Church Ticketing: The Solution to Social Distancing Services

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church ticketing | COVID-19 | hybrid event | in-person events | reserved seating | socially distant | virtual events

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July 17, 2020

How to re-open your church in the midst of social distancing

Churches and religious organizations all over the world are facing challenges to re-opening their doors during the decline of the COVID-19 outbreak.

How can you reopen safely?

Implementing a ticketing system and allowing your congregation to tune in online can solve all of these problems! Church ticketing is essential in the COVID era.

Church Ticketing is the simple solution to safely resuming in-person religious services

How it can work for your congregation:

Start by setting up a custom event page with Eventgroove in 15 minutes.

Customize your event hub page for your place of worship (add images, logos, and detailed info about the services you offer each week) and share with your congregation.

Attendees can log on and reserve their seats, or register for the virtual live stream for whichever service they want.

Tickets will stop being available once the service has reached max capacity.

Create an event hub

Include all event info on this page and share with your congregation.

Provide a virtual option

Since capacity is limited, allow everyone to attend by providing an online attendance option.

Attendees reserve their seats

When attendees register, they can select a seat or group of seats from a reserved seating chart that we’ll configure for you. Some seats will be blocked off to allow for social distancing.

Attendees can choose to attend your service virtually by selecting your virtual event option. They will receive an encrypted link, via email, to use to attend the live stream event.

Optional donation

Parishioners that would typically donate during your church service can do so through our platform.

Key features

Seating chart

Send us a layout of your space and we’ll digitize it and configure a layout to allow for social distancing for your services. This is your new reserved seating chart.
Seats can be reserved for a single person or groups of people, spaced 6 feet apart to adhere to social distancing regulations.

Streaming integration

Allow your congregation to join services through a virtual experience. Use a live streaming platform and some basic best practices to live stream your church services.
Create a ticket that acts as a donation for attending, or let them add an offertory when registering.

Easy to use

Manage all your religious services, gathering, and events from one central hub. Our intuitive platform and world-class customer service makes organizing and executing events a breeze.

Capacity control

Ensure your place of worship operates within the guidelines in your area. Putting a limit on the number of tickets that can be reserved for in-person services is a fool-proof way to stay compliant.

Achieve social distancing

Selling tickets using reserved seating charts allows your congregation to reserve their seats before the service. You send us a layout of your space, we’ll create a seating chart (for free!) that achieves social distancing and allows to maximize capacity when still limiting in-person attendees.

Top-notch security

How to get set up:

1) Sign up for a 15 minute demo with an expert.

2) Complete a template to tell us how your church is laid out.

3) We will create your seating chart and give you access to an online account.

4) You set up details and times of services via online account, and share the registration page with your congregation. You can do this with a custom email on our platform, and use widgets on your site.

Ready to dive in? Use our Virtual Events Checklist to start planning!

Want to learn more?

Our team is standing by, excited to learn about your organization and ready to discuss how we can help you reach your goals.

Speak with one of our knowledgeable Solutions Specialist about a 30 minute demo today.

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How Selling Prom Tickets Online Works

Creating a ticket sales page takes no time, and you can customize it so it matches your prom theme and school branding. Here’s the shape of it:

Create the event. Name (Enchanted Forest Prom, 2026), date, venue, capacity, dress code, anything else students should know.
Set ticket types and prices. Most committees do one student ticket plus one guest or date. Some add an early bird ticket tier at a $10 discount for the first two weeks.
Grab a shareable link. Drop it in the school newsletter, add it to a QR code on your prom posters, then drop it into the school’s socials and the committee group chat so everyone can share within their networks, and the principal’s morning announcements.
Collect the money. Card and digital wallet payments flow straight into your account, whether someone pays in person at school or at the door on prom night.
Scan tickets at the door. Each student arrives with their printed prom tickets or a digital version. A volunteer scams them using their phone.

6 Things to Look For in a Prom Ticketing Service

Not every ticketing platform is set up for school events. Three things that matter:

Real-Time Data: Student planners and faculty advisors need to monitor sales and revenue, and access updated attendee reports.
Clear Fees: Every platform makes its money through fees. These fees can be passed on to buyers or absorbed by the school. In addition, when credit cards are involved, processing fees always apply but may not be included in your free ticketing platform’s service. When these are not included in the platform price, you’ll need to organize online payments separately, which can result in a much higher per-ticket cost on your end.
Online and physical tickets: Printing prom tickets is something many schools do – they’re a great memento of the night, and make the experience more special. Make sure your platform’s capabilities include tracking and scanning both printed and digital tickets.
Easy attendee check-in: Look for a platform that lets you scan without an app or special equipment. When faculty can scan tickets using their mobile phone‘s browser, getting up to speed takes less time.
Attendee management: You’ll want to track students as they enter, leave, and return. Ensure your service can support this.
Ticketing adaptability: Creating ticket bundles, reserved seating, and comp codes for VIPS means your chosen platform needs to be flexible.

What to Charge For Tickets To Prom and When to Sell

On average, a prom ticket costs between $55–$125. The exact number depends on the venue, what the night includes (DJ, photos, dinner, flowers, and the like).

Pre-prom ticket sales strategies

Early Bird discount. Knock $10–$15 off the standard price for the first 2–3 weeks of sales. An early bird ticket strategy rewards students who buy first, builds momentum, and gives your committee how the night is tracking weeks before prom.
Group bundles. Offer a small discount for friend groups buying 4 or 6 tickets together. Ticket bundling speeds up sales and they nudge friend groups to commit early.
Reserved tables. If you want groups to sit together, set up your ticketing with reserved seating and sell whole tables as a single package.
Day-of door pricing. Charge $10–$15 more at the door than online to encourages families to pre-buy.

When to sell tickets

Open sales 6–8 weeks before prom, switch from early bird to standard pricing 2–3 weeks in, and close online sales 24–48 hours before the dance so you can finalize the catering count.

A note on the platform side: Eventgroove’s setup is free, and the service fee on paid tickets is small (2% + $0.75 per ticket). You can pass that fee on to ticket buyers, and for free events, there are no fees at all.

If you’re looking for an efficent and easy way to sell school dance tickets and manage your attendees, we’d love it if you gave Eventgroove a try. Our ticketing platform is free for organizers, with low ticket-buyer fees, no hidden charges, and no contracts. Plus, we’re also online printers, so you order custom prom tickets, VIP badges, and flyers all in one place.

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