Thanks to Your Ideas, Supporters Can Now Decline an Event Invitation

Event season is in full swing, and community members are receiving invitations daily. Frustrations may arise if they are unable to attend, yet your organization continues to send reminders. Your organization deserves a clear picture of the expected turnout, and your supporters want to inform you of their plans. Now, they can. Your organization can offer constituents the option to decline an event invitation and even make a gift in lieu of attending.

When crafting an event invitation, begin by setting up the event registration form designer. Within this setup, include the option to allow registrants to decline RSVP. This option must be selected to enable the functionality.





Under the Labels tab, you will find a confirmation option that allows constituents to notify you if they will not be able to attend. The default language is 'I can't attend,' but you can customize the verbiage in this box to your preference.





What if the invitee wants to support your organizations but they cannot attend?

After selecting the option of not attending, they are then given an opportunity to donate if you enabled the allow donations option on your registration form.




Under Choose registration options, the invitee will have the opportunity to select the number of tickets they require, or they can decline the invitation.

• If the invitee chooses not to attend, all registration options will be disabled, but other fees can still be purchased.
• If the form allows for donations, the invitee can input a donation amount.
• If the invitee decides not to attend and not to donate or make a purchase, their only option will be to click the submit button.

If they choose not to attend the event but wish to donate or make a purchase, they will need to provide their name, email, and billing information to complete the transaction.





What type of RSVP confirmation does the donor and the organization receive?

The donor will be directed to a confirmation page and sent a confirmation that reflects their choices.




Your organization can also be notified when an invitee declines an invitation and/or donates when your form is set up to send registration notifications. If no donation is made, your notification will only reflect their decline to attend the event.



What about gift receipts?

The receipt functionality remains unchanged when reflecting the contribution amount. For those in the United Kingdom, transactions from the additional donation will flow through database view and adhere to Gift Aid guidelines and receipt workflows. In Canada, current gift receipting functionality follows Canadian guidelines and captures additional gifts made when utilizing this new feature.


Can I develop a report to share the attendance numbers and supporters that made donations?

On the event record, under work with participants, you can filter the participant list by RSVP status to see who has declined. Include the Fees and Donations columns in the participant list to see if those who declined also made a purchase or a donation. You can also export the participant for additional reporting flexibility.




Enhancing community awareness and fostering unity in support of your organization should be integral to your annual objectives. Strategizing will optimize these endeavors, and meticulous attendance planning is essential for successful event execution. We hope these feature help maximize your success. Good luck this event season!

Learn more about event management within Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and by utilizing the Blackbaud University Event Coordinator class.