How to Run a Live Gala with Ticket Sales

Direct answer: Yes. One campaign runs tickets and gala night. Create your free account, activate a plan, set Bidding Start & End Times, add items, then open Ticket Sales to add ticket types and turn sales on. Buyers land on Attendees; share the auction URL and check guests in on the night.

Yes. You can sell tickets and run gala night in the same CharityAuctions campaign.

This path is for you if you need seats sold and a live room. It is not the first simple silent night. For that silent path, see Getting Started.

Create your free account when you are ready. No sales call. No credit card required.

How the pieces fit

Keep one campaign. Do not split tickets and bidding into two events.

• Ticket Sales is buy and ticket revenue.
• Attendees is who is coming, Bidder #, Table #, and check-in.
• Online Auction is bidding, plus optional Display Sheets with SCAN TO BID.

Guests bid from a phone browser. No guest app.

Plan the weeks

Ideal: start several weeks out. If the date is soon, still Create your free account and run this path.

Lock these four things first:

1. Date and venue
2. A dollar goal you already know (last year, or what you need)
3. Tickets you will sell (individual, table, or both)
4. Items in hand, or a plan to add Risk Free from Package list

Open ticket sales as soon as seats can sell. Open bidding days before the party. Busy people bid before they walk in.

Close at a clear Bid End Date & Time. Tell guests that time in every share.

You need one auction chair with admin access. Nice to have: someone on items, someone at the door, someone for checkout questions.

More planning tips: Planning Your Charity Auction Event.

Set up the campaign

1. Create your free account and open Organization Home.
2. Create one campaign.
3. Click Manage auction. That opens Campaign Hub.
4. Activate a plan under Plans & fees.
5. In the left sidebar, under Fundraising Modules, click Online Auction.
6. On Item Catalog, set Bidding Start & End Times.
7. Add items. See How do I add an item to my auction?.
8. Click Preview in the top right to see the guest page.

If donations are thin, open Organization Home → Risk Free Items. Add packages to your package list, then Add to campaign. You only pay if an item sells.

Bidding unlocks when the plan is Activated and the timeblock is open. There is no Publish Auction step.

Full bidding steps: How to Turn On Bidding for Your Auction.

Set up Ticket Sales

1. Stay in Campaign Hub.
2. In the left sidebar, under Fundraising Modules, click Ticket Sales.
3. You land on Event Setup.

The tabs are Event Setup, Tickets, Registration Fields, Discount Codes, and Ticket Reports.

Ticket Reports is a tab inside Ticket Sales. It is not a left-sidebar item. There is no sidebar group named Live Event Features.

The line under Ticket Sales can read Set up ticket types or Turn on ticket sales.

Fill Event Setup first

Under Event details, fill the required fields:

• Event Name
• Venue Name
• Event Address
• Event Date

Start Time and End Time are on this block too. Click Save.

Under Buyer registration setup:

• Ticket sales appear on their own event-page tab. The default Tab label is Buy Tickets.
• The Auction Items tab shows only your catalog.
• Turn on Auto-assign bidder numbers if you want a number when someone finishes registering.
• Use One checkout for bulk tickets when someone buys a full table.
• Show QR codes on tickets puts QR codes on confirmation emails, ticket pages, PDFs, and reports.

Click Save on that block too.

Add what people buy

1. Click the Tickets tab.
2. If the list is empty, it says No ticket types yet. Click Add Your First Ticket Type.
3. The form heading is Add New Ticket Type.
4. Set Category (examples: Individual, Table, VIP, Sponsor, Free).
5. Enter Ticket Name *, Price ($) *, and Available Quantity *.
6. Set Sales Control Mode * to Manual or Scheduled.
7. Click Add Ticket. There is no button named Save on this form.

A $0.00 price shows as Free on the event page.

After a type exists, the button is Add Ticket Type.

Turn sales on for buyers

The switch says Turn ticket sales on or off on your event page.

Create at least one ticket type first.

When you are ready, turn it On for buyers. Buyers can then see and purchase tickets on your event page.

If you are still building, leave it Off, hidden.

Optional: questions and codes

Registration Fields starts with First Name, Last Name, Email, and Phone. Click Add Custom Question if you need more.

Discount Codes is for a checkout code. Click Add Discount Code or Add Your First Code.

Full ticket clicks: Managing Tickets and Tracking Revenue.

Share the night

Copy your auction URL. Each campaign has one primary URL. It does not change after bidding starts.

Share it in email, text, social, and your site. See Where Can I Find My Auction Share Link.

On that event page:

• Buy Tickets is where guests purchase seats.
• Auction Items is the catalog.

Share the same URL for both. You do not need a second link.

If people walk the room, print signs:

1. Open Online Auction.
2. Click the Display Sheets tab.
3. Click Download All Sheets.
4. Print the PDF and place a sheet by each item.

Each sheet has SCAN TO BID. Guests scan the code. They do not take a picture of it.

See Creating Item Signs and QR Codes.

Pre-register as bidders

Ticket buyers show up on Attendees. You do not type them in by hand.

1. In the left sidebar, under Fundraising Modules, click Attendees.
2. You land on Attendee List.

Columns include Name, Contact Info, Ticket Type, Bidder #, Table #, Check-In Status, and Actions.

If the list is empty, it says No attendees yet. Click Go to Tickets if you still need ticket types.

Comps and VIPs

Use Add attendee (or Add Your First Attendee) for someone who did not buy online.

Use Import when you already have a file. Upload it. Review the rows. Save.

Bidder numbers and tables

Auto-assign bidder numbers lives on Ticket Sales → Event Setup.

You can still change Bidder # on the Attendee List before or during the night.

Fill Table # on that same list. Do not assign tables on Ticket Reports. Those filters are not the assignment list.

If someone paid you in person, open Ticket Sales → Ticket Reports and click Add Offline Sale.

Full attendee clicks: Managing Attendees and Event Check-In.

Week-of checklist

Do this before doors:

• Open Preview and walk the guest page
• Confirm ticket types are On for buyers
• Open Attendee List and check names, ticket types, Bidder #, and Table #
• Import remaining comps
• Download Display Sheets and print them
• Open Live Event Kiosk and test check-in
• Test the auction URL on the venue Wi-Fi or cell data
• Put one volunteer on the door who knows the URL

Night of the event

At the door:

1. Open Attendees.
2. Find the person.
3. Use Check-In Status on that row.

For QR check-in, open Live Event Kiosk in the left sidebar. The line under it starts with Check-in. Use a phone or tablet. No special gear.

In the room:

• Guests bid from the auction URL on a phone
• Or they scan SCAN TO BID on the item sheet
• You watch the catalog on Online Auction → Item Catalog

Have more than one volunteer at the door if you can.

End the night and wrap money

Most nights, leave the clock alone. Bidding ends at your Bid End Date & Time.

To stop sooner:

1. Open Online Auction → Item Catalog.
2. Open Bidding Start & End Times.
3. On a LIVE Item Block, click Close early.
4. In Confirm Early Close, click Yes, Close Now.

Close early assigns every item in that window to the current high bidder. There is no Finalize winners button.

Then:

• Activity Feed for reports
• TOOLS → Invoices & Payouts for winner invoices
• Ticket Sales → Ticket Reports for ticket totals and Export Report

On Ticket Reports, the cards are Total Sales, Total Revenue, Discount Amount, Total Tickets, and Avg. Order Value.

If a winner pays you cash, open the invoice and click Mark as Paid. That stops unpaid reminders.

See How to Close Bidding and Finalize Winners and Managing Invoices and Collecting Payments.

If something looks missing

• Ticket Reports is not in the left sidebar. Open Ticket Sales, then the Ticket Reports tab.
• No ticket sales available means no orders yet. Totals read 0.
• Add Ticket needs Ticket Name, Price ($), Available Quantity, and Sales Control Mode.
• Bidder numbers and check-in live on Attendees, not on Ticket Reports.
• Signs are on Online Auction → Display Sheets. Do not look for Design & Promote for this.

If you ask about cost

Nothing Out of Pocket is 5%. Prepay and Save is $499 + 3%.

Fundraising modules are included on every plan. Turn on Ticket Sales and Attendees when you need them. Message Blast is only included with Prepay and Save.

See CharityAuctions Plans and Included Fundraising Modules.

Create your free account. No sales call.

Need a human? See How to Contact CharityAuctions Support.