GC Events: setup and registration questions, answered

Setting up an event should feel as good as the event itself. This guide walks through the registration and ticketing questions that come up most often, so you can build with confidence and spend your energy on the people who'll show up.

 

1.  Who can see and register for my event?

Your event lives on its own registration page, reachable through the link you share. GiveCampus doesn't list it in a public, searchable directory — people get there because you sent them the link. The practical takeaway: treat that link as shareable. Anyone who has it can open the page and register, so there's no built-in "invite-only" mode that checks a guest against a pre-approved list.

If you need tighter control, you have a few good options:

• Share selectively. Send the registration link only to your intended audience rather than posting it publicly.
• Restrict ticket types by affiliation. You can limit a ticket type so it's only available to registrants (or guests) with a specific affiliation — helpful when, say, only reunion-year alumni should see a particular ticket.
• Use a back-end-only ticket type. Hidden ticket types don't appear on the public form, so you can register select people yourself without exposing that option to everyone (see Free and back-end-only tickets).

2. Letting guests stay off the public guest list

During registration, each guest sees a checkbox labeled Exclude name(s) from the public Guest List. When they check it, their name is replaced with "Anonymous Guest" anywhere the guest list shows — the landing page and the confirmation page — and their email is never displayed.

This is the registrant's choice to make, so there's nothing you need to configure ahead of time. As an admin, you can also see and set this on any registration record when you're managing registrations on someone's behalf.

3. What "Exclude from Guest List?" means on uploads

When you add registrants offline — especially through a bulk upload — you'll see an Exclude From Guest List? column on the template. It's the same control as the anonymous checkbox above, just in spreadsheet form.

• Enter Yes (or True) to keep that person off the public guest list — they'll show as "Anonymous Guest."
• Leave it blank (or enter No) and they'll appear on the guest list normally.

So "exclude from guest list" doesn't remove the person from your event or your reporting — they're fully registered. It only controls whether their name is visible to the public.

Hide the guest list for an event (admin control)

If you want to hide the guest list entirely, you can disable it for the event. This setting applies to every registrant.

Guest list visibility, RSVP No, and searching the guest list

This section explains three common guest list questions: what happens when a registrant is marked as Not Attending, how the guest list search and filtering work, and where RSVP No responses appear.

Marking a registrant Not Attending

• When you mark a guest as Not Attending, they are removed from the public guest list while their registration record remains available in admin reporting.
• To mark a guest as Not Attending, open the event, go to the Registrations tab, select the registration record, click Change Guest RSVP Status, and choose Not Attending. The public guest list updates immediately.
• To keep a guest's record for reporting while hiding their name from the public list, either mark them as Not Attending or set them to Exclude name(s) from the public Guest List (which displays them as "Anonymous Guest").

Where RSVP No responses appear

• RSVP No responses (collected when a guest answers No in the RSVP workflow) are visible only to administrators and do not appear on the public guest list.
• To view these responses, open the event, navigate to the Guests tab, and use the RSVP Status filter to select Not Attending.

Guest list search and filter behavior

• The public guest list displays only registrants with an Attending status who have not opted to be anonymous. If guest list display is disabled at the event level, no public list appears.

• Search box behavior:

  • The search field matches on the registrant's first or last name. Typing a name returns matching registrants.
  • The search field does not search affiliation fields. For example, entering a class year (like "1986") will not return results based on affiliation.

• Affiliation filter behavior:

  • Click the Filter button to open the affiliation filter. From there, select an affiliation category (for example, class year or parent) and a specific value if needed. Use this filter to narrow results by affiliation rather than relying on the free-text search box.

• Summary: The guest list supports name-based searching through the search box and affiliation-based filtering via the Filter button, but it does not support free-text searching across affiliation values.

Admin: add a guest to an existing registration

• To add a guest as an administrator, open the event, go to the Registrations tab, select the registration record, and click Add to Registration. The new guest will appear on the public guest list only if they have an Attending status and are not excluded.

How to disable the guest list

1. Open the event and click Edit Event.
2. In the sidebar menu, click Sharing.
3. Uncheck the Display Guest List for Event option.
4. Click Save & Next.

What to expect

• With the guest list disabled, no list appears on the event landing page or registration confirmation page.
• This admin setting prevents the public display of any attendee names. To hide only specific names, keep the guest list enabled and use the per-registrant option or the bulk upload column Exclude From Guest List?.

When to use this setting

• Use this option when you need to keep all attendee names private (such as for internal meetings or sensitive gatherings).
• If you need to hide only a few names, use the per-registrant opt-out instead.

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Can helper text for custom fields include links?

The helper text below a custom field is plain text only and does not support clickable links. To provide access to terms or policies, place links elsewhere on the event page so registrants can easily find them.

FAQ — Draft Events, Test Registrations, and Social Sharing

Q: Will test RSVPs and confirmation emails work when my event is in Draft mode?

No. Draft events are accessible only to logged-in GiveCampus administrators. The public registration flow is disabled, and visitors without an administrator account are redirected away. As a result, non-admin users cannot complete a registration or receive confirmation emails until the event is published.

Q: Do visitors need a GiveCampus account or to sign in before they can view or register on a live event landing page?

A: No. Once an event is published (Active status), anyone with the event link can view the landing page and register without needing a GiveCampus account or sign-in. The URL (for example, https://www.givecampus.com/schools/[SchoolName]/events/[event-permalink]) allows public access to the registration flow.

• The login prompt in the top-right corner when you're signed in as an administrator is only for admin access. Public visitors do not encounter this prompt.
• Draft events are the exception: only logged-in administrators can view draft pages; non-admin visitors are redirected away and cannot register until the event is active.

Event access by status:

Status	Public access
Draft	Admins only—login required for preview and testing
Active	Public—anyone with the link can view and register
Complete	Public landing page available; registration is closed
Canceled	Public landing page available; registration is closed
Archived	Admins only—hidden from public visitors

Admin tip: To preview the public experience while signed in, open the event URL in an incognito or private browsing window.

Q: My event link always looks like it's in "preview mode" — why do attendees see a different page?

A: When you're signed in as a GiveCampus administrator and view an Active event page, an admin overlay appears at the top. This overlay is visible only to logged-in administrators. Public visitors who are not signed in see the standard registration page without any overlay.

How to verify the public view

• Open the event URL in an incognito or private browsing window (or sign out). The page you see then is identical to what the public will see.
• Remember, the admin overlay appears only when an administrator is signed in.

Note on event URLs:

The event URL format depends on your institution's setup. To ensure accuracy, copy the link directly from your event's dashboard.

Draft vs Active events:

• Draft and archived events are visible only to administrators; non-admin visitors are redirected away.
• Active events are fully public, and no admin overlay is shown unless the viewer is signed in as an administrator.

If a colleague reports seeing a preview page:

1. Confirm if they are signed in as a GiveCampus administrator. The overlay is normal for admins.
2. Have them open the link in an incognito/private browsing window to see the public view.
3. Verify that the event is Active. Draft events will always restrict the public registration flow.

To test registration in Draft mode, add your colleagues as Events administrators so they can sign in and access the draft page.

• How to add administrators for test registration:

  1. In the Events admin sidebar, click Administrators.
  2. Add or invite the colleague as an Events administrator. After signing in, they can open the draft event and complete a test registration.

• What to expect after publishing:

  • Once the event is published, the public registration flow is available to anyone with the link, and confirmation emails are sent automatically.

Q: Can I remove the social sharing buttons on the event landing page?

Yes. To keep your event private, you can disable social sharing and hide the guest list via the event's Sharing settings:

1. Open the event and click Edit Event.
2. In the setup sidebar, click Sharing.
3. In the Sharing tab, uncheck Display Social Sharing Buttons to remove social sharing, and uncheck Display Guest List for Event to hide the guest list.
4. Click Save & Next to apply your changes.

4. Uploading or adding registrants without emailing them

This is the big one for migrations and back-office cleanup: adding offline registrations does not email those guests by default. Confirmation emails for offline registrations are turned off unless you deliberately switch them on, so you can safely upload people who already registered somewhere else without sending a confusing duplicate confirmation.

5. Tickets vs. packages (and how many tickets a package includes)

Two building blocks power your registration form:

• Ticket types are individual options — "Single Golfer," "Gala Seat," "Hole Sponsor." Each one shows up as its own selectable option on the form.
• Packages bundle ticket types together — for example, a "Foursome" package that includes four golfer tickets.

Each line in a package includes at least one ticket — you can't set a package line to include zero. If you want to offer something like a hole sponsorship that comes with no admission, don't build it as a package; create it as its own standalone ticket type instead (more on pricing that below).

On the layout question we hear from golf and gala organizers: the prompt above the ticket list ("Select your ticket") is fixed and isn't editable. But you control every ticket type's name, so the cleanest way to separate, say, a single golfer from a hole sponsor is to create each as its own clearly named ticket type. You can also customize the register button text in your event settings to better match your event's tone.

6. Pricing, fair market value, and where the gift goes

Every paid ticket and package has two numbers: a price and a fair market value (FMV) — the value of what the guest receives in return (dinner, greens fees, and the like). GiveCampus splits the payment for you:

• The FMV portion covers the cost of what they got and isn't tax-deductible.
• Everything above FMV is the tax-deductible gift.

So yes — for a $500 hole sponsorship with a $0 fair market value, the full $500 is a gift. For a $150 gala ticket with a $75 dinner value, $75 is FMV and $75 is the tax-deductible gift.

You can point the gift portion to a designation, and the FMV portion can route to its own designation as well, so your accounting lands exactly where you expect.

7. Free, $0, and back-end-only tickets

Need a comp ticket or an admin-only option? You have two tools:

• Free ($0) tickets. Set a ticket type's price to $0 and it shows as "Free" on the form. (Paid tickets, by contrast, start at $0.50.)
• Back-end-only (hidden) ticket types. Mark a ticket type as hidden and it won't appear on the public registration form — you use it when registering people yourself. This is the right way to handle comps, staff, or VIPs you don't want the general public to select.

If you've created comp or hidden tickets and they aren't appearing where you register guests on the back end, double-check that the ticket type is active and that you're registering through the admin (offline) flow rather than the public form.

Q: What do the Registration Start/End Date help notes mean, and can I clear a date once it's been saved?

A: In the Registration section of the event settings form (and on the event clone form), you see two fields: Registration Start Date/Time and Registration End Date/Time. The help text under these fields reads:

"Leave these blank during event creation to use the defaults: registration opens when the event is published and closes at the event start time. Registration dates cannot be cleared out but can be updated. Waitlist (if enabled) follows the same schedule. All dates use the event timezone."

Here’s what that means in practice:

• Smart defaults at creation: If you leave the fields blank when creating a new event, GiveCampus automatically sets registration to open when you publish the event and to close at the event start time. This applies only during event creation.
• Editing an event: When you edit an existing event, the default dates aren’t re-applied. The live registration window remains as originally set unless you update the dates.
• Clearing dates: Once a registration date is saved, you cannot empty the field. You can update it to a new value, but you cannot remove it entirely.
• Waitlist schedule: If a waitlist is enabled, it follows the same registration window.
• Timezone: All registration dates and times, including the waitlist schedule, follow the event’s configured timezone.

Where to find these settings: Open the event, click Edit Event, and look under the Registration section for the date/time fields and their help text.

8. How the waitlist works

When your event fills up, the waitlist captures interested guests — but it puts you in control of who gets in. Waitlisted guests are never registered automatically. When space opens, you invite the people you choose, and each invite sends them a time-limited link to complete their own registration. If they don't finish before the invite expires, their spot stays open for someone else.

The waitlist can trigger two ways:

• By overall capacity — when your event's total guest limit is reached.
• By ticket type — you can set a specific ticket type to send guests to the waitlist once it sells out, even if the event overall still has room.

So increasing overall capacity later won't auto-admit anyone — you'll still invite waitlisted guests when you're ready, and they'll complete registration from there.

9. Unpublishing an event

You can unpublish an event only if no one has registered yet. The moment a registration exists, unpublishing is off the table — that protects your registered guests' records and their confirmations.

If the Unpublish option isn't available and you're sure no one has completed a registration, the usual culprit is an in-progress or reserved ticket — someone started checking out and is holding a spot. Those count as registrations for this purpose. A couple of options:

• If the event truly has no registrations and you simply want it off your live page, cancel the event instead — that's always available for an active event that hasn't ended.
• If you think a stray reserved ticket is blocking you, reach out to Support and we'll take a look.

10. Linking a campaign to your event

Your event and its giving campaign are separate things, and they don't have to be built at the same moment. It's perfectly fine to open registration now and link the campaign later once your team has finalized this year's goal and design.

The simplest way to connect them is to launch the event from the campaign you want it tied to. If your event already exists and you'd like to associate a campaign after the fact, you can update that in the event's settings — and if you don't see the option, Support can link them for you.

11. Promo codes and registration links

Promo codes are entered by the guest on the registration page — they type the code and it's applied to their order. You can set a code's discount, date window, usage limit, and whether it applies to add-ons and activities.

What's not available today is a link that pre-fills or auto-applies a promo code for the guest (there's no ?promo_code= style parameter). If a seamless, no-typing experience is important for your audience, the practical alternative is to bake the discount into a dedicated ticket type or package and share that directly, rather than relying on a code.

12. Sending event reminders by ticket type

Automated event reminders through Sequences go to all of your event's registrants — there isn't a way to target a Sequence reminder to a single ticket type right now.

When you need to reach just one group (for example, only the guests who bought the tasting-and-transportation package), the reliable workaround is to:

1. Pull your event report and filter or sort by ticket type to isolate that audience.
2. Send that group a targeted message directly, rather than through the all-registrants Sequence.

If ticket-type targeting for reminders would make a real difference for your events, tell us — partner feedback like this shapes what we build next.

FAQ — What happens to registrant answers if I edit a custom registration field after registrations have started?

Changes to a field’s label, help text, report column name, placeholder, or dropdown/multi-select options affect only future registrants. Existing responses are preserved exactly as submitted.

How it works

• Responses are stored as the exact text the registrant entered. They aren’t updated if you change the option list.
• Administrators can edit these attributes at any time using the field editor:
  1. Open the event and click Edit Event.
  2. Click Guest Information in the setup sidebar.
  3. Under Registration Questions or Attendee Questions, click the pencil icon next to the desired field.
  4. Edit the field details and click Update Field.
• Editable attributes include the field label, placeholder text, help text, report column name, and options. These changes take effect immediately on the live form and for new registrations.
• The field type (e.g., Text, Dropdown, Checkbox) cannot be changed. To use a different type, create a new field and retire the old one if necessary.

Registrant view

• New registrants see only the updated text and options.
• Registrants who already submitted their response will continue to see their original answer on their registration record and in exports.

Reporting historical responses

• Custom Reports display every submitted value, regardless of later changes.
• To view responses:
  1. Go to Custom Reporting and click New Custom Report.
  2. Select Registration or Guest as the report type.
  3. Add the custom field column. Both historical and updated responses will appear in the report.

Common scenarios

• Removing an option: Existing records retain the removed option’s text.
• Renaming an option: Future registrations display the new option, while historical responses show the original text.
• For consolidated reporting, export the Custom Report and map historical responses to a new set of labels in your spreadsheet.

Best practices

• Use short, stable option values if you plan to update option text frequently; map them to friendlier wording in your reports.
• If a different field type is needed, create a new field and consider running a report that includes both the old and new fields.
• Choose your report column name carefully to maintain clarity over time.

Bottom line: Editing a custom field’s settings after registrations have started is safe. The changes apply only to new registrants, while past responses remain intact and accessible through Custom Reporting.