--- title: "Use Freefund to reduce no-shows at free and RSVP events | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Keep entry free for people who show up while refundable deposits give attendees a reason to attend." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/reduce-no-shows-at-free-rsvp-events" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Use Freefund to reduce no-shows at free and RSVP events Setting up an event # Use Freefund to reduce no-shows at free and RSVP events If you organize free or RSVP events, some of the people who click Attend will not turn up, and your staffing, stock and sponsors depend on the number who do. Freefund asks each attendee for a refundable deposit and starts their refund when they check in at the door, so everyone who turns up pays nothing and fewer people RSVP without meaning to come. Keep entry free for people who show up while refundable deposits give attendees a reason to attend. For: Planning attendance, staffing, stock and sponsor expectations for a free event Takes: 8 minutes - [Choose the Freefund RSVP template](#step-1) - [Turn on Freefund for all admission tickets](#step-2) - [Turn on Freefund for one ticket type instead](#step-3) - [Enter the deposit](#step-4) - [Explain it on the event page](#step-5) - [Choose the check-in cutoff](#step-6) - [Confirm that unscanned tickets are charged](#step-7) - [Deposits released at the door](#step-8) - [Check or change the rule later](#step-9) ## Before you start - You have an owner or admin role for the event. Freefund is available on every plan. - Your event has a start time and end time. - You have chosen a deposit large enough to put off people who RSVP without meaning to come. 1. ## Choose the Freefund RSVP template When you create a new event, choose the **Freefund RSVP** template. It adds the Freefund setting for all admission tickets and a refundable-deposit ticket type. **Note:** For an existing event, open **Tickets** and use the same settings. The template leaves the confirmation beside the Freefund setting for you to tick. ![Ticket Fairy event template gallery with the Freefund RSVP template first](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-freefund--template-gallery-scene.png) Create event, template gallery. 2. ## Turn on Freefund for all admission tickets In **Tickets**, turn on **Make every admission ticket free when the attendee checks in**. All admission ticket prices then work as refundable deposits. **Note:** The event-wide rule applies to all admission ticket types and takes priority over individual ticket settings. Table types keep their existing payment settings. ![Ticket Fairy Freefund event setting with its check-in cutoff and confirmation together](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-freefund--event-settings.png) Tickets, Freefund. 3. ## Turn on Freefund for one ticket type instead Optional: For one admission ticket type, turn on **Make this ticket free when the attendee checks in** in that ticket editor instead. ![Ticket Fairy ticket editor with a refundable deposit and Freefund enabled](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-freefund--ticket-editor.png) Tickets, ticket editor. 4. ## Enter the deposit Enter the ticket price as the deposit amount. **Note:** The deposit must be greater than zero. An order close to the event may use one card hold for all its Freefund deposits, and each ticket is still judged on its own check-in. 5. ## Explain it on the event page Describe the tickets on your event page as free entry for attendees who check in, backed by a refundable deposit. 6. ## Choose the check-in cutoff Choose **Throughout the event**, a relative option such as **2 hours after the event starts**, **4 hours before the event ends**, or a specific time. A cutoff you choose has to fall between the event start and end times. **Note:** A ticket scanned after the cutoff still lets the attendee in, but its deposit is not returned. If you shorten the event and the current cutoff no longer fits, it stays visible so you can choose a new one. 7. ## Confirm that unscanned tickets are charged For the event-wide rule, turn on **I confirm that tickets not scanned in time are charged**, then save. The ticket editor shows the same confirmation for that ticket type. **Note:** Ticket Fairy records who confirmed the rule, when, and the refund timing; a ticket-level rule also records its deposit. You confirm again when you change where Freefund applies or change the cutoff. ## Deposits released at the door Door staff scan each ticket as its attendee arrives. Ticket Fairy tells an eligible attendee straight away that the deposit is on its way back to their card. If three tickets from an order of five are scanned by the cutoff, those three deposits are returned and the other two are charged. If every ticket covered by a card hold is scanned in time, Ticket Fairy releases the full hold; otherwise, it charges only the deposits for tickets that were not scanned in time. **Note:** The card issuer can take several days to update a released hold or show an issued refund. 8. ## Check or change the rule later Open **Tickets** again to check, change or turn off Freefund. **Note:** Each purchase keeps the Freefund terms agreed at checkout, so a saved change applies to later purchases and does not change existing orders. Confirm again after you change where Freefund applies or change the cutoff. ## Try these steps on your own event Create a free account, build your event and follow the steps above in your own dashboard. It takes a few minutes and you do not need to book a sales call. Your email address [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## Or have it done for you Fai can turn Freefund on for all admission tickets or one admission ticket type, set a relative or specific cutoff and show exactly what is charged before asking you to approve it. The approval records your confirmation. ### In your dashboard, with Fai Set up Freefund for my event. Ask if it should cover all admission tickets or one admission ticket type, what deposit to use and when check-in stops earning it back ## Let Fai do it for you Fai works inside your Ticket Fairy dashboard. Create your account, open Fai and paste the prompt above. [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## Questions you might have Does Ticket Fairy charge every deposit at checkout?: When a card hold can stay in place until the event ends, Ticket Fairy holds one amount for the order and later charges only the deposit amounts for tickets not scanned by the cutoff. Otherwise, Ticket Fairy charges the card at checkout and issues each eligible ticket refund when staff scan it. What happens when every ticket in the order is scanned?: Ticket Fairy releases the full card hold. If the card was charged at checkout, Ticket Fairy refunds every eligible scanned ticket in full. When is a deposit kept or collected?: For an order with a card hold, Ticket Fairy charges only the deposit amounts for tickets not scanned by the cutoff after the event ends. When the card was charged at checkout, the payment stays charged and Ticket Fairy refunds each eligible scanned ticket. ## Still have a question? Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/ticket-types-and-pricing/free-and-online-events) - [Run ticketing for a nightclub](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-nightclub) - [Approve orders before buyers receive tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/approve-orders-before-buyers-receive-tickets) - [Create a reusable event template](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/create-a-reusable-event-template) - [Run ticketing for events at your bar or small venue](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-bar-or-small-venue) - [Run an A/B test for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-an-ab-test-for-your-event) - [Make your event invitation-only](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/make-an-event-invitation-only) - [Password-protect your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/password-protect-your-event) - [Sell tickets by personal invitation](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-tickets-by-personal-invitation) - [Unlock hidden tickets with an access code](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/unlock-hidden-tickets-with-an-access-code) - [Schedule when your event goes live](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-when-your-event-goes-live) - [Postpone or reschedule an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event) - [Cancel an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/cancel-an-event) - [Take pre-registrations before your ticket on-sale](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/take-pre-registrations-before-your-on-sale) - [Set up ticketing for a multi-day festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-multi-day-festival) - [Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets) - [Group your tickets into categories](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/group-your-tickets-into-categories) - [Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-entry-passes-to-your-crew) - [Create an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/create-an-event) - [Set up ticket types](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-up-ticket-types) - [Limit who can buy a ticket type](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/limit-who-can-buy-tickets) - [Sell tickets only to your NFT holders](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-tickets-only-to-your-nft-holders) - [Add your flyer and description to your event page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/design-your-event-page) - [Answer your buyers' questions on the event page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/add-faqs-to-your-event-page) - [Choose who Ticket Fairy support contacts about your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/choose-who-ticket-fairy-support-contacts-about-your-event) - [Sell timed-entry tickets for an attraction, exhibition or food event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-timed-entry-tickets) - [Duplicate an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/duplicate-an-event) - [Run a recurring event series](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-recurring-event-series) - [Sell VIP tables and bottle service through your promoters](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-vip-tables-and-bottle-service) - [Hold back tickets for later](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hold-back-ticket-stock) - [Schedule ticket releases](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-ticket-sale-windows-and-release-tiers) - [Start from the freefund rsvp template](https://www.ticketfairy.com/templates/free-rsvp-refundable-deposit-template) - [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) ## Do this on your own event Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call. [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) ## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy Everything in these guides is in your dashboard from the day you sign up. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your co-pilot, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## See it on a call Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/ticket-types-and-pricing/free-and-online-events) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime. --- This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) ยท [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)