Do I get told when someone RSVPs?

Yes — an email naming the event, who signed up and how many guests they are bringing. That is separate from the alerts for contact messages, yard-sign requests and precinct sign-ups.

Do RSVPs go into my supporter list?

Yes. Anyone who RSVPs is added to your Supporters page and marked as having come from an RSVP, so the person who came to a house party in June is findable in September.

What is the difference between the RSVP count and the guest count?

The RSVP count is how many people signed up; the guest count includes the people they are bringing. Order food against the second one.

Events and RSVPs

Q: Can someone cancel an RSVP?

Yes, from the confirmation they received. A headcount that only ever goes up is not a headcount.

Q: How do I get the guest list for the door?

Export CSV on the Events page gives you every RSVP with first name, last name, email, phone, guest count and the time they signed up.

Putting an event on your site

Give it a title, a date and time, and a location. It shows up in the Events block on your site with the time and place formatted for you, and the address becomes a link that opens directions — the thing every attendee wants and almost no campaign site provides.

Events that happen on a schedule can be marked as recurring, so a weekly canvass launch is one entry rather than twelve.

RSVPs

RSVPs are per-event, so you can turn them on for a house party and leave them off for "the parade, come along". When they're on, supporters give their name, email and phone, and say how many people they're bringing.

Three things happen when someone RSVPs:

You get an email, naming the event, who signed up and how many guests.
They're added to your supporter list, marked as having come from an RSVP — so the person who came to a house party in June is findable in September.
The count updates on your Events page, showing both how many people RSVP'd and how many are actually coming once guests are counted. Those are different numbers and the second one is the one to order food against.

Plans change, and Electbase lets people say so

An attendee can cancel their own RSVP from the confirmation they received. A headcount that only ever goes up is not a headcount.

Getting the list out

Export CSV on the Events page gives you every RSVP with first name, last name, email, phone, guest count and the time they signed up. That's the file you take to a check-in table, or hand to whoever is doing reminder calls.

What's protected

The public RSVP form has the same protections as the rest of your site's forms — rate limiting per visitor and a hidden field that catches automated submissions — so a spike in RSVPs is a real spike rather than a bot.

Where this connects

Everyone who RSVPs lands on your Supporters page alongside people who signed up or contacted you. See asking your own questions on your forms if you want to collect something specific.
RSVP emails are separate from the alerts for contact messages, yard-sign requests and precinct sign-ups. Those are covered in hearing about requests as they come in.

An event with no RSVP is still worth adding

The Events block is one of the few parts of a campaign site that gives a repeat visitor a reason to come back, and it is the page volunteers screenshot and send to each other.