Learn how schools are using TryBooking to manage events

School events are fun, they bring the community together and offer a chance for students to build their skills and confidence through participating. The behind-the-scenes involvement of teachers, students and parents volunteering their time to help make a school event a success requires more than just enthusiasm and an "it'll be alright on the night" approach. Organising a school social or fundraising event requires significant planning, administration time and cash management – so many schools are now switching to TryBooking an online ticketing and registration system to reduce administration time, and improve their event success and revenue.

Going online reduces administration time

Schools are getting smarter with their time when planning events. A simple move to an online ticketing system creates more time for office staff, teachers and organisers. Gone are the days of students having to queue up at the office to purchase tickets for school performances or social nights, TryBooking makes all administration tasks a breeze. Parents of students at Princes Hill Secondary College love “being able to buy tickets any time of day or night, from home or work, instead of going into the office or sending cheques and cash with their children hoping it would get to the office", explains Music Coordinator, Pauline Gorne.

The flexibility of TryBooking for schools extends to having real-time RSVP lists for numerous events including Balls, Luncheons, Mother's/Father's Day Breakfasts. Parties, and Fundraising activities. The system also allows organisers to easily refund tickets when required – with no additional paperwork! Ruyton Girls School found that the accurate and instant list of attendees is very effective, as well as the easy to construct seating plans, and having access to a complete list of dietary requirements straight from the system. Camberwell South Primary School have found TryBooking to be the perfect solution for selling ride wristbands and show bags at their fairs. There was a lot of work ensuring that the lists were constantly updated, accurate and financially reconciled. By implementing TryBooking’s online tools, the Fair Coordinator has identified that “if we use TryBooking for all our events and money collection, most of the fundraising administrative paperwork will be eliminated.”

Going cashless reduces risk

Payment collection can be complicated for any organisation that still uses manual registrations, with issues such as incomplete or missing forms, discrepancies about whether payments have been made, and managing cheques, cash or credit cards before finally entering data into a system. Queenwood School for Girls and All Saints Anglican School switched to TryBooking to eliminate the bookkeeping and payment issues previously experienced. The schools now find that having an easy to use booking window is a great benefit, as they can easily cut off registrations on time and provide a list of names to the various associations.

Xavier College's Drama Department noticed a change in the way parents bought tickets to a sell-out performance with larger transactions being made by parents who don’t like sending large amounts of money via their children to the school.  Xavier College also impressed their accountants with their organised revenue reports generated directly from TryBooking!

Going further with online exposure

With the reduction in administration time and cost-effectiveness of using TryBooking, schools are discovering the extra value of being able to increase revenue through cross promotion and early ticket sales. Some ideas already implemented by Scotch College in Adelaide, Ruyton Girls' School and Hawthorn West Primary School to increase revenue are:

• Offering tickets for future events when families purchase tickets to a current event
• Selling pre-show and interval refreshments to help plan catering duties with volunteers
• Promoting school events via a URL that can be included in the school newsletter, on the school website or via notices sent home with children
• Selling food vouchers, ride wristbands and fundraising plates online prior to a school fair

Make your next school event a success by switching to an online ticketing system. Get started with TryBooking today! 

Events made easy

The TryBooking Team