Fundraising guide
Name-your-price fundraising dinners & events
Let supporters give an amount that works for them. Set a suggested contribution, protect your dinner costs with a minimum, and pass service fees to buyers instead of deducting them from your donation proceeds.
How do name-your-price fundraising tickets work?
Enable Name your price on a ticket type, set an optional minimum and suggested amount, and let buyers choose an amount per ticket. The minimum is checked at secure checkout. This works for fundraising dinners, benefit events and community fundraisers.
How this type of ticketing works
A fixed ticket price gives everyone the same starting point. A name-your-price ticket lets supporters choose their own amount per ticket, with an optional minimum and suggested amount. It is a practical option for community dinners, school fundraisers, church benefit meals and fundraising events where some guests can give more than others.
For a fundraising dinner, choose a minimum that covers the meal and a suggested amount that includes support for your cause. For example, you could set a $25 minimum and suggest $50, while letting a supporter enter $75 or $100. These are planning examples, not recommended prices for every event. Describe what each ticket includes and where the proceeds will go.
For a benefit concert or community event, use a lower minimum when accessibility matters, or leave the minimum unset when there is no required contribution. Name-your-price is ticket pricing, not a separate charitable donation service: each purchase follows the normal ticket checkout and confirmation flow.
What to set up in TixSimple
- 1Create your fundraising event with its date, location, cause and a clear description of what admission includes.
- 2Add a ticket type and enable Name your price. Give it a clear name, such as Community Dinner or Benefit Event Admission.
- 3Set an optional Minimum amount and Suggested amount. For dinners, account for meal costs before choosing your minimum.
- 4Set ticket quantity to match your venue or meal capacity. A larger contribution still buys the selected number of tickets, not extra seats.
- 5Add attendee questions for meal preference or dietary needs when useful. Buyers answer these before continuing to secure payment.
- 6Choose to pass fees to the buyer on that ticket type if you want service fees added on top rather than deducted from the chosen contribution.
- 7Connect your Stripe account, review the purchase page and fee estimate, then publish and share your fundraising link.
Fee example: protect a supporter's chosen contribution
Suppose 100 supporters each choose $50 for one ticket. That is $5,000 in ticket contributions before event costs, discounts, refunds or other adjustments. If you absorb fees, ticket and card-processing fees are deducted from those proceeds.
Choose to pass fees to buyers to add both TixSimple and card-processing fees on top of the chosen amount. A supporter choosing $50 pays $50 plus one combined Service fee. The purchase page shows an estimate, and secure checkout shows the final total before payment.
This helps keep the chosen contribution intact instead of using part of it for checkout fees. Fees are shifted, not waived: do not describe the purchase as fee-free or promise that every dollar is profit. Meal costs, discounts, refunds and other adjustments still affect the amount available for your cause.
Give supporters a clear reason to give more
Explain the impact of a larger contribution without making guests feel pressured. Your event description might say: 'The minimum covers your dinner. Any amount above that helps fund our community program.' Use only impact statements your organization can substantiate.
You can mix name-your-price tickets with fixed-price admission or VIP tickets on the same event. Keep any extra meal, merchandise or parking offer clearly described and priced. A higher donation alone should not imply extra benefits unless you explicitly include them.
- Community dinners: minimum for the meal, suggested amount for the cause
- School fundraisers: flexible contributions from families and supporters
- Church benefit meals: clear admission and contribution expectations
- Benefit events: fixed-price and name-your-price tickets together
- Meal preferences collected before secure payment
- Buyer-paid service fees disclosed before payment
Frequently asked questions
How do name-your-price fundraising tickets work?
Enable Name your price on a ticket type, set an optional minimum and suggested amount, and let buyers choose an amount per ticket. The minimum is checked at secure checkout. This works for fundraising dinners, benefit events and community fundraisers.
Can I pass fees to buyers to keep my donations?
Yes. Choose to pass fees to the buyer for that ticket type. Both TixSimple and card-processing fees are added on top as one combined Service fee instead of being absorbed from the chosen contribution. This helps preserve donation proceeds before event costs, discounts, refunds and other adjustments; it is not a guarantee of net profit.
Can I require a minimum for a fundraising dinner?
Yes. Set a minimum amount to cover your meal or admission costs, then use a higher suggested amount to invite additional support. Buyers can enter more, but cannot complete checkout below the configured minimum.
Does giving more reserve extra meals or seats?
No. The amount is per ticket. The selected ticket quantity determines how many admissions are purchased. Explain meal and seating inclusions and set capacity for the number of guests you can accommodate.
Are these payments automatically tax-deductible donations?
No tax status is established by using name-your-price tickets. Deductibility depends on your organization, applicable rules and the value of goods or services provided. A ticket confirmation is not a promised charitable tax receipt. Obtain qualified advice and provide any required acknowledgments separately.
Will buyers know about the added fees before paying?
Yes. The purchase page shows an estimated combined service fee, and the secure payment page shows final fees, applicable discounts and the full amount before payment. Say that service fees are added rather than calling the ticket fee-free.
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