Using the Events Feature to Recruit, Engage, and Track Attendance

• Events in Action Builder
• Getting Started with Events
• How the Events Tool Works with Tasks
• Sections, Fields, and Responses for Events
• Setting Up Info Fields for Events
• Info Field Examples

Events in Action Builder

The Events tool in Action Builder helps organizers recruit, confirm, and track attendance for events, making it easier to engage people and support turnout. A key part of this process is how Events integrates with the Tasks tool, automatically generating tasks for recruitment, confirmation, and attendance.

Info Fields tied to RSVPs let you track important details like dietary needs, accessibility requirements, or agenda topics for specific people and events.

Users with the Organizer role or higher (Admin, Lead, and Organizer) can create events and be added as hosts. Once assigned, any host regardless of user type can edit the event.

Why Use Events?

Organizing is about building relationships and supporting participation. With Events, you can:

• Track outreach and follow-up.
• Confirm attendance and reconfirm as needed.
• See individual engagement histories to better understand who's showing up and why.

Key Features of Events

Create Events
Set up in-person or virtual events with details like date, time, location, and description.

Shifty Events
Organize multi-shift events for greater flexibility in scheduling and recruitment.

Recruit and Confirm
Assign tasks to recruit attendees, confirm participation as often as needed, and track attendance.

Custom Questions
Add questions during recruitment to gather event-specific information like dietary needs, accessibility requirements, or topics for discussion.

Event Views
View events in a list or calendar format and track RSVPs at a glance.

Individual Profiles
See an individual's event history, including their RSVPs, confirmations, and attendance.

Filter on the Wall Chart
Use event criteria to filter and segment your data visually.

Export Event Data
Download event information for analysis and reporting.

Action Network → Action Builder Events Sync
If your organization uses Action Network to collect RSVPs, you can connect the two platforms so that RSVP data syncs into Action Builder automatically. This is a one-way sync from Action Network into Action Builder only. Once a new Action Builder event is linked to an Action Network event, any new RSVPs made through Action Network will automatically appear in Action Builder as RSVPed. Keep in mind that the sync is forward-looking only. RSVPs made before the two events are linked will not carry over. Learn more about the Action Network → Action Builder Events Sync.

Current Limitations

While Events is a powerful tool, the following features are not yet available:

• Bulk Event Uploads: Uploading events in bulk is not currently supported.
• Bulk RSVP Uploads: RSVPs cannot be added in bulk to events.
• Event Sync: The Action Network → Action Builder Events Sync is one-way only. Data flows from Action Network into Action Builder. Two-way syncing, attendance syncing back to Action Network, and syncing custom fields into Action Builder event Info Fields are not yet available.
• API Access: Event data is not accessible via API at this time.

These are planned for future releases. Please keep these limitations in mind when planning your workflows.

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Getting Started with Events

To begin using the Events feature in Action Builder, you'll need to enable it at the campaign level.

1. Enable Events for Your Campaign

• Go to your Campaign Customization tab within the campaign you want to use Events.
• Look for the Enable Events option.
• Toggle Enable Events to turn on the feature for that specific campaign.

Note: Events must be enabled for each campaign individually. If you don't see the option, make sure you have admin access and are working within the correct campaign.

Set Default Task Types for Event Tasks

When enabling Events, you'll see a dropdown to set the default task type for auto-created event tasks.

Options include:

• Standard (default)
• Home Visit
• Text Bank
• Phone Bank

When event tasks are auto-created for recruitment, confirmation, and attendance, they will automatically use the selected task type. Be sure to click Save Changes.

2. Create Events

Once Events is enabled, an Events tab will appear in your campaign navigation and as an option in the dropdown user menu.

To create an event:

• Click New Event.
• Add key event information:
  • Event name
  • Date and time
  • Location for in-person events or virtual meeting link for online events
  • Description
• Fill out the required details:
  • Host: Select a host from the campaign users. By default, the logged-in user creating the event will be selected.
  • Tasks Associated with the Event: Toggle on or off the following:
    • Confirm 5 days before the event.
    • Double-confirm 2 days before the event.
    • Attendance tracking on the day of the event.

Video How-to

3. Outreach for Event Turnout

Events automatically create tasks for recruitment, confirmation, and attendance. These tasks function like any other task in Action Builder and can be managed within the Tasks tool.

Info Fields on RSVPs

Use Info Fields to collect RSVP-specific details like dietary needs or accessibility preferences tied to a specific event.

 

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How the Events Tool Works with Tasks

The Events tool integrates with the Tasks feature to help manage event-related outreach and tracking. When you create an event, certain tasks are automatically generated to support outreach and turnout.

1. Enable Tasks in the Events Tab

• Locate the task you want to activate, such as a Turnout Task, and click the circle with a plus sign icon.
• This will launch the task in the Tasks tab for further customization.

2. Types of Event-Related Tasks

• Turnout Task: Automatically created for initial outreach.
• Confirm Task: For confirming attendance.
• Double-Confirm Task: To follow up closer to the event.
• Attendance Task: Tracks attendance on the day of the event.

Each task will have a default To-Do pre-selected, tailored to the event.

 

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Sections, Fields, and Responses for Events

To effectively track and manage your events, use the Events Entity in the Info section, which is already set up and ready to use. Adding event-specific fields to this section allows you to capture relevant details while keeping your workflow organized and consistent.

By adding fields to the Events section, you can easily track outreach, RSVPs, follow-ups, and any other event-specific data.

Examples of event-specific fields and responses:

• Dietary Preferences: Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, None
• Accessibility Needs: Wheelchair Access, ASL Interpreter, Large Print Materials, None
• Shift Availability: Morning, Afternoon, Evening
• Discussion Topics: Free text or pre-set options like "Housing Policy" or "Healthcare Access"

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Setting Up Info Fields for Events

Info Fields specific to the Events entity allow you to track details unique to your events, such as dietary needs, accessibility requirements, or session preferences.

1. Go to Admin Menu > Info.
2. In the dropdown menu for entity types, scroll to the bottom and select Events.
3. Create the fields you need for your events.

If you already have fields under the People entity that are relevant to events:

1. Review these fields to identify those needed for events.
2. Recreate the necessary fields under the Events entity as described above.
3. Archive any outdated or unnecessary fields under the People entity to keep your setup organized.

Once you've set up event-specific Info Fields, you can add additional To-Dos to your tasks:

1. Open the task in the Tasks tab.
2. Under the To-Do section, add any additional items you need, such as collecting specific data points tied to your Event Info Fields.

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Info Field Examples

Standard

• Track multiple-choice or multi-select checkboxes for items related to the event.
• Example: T-shirt sizes for people who RSVP so you can bring enough of each size to the rally.
• Example: Materials needed in different languages or live translation at the event.

Number

• Track categories with numeric values, allowing you to search by range or see specific details later.
• Example: Whether people are bringing guests and, if so, how many.

• Example: Donation ranges for ticketed events, with a dollar amount for total contributions.

Date

• Useful for tracking deadlines or dates relevant to attendees.
• Example: Accommodation needs for conferences or multi-day events.

Address

• Track planned location assignments for distributed events.
• Example: Polling places for Election Day poll-watching shifts.

• Example: Picket locations for strikes.

Note

• Ideal for adding free-text details related to event attendance that may not fit regular organizing notes.
• Example: Assistance categories such as transportation (pickup location), childcare (number of kids and ages), or translation needs (language).

• Example: Dietary restrictions for events that serve food. Use standard fields for categories like "Gluten-Free" with notes for details like "severe celiac."

• Example: Free-text details about why someone can't attend or has a tentative RSVP, to improve event planning or inform follow-up.

Shift

• Useful for shifts within a single large event or as a replacement for recurring shifty events.
• Example: Categories for volunteer assignments, with shifts indicating coverage for specific roles or responsibilities.

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