Understand the Reported Issue
Eventbrite changed its checkout process so that payment is taken before attendee details and custom questions are completed.
Previously, all buyer, attendee, and custom question data was sent to Donorfy at the point of payment. Under the new process, this information is collected after payment, meaning it was no longer available to Donorfy when the original webhook fired.
As a result, Donorfy initially received incomplete data for attendees and consent responses.
Eventbrite describes this change as part of their “better checkout experience" and has explained the changes to their process here: https://www.eventbrite.com/l/order-forms-post-checkout/
Identify the Impact on Donorfy Data
Due to the timing of data collection in Eventbrite, the following issues were observed in Donorfy:
Attendee details were missing at the time records were created.
Some attendees appeared as Info Requested constituents.
Communication consent responses collected via custom questions were not returned to Donorfy.
Consent information can be reviewed in Eventbrite under Reporting, then Custom Question Responses, and manually updated in Donorfy if required.
Review the Investigation Findings
Donorfy completed a detailed analysis of Eventbrite’s new checkout process and how it affected the integration.
Eventbrite now sends order data before attendee details exist.
Attendee and custom question data must be retrieved after the initial order event.
The existing integration design could not reliably capture this delayed information.
This analysis confirmed that changes to the integration were required.
Understand the Remedial Work Completed
Development work was prioritised to adapt the integration to Eventbrite’s new process.
Stage 1 – Immediate Handling of Missing Attendee Data
When attendee details are not available at the time of entry:
A new constituent is created in Donorfy using a placeholder naming convention.
The naming format is:
First Name: EventbriteAttendee{Eventbrite Attendee ID}
Last Name: EventbriteEvent{Eventbrite Event ID}
This ensures all tickets and add-ons are recorded without blocking data flow.
Stage 2 – Polling for Updated Attendee Details
Stage 2 introduces a scheduled process that:
Polls Eventbrite for updated attendee details.
Matches attendees to existing placeholder constituents.
Updates names, contact details, and other available information in Donorfy.
Development for Stage 2 continued beyond Stage 1 release to ensure reliability and performance.
Understand the Impact of Ticket Add-ons
During testing, it was identified that Eventbrite treats ticket add-ons as attendees.
This can result in a large increase in constituent numbers. For example:
One buyer registers 6 people.
They also purchase 6 t-shirts and 6 water bottles.
This creates:
1 buyer constituent.
6 ticket attendee constituents.
6 t-shirt attendee constituents.
6 water bottle attendee constituents.
Total: 19 constituents.
This can significantly increase constituent counts for organisations that use add-ons heavily.
Exclude Non-Attendance Add-ons
To prevent unnecessary constituents being created, Donorfy provides a campaign-level setting.
Open the relevant Campaign in Donorfy.
Click the Eventbrite tab.
Use Exclude attendees holding these ticket types.
Add non-attendance items such as merchandise or add-ons.
Excluded items are still recorded financially but do not create attendee constituents.
Review the Resolution Timeline
Key milestones for this work include:
13/06/2024 – Email sent to customers using Eventbrite integration.
17/06/2024 – Investigation of better checkout changes completed.
21/06/2024 – Stage 1 development passed to testing.
26/06/2024 – Acceptance testing completed and passed to QA.
02/07/2024 – QA testing completed for Stage 1.
31/07/2024 – Stage 2 development ongoing.
August–September 2024 – Code review and further testing.
24/09/2024 – Eventbrite integration updates released.
What You Need to Do Next
To ensure your integration works correctly with Eventbrite’s better checkout experience:
Review the updated Eventbrite integration configuration.
Update or replace existing webhooks as instructed in the related setup article.
Configure ticket type exclusions for non-attendance add-ons.
These changes apply only to new Eventbrite orders.