GC Events Deep Dive: Tickets, Capacity, Add-Ons, Emails, and Group Registrations

This guide covers the GC Events questions we hear most often: setting capacity for one activity but not others, how ticket prices and the "Free" label display, what happens with fair market value after tickets sell, add-on availability, confirmation and reminder emails, promo codes, and how to run group events like golf outings. Use the sections below to jump straight to your question.

Simple vs. complex events

• Simple events are a single registration: one event, one set of ticket types.
• Complex events add activities (sub-events like a dinner, a golf round, or babysitting), each with its own ticket types, guest limits, and details. Complex events also support ticket packages (great for sponsorships) and add-ons.

If your event has multiple things people can sign up for—or different prices for different parts—you want a complex event.

Capacity and guest limits

You can cap attendance at three levels, and they work independently:

• Event-level guest limit: caps the whole event. Leave it blank for unlimited.
• Ticket type limits: each ticket type can have its own quantity, or be unlimited.
• Activity guest limits: each activity in a complex event can have its own cap—so yes, your Alumnae Celebration can have a limit of 150 while every other activity stays unlimited. Just set the guest limit on that one activity and leave the others blank.

When a limit is reached, that ticket type or activity shows as capacity reached and can't be selected. If you've enabled the waitlist on your event, registrants can join it once capacity is hit. Remaining capacity counts both completed and reserved (in-progress) registrations.

Tip: To see how many tickets remain for each activity, check the ticket counts on the event's admin view—remaining capacity is the limit minus attending and reserved guests.

Ticket prices and the "Free" label

The price text on your event landing page (for example, "Tickets starting at $50.00") is generated automatically from your ticket types and packages:

• Multiple prices show "Starting at" the lowest price.
• A single price shows that price per person.
• All-free events show "Free."

Two things to know:

• There's no setting to hide the price text on the landing page. It reflects your ticket setup automatically. If price display is a problem for your event, talk with us about how you've structured tickets—there's often a setup that gets the result you want.
• The "Free" label on $0 tickets can't currently be relabeled (for example, to "Payment on-site"). If you're using a $0 ticket so guests can pay at the door, use the ticket type's name and description to make that clear—"Pay at the Door – $50 due at check-in" works well.

Fair market value (FMV)

Set FMV on each ticket type, package, and add-on. GiveCampus calculates the tax-deductible amount as the price minus FMV (never below zero), and registrant receipts show both.

Important: FMV locks once tickets have been issued for that ticket type or package. You can't change it after sales start—this protects the accuracy of receipts that have already gone out. Double-check FMV before you publish. If FMV was entered incorrectly and tickets have sold, contact support@givecampus.com and we'll help you sort out corrected receipts.

Add-ons

Add-ons let registrants purchase extras—a t-shirt, parking, a photo package—at the event or activity level. Each add-on has a price, an optional FMV, and an optional quantity limit, and you can restrict an add-on to specific ticket types.

Current limits to plan around:

• Add-ons don't have their own start and end dates. To retire an add-on partway through registration (say, when your early-bird window ends), delete it or set its quantity to what's already sold so it shows as unavailable.
• Add-ons don't display images. Describe the item in the add-on description, and consider showing a photo in your event description or a custom section instead.

Registration windows and changes after close

Your event has one registration window (a start and end date). Individual activities don't have separate registration windows—they open and close with the event. If you need a sponsorship-only sales period before general registration opens, a simple approach is to publish the event with only your packages, then add the individual ticket types when general registration should begin.

After registration closes:

• New registrations can't be started.
• Registrants who have their manage-registration link (from their confirmation email) can still open their registration. If you need changes fully locked for a closed event—for example, to finalize catering counts—reach out to support and we'll help.

Confirmation, reminder, and summary emails

• Confirmation emails send automatically when a registration completes. The email includes the registration summary, receipt details, and a manage-registration link. You can edit the email content in your event's email settings; the default includes "This email is your ticket" and a check-in QR code, which you can turn off for events that don't use ticketed check-in.
• Reminder emails send a set number of days before the event starts—you choose how many days, and you can customize the subject and body in email settings. Reminders go to active registrations; guests whose registrations were canceled or marked not attending before the send won't receive them, but a reminder scheduled before you process a cancellation may already be queued, so make cancellations promptly.
• Resending a confirmation: admins can resend a registration summary email from the registrant's record. If a registrant says they never got it, check their email address for typos first—it's the most common cause.

Promo codes

Promo codes discount tickets at registration, either by percentage or a dollar amount, and can have their own start and end dates.

• Yes, a promo code can be 100 percent off, making the ticket free at checkout.
• Promo codes can't be applied retroactively. Once a registration is complete, the code can't be added to it, and a code that's been used can't have its name or discount edited. If someone registered without their code, the cleanest fix is to refund the registration and have them register again with the code.

Group events and golf outings

For golf tournaments and similar events, GC Events supports group registrations: the first person registers and creates the group, and additional registrants join it. A few patterns that work well:

• One captain pays for the foursome: create a "Foursome" ticket (one purchase covers four golfers) and add custom registration fields—text fields work great—to collect the other three golfers' names, emails, and handicaps.
• Golfers pay individually: create a "Single Golfer" ticket and add a custom field like "Who is in your foursome?" so you can group them later.
• Mixed (some comped, some paid): use a 100 percent promo code for the comped golfers, or create a $0 ticket type restricted to that group.

Custom registration fields support text, numbers, checkboxes, dropdowns, and multi-selects, and you can attach them to the event, an activity, or an add-on.

Note: GC Events doesn't currently support e-signature waivers. If your event needs a liability acknowledgment, add a required checkbox field ("I agree to the participant waiver") with a link to the waiver text.

Offline registrations

You can import offline registrants from a CSV. The most common import failures are:

• A missing First Name or Last Name on any row (every attendee needs both).
• Invalid or missing email addresses.
• Affiliation or ticket type values that don't match the event's setup exactly.

Download the template from the import screen, match its column headers exactly, and check for stray blank rows at the bottom of your file before uploading.

Refunds

Admins can issue full or partial refunds on a registration's payment. The registration itself stays in place after a refund—so if the guest is no longer attending, also cancel the registration so your guest list and reminder emails stay accurate. There's no one-click way to convert a paid ticket into a donation; refund the registration and invite the guest to give on your giving form instead.

After the event

When an event moves from Active to Completed, the landing page stays publicly visible at the same URL (registration is closed). Archiving the event is what removes it from view.

Common questions

Can one activity sell out while others stay open? Yes—activity guest limits are independent. Each activity closes on its own when its limit is reached.

Why does my $0 ticket say "Free"? That label is automatic for $0 tickets and can't be changed. Use the ticket name and description to explain on-site payment.

Can I change FMV after tickets sold? No—it's locked to protect issued receipts. Contact support if a correction is needed.

Can guests see how many tickets are left? Sold-out ticket types and activities are marked when capacity is reached. Admins can see remaining counts in the event's admin view.

Can I open sponsorship packages before individual tickets? Not with separate dates—there's one registration window. Publish with packages only, then add individual ticket types when you're ready.

Anonymous guests are cluttering my guest list. Can I change that? Guests without names display as "Guest." There isn't currently a setting to group or re-sort them.