The reason that Multipass was created in the first place was to provide a cohesive fusion of membership features and event ticketing. Different sets of laws apply to private clubs, usually related to alcohol serving and consumption, and Multipass was designed to provide the types of tools you’ll need to meet your requirements.
We had met with a large after-hours club in Denver who was using one platform to manage their membership, and a completely different platform to manage their ticketing. They were strict about how they sold their memberships, and who they let buy tickets. In order to minimize any legal trouble they needed to ensure that every person who came into their facility was an active paying club member, and was only able to purchase one ticket, for themselves. Their process involved daily exports from their member platform, the manual creation of single use codes in a ticketing platform, and then emailing members these links. Sometimes their data was stale and it was a pain. Hearing this pain point, the solution was obvious: a platform that could manage and control both aspects of this process.
Managing Membership
Please note that requirements vary by jurisdiction, so please do your own research before enacting your business plan.
Private clubs usually have a formal membership, and usually a paid one. This makes access to this organization unavailable to the general public. Some private clubs will not let you in on the same day that you get your membership, some will, but all of them should check to ensure that you have an active membership at the point of entry for their venue. Additionally, many private clubs will have one checkpoint for membership and another for ticket scanning. Sometimes these can be adjacent, sometimes, as a jurisdiction requirement, they might be a couple dozen feet apart.
Multipass supports the creation of different levels of membership tiers, as well as handling the recurring billing associated with them. We also give your members the option to add an additional donation amount onto their monthly charge, to allow them to support your cause even more.
Managing Events
While it’s possible for a private club to throw an event that’s open to the public, we’ll focus this article on private events. In order to stay on the right side of the law, a few things must take place.
First, the active membership of a buyer must be established. That is to say that that they must a) be a member of your group and b) a member in good standing.
Next, determine how many tickets your member can purchase. In some cases they will only be allowed to purchase one ticket, explicitly for themselves, but some jurisdictions allow for members to bring guests to club events.
Multipass has tools to enforce active membership, as well as to limit ticket counts per member. For this type of event we would recommend that tickets be marked as non-transferable, and to require that any and all guests show up at the same time as the member that’s getting them into your club.
If you are running a members-only venue that involves paid performers, it’s also possible to verify membership via your group and have ticket sales be paid out to a third party account. This helps you stay in step with the law while putting the onus on a promoter to get people through the door, with direct and real-time financial compensation. Performers and promoters don’t have to wait to get paid, and you don’t have to worry about cash flow. Note: we only support paying out to a single third-party account.
Multipass also has integrated SMS messaging. This is a great way to reach people who are already out on the town, to let them know about last minute sets, or events that can’t be advertised in advance due to a performer’s contractual obligations, usually a radius clause. Easily sent a text to your group members to let them know what just got announced, even as they are already out on the town.
At the Door
In addition to making sure that only the intended group of people can buy tickets, you also have to enforce this at the door.
Our mobile app allows you to scan someone’s account QR code, or ticket QR code, to establish their membership status. If you are in a jurisdiction where you don’t have to split the scanning for membership vs ticketing, scanning an event ticket can provide both membership status as well as ticket admission status. Jump through whatever hoops you have to, legally, and then streamline what you can.
During the membership scan, you can reference a photo that is associated with a specific account. If they don’t have a photo associated with their account, you can verify their identity via their ID, and then take and link a photo directly from the mobile app. This is another step to prevent unauthorized sharing of membership credentials.
Additionally, we understand that people lose things, including tickets. Our app lets you look people up by name to confirm membership. Your door person will need to verify that the membership name matches their ID, but we give you the tools to do so. The same applies to pulling up a misplaced event ticket.
Waivers, Electronic Signatures
Finally, some clubs require the signing of a waiver, or a terms and conditions document, prior to admission to an event.
Multipass gives you the option to capture electronic signatures (finger signature on a mobile device) and link these waivers to specific tickets. These signed waivers can be easily found later, printed, or emailed.
The Tools you Need for Private Events
Can we provide what you need to manage your private events? Absolutely, we were explicitly built for exactly that purpose. From member sign up to recurring member billing, from last minute text notifications to member ticket sales to door enforcement and reporting, Multipass can be the technology you need to bring you peace of mind, and legally comply with your local laws.