Streamline Your Event Management—with eTapestry!
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Your organization’s event planning committee is finally ready to make things happen. As the event coordinator, the thought of such a high-profile event is exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.
There are invitations to send, tickets to sell, sponsors to solicit, and that’s just the beginning. How will you keep track of everything? You can use spreadsheets, right? Not so fast! If you’re an eTapestry user, you need look no further than your own eTapestry database. Golf tournaments? No problem! Galas and dinners? Absolutely! True, the system requires a certain level of customization (mainly with user defined fields), but that is what makes eTapestry so flexible and powerful. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.
Don’t reinvent the wheel
Did you know that eTapestry comes with sample layout forms for your event correspondence? If these forms don’t quite meet your needs, you can still use them as a starting point and modify as needed. Forms are available in the Events category of eTapestry standard templates. Likewise, use the eTapestry DIY online forms, and you’ll have registration requests for your events building up in no time. Bonus! These forms embed within your website and require minimal setup time.
Define your approach
Approaches are a great way to segment the income generated by your events, and to compare events with other fundraising methods used by your organization. Carefully consider how you are currently using approaches and how events can fit into that structure. If you need to further classify event transactions, determine whether you can do so with standard fields before you create your own custom fields.
Configure wisely
Events and fundraising go hand-in-hand. The way you set up event tracking in eTapestry should reflect your overall fundraising and contact management setup. Don’t set up something just because that configuration worked best for a colleague. Run a few scenarios before making any decisions. Outline what your event will look like, and plan your reporting needs. Will you be selling tickets online? How will you track ticket sales? Perhaps you could set up user defined fields to indicate a transaction should be recorded as an auction sale versus a donation. If you need some ideas, take a look at the eTapestry default set of event fields, which address most basic needs. You can even import these fields and modify them as needed.
Want to learn more?
Blackbaud University is debuting the new eTapestry: Streamlining Event Management course to help you structure your myriad event management activities. Invest three hours in this class, and walk away with a clear understanding of your event planning needs and plenty of practical information for making the most out of your system!
Click here to learn more and sign up.
Don’t reinvent the wheel
Did you know that eTapestry comes with sample layout forms for your event correspondence? If these forms don’t quite meet your needs, you can still use them as a starting point and modify as needed. Forms are available in the Events category of eTapestry standard templates. Likewise, use the eTapestry DIY online forms, and you’ll have registration requests for your events building up in no time. Bonus! These forms embed within your website and require minimal setup time.
Define your approach
Approaches are a great way to segment the income generated by your events, and to compare events with other fundraising methods used by your organization. Carefully consider how you are currently using approaches and how events can fit into that structure. If you need to further classify event transactions, determine whether you can do so with standard fields before you create your own custom fields.
Configure wisely
Events and fundraising go hand-in-hand. The way you set up event tracking in eTapestry should reflect your overall fundraising and contact management setup. Don’t set up something just because that configuration worked best for a colleague. Run a few scenarios before making any decisions. Outline what your event will look like, and plan your reporting needs. Will you be selling tickets online? How will you track ticket sales? Perhaps you could set up user defined fields to indicate a transaction should be recorded as an auction sale versus a donation. If you need some ideas, take a look at the eTapestry default set of event fields, which address most basic needs. You can even import these fields and modify them as needed.
Want to learn more?
Blackbaud University is debuting the new eTapestry: Streamlining Event Management course to help you structure your myriad event management activities. Invest three hours in this class, and walk away with a clear understanding of your event planning needs and plenty of practical information for making the most out of your system!
Click here to learn more and sign up.
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ARCHIVED | Blackbaud eTapestry® Tips and Tricks
04/08/2016 12:58pm EDT
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