Use our checklist of features to ensure your organization has chosen the best event ticketing software for your marketing, fundraising, and box office needs.
Using the car analogy, could you imagine not have the opportunity to take the vehicle for a test drive? What if the sales person drove you around to demonstrate the turning radius and the engine's power? You might get a great sense of the car, but if you aren't driving, how can you be sure?
Using the software as you would in real life is a minimum expectation. Only through hands-on use can you learn how long it takes to set up a series of events with multiple performance dates. Once complete, you should determine how challenging it is to assemble those event dates into flex passes and packages. Further, let volunteers try their hands at scanning tickets, and invite the box office to create test orders then process exchanges and refunds.
Next, your search for the best event ticketing software for your organization should include a minimum set of required functionality plus some of your nice-to-haves. The more of the latter, the better!
Let's create a list of features that virtually every organization needs to sell tickets, manage their box office, create membership programs for increased revenue, and above all, provide tools that save time.
| Feature | Benefit |
| Single page event creation with multiple performances | Create events with a run of performances by using our "repeat every x days" with date ranges, and we'll create a year of dates in one click. |
| Replicate easily | Replicating an event is a must-have in our book. Copy details, marketing lists, order confirmation emails, ticket pricing and seating options in less than one minute. |
| Reserved seating | Allow patrons to select their own seats with detailed and beautiful reserved seating charts that show the location of stairs and ramps, restrooms and much more. |
| Coupons and discounts | Whether you offer BOGOs or special discounts for slower selling Tuesdays, coupons and discounts help fill the house. Look for a software that provides dollar off or percentage off discounts on all or specified events, packages and memberships. Limit by day of week, set expiration times, and set the maximum number of uses your coupon should provide. |
| Comps | Comping orders takes place with a a click of the button. We'll waive all fees and set ticket prices to $0, and your financial reports will show the value of comps for events and the staff member who comped the order. Even better, ThunderTix never charges for comps! |
| Membership management | The best event ticketing software goes beyond ticket sales. If you want to increase loyalty, raise ticket sales, and introduce new customers to your organization, then membership management is a must! Create multiple levels of membership with various awards from theatre swag to BOGOs to guest passes and more. |
| Fundraising | From round-up donations that add up to full-fledged campaigns, you'll need tools that help your fundraising efforts. Look for automatic recurring donations to help predict streams of revenue that help you grow. |
| Barcode scanning | Scanning tickets helps prevent fraud. Use your iOS and Android device and our free mobile apps, traditional handheld scanners, or simply use our click-to-checkin functionality directly from the guest list. You'll be alerted instantly to invalid or duplicate tickets. |
| Customized public displays | Our visual color pickers and stylizing tools allow you to mimic the look of your website without knowing a bit about HTML. No need to hire IT professionals, and your patrons will love seamless experience from your homepage to final checkout. |
| Low to no ticket fees! | Most competitors charge $1 or more per ticket then take a percentage of your revenue as high as 6%. ThunderTix takes none of your revenue, and our fees are customer-pleasing at around a dollar with no enough that your customers will appreciate the con See our pricing page to see our great rates. |
| Customizable email confirmations | Let every purchase confirmation be a marketing tool, too! Share upcoming events and coupons, include sponsorships for additional revenue, and control design aspects. |
| Customers self-process exchanges | Let the box office focus on creating great guest experiences by taking them out of mundane ticket management. Self-exchange and refund requests save time and hassle of missed phone calls and telephone tag. |
| Unlimited users with specific permissions | Sharing logins is a recipe for mistakes -- or worse, a security breach! Ensure your event ticketing software allows unlimited logins. Further, your volunteers probably don't need to access orders, patron histories or financial reports. With every permission imaginable, you determine who can access what data or even provide services such as comps or refunds. |
From your greeters meeting your guests who appreciate knowing VIP donors at check-in to your marketing folks who send out event notifications, having all your data in one place means less wasted time from cross referencing data and better outcomes.
Most performing arts organizations have fundraising arms, and virtually every event venue employs some level of marketing or even concession sales. The best event ticketing software combines all the tools you need to help you grow.
