Live Events quickstart guide

Let’s walk you through your first event on Live Event!

1. Access Live Events

To start, let's set up your account. First, log in to Live Events. 

2. Connect your payment processor

GoFundMe Pay customers need to set up their payment processor in GoFundMe Pro before they can accept payments in Live Events. 

Find out how to set up GoFundMe Pay

Once you complete GoFundMe Pay setup, you may need to refresh your settings in Live Events. To do so:

1. Under My Organizations, select your organization
2. From your Organization Dashboard, select Billing
3. Select Refresh Settings

Now, GoFundMe Pay should show as Connected, and you can begin accepting payments.

3. Invite your team members

Next, you should invite anyone on your team who will be using Live Events.

To add a team member:

1. From your Organization dashboard, select Team
2. Select Invite user

3. Enter their email address
4. Select Send

They'll receive an invite email with a link to sign in to their Live Events account and they'll have access to your organization. If you want to give a team member access only to a specific event, invite them via Event Team in your event editor once you have your Live event.

4. Create a GoFundMe Pro campaign

Supporters register for your Live event through a connected Ticketed or Registration with Fundraising GoFundMe Pro campaign. You can use an existing campaign if you already have one.

• Learn how to create a Ticketed Campaign
• Learn how to create a Registration with Fundraising Campaign

5. Create a Live event

Next, automatically create a connected Live event from GoFundMe Pro. To do so:

1. Go to Campaigns
2. Select the campaign you just created
3. Under Quick Actions, select Manage Live Events

This link takes you to a newly created Live event. The event will take the name of your GoFundMe Pro campaign and they’ll be automatically connected.

What information syncs between GoFundMe Pro and Live Events?

Right now, registrations, donation amounts, and custom questions will sync from GoFundMe Pro to Live Events, and transactions will sync from Live Events back to GoFundMe Pro.

Learn more about how to connect a campaign.

6. Update event details

To customize your event, start with the event details such as the name, date/time, and event features.

In your navigation menu, select Details to begin.

If you need to change details after you publish your event, no problem—simply go to the event details section again and update.

Next, review the features available and turn on those you need for your event.

What features should I turn on?

It depends on the type of event you are hosting.

• Hosting a virtual or hybrid event? Turn on Virtual Venue.
• An auction? Turn on Auction
• And, in-person event? You may use Check-in, Text-to-donate, or Seating

You can hover over the tooltips for each feature to learn more.

Once you're ready, select Save to see your features update in the navigation menu. Find out more about event details.

Next steps

Now, you’ve completed the necessary steps for setting up your Live Events account and your first event! From here, your workflow may differ depending on the type of event you host. 

See our guides below for specific help:

The following steps in this guide help all users complete event setup.

7. Set up your Event Page

Customize your event page to show specific information to attendees.

Also, before your event, share your Event Page URL with attendees so they can access the venue.

In your menu, select Event Page to begin.

8. Publish event

Your event should be ready to go! But, before you call it a day, we recommend you publish and walkthrough the event as an attendee. This way you can make adjustments as needed before you share the event page. 

To publish an event, select Publish Event Page in the header.

9. Walkthrough event

During a thorough event walkthrough, you should look for any typos, broken links, or images. Navigate to the most important pages for your event as an attendee would and look out for potential pain points and go back to make adjustments to ensure a smooth attendee experience.

To walkthrough your event:

1. Register via your connected GoFundMe Pro campaign
2. Visit the Event Page URL
3. Enter the event
4. Visit each page
5. (If hosting an auction) Place test bids and complete a transaction
6. (If hosting a virtual event) Visit the Stage and test your stream

If you run into a problem, see our guide on troubleshooting Live Events.

10. Manage email settings

Now that you’ve published your event and completed a thorough walkthrough, let’s set up your event’s communication. 

In your menu, select Email Templates to begin.

Custom Templates

You can create custom email templates to send to attendees via the Attendees menu. To create a new template, select + Add.

Lifecycle Templates

Under Lifecycle Templates, you can turn on specific emails to send automatically under specific conditions. For example, if you want to send a reminder one day before your event, turn on the 1 day reminder email template. 

Select a template to view and edit the details.

Learn more about email, SMS, and alerts on Live Events.

How to send emails and SMS to attendees

To send emails, SMS and custom templates to attendees, go to Attendees in your menu.

To send messages:

1. Next to the attendee you want to message, select the Checkbox
2. Select Send
3. Select Email or SMS

For emails, you can insert message templates, attach a Calendar invite, and attach a QR code for check-in.

4. Once your message is ready, select Review
5. Select Send Emails/Messages

Additional Resources

• Manage attendees on Live Events
• Table and Seating Management
• Text-to-Donate
• Backstage Tutorial
• Troubleshooting