Managing events in LGL: Step by step

In this article:

Introduction

You can manage these activities using LGL Events:

  • Track whom you’d like to invite to an event
  • Send emails or mailings to invitees
  • Track RSVPs and attendance to the event by constituent
  • Track additional guests to your event
  • Segment your event list to send targeted, personal mailings and/or solicitations (i.e., invitees, last year’s attendees, sponsor prospects, advertisers, and so on)
  • Use LGL’s customization options to add specific fields to each event (i.e., sponsorship levels, table assignments, meal preferences, and more)
  • Track all types of donations for each event (i.e., pledges, in-kind donations, ticket purchases, etc.)
  • Create and send event-specific acknowledgments
  • Run reports on attendees, gifts, and more
  • Capture contact reports and set up tasks to be completed for constituents invited to an event
  • Use LGL Forms or the LGL integrations with Wufoo or PayPal to accept online donations or RSVPs and automatically sync them to your event

Create an event

To get started, you’ll need to create a new event. Go to the Fundraising tab and choose Events from the dropdown menu. Then click the Add Event button:

The only required field to complete is the name of the event. You can choose to assign the event to an existing campaign and add start and end dates, an event type such as auction or performance, a specific target or goal for the event, as well as a projection and a description. By default, the Is Active button is checked, allowing you to add gifts to this event when entering them in the gift screen.

We recommend following these suggestions when setting up your event:

  • Be specific when naming your event, especially if this is an annual event (i.e., Kentucky Derby 2023)
  • If you have a revenue goal, add it to watch progress on the event dashboard. The dashboard will be updated in real time as you enter new gifts.

  • Add a date: Your most recent events will show at the top of the Events page.
  • To add an event type, it will first need to be created it by going to Settings > Menu items > Other menu items and adding it there:

Add constituents to an event

When you add a constituent to an event in LGL, an invitation is created for them. That invitation allows you to track their event segment (if applicable), RSVP status, Attendance, Attendee Count, Guest names, and any custom fields you add.

Constituents can be added to an event in one of three ways: Individually from their constituent record, in bulk from within the event, or when entering a gift from the gift record.

Adding constituents individually from their record

To add a constituent to an event from their constituent record, first search for the constituent you wish to invite in the Search Constituent field. Choose the Actions button next to the constituent name, then select Add to event.

NOTE: You can also do this from a constituent’s individual record by going to the Related Activity section at the bottom of the page and clicking the More actions button.

Once you select Add to event, you can select the event that you want to invite the constituent to and complete any other applicable fields in the New Invitation screen.

Once you’ve saved the invitation it becomes an invitation record stored in the event. This is how the constituent is added to the event. A copy of the invitation record will also be stored in the constituent details page, within the Related Activity section of that page.

Adding constituents from within the event

You can add constituents to your event either individually or in bulk. Once you’ve created an event, click on the name of the event from the Events dashboard to see the details page. In the Constituents/Invitations tab, you can select the Add Constituents button to add multiple constituents or click the Add 1 constituent button to add one constituent at a time.

Some notes on adding constituents in bulk

When you add constituents to your event in bulk, you'll be taken through a 3-step process in which you can add data to the various data fields. You can also do this from the Constituents tab, where you can select the Add/edit event option from the Bulk Updates dropdown menu, as shown here:

Adding constituents to an event through segments

Constituents can also be added to an event through segments. To add segments, click on Segments in the Event navigation bar. Then choose Add segment to name the segment, add a description, then click Save.

Once the segment has been created, you can begin to add constituents who fit the criteria of that segment by clicking on  Add constituents from the Actions button:

A few notes about using segments in LGL:

  • LGL segments are hierarchical in nature, so constituents will only be placed in the highest position segment even if they meet the search criteria for multiple segments
  • Segments can be re-ordered by clicking on the up/down arrows next to the Position #
  • In the Segments tab, you can view how many constituents are in each segment, if any constituents were excluded due to overlap with another segment, and how much money has been received in gifts from the constituents in each segment
  • Using the Actions button for each segment, you can edit the segment name/description, add constituents to the segment, export the list of constituents in that segment, add a mailing to the constituents in the segment, or delete the segment
  • Constituents can be added to segments whether they are already listed in the event as a constituent or not. When you add a constituent to a segment who is not already in your overall list of constituents for the event, they'll be automatically added as an overall event constituent

If you will have additional guests, decide how your event will track them

Read about the options in this article.

Add custom fields or attributes to the event invitation

You can add custom categories and attributes to your event so that you can easily track things like sponsorship levels, table assignments, meal preferences, and more.

To customize the event, click on the Customize button from either Fundraising > Events, or from within the event on the Event Details page:

Add categories and attributes

From the Customize page, you can add new categories and attributes that will be available for tracking extra information about each constituent you invite to the event. These categories and attributes are event-specific:

Should I make my custom field a category or an attribute?

Within the event feature in LGL, you can add as many custom fields to the invitation as you like. If you choose to add the field as a category, you will have the ability to name the category and provide a listing of values for that category.

Some examples of event categories include:

  • Sponsorship level (i.e., bronze, silver, gold)
  • Advertisement size (i.e., full page, half page, quarter page)
  • Meal choice (beef, chicken, vegetarian)

If you choose to add a field as an attribute, you can select from the following types of fields:

Some examples of event attributes might include:

  • Number of tickets (number attribute type)
  • Team captain name (short text attribute type)
  • Certification date (date/time attribute type)

Notes about custom fields:

  • When setting up an attribute, you have a few options: You can make it applicable to individual or organization type records, make it read-only, or cause it to be searchable.
  • When adding a category, you can choose whether it will be a single-select field (i.e., only one value can be assigned per category), a multi-select field (i.e., more than one value can be assigned per category), and if you want to filter on the category
  • All custom fields can be searched on inside the event and in the Advanced Search function in the All Constituent view; they can also be exported

Adding gifts to an event

Gifts of all types (outright gifts, pledges, in-kind gifts, and other income) can be attributed to an event. You can choose to add a gift to an event invitation or via the Gift entry screen. With either option, all event invitation fields (both the default and any custom fields you may have added) can be updated when entering the gift information.

Uploading gifts to an event using the Flex Importer

If you do an  upload via the Flex Importer of gifts associated with the event, make sure you use the field "Gift Event Name" to signify to LGL that the gift should be associated with the event. Additionally, if you want to associate the constituents in your upload with the event or an event segment (i.e., if they aren't already in your list of event constituents), use either the "Gen. Event Name" or "Event Segment Name" fields.

On-site check-in for registrants

If you have a laptop or tablet at your event (a phone would work too, though the screen is pretty small), you can use the Events area in your LGL account to record attendees as they enter. Use the Column View option, and set your columns to include the Attended column. You can then update the "Attended" status from "Unknown" to "Yes" with the onscreen dropdown option. If you need to update the Attendee Count or add a note to the invitation, you can do that by clicking the Actions button and then editing the event invitation record.


Exporting event information

A wide variety of data can be exported from LGL Events using the “Event Invitations” report template. Some of the fields that you can report on are:

  • RSVP status
  • Attendance
  • Attendee Count by Constituent
  • Gifts pledged/received
  • Guest Names
  • Any custom fields you add

To export data from an event:

  1. Click on the Export results button in the Constituents/Invitation tab in the event.
  2. Choose the report template you’d like to use (“Event Invitations” might be a good starting point).
  3. Then make any changes you’d like, preview, and save.

For more on exporting data from an event, please read our Knowledge Base article on exporting event information.

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