Shown on the ticket page, tickets and emails. | Empty |
| Sales open | When sales start once you are live. | As soon as you go live |
| Sales close | When sales stop. Empty means sales stop when the event starts. | Empty |
Setup, When
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Date, Starts and Doors open | One date only. Doors open is optional and shown on the page and tickets. | Required to go live |
| Total places | One date only. The most people across every ticket type. | No limit |
| Times | Timed entry only. Each time has its places, and can be Open or Closed. | |
| Overall limit across all times | Timed entry only, under More. A cap on the whole event. | No limit |
| Change to timed entry, or Change to a one-off event | Switches how people come. |
Setup, Tickets (per ticket)
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Paid, or Free entry, donations welcome. Fixed once people have booked. | Paid |
| Price | The ticket price. 0 for a free ticket. | 0 |
| How many to sell | The most of this ticket you will sell. Set it for a free ticket too. | No limit |
| Admits (Advanced) | People per ticket. 10 for a table of ten. Fixed once sold. | 1 |
| Fewest and Most per order (Advanced) | Limits on one booking. Empty for no limit of its own. | Empty |
| On sale from and until (Advanced) | Dates this ticket is on sale. Use them for an early bird. | While sales are open |
| Hidden (Advanced) | Not listed. Only people with the direct link can book it. | Off |
| On | Off stops sales of this ticket. | Off for a ticket added on Setup |
Setup, the extras
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Member prices | Not set up in the portal. Yes, tell me how gives the email to ask. | |
| Guest questions | Short answer, Pick from a list or Tick box, asked for every guest. Required, and Show at the door for the DONATE App. | None |
| Where donations go | One of your campaigns or team challenges. It must be live. | None |
| How buyers donate | Add a donation at checkout, or Included in ticket prices (every paid ticket is offered with and without the donation, neither picked for the buyer). | Add a donation at checkout |
| Your ask and Suggested amounts | One line above the donation box, and up to six amounts. None is picked for the buyer. | Empty |
| Prize draw | Make a new prize draw, or choose a raffle set up as a free prize draw. | None |
| Check guests in | Lists the event in the DONATE App. Turn off check-in takes it off. | On |
Setup, Options
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Ask for every guest's name | Buyers name each place, not just themselves. | Off |
| Let guests pass their ticket on | Buyers can put a ticket in someone else's name. | On |
| Offer a waitlist when sold out | People can leave their details for you to email if places come back. | On |
| Joining instructions | Sent with every ticket: parking, dress code, where to go. | Empty |
| Terms | Shown before people pay. The only prize a ticket may include is "a free raffle ticket in the event's prize draw". | Empty |
| Delete guest details after | Days after the event. Names, emails and answers are removed. Totals stay. | 30 days |
Emails DONATE sends for you
| When | Who gets it | |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets | As soon as a booking is made. Not in Preview. | The buyer, with a link to each ticket |
| Reminder | 48 hours before the event. For timed entry, 24 hours before their time. | Buyers |
| Thank-you | 9am the morning after the event, or after its last time for timed entry. | Buyers of tickets that were checked in |
| Waitlist | When you click Send email. | The next people on the waitlist |
Questions
- How is Tickets different from Team challenges?
- Tickets sells entry to a dinner, show or open day, and each guest gets a QR code ticket that is scanned at the door. Team challenges are for supporters who fundraise as a team, each with their own donation page. You can run both for the same occasion.
- How do I get Tickets?
- DONATE switches it on for your organisation. Email hello@nationalfundingscheme.org and we will set you up.
- Is ticket money a donation?
- No. A ticket buys entry, so it is a ticket sale. It never carries Gift Aid and is kept apart from your fundraising totals. Donations people add at checkout are real donations to your campaign, and can carry Gift Aid.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing to set up. Online ticket sales cost 4.5 per cent plus 22p for charities and companies raising for charities, or 5 per cent plus 22p for other organisations, with no booking fee for buyers. Donations at checkout carry your usual donation fees. Offline sales carry no fee. Your usual payout charges apply, as set out in Fees and refunds.
- Can I try it before going live?
- Yes. A new event starts in Preview. Book test tickets and scan them with the DONATE App, then switch Live on. No payment is taken and no email is sent in Preview, and test tickets are deleted when you go live.
- How do I sell a table of ten or a family ticket?
- Pick Seats and tables or Family tickets in the quick start, or set Admits under Advanced on any ticket. One ticket then lets in that many people, and each person gets their own QR code.
- How do I give free tickets to volunteers or a speaker?
- In Guests, click Add tickets and choose Complimentary (free). Or make a hidden ticket with a price of 0, set How many to sell, and send its direct link.
- Someone paid me in cash. How do I record it?
- In Guests, click Add tickets and choose Paid in cash, Paid by cheque or Paid by card in person. No card is charged. The money is already with you, so DONATE pays nothing out for it and charges no fee.
- Can I run a free event and still take donations?
- Yes. Pick Free entry in the quick start, or set a ticket's Entry to Free entry, donations welcome. Entry stays free, and a donation from a UK taxpayer can carry Gift Aid. For clubs, schools and other organisations that are not charities or companies raising for charities, DONATE keeps that Gift Aid as its fee.
- Can I give donors better seats or earlier entry?
- No. Donations must be optional and donors get nothing extra, or Gift Aid cannot be claimed. That is why donation amounts never show on your guest list or at the door.
- Can I offer member prices?
- Not from the portal yet. Email hello@nationalfundingscheme.org about prices for members.
- Can a ticket include entry into a prize draw?
- Yes, a free one. Under Prize draw on Setup, click Yes, add a prize draw. Every ticket, paid or free, then gets one free entry for each person it admits, and nobody can buy more. Nobody pays to enter, so no lottery licence is needed. Do not raise ticket prices for it, and never say what the prizes are worth.
- How do my volunteers check guests in?
- With the DONATE App at app.easydonate.org, on their own phones. Send each one an invite from Check guests in, or approve them on the Volunteers page if they ask to join. They confirm their mobile with a code we text them, pick the event and tap SCAN. They do not need a portal login.
- Can we scan tickets from the portal?
- No. Tickets are scanned with the DONATE App. In the portal, Guests lets you admit one guest by hand or undo an admission, and the Check in tab shows the live count and anything that needs a look.
- What if the signal drops at the door?
- Keep scanning. The DONATE App keeps the guest list on the phone and sends check-ins when the signal is back. Open the event with signal before the doors open and leave the app open, and keep a printed guest list in case a phone fails.
- Someone shows a ticket that is not on the list. What do I do?
- If you are sure they have paid, tap Admit anyway in the DONATE App. It goes under Needs a look on the Check in tab so you can check it later.
- A guest arrives early for their time. Will the door refuse them?
- No. The DONATE App does not show the time on a ticket or flag early or late guests, so you decide. If you admit someone by hand from Guests, it says if they are early or late.
- How do I refund a ticket?
- In Guests, choose Refund this place on the guest. Once the money is in a payout to you, the refund is refused and you refund the buyer yourself. A place refund never refunds a checkout donation. See Fees and refunds.
- When are guest details deleted?
- The number of days after the event that you set in Options, 30 by default. Names, emails and answers are removed. Your totals and the report stay.
- Can the DONATE App take card donations at the door too?
- Yes, in the DONATE App from Google Play on Android (iPhone coming soon). The web version at app.easydonate.org checks guests in only.