Hello, we're planning our annual Gala which includes both a silent and live auction, so we use a 3rd party service to manage that through a website. Donors can also purchase their tickets through the site, as well as directly with us/Tessitura. I'm curious how other organizations have handled similar situations, as I currently see no way around double entry. We'll need all the info in the 3rd party site as that's where the transactions are originating, but we also want the data in Tessitura for our own records and future reference. Have you found a more efficient way of handling this? Currently I plan to every day copy over any new data (ticket purchases, guest names, meal selections, etc) from the 3rd party website into Tessitura manually. Thank you!
Hi Sara, This is exactly what we do at our organization and we still haven't figured a way out of it. Like you, we use a third party service to "manage" the event in terms of entering auction items and the building of auction packages, assigning bidder numbers to guests, entering auction winners the night of the event and of course using it for the check-in and check-out process. I can't see a way round the double entry and I would love to know how other organizations handle this as well. Thank you for posing the question!!
I am guessing that a 3rd party system with manual entry may end up being the way to go. I think the Events module is one of the weaker parts of Tessitura and would love to see some major upgrades to that area of Tess. I thought it was on the roadmap as I participated in a conference session on it but that was YEARS ago. Would anyone at Tessitura be able to respond to whether this area of Tess is being worked on?
Thank you both Anita and Gina. It was as I suspected then, no way around double entry. Glad to know we're all in the same boat there, at least! It would be great if there was some way to connect Tessitura to a website so the info flows directly in, it is a lot of extra work to input it into Tessitura but so important to have it there. Perhaps a future update will allow for better functionality of elevated events, but I'll accept my fate of double entry for awhile.
Hi Sara,
We collect registrations and payments through TNEW and over the phone. We use custom forms to collect guest names and any other details needed, then run a CSI to update that information in Elevated Events in Tessitura. For check in, we load our event list into a third party app a day or so before but we don't collect payments on the third party app. I'd be happy to send a link to an example or discuss further. Also curious about what 3rd party service you use. We like that the larger ticket/table purchases live in Contributions but this isn't so easy with the smaller ticket amounts that we sell a greater number of so we are looking and changing this process.
Feel free to send me an email (michelle.poss@walkerart.org) give me a call (612) 375-5838 if you would like to discuss further.
Thanks!
Michelle
Hi - thanks for the great conversation here!I'm happy to provide an update on what our plans are with Elevated Events functionality. Although we are not planning a major update to Elevated Events in the near future, all of the Event screens will be getting an easier-to-use interface as we move Tessitura to a web application. In Version 16, the Constituent Record, Reports & Utilities, Reference Tables (formerly System Tables), and Segmentation (formerly Extractions) have a completely updated interface. As you interact with all of those areas while managing events, you'll be able to take advantage of the new design. In a future version beyond v16, we'll also be updating the Campaigns/Elevated Events setup screen to the new, friendlier interface.What Michelle is doing at Walker Art Center is a fantastic use of the existing functionality--and we've seen a lot of similar solutions at other organizations. TNEW, Reports, Lists and Outputs, the Tessitura API, the Constituent Import Utility, and the Contribution Import Utility all provide helpful ways to make working with a third party system very efficient.Elevated Events is also a very popular session topic at TLCC, and a search through the Conference Archives can provide some ideas about what other organizations are doing to help manage their Elevated Events.I hope that helps, and if there are any specific questions about the roadmap, please don't ever hesitate to contact us at product@tessituranetwork.com.Thanks!
Alex HarrisProduct OwnerTessitura Network
Thank you Michelle! I just sent you an email.