Skip to content
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Quick Guide: Manage Event Check In

BEFORE your Event:

  • Consider what type of hardware your check-in staff or volunteers will be using at the check-in or registration table to get guests into the event, preauthorize credit cards, text their guest link and assign paddle numbers. 
  • Laptops: Laptops will require the volunteer to use the Check-In Guests webpage, accessed from your event dashboard. Rent or Purchase USB swipers needed to preauthorize cards by swiping. 
  • **NOTE: many Macs do not have USB inputs, rather they have USB-C inputs. You can use a USB to USB-C adapter in this case.
  • iPhones: iPhones can use the BetterUnite APP, downloaded from the App Store. The iPhone must be updated to iOS 15.0 or later. iPhones will require a lightning connector swiper to preauthorize credit cards. This swiper must be universal and not proprietary to any one payment processor (like Square readers or PayPal).
  • iPads: iPads can use either the BetterUnite app or the web-based Check-In Guests page. Please see the above specifications for each.
  • **NOTE: the USB swiper will NOT work with the app (even with a USB to lightning connector adapter) and the lightning connector swiper will NOT work with the web-based Check-In Guests page.

Navigate to the Manage Guests page of your event

  • If you have full access, click the Fundraisers menu, locate your event, click the Actions button on the right side next to your event, and select Event Dashboard. On the Event Dashboard page, click the link for “Manage Guests”
  • If you have limited access as a volunteer role, you will be provided with a direct link to the Manage Guests page. From here you can navigate to a specific set of pages only to be able to complete the check in actions
  • The Manage Guests page will display all purchased tickets grouped by each order or registration. You can click each row to expand it to display the individual tickets within each order. For example, if someone purchased two tickets, you will see two tickets when you expand the row.

Locate a Guest

  • You can look up a guest in the Search box on top of the page by:
    • Any part of their name
    • Email address
    • Paddle number
    • Registrant name (i.e. the person who purchased the ticket)
    • Table name
  • If you can’t locate their name, ask the guest whose party they are in, or who purchased their ticket, and use this information in the search box to locate the ticket holder.
  • It is possible that the ticket buyer/registrant did not provide a name for each of the ticket holders. In this case:
    • Locate the registration by the registrant name using the search box.
    • Expand the registration by clicking on the row to reveal the tickets.
    • If the guest’s name is not in the list, pick one of the tickets in the list that does not have a name on it, and start typing in the guest’s name.
      • The system will try to match the name against existing contacts and auto-suggest if found
    • If you see the guest in the suggestions, click it and the contact name will be populated on the ticket.
    • If you don't find the guest in the suggestions, click Add New Contact in the suggestion list.
      • In the pop up window, enter basic information about the guest. Try to capture at least their full name, and email address. Email address is important for payment processing.
      • Save the contact, the popup will close, and the contact name will be populated on the ticket.

Check In a Guest

  • Follow the above instructions to locate the ticket.
  • If the guest has not checked in yet, you will see a "Check In" button next to the ticket holder name.
  • Click "Check In" to mark guest as checked in. Note the ticket row change to indicate the guest is checked in.


Preauthorize a Guest Credit Card

  • Preauthorization of a guest credit card is a method by which you may capture the guest's credit card information in order to process donations or purchases during or just after the event.
  • For this, the guest can either pre-authorize themselves before they arrive at the event, or you can prompt the guest to provide their payment information so that  you can preauthorize their credit card.
    • Follow the above instructions to locate the ticket.
    • Click Authorize button, and select "Add Card" option to preauthorize the ticket holder.
    • Note, if the authorize button is grayed out, this means the the ticket holder information is not complete. Make sure you have entered the guest's information in the Guest name field and the guest is tied to a contact or you've added the guest as a contact (all as described in the Locate the Guest section).
    • In the pop up window, fill out the information, and submit to capture the card.
    • Confirmation page will be displayed, and you can just click button to close the window, or manually close the window.

Need Additional Help?

We're here to assist you in any way we can. Don't hesitate to reach out to support@betterunite.com

Let's go do some good.