A charity event website that sells tickets and explains the cause

Fit: good for the event, partial for fundraising

Be clear about this before you start. Anticode builds the event page well: the details, the cause, sponsors, ticket and donation buttons, enquiry forms. What it doesn't have are the fundraising-specific features: a thermometer that rises as money comes in, a donor wall that updates itself, online auction bidding, or tax-relief declarations (such as Gift Aid in the UK) collected at checkout. If those are central, run the giving on a dedicated fundraising platform and use the Anticode site for the event itself, linking across.

The event block

• Date, doors, dinner and finish times
• Venue with address, parking and step-free access
• Dress code in plain words ("black tie optional")
• What the ticket includes: dinner, drinks reception, entertainment
• Table bookings for companies, and how to arrange one
• Programme highlights: the speaker, the band, the auction or raffle

The cause, in concrete terms

Guests buy a ticket for the evening and give for the cause. Make the cause specific: what the money will pay for this year, in amounts people can picture ("every table of ten pays for a term of after-school club for one child"), and one short story told with permission. Name the charity, its registration number if it has one, and link to its own site. Avoid statistics you can't source, and leave out stock imagery: one real photo from the charity's work is worth more.

Tickets and donations through payment links

Anticode sites take payment through payment links from a provider you or the charity already use: Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop. Payments aren't taken on the page itself, and there's one payment link per account, so every ticket and donate button opens the same checkout. Make that link a page at your provider that lists the options.

Tickets

Single, table of ten and concession as separate options in that one checkout or product list. Check whether your provider can cap quantity to match the venue.

Donations

A donation option where the donor chooses the amount, if your provider supports it, plus suggested amounts in the text. If the charity has its own giving page, the donate text can link there directly. The donation page guide covers wording.

Sponsorship

Usually an enquiry form and an invoice rather than a checkout.

Check how your provider handles charitable payments and what it charges. If the charity has its own giving page with a platform that reclaims tax relief, link the donate button there instead.

Sponsors and supporters

Sponsors want to be seen, and they'll ask what they get. Publish tiers with what each includes (a table, logo on the page and the menu, a mention in the speeches) and list sponsors only once they've confirmed. The contact form (name, email and message) handles sponsorship and table enquiries; each one is saved in your dashboard, and a connector can post it to Slack or add it to HubSpot so the committee follows up.

Auctions and raffles

You can list auction lots on the page, with photos and a description of each, so guests arrive excited about them. The bidding happens on the night on paper or through an auction platform. Raffles have legal rules in many places; check what applies to you before selling tickets online.

Building it

Describe it: "a website for a charity gala dinner for a children's hospice, 21 March at the Grand Hotel, with tickets, tables, donations, sponsors and auction lots". Luxury (Jost) suits a gala; Editorial (Geist) suits most charity dinners; Playful (Fredoka) suits a family fun day. Publish on an anticode.dev address or connect the charity's domain on a paid plan. For the charity's main site rather than one event, see the nonprofit websites guide.

What's missing, plainly

• No live fundraising total or progress bar. Pages run no scripts and don't read your provider's figures; update a total by hand if you show one.
• No online auction or bidding.
• No tax-relief declarations collected with donations.
• No seating plan or guest list management. Use your provider's buyer list and a spreadsheet.

Questions people ask

Does Anticode take a share of donations?

No. Money goes through your own payment provider, which charges its own fees. See /pricing for Anticode's plans.

Can we show the total raised on the night?

Only by updating the number yourself in the visual editor; there's no live counter.

Can volunteers sign up through the site?

Yes, through the contact form, or a separate volunteer page with its own form.