Your rooms, your rates
Set up each building and its rooms with photos, a capacity and opening hours. Each room has its own rates: public, member and non-profit, weekday or weekend, by the hour, half day, full day or a flat fee. Add extras, and setup and cleanup time around each booking.
Rooms can be combined, so you can rent Hall A, Hall B or the whole hall. Clerestory never lets two renters hold the same space at once, setup and cleanup time and combined rooms included.
A booking page on your own website
Renters see a public page of your rooms with a month of availability, which you can link to or embed on your own website. They request one date or a weekly series, with their guest count, the extras they want and answers to your own questions. Requests outside your opening hours are turned away.
Approve, sign and pay online
Each request lands in a queue for staff to approve or decline, or you can switch on Instant Booking for a room so requests skip the review. From the emailed booking link, the renter confirms a code sent to their email, signs your rental agreement online, uploads a certificate of insurance if you ask for one, and pays by card. Staff accept or reject each insurance certificate.
Set a payment schedule and Clerestory sends a reminder before each charge. When a renter pays by cash, check or bank transfer, mark the payment as paid.
Deposits, handled properly
Choose for each room: a refundable security deposit, or a card kept on file with Stripe so damage can be charged afterwards. After the event, return the deposit, keep part of it with a reason, or charge for damage.
Weekly renters
A yoga class, a choir or a support group that books the same room every week sends one request for the series. You choose for each room whether a weekly series is billed up front or date by date.
One calendar for the building
See a week view for each building, a month view for each room and a Today schedule for whoever opens up. Block time when you need a space yourself.
Each building, its own books
If your buildings belong to different legal entities, each can have its own Stripe account and its own QuickBooks class. Reports show rental income by building, room and month, occupancy and the deposits you are holding. Rental income is its own category: it never counts toward giving and never appears on a tax receipt.
The rest of your organization, in the same place
Memberships, events and sponsorships, the gala auction and raffle, classes, the gift shop and donations all run in the same Clerestory account, with every supporter on one record.
What Clerestory does not do
- Calendar sync. Bookings live on Clerestory's rental calendar and do not sync to Google Calendar or Outlook.
- Marketplace listings. Clerestory does not list your rooms on Peerspace or other marketplaces. Renters book from your own page.
- Invoices and net terms. Renters pay by card from their booking link, on a payment schedule if you set one. Clerestory does not send invoices with net-30 terms.
- Renter accounts. Renters manage a booking from the emailed booking link. There is no separate renter account or portal.
- Rooms for your own programs. Your events and classes are not linked to rooms. Block the time on the rental calendar when you need a space.
What it costs
Rentals is included in Clerestory's 3% per transaction, on your own Stripe account, plus Stripe's processing. There is no license fee, no per-seat fee and no contract. The option to cover the fees is offered to supporters, not to renters.
Screenshots are from a Clerestory demo organization with test data.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-profit rent out its hall with Clerestory?
Yes. Clerestory lists your buildings and rooms with photos, capacity and rates on a public page with a month of availability. Renters request a date, sign the rental agreement online and pay by card, and staff approve each request and see every booking on one calendar.
Can members get a lower rental rate?
Yes. Each room can have public, member and non-profit rates, for weekdays or weekends, by the hour, half day, full day or a flat fee.
Can Clerestory collect a security deposit and a certificate of insurance?
Yes. Each room can take a refundable deposit or keep a card on file with Stripe for damage, and renters can upload a certificate of insurance for staff to accept or reject.
Can a historic house with two legal entities keep its rental income separate?
Yes. Each building can belong to a different legal entity, with its own Stripe account and QuickBooks class, and rental income never counts toward giving.
How much does venue rental software cost on Clerestory?
Rentals is included in Clerestory's 3% per transaction on your own Stripe account, plus Stripe's processing, with no license fee, per-seat fee or contract.
