We have not yet decided on what we are charging next year but we are having a meeting in Oct. to discuss it. That said, I want all the information I can going into the meeting.

If we decide to have $2.00 off admission if registered and paid by a certain date, is the easiest thing to do, to set it up a certain way, then go in after that date and change the amount? This would all be announced several times during the course of this process, but I don't want to have 10 buttons in our store.

Also, if we have events that do not cost, such as a tour of the school, can these be placed on the page and $0.00 so we can get a count only for planning?

I do want to put a donation button also. People have already asked about it....and folks, seriously, we just got a $500 ANONYMOUS donation.....I am not kidding, makes planning so much easier and saner in the whole scheme of things! Is it best to have some options, like $10, $25, $50 and $100? It sounds from what I have read that it would mean 4 different buttons.

I am not even talking about the 4.9% fee, we will build it in and not even discuss it, whether check or credit card. Sometimes it's TMI and the classmate does not understand this whole process anyway.

Does any of this make sense? I know I am ahead of the game, but I want to be ready for this meeting because if we make enough decisions, we don't have to meet again until January and that's the way, uh huh, I like it!!!

Fondly,
Denise

What you want to do at store launch is have just one ticket item, something like this for example:

Early Bird Registration ($2 off!): $73

As time passes and Early Bird Registration is no longer available, you want to go back into your Reunion Planner and deactivate (don't delete it!) the item entirely. Then place a new ticket item on your Reunion Registration Form for the full cost. IMPORTANT: Never change the cost of your ticket item mid way through your reunion. Doing so will throw off your financials big time. Using 2 separate items as I suggested will solve this problem and keep the books balanced.

Yes, you can add a $0 cost item just to get a look at how many people are attending that event.

Here's a little undocumented tip at the moment. If you create an item in your Reunion Planner called "Donate" just price your item at 8888. When you put in the quadruple 8's it tells the system to put a form entry field in there instead of a price. This way the Classmate can add his or her own donation amount. We'll make a more "official" technique for donating shortly, but for now this handy workaround works great.

Right, unless you're discounting check payments by 4.9%, the 4.9% fee is transparent to the Classmate. They just see the full ticket cost, and that's what it is.

And do it babe the very best you can, that's the way, uh huh.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Brad, maybe Donations in Reunion Planner different? I activated my Donations button right after the Reunion, simply because everyone ask me if they could offset my costs. I didn't put any kind of amount, and I have received several donations at $25, a couple of $50, and a $100.

I THINK I am setup correctly? Seems to be working

You are Mr. Funny today aren't you? That all makes perfect sense but I do have one thing to add and need a response. You mentioned just one ticket item. Well, you don't think it's going to be THAT easy do you?

We have two separate events, and I know that there will be people who chose one or the other. We have pre-decided we are not getting into a "special" for both nights or a "special" for a couple. It's $XX for Friday, $XX for Sat. per person, period. Bring your spouse, bring your sibling, bring your neighbor. We don't care, per person. So there will be two events.

However, we feel we will get money ahead to pay our bills by setting an "early bird" date and as I said, this will be posted again and again, emails ad nauseum! And I agree, to not changing horses mid-stream. That's just ugly and that's why we plan!

I will be looking for the new technique for donating, you will probably have that up and running by the time I am ready, but it's nice to know the 8888 thing.

Brad, did you ever think this would catch on like this has? I think we should make a movie about you. We could call it The Reunion Network! I am planning to go see that Facebook movie and I don't go to many movies.

Denise

Derrell Pulis wrote:

Yes, everything is correct there. Yes taking donations through the Reunion Planner is entirely separate. As a general method of accepting donations, activating the home page right hand "Donate" module is a good idea.

Somehow I don't think anybody will be making movies about us any time soon. Although our door is open.

What you want to do is create a separate item for sale for each event happening in your reunion. This will work ok for now, we actually have a new "Add Event" feature coming up inside the Reunion Planner where you'll be able to better break down multiple events...which will ultimately lead to better tracking on all of the reports and exports too. That's ongoing stuff though, should be finished sometime before Xmas.

Good to know..I won't be setting up this part of it until January. I was reading the other guy though and wonder if I should set up a PayPal acct. now and see what happens if I did activate that "donate" button on the home page. Shoot, you never know! We'll discuss at the meeting.

How is the reordering of links task coming along? I really want to make some moves there!

DKD

The system overhaul is going slowly because I keep allowing the Programmers to get sidetracked. I should probably stop that and cut off any new changes until the overhaul is complete.

Indeed! No partying! I bet you are a good guy to work for though!

Oh heck yea I am (just never ask the staff to confirm that).

Hi Denise,
We just held our 35th reunion weekend (a huge success). What I did was make a form called 'Reunion Event Sign-Up' in the SURVEY MAKER. We had nine events over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I was able to ask whatever questions I needed answers for, such as:

9) Will you attend the Sunday Family Picnic and Softball Game (no charge). yes or no answer.

10) How many in your family will join us for the Sunday Family Picnic, including yourself? put a drop down list of #s... 1,2,3,4,5,6

12) If you are able to bring a side dish, please tell us what you will bring. You may choose more than one.
Potatoe Salad
Macaroni Salad
Cole Slaw
Other Salad or Dish
Cookies, Bars, or other dessert

Most of the questions I required an answer for.
Whatever method you use, remind them prior to the reunion date that they indicated they would be at a particular event. They forget, and I paid for many no-shows for tours and meals that I had pre-paid for!

Be sure they tell you if a guest will attend an event with you or not, along with the name of their guest (spouse/partner/guest).

Also, I did an item for sale called 'I wish to Donate' and put the amount of $5. They chose how many they wanted to give. That way I didn't feel pushy to ask them for a certain amount. It worked very well. If I would have known about the 8888, I would have used it.
I also have the PayPal donation option, and that was used a few times for the higher donation amounts. I believe that will be used more now that the reunion is over.

You may have some payment 'exceptions' ... be prepared for these. They are the ones that can't be there for the dinner, or something else. I also had to comp a couple people to do some work for me. You should probably make the decision beforehand of what your rules will be, then stand firm to those decisions. There are a lot of sob stories out there, especially nowadays.
Wish you great success!

Excellent ideas. I will keep this email to take me back to the thread so I can remember what all was said. I have one really major drawback but just have to work with it.

We have our meetings at a small church, it keeps us focused on what we have to do. However, the bad news is no Internet! As I said SMALL church! There is so much I would like to just check into as we talk. Oh well, one reason for this thread....being prepared!

Thank you,
Denise

The meeting place is a major drawback? Can you look for a quiet place, no charge, with internet access?

My hope is that we can accomplish what we need to next week and not meet until January and think about that location. The church is quiet, keeps us on task without distractions, and is centrally located. The library has space but like everything has cut back their hours and I have to check what evenings they are open.

There are a couple of major players that go to this church, I don't think their feelings would be hurt, they are both on the site and recognize what this is doing for us.

Otherwise I can just have everyone over to the house every time until the reunion! I may end up doing that, hubby won't be thrilled but he can go to his "room"! Not as centrally located but not terrible.

DKD