Box Office Ticketing Systems for Non-profit Organizations

For most nonprofit and community-based organisations, the job of selling, recording and issuing tickets to events falls on the shoulders of a few hard-working volunteers. And if the organisation sells season packages, memberships or reserved seating, then this task can occupy a large amount of time and effort. So any system which can easily record ticket sales, accept credit card payments by entering the credit card details directly, print tickets and address labels, will have considerable advantages for small community based and nonprofit organisations. And if the system also offers the ability for customers to purchase tickets online, this can save even more time for box office personnel.

But many small organisations may believe that the cost of owning and operating such box office ticketing systems would be outside their budget, or that there will be a large and steep learning curve to operate the system.  However with the increasing number of box office ticketing systems now available in different configurations and formats, it is unlikely that even the smallest of organisations would not be able to find a ticketing system to suit their requirements.

So let's take a look at the major options for small organisations to handle their ticketing .

Firstly and most obviously, are the major ticket service companies who have operated for many years, and sell tickets on behalf of any event organiser.  Generally these companies will list the events on a single website which will also include events from all the other organisations who they contract with. The venue operator will generally place a link on their website directly to the ticket company, or simply mention that tickets are to be purchased from this company, who may operate a number of physical ticket outlets as well. In this case, the customer orders tickets online and the tickets are then either posted directly by the ticket company to the customer, can be printed as a PDF ticket or the customer is issued with an exchange vouchert which they present at the venue on the day of the event. 

In most cases, the ticket company will take direct telephone bookings as well. While such ticketing agencies may have quite sophisticated features, the major downside is generally the cost of the service, especially for small organisations where the service charge may be out of all proportion to the actual cost of the tickets being sold. Also it may not be possible to amend the service charge that is applied to customer purchases directly for online ticket sales This is especially important for non-profit organisations who generally adopt a more modest pricing structure than major event organisers.  Generally speaking ticketing service companies also do not have the ability to handle season subscriptions.  In addition, ticket service companies generally retain all ticket income until after the event has been held.

A second more flexible alternative is to use the services of ticketing companies which enable an organisation to set up details of its events directly online. Such companies may either list all the events directly on their own website, or provide a link so that the details of events and the actual ticket sale process is carried out on a different webpage, but with the same look and feel as the organisation's own website. Such systems generally will allow the organisation to set up virtual box offices in any location where they can also take phone bookings or mail order bookings, as they are normally web-based applications.

Generally speaking however, such systems may not have the ability to handle season subscriptions or additional features such as gift cards, discount cards FlexPasses etc. Some systems handle credit cards directly through their own processing system (for a fee) whilst other systems may allow the user to use their own payment gateway/merchant account. Some systems advertise that there is no cost for using their system, which indeed may be true for the actual venue operator, however in this case, a convenience fee or transaction fee is levied on the ticket purchaser. The downside is that you have no opportunity to vary or absorb the fee in the ticket price.  Some systems will give you access to a control panel where you can enter details of your events directly, while with other systems you will need to provide details indirectly either by e-mail or by entering them on a web form.

A third alternative is to purchase box office ticketing software outright.  However for most small organisations, this is not normally a viable proposition unless the organisation is content with a relatively basic system. Of course the advantage is that generally once the software is purchased, there may be no additional charges apart from upgrades or perhaps support fees. The downside is that the software could become quickly out of date, and the user may be obliged to pay additional fees to upgrade to new or updated software as it is developed.

A fourth alternative is to use a box office ticketing system where all the main software is located on the provider’s own servers but where you have complete administrative access to add and modify events, set prices and access to all other aspects of the ticketing program.  You also normally have the ability to set and restrict access to specific sections of the program for individual users or ticket sellers.  As with the other options, there are many alternatives available, all with their own unique set of features, benefits and advantages, and all with a different pricing structure.  For example one of the more common ways of charging for such systems is a fee for each ticket sold through this system, which may be either a percentage of the ticket price or a dollar value. Normally such systems will allow you to sell tickets to any number of resellers, distributors or agents, and sell tickets from any location in the world where you have Internet access. Such systems may offer the capability of handling season subscriptions and offer added value services such as accepting donations, recording memberships, selling gift subscriptions and passes etc.

Of course deciding on which system would be best for your particular application, can be quite a daunting task.  So we suggest that the best idea is to initially draw up a list of features which you believe are essential for your organisation, and then evaluate the various alternatives, by contacting the box office ticketing companies directly.  Ideally try to obtain a demonstration version of the software, or if this is not possible, then at least tried to see some screen shots of the main administration area, videos, or other interactive presentations.

In any event, these days there are multiple choices for small community and non-profit organisations to benefit from not only selling tickets online but from setting up a more automated box office system.  And in the majority of cases the modest cost involved in installing a ticketing system would surely be outweighed by the savings in both time and effort by volunteers and other personnel who currently manage the time-consuming requirements of a box office.