Community Events Case Study: Registration and Sponsor CRM
How a chamber-style organization that runs 30 events a year replaced registration spreadsheets and sponsor emails with one system that registers attendees, reminds them, and keeps sponsors informed before they ask.
Overview
The client is a business organization that hosts about 30 events a year: monthly mixers, an annual gala, workshops and a trade expo. Registration ran through a form that dumped into a spreadsheet; check-in was a printed list; sponsors were managed by email and memory. Sponsors who paid for visibility asked for attendee numbers and got them a week later, if at all.
Gain Rhino moved events into the CRM. Registration creates or updates the member record, sends confirmations and reminders, and produces a check-in list on a phone. Sponsors have a record with their package, their deliverables and a schedule of updates: attendee count before the event, a recap with numbers after it, and a renewal conversation booked 60 days before their term ends. Nothing depends on anyone remembering.
Research
We audited the last twelve events. No-show rates ran around 35 percent, with no reminder sent for most events. Sponsor renewals sat at about 70 percent, and the events director could name two sponsors who had left because 'they never heard from us after the check cleared'. Attendee data was duplicated across a dozen spreadsheets.
We designed the event record with the director: capacity, ticket types, sponsor packages and their deliverables. Reminders go out seven days, one day and two hours before, by the attendee's preferred channel. Sponsor updates are generated from the event data itself, so the numbers are accurate and the director only reviews before sending.
Result
Events now run from one record: registration, reminders, check-in and follow-up. Sponsors hear from the organization at every stage without asking, and renewals are scheduled instead of hoped for. The director plans events instead of managing spreadsheets.
By the numbers (first 90 days, 8 events):
- No-show rateabout 21%, down from 35%
- Sponsors receiving pre- and post-event updates100%
- Sponsor renewals91%, up from about 70%
- Registration spreadsheets0, down from about 12
- Check-in time per attendeeunder 10 seconds
Client identity withheld at their request. Figures reflect the first 90 days after launch.
