For leaders of in-person communities, creating a reliable way to keep track of attendance can be a game-changer—not only for staying organized but also for strengthening community and finding potential sponsorships.

Just ask Midnight Runners SF, the high-energy running and fitness group that’s part of a large global organization. When the leaders of the San Francisco chapter decided to focus on getting more members to check in on Heylo at events, the whole group benefited.

Here’s how:

The benefits of in-person event check-ins on Heylo

Better event planning

Check-ins help leaders plan and create capacity limits for events. For example, Midnight Runners SF adjusts attendance limits based on their history of no-shows, so they can maximize participation.

That way they can maximize attendance for happier members who can be a part of more events. Ultimately, that kind of accessibility leads to increased attendance.

Accurate reporting for stronger sponsorship opportunities

With accurate attendance data, Midnight Runners SF doesn’t have to rely on estimates or guesswork when approaching new sponsors.

“We want to be able to give accurate numbers, if we’re making claims about how many people we have,” said Quentin Wolfe, captain at MRSF. “Other than just, you know, flashing them a picture that shows ‘this is what our group looks like.’”

Ultimately, sponsorship helps MRSF keep their events free for members.

“We keep telling people we want to keep this free,” he explained. “We want to keep having big events that are little to no cost to use like the more you check in the better, more accurate numbers we can report, and that ultimately, goes back to the community.”

How to help members build the Heylo event check-in habit

Offer incentives

Midnight Runners SF offers incentives to encourage regular check-ins. Members receive rewards after reaching specific attendance milestones on Heylo—like free t-shirts at 10 and 20 check-ins.

While many members start strong to earn these rewards, keeping up momentum can be challenging. The Midnight Runners team has taken this opportunity to engage further by exploring ways to reward members who hit higher numbers, especially 100 check-ins.

Celebrate milestones

Before each event, take a moment to give in-person shout-outs to all the members who just hit attendance milestones on Heylo. It’s a way to encourage future check-ins!

The event chat on Heylo is another great place to celebrate the leaderboard.

Frequent, friendly reminders

The Midnight Runners SF team knows from experience that reminders are key to building habits. At every one of their events, they make check-ins a regular part of the experience with reminders at three different points:

• Arrival: Leaders greet members at the entrance of the bar where they meet and encourage them to check in. If someone is new, they guide them through the process on Heylo so they know how to do it themselves next time.
• Pre-event warm-up: Just before the event begins, leaders remind everyone again to check in while waiting for things to kick off.
• Cool down and wrap-up: As the event wraps up, leaders give one final reminder to check-in, emphasizing the benefits it brings to the community as a whole.

“We've had a higher percentage of check in to RSVP attendance, since we started pushing the message more and more and really drilling it in,” Quentin said.

Clearly explain the big-picture benefits

For Midnight Runners SF, check-ins aren’t just about attendance—they’re about sustaining the group and keeping events free for everyone.

With this in mind, leaders regularly explain to members that each check-in brings value to the group by allowing them to report accurate numbers to sponsors, who ultimately help keep costs low or free.

Leaders have found that this message resonates, especially with longtime members who understand that by checking in, they’re giving back to the community that has given them so much.

Lessons for other community group leaders

By encouraging your members to more reliably check in on Heylo, you can create a reliable, data-driven foundation for your group. That opens the door to better planning, community engagement, and sponsorship opportunities.

Whether you’re a small club or a large organization, building a culture of check-ins could be the next step to growing a more engaged and resilient community.

Join us for a free deep dive on check-ins!

Join Eric Winters, Heylo CEO and co-founder, and Brandon Desjarlais, leader of Vibe Ride LA, to chat about how Brandon sparked member engagement on Heylo with check-ins. We'll chat about his best practices and how he drove engagement with a few simple tips. This session will be a recorded webinar style with live Q&A - please come with questions! Sign up here.