Overview
Affinity Integration
Sync RSVP and attendance data to Affinity CRM automatically. Build guest lists from Affinity contacts and push event participation back without manual data entry.
Why This Matters
Section titled “Why This Matters”You finish an LP dinner. 47 guests attended. Now comes the data entry.
Export the guest list from Gatsby. Open Affinity. Find each contact. Add the event tag. Repeat 47 times. Miss a few. Remember three days later. Go back and fix it.
Eight hours per quarter on data hygiene. And when the GP asks “who attended the 2022 AGM?” you can’t answer fast enough because the tagging isn’t consistent.
Gatsby’s Affinity integration eliminates that entire workflow. Check in a guest at your event. Affinity updates automatically. Search Affinity for AGM attendees and get instant results. Relationship intelligence in real-time, not retrospective data entry.
What Syncs (And What Doesn’t)
Section titled “What Syncs (And What Doesn’t)”Here’s a common frustration. Teams expect the integration to rebuild their Affinity data inside Gatsby automatically. Company names. Titles. Custom fields. All of it.
That’s not how it works.
The integration brings down name and email from Affinity. That’s it. Company, title, dietary restrictions? You’ll still export those from Affinity and import them to your guest list.
The integration’s primary purpose is pushing event participation data UP to your CRM, not pulling contact enrichment DOWN. Gatsby is the staging area. It captures RSVP and attendance, then ships it back to Affinity automatically.
What Gatsby Sends to Affinity
Section titled “What Gatsby Sends to Affinity”Three data points sync automatically whenever guests interact with your events.
Guest List Field
Shows each event where a guest appeared on the guest list. This updates regardless of RSVP or attendance status. If you added them, it’s recorded.
RSVP Field
Shows each event where a guest accepted their invitation. Declines and maybes don’t appear here. Only confirmed acceptances.
Attendance Field
Shows each event where a guest was checked in. This is the ground truth of who actually showed up.
What You Still Import Manually
Section titled “What You Still Import Manually”Rich contact data doesn’t sync down from Affinity. Company, title, dietary restrictions, custom fields. None of it transfers automatically.
Why This Limitation Exists
The integration focuses on event participation, not contact enrichment. Affinity remains your source of truth for contact details. Gatsby captures event-specific data and sends it back.
For enriched guest lists, export from Affinity and import to Gatsby using CSV.
How to Import Efficiently
Export your target contacts from Affinity as CSV. Include the fields you need for your event: company, title, dietary restrictions, plus-one details.
Import to your Gatsby guest list. The email address matches existing contacts automatically. New addresses create new contacts.
See the Import/Export documentation for detailed CSV workflows.
Initial Setup
Section titled “Initial Setup”You’ll need your Affinity API key and a dedicated list in Affinity to store the field mappings.
Step-by-Step Setup
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Go to Team Settings > Linked Services > Affinity in Gatsby.
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Get your Affinity API key from your Affinity account settings.
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Paste the API key in Gatsby and click Connect.
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Create a list in Affinity called “Gatsby Events” (Build from Scratch, People type).
The Affinity integration requires an additional subscription. Contact us on Slack or email for pricing details.
Field Configuration
Section titled “Field Configuration”Create dropdown fields in Affinity, then map them in Gatsby’s integration settings.
Creating Affinity Fields
In your Affinity “Gatsby Events” list, create three fields:
- Guest List (Multiple Value Dropdown, Global or List Field)
- RSVP (Multiple Value Dropdown, Global or List Field)
- Checkin (Multiple Value Dropdown, Global or List Field)
These fields will store the event names where each guest appeared.
Mapping Fields in Gatsby
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Return to Team Settings > Linked Services > Affinity in Gatsby.
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Select your “Gatsby Events” list from the dropdown.
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Map each field: Guest List, RSVP, and Checkin to the corresponding Affinity fields you created.
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Click Save.
Event data will now sync automatically when guests RSVP or check in.
List-to-List Syncing
Section titled “List-to-List Syncing”IR teams live in Affinity. They build guest lists there, filter by relationship strength, tag by LP type, curate the invite list in their CRM. That’s where the knowledge lives.
But they need Gatsby’s event tools. Branded invitations. Registration pages. Check-in. Calendar invites.
List-to-List syncing bridges that gap. Connect an Affinity list directly to a Gatsby event. Changes in either platform reflect in the other. Add someone in Affinity, they appear in Gatsby. Remove them from Gatsby, they’re removed from Affinity.
How Bidirectional Sync Works
When you connect an Affinity list to a Gatsby event, changes flow both directions automatically.
- Add a contact to the Affinity list, they appear in your Gatsby guest list
- Remove a guest from Gatsby, they’re removed from the Affinity list
- Updates happen in near real-time
The sync covers names, emails, and presence on the guest list. RSVP and attendance data still flows one-way (Gatsby to Affinity).
Setting It Up
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Open your event in Gatsby.
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Go to Event Details (the settings panel).
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Find the Affinity list dropdown.
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Select the list you want to connect.
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Click Save.
The sync begins immediately. Existing contacts on the Affinity list appear in your Gatsby guest list.
What Syncs Bidirectionally
Two-way sync:
- Guest names
- Email addresses
- Presence on the guest list (additions and removals)
One-way sync (Gatsby to Affinity only):
- RSVP status
- Attendance data
- Event tags
Event Tags (Power Users)
Section titled “Event Tags (Power Users)”Power Users can create tags and apply them to events. When guests check in to tagged events, the tag data syncs to Affinity alongside the event name. Useful for grouping attendance by event series, quarter, or category.
How Event Tags Work
Create tags in Gatsby’s team settings. Apply them to events when you create or edit an event.
When a guest checks in, both the event name and its tags sync to their Affinity record. This makes event data searchable by category, not just by individual event name.
Example Use Cases
- Quarterly summaries: Tag events as “Q3 2024” to track attendance across a quarter
- Event series: Tag all investor dinners as “Investor Dinner Series” for series-level reporting
- Regional groupings: Tag events as “NYC Events” or “London Events” for geographic analysis
- Event type: Tag as “AGM” or “LP Meeting” or “Portfolio Event” for category filtering
Common Questions
Section titled “Common Questions” Is this a two-way sync?
Partially. RSVP and attendance data flows from Gatsby to Affinity only.
List-to-List syncing provides bidirectional sync of names, emails, and guest list presence. But that’s specifically for connected lists, not general contact data.
What about contact enrichment?
The integration doesn’t pull company, title, or custom fields from Affinity. It’s designed for event participation data, not contact enrichment.
For enriched guest lists, export from Affinity as CSV and import to your Gatsby event.
Does this cost extra?
Yes. The Affinity integration is an add-on to standard Gatsby pricing. Contact us on Slack or email for current pricing.
Can I connect multiple Affinity lists?
Each event can connect to a different Affinity list. Configure the connection per-event in the event settings.
You cannot connect multiple lists to a single event.
When does data sync?
Immediately. Changes appear in Affinity within seconds when guests RSVP, check in, or get added to a guest list.
There’s no manual sync button. No overnight batch process. It just happens.
Affinity integration requirements
- API key required
- Multiple Value Dropdown fields
- People-type lists only