Table seating/arrangements | Voters

Table seating/arrangements

planned

Max Friedman

Ability for admins to manage table seating and arrangements. Can possibly be linked to ticket types with maximums/minimums.

April 23, 2020

Christine Root

As a community theater, uploadable seating charts for more than just tables is crucial for us.

Jordan Patrick

Hi Christine Root! Thanks so much for your feedback. As a community theater, I totally understand how crucial uploadable seating charts are for venues with lots of tables. The good news is that Table Seating is coming your way soon! We're launching our first version in late Q2/early Q3 that will include custom table creation, intuitive drag-and-drop assignments, and easy exports.

While the initial release won't have a visual floor plan editor, we've already got that feature on our roadmap for version 2.0. You'll be able to create and manage all your tables directly within Givebutter, making life so much easier for your theater events. Keep the feedback coming – it helps us prioritize what matters most to you!

Jordan Patrick

marked this post as

planned

Trevar Mazza

Jordan Patrick Great to see this is planned! Our renewal for Classy Live is coming up and having this feature available by November 2025 would likely see us move over to GB for our annual Gala. Do you have an estimated completion date you can share for this feature to go live?

Cathe Huynh-Sison

Jordan Patrick Do you have a time table for when will this feature be implemented? It would be great if it happens by end of 2025 Q3!

Jordan Patrick

Hi Cathe Huynh-Sison & Trevar Mazza - The "Table Seating" featured is currently planned for Late Q2/Early Q3 2025. We're really excited to get this highly requested feature released for you both as well as the rest of the Givebutter community!

Gina Downey

Jordan Patrick Assigned seating for theaters would be a great feature. Our show is in October. Is there a workaround right now? It looks like you need to create something for every single seat?

Jordan Patrick

Hey Gina Downey! We hear you on the assigned seating for theaters – that would be super helpful! The good news is that Table Seating is coming in late Q2/early Q3, which should be perfect timing for your October show. 
It will have functionality to create seating assignments for every table (which for theater seating could be used as "Rows" with seat numbers instead of tables)! You'll be able to set up tables/rows with custom names and varying numbers of seats, and either manually assign guests (with intuitive drag-and-drop) based on the theater row they purchased as a ticket or use auto-seating to place groups together. 
We're designing this with flexibility in mind so it works for both traditional tables and theater-style arrangements, but the the initial version will be a flexible version that is built primarily for traditional table seating but can be used for theater-style seating using the workaround.  Hopefully the flexibility and the workaround mentioned above works for you though and please let me know if you have additional thoughts. Looking forward to seeing how it helps with your October show!

Gary Ploski

Yes, please. This will be a downgrade when migrating from Classy to Givebutter if it's not available this time next year for us. Hopefully it'll be released before the end of 2025.

Jordan Patrick

Thanks for your comment Gary Ploski! You're absolutely right - this WOULD be a "downgrade when migrating from Classy if it's not available". That's exactly why we've prioritized it for release by late Q2/early Q3 2025!

We're working to make sure it's not just on par with Classy, but even better with intuitive drag-and-drop seating assignments, automatic group handling, and flexible table configurations. We completely understand how critical this feature is for many of our organizations, and we appreciate your patience as we work to deliver a solution that meets all your needs before the end of 2025!

Olivia Becker

This is our second year we are trying to sell tickets to our fundraising auction that seats up to 500 people. We just cannot sell tickets on Give Butter since we don't have the capability for reserved seating without creating 500 different tickets. This year, we have to use a different platform and will also have to take our raffle tickets, donations, etc. to the other platform just so our guests can purchase all in one place. We REALLY want to use Give Butter...please get us some reserved seating options!!!

Jordan Patrick

Hi Olivia Becker, thank you for sharing your specific requirements - this is exactly the kind of feedback that helps us build better features! You're absolutely right that table/reserved seating seems to be crucial for events like yours with up to 500 people, which is why it's one of our top priorities right now.
The Table Seating feature we're launching in late Q2/early Q3 will address this need directly. You'll be able to create and manage tables with varying capacities, assign guests with drag-and-drop simplicity, and keep groups together automatically. We understand the frustration of using multiple platforms, and our goal is to create that unified experience you're looking for on Givebutter! 
Please keep the detailed use cases coming as they help ensure we're building exactly what you need :)

Karina Barreto

Table assignment would be great to have. A much needed feature for fundraising galas.

Michelle Blalock

DITTO!! I am new and have never had to do seating before. If anyone has suggestions to make it completely digital please let me know!! Mblalock@elevatetampabay.org

Jordan Patrick

Hi Michelle Blalock! Thanks for your feedback! As someone who hasn't done table seating before, you're exactly the type of user we're designing for. We want to make table assignment intuitive and stress-free, even for first-timers :)
Our upcoming Table Seating feature (launching late Q2/early Q3) will include both a simple drag-and-drop interface for manual assignments AND an auto-seating function that does the hard work for you while keeping groups together. We're also creating comprehensive help resources to guide you through the process. 
I'd love to hear any specific questions or concerns you have so we can make sure the feature addresses them!

Jason Reynolds

We came over to the GiveButter platform in part because of how simple you make auctions, but are struggling with the lack of table seating. Just doesn't work as a "ticket". Need to send individual table tickets, have them pre-reg for auction, state food allergies, and on and on. Upvote on selling tables and managing table seating/arrangements.

Jordan Patrick

Hi Jason Reynolds, first of all – thank you for choosing Givebutter! It's feedback like yours that helps us prioritize what to build next. You're absolutely right that table seating and management is a crucial piece of the puzzle for many events. Which is why I'm excited to share that we're launching our Table Seating feature in late Q2/early Q3 this year! 
It will include everything you need to create tables, assign guests, and manage seating arrangements - all within the Givebutter platform. No more juggling multiple systems or spreadsheets, and you'll easily be able to see the custom fields such as food allergies and more when assigning seats! We're designing this to be just as simple and intuitive as the rest of our platform, so you can focus on creating amazing events rather than managing seating arrangements.
Also, we're releasing a brand-new ticket checkout form in Q2 that will have the ability for ticket purchasers to be able auto-register for the auction during the ticket checkout process :)

Cheryl Warner

This issue needs to be addressed. We are having another in person event and still needed to set up seating chart manually rather than in Givebutter.

Jordan Patrick

Hi Cheryl Warner, thanks for highlighting this need! You're absolutely right – table seating is an issue that needs to be addressed for in-person events, which is why I'm happy to share that we're launching our Table Seating feature in late Q2/early Q3 this year! 
This will allow you to set up and manage seating arrangements directly within Givebutter, eliminating the need for separate platforms. The feature will include creating custom tables, assigning guests with drag-and-drop simplicity, and generating reports for your event staff. We're working hard to make sure it meets all your needs for your upcoming in-person event. 
Is there anything specific about your seating requirements we should know about?

James Talkington

Second this request Ability for admins to manage table seating and arrangements. Can possibly be linked to ticket types with maximums/minimums.

Orange Guitar

This would be great. Also not sure if it could integrate with PurplePass for this feature as well for Ticket Sales (https://www.purplepass.com/learn/assigned-seating/)? I saw Zapier connections, but some others may help, like this or EventBrite for Promoting events and table seating/arraged.

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