Allow non-members to RSVP to events

Last updated: August, 2026

You can let people RSVP to your events and attend them without requiring them to join your community first. In this article, you’ll learn how public RSVP works, what event types are supported, and what to expect when non-members register and join.

Public RSVP lets you remove friction. Instead of asking people to commit to membership upfront, you give them a low-risk way to experience your community first.

This can help you:

• Increase event attendance and reach audiences beyond your existing member base.

• Capture new leads through event registration.

• Turn event attendees into future members.

• You can enable public RSVP for free events.

• Non-members RSVP by providing their name and email address. They can also choose their preference for receiving marketing emails.

• They receive a confirmation email with a unique link to access the event details page.

• If the event uses a Circle live room or live stream location, non-members can join the session from the event page via their confirmation email.

They do not need to create an account or log in to attend.

Public RSVP is available for single and recurring events with free registration. It does not work for paid events.

You can enable it for events hosted in spaces with any access level, including Private or Secret spaces.

• Only admins can enable public RSVP: Only community admins can turn on the event setting that allows non-members to RSVP. If a member creates an event, an admin must edit the event and enable the setting.

• Works in any space type: You can host an event with public RSVP enabled from the event space with any type of access, including private and secret.

• Guests do not get community access: Non-member guests who RSVP to the event cannot access the community as members. They also do not receive access to the event space. However, please note that if your community is public, they can only see spaces that are visible to non-members.

• Web access only: Guests can access event details and RSVP for public events only via web browsers. This experience is not supported inside the desktop and mobile apps, as it requires signing in.

• Live session limits still apply: If a non-member joins the live event they RSVPed to, they count toward Circle live feature limits.

When someone RSVPs as a non-member:

• They are added to your community CRM as community leads.

• Their details appear in the Manage audience page alongside members and other contacts.

• You can edit their profile, add custom profile field data, invite them to join as members, unsubscribe them from marketing emails, or delete them.

If they choose to subscribe to marketing emails during RSVP, they become contacts. You can nurture them through broadcasts and workflows, and later invite them to join your community.

The public RSVP feature is available on all plans. However, whether a non-member RSVP affects your Email Hub billing depends on two things:

• Whether Email Hub is enabled in your community.

• Whether the guest chooses to subscribe to marketing emails.

If Email Hub is enabled

• If they choose to subscribe to marketing email, they are considered a contact and will count toward your Email Hub contact billing.

• If they choose not to subscribe, their record is still created in your CRM as a community lead, but they will not count toward your Email Hub billing.

If Email Hub is disabled

• When a non-member RSVPs, their record is still created, and their marketing email preference (subscribed or not) is saved.

• No Email Hub billing is triggered at this time. You will not be able to send them marketing emails while Email Hub is disabled.

If you enable Email Hub later:

• All existing contacts who previously opted in to receive marketing emails will automatically count toward your Email Hub billing at that time.

After non-members RSVP, you can view their details in several places:

• Manage audience page: In your community CRM (Manage audience page), non-members appear along with members and contacts.

• Event attendee list: You can view their name and email in the event attendee list through the People tab in the event setup.

• Live attendee list: If they join the event with Circle live room or live stream location, they also appear in the attendee list for the event session in the live dashboard.

When you export the event or live attendee list, non-members who RSVP will be included in the list.

You can enable or disable the public RSVP setting for each event individually. This gives you full control over which events should allow public RSVPs and which should remain members-only.

To do so, follow these steps:

1. Create an event draft first and set it to free registration.

2. Open the event setup by editing the event draft. You can also edit an existing event you have already published.

3. Go to the Advanced tab in event setup.

4. Turn on the Allow non-members to RSVP toggle in the Attendees section.

   • ℹ️ Note: When you turn on this toggle, email confirmation notifications will be enabled automatically, as they are required to send a confirmation email to non-members who RSVPed.

5. Save changes.

You can share the event with your non-member audience using the Share feature.

To do so:

1. Make sure the event is published.

2. In the event space, locate the event and open its details page.

3. Click Share next to the event title to copy the event share link.

You can share this link via your website, social media, and newsletters to bring a new audience.

When a non-member opens your public event link:

1. They are taken to the event details page, where they can review the event information.

2. When they click RSVP, they need to:

   1. Provide their name and email address.

   2. Choose whether to subscribe to marketing emails from your community.

      1. ℹ️ Note: The marketing email option always reflects their most recent choice. If they previously subscribed during a past RSVP and later choose not to subscribe when RSVP to a new event, they will be unsubscribed. If they previously did not subscribe and later opt in, they will be subscribed.

3. After clicking RSVP as a guest, they will receive a confirmation email with the calendar invite.

To access the event later, they can click the View event button in the confirmation email.

This button contains a unique link that allows them to access the event details page in their RSVP’d state.

From there, they can:

• Change their RSVP preference. For example, from Going to Not going.

• Use Add to calendar to download a calendar invite.

• Resend the confirmation email.

If the event includes a Circle live room or live stream location, non-members can join directly from the event details page they access through their confirmation email.

When a non-member joins a live session after RSVPing as a guest, they enter the session with a participant role.

Here’s what they can do:

• Audio and video: In a live room, guests can join with audio and video, like other participants.

• Raise hands: Guests can raise their hands.

• Q&A: Ask questions, reply to others, and upvote questions.

• Spotlight: View questions or chat messages that are spotlighted by the host or moderators.

• Moderation: If assigned as a moderator by the host, guests can help moderate the session.

• Co-hosting: In a live stream, the host can promote a guest to co-host during the session. As a co-host, they can join on screen and participate with audio and video.

• Chat: Guests can read, react and respond to chat messages from members, hosts, and moderators. Your name and avatar appear alongside your messages, so hosts and other participants can see who you are.