Overview
Team & Permissions
Control who sees what across your events. Add team members with full access, limit External Collaborators to specific events, and give partners read-only views without logins.
How Permissions Work
Section titled “How Permissions Work”Most event platforms have two modes: everyone sees everything, or you’re locked out entirely. Neither works when you’re co-hosting a dinner with another firm. Or working with a design agency on templates. Or sharing seating charts with catering.
Different people need different levels of access to different events. That’s the reality.
Gatsby has three permission tiers. Each controls what team members can see and edit across your workspace. The right choice depends on how much trust you need to extend and how much visibility they require.
Admin
Full access to everything. All events, all contacts, all settings.
No access requests needed. If it exists, an Admin can see it.
What Admins can do:
- Add and remove team members
- Configure security settings, email permissions, and integrations
- Access any event or contact without requesting permission
- Manage workspace-level settings
Best for: Event leads, ops managers, platform owners.
Team Member
Can see all events exist but must request access to edit.
Full access to the contact database. Can create new events.
What Team Members can do:
- View all events in the workspace
- Request access to edit specific events
- Access the full contact database
- Create new events and lists
Best for: Regional teams, marketing coordinators, EAs who work across multiple events.
External Collaborator
Only sees events they’re specifically assigned to.
Cannot see your contact database. Cannot see other events. Doesn’t even know they exist.
What External Collaborators can do:
- View and edit their assigned events
- Upload their own contacts to those events
- Work on landing pages, campaigns, and seating charts
What External Collaborators cannot do:
- See your contact database
- View other events in your workspace
- Create new events
- Remove guests from guest lists
Best for: Co-hosts, vendors, design agencies, partners.
What External Collaborators Can Do
Section titled “What External Collaborators Can Do”External Collaborators have event-level access without workspace visibility. They work inside the events you assign them to.
Capabilities Within Assigned Events
Within their assigned events, External Collaborators can:
- View and filter the guest list
- Upload their own contacts to the event
- Edit landing page designs and templates
- Create and send email campaigns (as themselves only)
- Work on seating charts
- Connect their own email account for sending
Restrictions
External Collaborators cannot:
- See or access your contact database
- View other events in your workspace
- Remove guests from the guest list
- Send emails as other team members
- View full contact profiles (engagement history, notes, tags)
- Create new events or lists
Important Note on Data Security
External Collaborators can send emails to everyone in the event. There’s no way to fully prevent email addresses from being captured if someone wanted to exfiltrate them.
This role requires a baseline of trust.
For partners where email exposure is a concern, use read-only guest list views instead. No login required. Emails can be hidden.
Common Workflows
Section titled “Common Workflows”External Collaborators fit several common scenarios.
Co-hosted Events with Partner Firms
Invite your co-host’s event lead as an External Collaborator. They upload their contacts, see the combined guest list, and help manage registration.
Your other events and contacts remain invisible to them.
Design Agencies Working on Templates
Create a sandbox event with no real contacts. Add your designer as an External Collaborator.
They build landing pages and email templates directly in Gatsby without accessing your production events or sensitive data.
Chapter Leads in Membership Organizations
Each regional chapter lead gets External Collaborator access to their city’s events. They manage their local community without seeing national membership data or other chapters’ events.
HQ admins maintain full visibility.
Partner Contact Uploads via Parent-Child Events
Create a child event under your main event. Add your partner as an External Collaborator on the child only.
They upload their contacts there. Those contacts automatically sync to the parent event.
The partner never sees your full guest list or other children.
When Not to Add Someone to Gatsby
Section titled “When Not to Add Someone to Gatsby”Not everyone needs a Gatsby login. Your managing partner wants to see who’s coming to the dinner. Your caterer needs the dietary restrictions list. Your CFO wants to approve the guest list before invitations go out.
None of them should be editing your event configuration.
Guest list views give read-only access via a shared link. No login. No password. No risk of accidental changes.
Views can show or hide specific columns. You can disable email addresses entirely. Give the caterer names and dietary needs, nothing more. You can enable CSV export if they need to pull the data. They always see the current state of the list, live.
This is the right choice for:
- Executives who want oversight without involvement
- Vendors who need specific data (catering, A/V, printing)
- Partners where you can’t grant full External Collaborator trust
- Anyone who just needs to see, not edit
Setting Up a Guest List View for External Sharing
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Open your event’s guest list.
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Configure a view with the columns you want visible (hide emails if needed).
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Click Share and copy the public link.
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Send the link to whoever needs access.
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They see current data, updated in real time, no login required.
Adding Team Members
Section titled “Adding Team Members”Add team members and External Collaborators from the Team Members page in your account settings.
Adding a New Team Member
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Navigate to Team Members from your main dashboard.
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Click Add Member.
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Enter their email address and name.
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Choose their permission level:
Team Member for internal staff who need broad access.
External Collaborator for partners, vendors, or co-hosts.
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They’ll receive an email invitation to join your workspace.
Promoting to Admin
Only Admins can promote Team Members to Admin level.
From the Team Members page, find the person and use the dropdown under Team Permissions to change their role.
Adding External Collaborators to Specific Events
You can also add External Collaborators directly from an event.
Open the event, click the three-dot menu or the + button, and select Add Collaborators.
This adds them to your workspace as an External Collaborator with access to that event.
Email Sending Permissions
Section titled “Email Sending Permissions”By default, team members can send campaigns from any connected email account. For teams that need tighter control, Gatsby offers strict sending permissions.
How Sending Permissions Work
When enabled, only Admins can grant “send as” permissions.
- Team Members can only send from addresses they’ve been explicitly granted access to
- External Collaborators can only send as themselves (their own connected account)
Use case: The Partner’s EA can send dinner invitations from the Partner’s address while other team members cannot.
Enabling Strict Sending Controls
Contact Gatsby support via Slack or email.
This feature is enabled at the account level and gives Admins control over which team members can send from which addresses.
Common Questions
Section titled “Common Questions” Team Members vs External Collaborators?
Team Members
- See all events and lists (must request access)
- Access contact database
- Create new events
- Your actual employees
External Collaborators
- Only see assigned events
- Can’t access contacts
- Can’t create events
- Can’t remove guests
- Can only send campaigns as themselves
- Limited to what you share
- Vendors, contractors, partners
Can External Collaborators send emails?
Yes. They can send campaigns from their own connected email account to guests in their assigned events.
They cannot send as other team members.
How do I give someone view-only access?
Use guest list views instead of adding them as a team member.
Configure a view with the columns you want visible, click Share, and send them the link. No login needed.
Can I hide email addresses from External Collaborators?
Not fully. External Collaborators can see and email guests within their events.
If you need to share guest data without exposing emails, use a guest list view with the email column hidden.
How should small teams set up permissions?
Small, trusted teams often make everyone an Admin. No access requests. Everyone can work on any event.
As teams grow or need more control, add Team Members who request access, and External Collaborators for outside partners.
Can I control who sends from which email address?
Yes. Contact support to enable strict sending permissions.
Once enabled, Admins control which team members can send from which connected email accounts.