Recruiting and managing hosts
- Add hosts directly.
- Make anyone a host in one click. A group can have no host, one host, or several.
- Remove a host and their group stays together.
- Editable Host Instructions email with resend.
- Per-host Host Manager.
Feature · Table hosts
Know which tables are full before the week of
Guests choose their host when they register, hosts invite their own people, and you can see who is ahead and who needs a call.
Without it
Thirty-five hosts, and no way to tell how the room is filling
- Thirty-five hosts recruited and no idea which ones have invited anyone.
- The host who says “my table’s covered” and arrives with four people.
- Chasing hosts by text, one at a time, three weeks out, because the caterer needs a number.
- Guests who RSVP to their host instead of to you, so your list is always behind.
- No record afterward of who each host actually brought, so next year starts from memory.
In short
What is a table host, and how do you manage them?
A table host is a volunteer who invites their own friends to fill a table at a fundraising banquet or dinner. The host model is how most faith-based nonprofits fill a room, and it means the event succeeds or fails on whether hosts follow through.
In FundEasy, on events built from the Vision Dinner template, you make anyone a host in one click. A group can have no host, one host, or several. Guests choose their host from a dropdown when they register, so every registration is attributed to the person who invited them. Hosts receive a Host Instructions email you can edit and resend, and each has a Host Manager for their own guest list. Guests can invite new people directly on a Vision Dinner.
A group is a flexible way to organize your attendees, often a host and the guests they bring. Groups & Hosts arranges guests by group. Board view uses cards, and List view is a list. Drag a guest to another group and their party comes too, after a confirmation. You can add a new group, or rename or delete one from the group menu. Guests who are not in a group appear under Ungrouped. On other events this screen is called Groups. A group is placed at a table as a whole, and the Groups & Hosts report shows exactly who each host brought.
A host is a role, not a registration
On events built from the Vision Dinner template, make anyone a host in one click. A group can have no host, one host, or several. Remove a host and their group stays together.
Attribution at registration
The guest names their host on the public form, so nobody is matching names to hosts by hand the week of the event.
One group, one table
A group is placed at a table as a whole, and everyone in a party is placed at the same table. The check-in desk reads the same guest list on the night.
How it works
Recruit, equip, attribute, seat
Make anyone a host
On events built from the Vision Dinner template, make anyone a host in one click. A group can have no host, one host, or several. Remove a host and their group stays together.
Send them what they need
Edit the Host Instructions email template, send it, and resend to the hosts who need a nudge.
Let guests name their host
Turn on the Select Host Name dropdown so every registration is attributed automatically, without you matching names later.
Watch Groups & Hosts, then seat
Open Groups & Hosts to see guests by group. Use Board or List view, drag a guest to another group (their party comes along after a confirmation), and find anyone not in a group under Ungrouped. On Seating, place that whole group at a table.
Want to see it with your own host list in it? Book a demo.
The Host Dashboard
How do you track which hosts have filled their tables?
The Host Dashboard puts every host’s numbers in one view: how many hosts you have, how many guests they have invited, how many have actually registered, and how many guests have no host attached at all. Sort by who is furthest ahead or furthest behind, and the calls you need to make become obvious.
It is available on events built from the Vision Dinner template. On other events, guests are arranged on Groups & Hosts, in Board or List view, and the Groups & Hosts report still shows who each host brought.
What’s included
Everything in table hosts
Attribution
- Select Host Name dropdown on the public registration form.
- Toggle it on or off per event.
- Groups & Hosts, in Board and List views. Drag a guest to another group and their party comes along after a confirmation. Guests not in a group appear under Ungrouped.
- Guests who registered together stay grouped as a party.
Letting hosts do the work
- Guests can invite new people to register on the Vision Dinner and Peer-to-Peer templates.
- Group Host Manager with an Add Guest option.
- Host Portal for hosts to manage their own registrations and invitations.
Visibility
- Host Dashboard with invited and registered counts per host, on events built from the Vision Dinner template.
- The Groups & Hosts report lists every group with host name, table, phone, email, and total guests.
Seating
- Choose a table shape, the number of tables, and seats per table. You can edit them later.
- Groups are placed at a table as a whole. Everyone in a party is placed at the same table.
- Joining a group places the guest at its table if there is room, and leaving removes them. Cancelled and declined guests are not placed at a table.
- Editing a table never removes anyone. A table must be empty before it can be deleted.
- Table colors show Empty, Seats open, Full, and Over capacity.
Most event software has no concept of a host
On a general event platform a guest is a registration, and that is the whole model. Everything the host model depends on, attributing a registration to the person who invited them, making a host in one click, seeing where each host stands, placing a group at a table as a whole, ends up in a spreadsheet next to whatever tool you bought.
FundEasy was built for the way faith-based organizations actually fill a room, so the host is a first-class part of the event rather than something you track alongside it.
See how host lists work
Thirty minutes. Tell us about the dinner you are planning, and we’ll walk you through hosts, attribution, and seating.
Related features
More features
Questions
Host questions
Answered the way we answer them on a demo call.
What is a table host?
A table host is a volunteer who invites their own friends to fill a table at a fundraising banquet or dinner. It's how most faith-based nonprofits fill a room, so the event succeeds or fails on whether hosts follow through. On events built from the Vision Dinner template, FundEasy tracks each host's guests from registration to Seating to the Groups & Hosts report. That lets you see which hosts need a nudge before the night, not after.
How do guests get attributed to a host?
Through the Select Host Name dropdown on the registration form, on events built from the Vision Dinner template. The guest picks the person who invited them, and the registration is attributed to that host from then on. Guests then show by group on Groups & Hosts, on Seating, and in the Groups & Hosts report. Guests who don't pick a host stay visible under Ungrouped, so no one falls through.
Can a host invite people themselves?
Yes, on events built from the Vision Dinner template. Guests, including hosts, can invite new people to register, so a host works their own list without going through your office. Hosts also get a Host Instructions email you can edit, preview, and resend. Each guest they bring in is attributed to them when the guest picks their name at registration.
What if a host drops out?
Remove them as host. Their guests stay registered and the group stays together, so you can make someone else a host. A group can have no host, one host, or several. Nothing about the guests' registrations changes. This is on events built from the Vision Dinner template.
Can I see how each host is doing?
Yes. On events built from the Vision Dinner template, the Host Dashboard shows every host's invited and registered counts in one view. Groups & Hosts shows guests by group in Board or List view, and the Groups & Hosts report shows which groups are filling.
What is the difference between a table host and a sponsor?
A host fills a table by inviting guests. A sponsor underwrites the event financially and appears on the public page with a tier. Both can exist at the same event. Sponsorship lives on Events & Attendance.
Can a host’s guests be seated together?
Yes. On Seating, a group is placed at a table as a whole, and everyone in a party is placed at the same table. Joining a group places the guest at its table if there is room, and leaving removes them. Cancelled and declined guests are not placed at a table. Editing a table never removes anyone, and a table must be empty before it can be deleted. Table colors show Empty, Seats open, Full, and Over capacity. Save the layout and print it for the venue.