Save Money When Planning An Event
There comes a time in the career of every event planner when they need to save money instead of going wild with their ideas. Whether this is due to the current crisis, or you just cannot finance two events at once for some reason, remember that there are things you can do to manage your budget and not do it on the account of the success of the event.
Creativity and the vastness of possibilities drive you to more extravagant choices, which of course ask for more money – just make sure that it is the money you have
Have a plan. Here we go again with the “have a plan advice”. As boring as some might find it, having a plan is crucial to managing budget. Having a determined budget keeps organizers on track and focuses their attention to staying within the range of what was asked of them. Creativity and the vastness of possibilities drive you to more extravagant choices, which of course ask for more money – just make sure that it is the money you have. As an event manager, your job is to show your expertise and accomplish so much with so little and trust us, having a plan will help you do that.
Go off-season. Depending on the type of the event and other factors, you can always make money by setting the date of your event off-season. If your event calls for hiring a conference speaker, you should try and catch them when they are not booked at all and arrange a lower price. On the other hand, you can make a compromise going for a speaker who is nearby at around your desired date and try saving up on travel and lodging costs.
Promote wisely. In the past, promoting campaigns used to cost presumptuous amount money. From being advertised on the radio to putting up banners and handing out leaflets. Today, the whole process does not have to cost a fortune in order for you to have a great outreach. So, what’s the catch? Well, it is not a secret at all and it is everywhere - social media. Your target audience belongs to online social groups which you can reach in a click and do it all by paying the monthly internet fee you pay anyway. Additional costs can come down to promotional Facebook campaign (cost mere $4 per day) and an article written by a content writer and published on a website frequently visited by your potential attendees ($ as agreed).
Find sponsors. Do not go for the old school hiring-a-catering-agency-band-and- flower arrangement. Save money by finding small local shops which would sponsor your event in turn for publicity. Pay them back by mentioning them at the beginning of the event, at the end, in a final report that you will use to cover the event and even in your promotional campaign. In this case, you will even have wider audience reach for the event.
Make A Good Deal. While hunting for a lower price or a discount on the venue, you should partner up with an agency or a hotel which can provide you with a venue discount (especially in the off-season time). In addition, if you do not have catering provided, make a deal with the hotel for an all-inclusive deal and save money when having a large number of guests. There is always someone whose cravings cannot be satisfied with a paid one person meal. Your wallet will be thicker in this case.
Presale tickets. If your event calls for ticket selling, an excellent idea is to launch a presale and give out a specific number of tickets at a discount price. In this way, you can ensure that you have minimal critical number of guest at your event, and at the same time cover organisation costs at least. Why not making your job easier and safer for you? Moreover, by going digital in the ticket matter, you cut down the cost of printing the tickets and hiring a person to sell them.
When you put your ideas on paper, you start seeing the form your event is getting, but not just that; you will see the drawbacks of your planning together with the possibilities of where you can make cuts and save money
Tailor your event. Here’s where creativity of an event manager comes in handy. When you put your ideas on paper, you start seeing the form your event is getting, but not just that; you will see the drawbacks of your planning together with the possibilities of where you can make cuts and save money. The opportunities are many, from setting up a theme of the event to going for minimalism. In this way, you can unnoticeably leave out the things you cannot or do not want to have included in your event. The guests will never know, as long as you do not cut on style and of course food.
Manage all the payments. Although this point might come across as insignificant, it is actually quite important. If you have assistants who are in charge of making payments for different errands, you should overtake this task or put one person to be in charge. The reason is simple; you do not pay attention to a few dollars when paying for one thing such as flowers. However, when you deal with catering, flowers, drinks, cleaning ladies, venues, transport fees and utilities, a few dollars on every of these points turns into a sum of money.
Hire volunteers. In the end, why not saving money on the staff? Take a few professionals to coordinate and volunteers to work. There are colleges and organisations you can easily co-operate with and the volunteers will be happy to get a recommendation from you as well as the invaluable experience.
These are only some of the ways to get you started with saving money when planning an event. As every event manager knows, every event is unique and specific, which is why as soon as you start planning, you will see where it is possible to make a budget cut and not affect the success of the event. Finally, wherever your venue is and whatever the theme is, make sure to give something to the attendees. After all, creating a memory is what makes events stand out and not be easily forgotten (comes as crucial when fighting against competition).