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When the news about COVID-19 began to break, nonprofit professionals had a lot of the same concerns as most people, like how to protect themselves and their loved ones, whether or not to start working remotely, and how to best support each other.

But there’s something else that you’ve probably had to make a hard decision on: whether or not to cancel your fundraising event.

Spring is a busy season for fundraising events, from breakfasts to formal balls. Many nonprofits rely heavily on the money they raise from these events, with some counting on raising a large chunk of their annual budgets from one event. (Raise your hand if you’re one of the above…)

But this year, most of these events are simply not an option.

So, what are your options?

From what I can see, there are three paths you can take:

• Option 1: Postpone Your Event

• Option 2: Go Virtual

• Option 3: Try Another Fundraising Approach

In this post, I’ll cover the benefits and drawbacks of each option, as well as how your organization can handle the communications around each one.

And if you already know you want to bring your event virtual, check out our post on how to do so effectively! 

Option 1: Postpone Your Event

Your first option is to indefinitely postpone your event. The status of the virus is still developing, and no one is sure when a large group event will be safe — meaning you may have to wait until fall or beyond.

Once you’ve decided to cancel your event, let your venue and vendors know. If you’re in an area under a “shelter in place” order, they won’t be surprised — in fact, they may even reach out to you first. Find out what kind of refunds you qualify for, if any, and costs associated with rescheduling.

Check in with your sponsors, and let them know what your plans are. Offer refunds where possible, and communicate your gratitude for their support.

Once you’ve taken care of these logistics, you need to communicate to the attendees:

1. That the event will not take place as scheduled

Send the message out on all your communication channels. If you’ve already received RSVPs, consider calling each person who planned to attend, in addition to sending emails and posting on social media and your website (especially on the event registration form).

2. How and when refunds will be processed

If you’re postponing the event indefinitely, it’s best to refund tickets. I know that may hurt right now when fundraising is so up in the air, but it’s the right thing to do for your donors and will help build trust in your organization.

3. A brief update on future event plans

People are overloaded with messaging right now, so let them know what’s happening, but keep it brief. A simple, “We plan to hold the event later this year, and will keep you posted as plans develop,” is enough if you don’t have the date set yet.

This email from Amirah provides a great example:

They make it very clear when their event will be rescheduled to. It also provides an online alternative for the day of the cancelled event so that people who had been planning on attending can still feel engaged.

If you’re just rescheduling it, you should also create a segment in your database for donors who planned to attend the original event, so you can start sending them targeted messages once you’ve scheduled a new event.

Option 2: Go Virtual

Virtual events were already becoming part of the nonprofit landscape, but COVID-19 is taking it to a whole new level. Technology helps to bring everyone together while keeping them physically far apart (as I’ve seen in my own life with all the Zoom calls my friends are now taking part in).

If you’ll be going this route, be sure to download our Virtual Event Checklist so you don’t miss any steps in planning your virtual event.

3 Ideas for Virtual Events

Virtual events can take many forms. You may want to create a new kind of event entirely, or simply transfer what you were already planning into a virtual format.

Live Stream + Online Auction

What kind of program had you originally planned? If you had been thinking about a presentation about your organization, a speech from a leader, and an auction, it’s fairly straightforward to put those things online. You can live stream your presentation and speeches, and use charity auction software to allow donors to bid online.

An Ungala

Ungalas or “stay-at-home” galas like this example from Community Cooks have been gaining popularity in recent years, and this seems like a particularly appropriate time for them. These non-events offer supporters the chance to make a donation to not attend an event. Some stream a short video, others have no program at all. Send a little swag in the mail to make it feel official, like a wine glass or travel mug with your logo on it — your cost will still be lower than a catered dinner.

You can also position it as a way your organization is making history and trying something new, like this email from Gateway Public Schools.

A Virtual Walk or Run

If you were planning a walk-a-thon or race, you can still engage walkers and runners. They’ll just need to walk or run alone. In a virtual event, they’ll track their solo miles and times, raising money as they would have for an in-person event. Or you can take inspiration from the ungala concept and just fundraise without breaking a sweat like in this example.

Tools for Virtual Events

You don’t have to be super tech-savvy to host a virtual event. Facebook Live is often a good option for nonprofits who want to live stream video to their audience, but there are many other software options you can check out. 

For example, race organization software can help you build excitement and community for a virtual walk or race. Additionally, a peer-to-peer fundraising platform can simplify running this kind of campaign for volunteer fundraisers and nonprofit professionals alike.

If you’re looking for help setting up a online event with Wild Apricot, take a look at this help article.

Virtual Event Sponsors

Going virtual instead of postponing allows you to create new ways to involve your sponsors.

For example, you could:

• Shout them out in your live-streamed speeches

• Display their logos on your website and peer-to-peer platform

• Feature them in your event emails and social media posts

• Send a digital copy of what would have been your print program via email to your attendees or display it on the screen

• If you’re sending swag, include their logo on it as well, or ask them to send something too

Your sponsors might have other ideas, too. In this situation, they know we’re all figuring things out as we go, and will likely be more forgiving.

Option 3: Try Another Approach

Event-based fundraising is not your only option, and while canceling an event can be devastating, it also frees up a lot of time to explore other opportunities. Consider launching a mini-campaign through other means, like:

Direct Mail Appeals

If you haven’t sent a direct mail appeal in a while, now might be the time. Direct mail allows you to take the time to tell a longer story, so don’t be afraid to share emotionally-engaging details with your donors. Alternately, a postcard saying, “COVID-19 derailed our spring fundraising, but you can help!” could get your point across. You can also send out thank-you letters to keep in touch with regular donors.

Social Media

People are stuck at home, getting lonely and bored. That means they’re probably checking social media pretty regularly (okay, or 500 times a day if you’re like me), so they may see more of your content. Use social media to promote your campaign with shareable messages, visual content, and fundraising challenges. You can also use this as a time to ask your supporters to create content for you online and share it; they probably have a little more time on their hands to help you out.

Phone Calls

This is probably not the moment to launch a full-scale tele-fundraising campaign. However, it’s a great time to call your donors to thank them for their support and check-in. It may lead directly to donations, or not… but building relationships and expressing gratitude is never a wasted effort.

Email

As you’re emailing people to let them know your event is postponed, canceled, or changed, you can also explain why this matters for your organization. Tell them how much you expected to raise, what you intended to do with that money, and what the picture looks like now. Invite them to help with a donation.

Do What You Can

There’s still a lot we don’t know, and we’ll keep learning as the situation develops — and in all honesty, if your organization isn’t focused on healthcare or directly working with people affected by COVID-19, there’s a good chance that your fundraising will be affected for the next little while. Economic shifts impact fundraising, too, and no one is entirely sure what the future holds.

But this is also a chance to support your community. Reach out to your neighbors, clients, volunteers, and donors to stay connected. Support other organizations who are in need direr than yours, if you have that ability.

Hang in there, nonprofit folks — and if you have any other advice regarding cancelling events, let us know in the comments below.

Ramy Ayoub

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Event KPIs (key performance indicators) are the best way to track and measure your event’s success. We will walk you through 22 event KPIs and how you can apply them to your event below. 

When determining KPIs, your event goals and desired event outcomes are the best places to start. Goals will guide what you should measure to determine event success. Whether your main objective is to increase audience engagement, maximize revenue, or obtain more event sponsorships, this list will help you gauge event success.

Before you dive into the list, you might want to review how to set event planning goals to achieve success.

In addition to your event goals, there is another variable to keep in mind when determining your event’s best KPIs. Event types matter when deciding what to measure. For example, a virtual conference will have KPIs that their in-person counterparts don’t, such as website traffic and activity levels on chat.

To help you define event success, here is a list of 22 crucial KPIs to track event success and measure event ROI.

Event Success KPIs

1. Event Check-ins

This key metric directly indicates the number of attendees who have checked in at the event. Comparing the number of event check-ins with the total number of registrations is an important statistic.

In an ideal world, everyone who registered would attend your event. Realistically though, that will not be the case. We recently analyzed proprietary data from almost 2,000 virtual events in our 2021 Virtual Event Benchmarks Report. In the report, we see a high average conversion rate (50%) from people who registered to those who attended virtual events in 2020. This number is pretty impressive, considering that 80% of virtual events are free.

Now that you have a baseline, if there is an unusual discrepancy between the registrants and check-ins, this would be something worth looking into—why are you losing people between registration and check-in? Do you need more promotion leading up to the event to build excitement?

2. Event Surveys

The most immediate way you will know if attendees enjoyed the event is by asking them. Event surveys allow you to get in the attendees’ minds and help you understand attendee satisfaction by collecting feedback. These surveys can be deployed before, during, or after an event. Before an event, survey attendees on what they are looking forward to or what experiences they are interested in.

During the event, send a short survey daily to gauge what is working well and what experiences are falling short. You can use this data in real-time to make adjustments for the next day. For example, if attendees felt they did not have enough time to ask questions, you could extend the time for Q&A the following day based on their feedback.

If you found in your post-event survey that attendees felt rushed between sessions, you could extend the break time between them for future events attendees giving attendees more down time.

No matter what part of the event you decide to survey, use the responses to create future events that exceed expectations. Be specific with your questions and, when possible, offer numeric response options and comment boxes to elaborate. You will draw deeper insights if your data is clean and quantifiable, but it’s essential to allow room to expand.

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Though this KPI also falls under “event surveys,” the NPS (net promoter score) deserves its spot on this list. This score asks the simple question: On a scale of 1-10, how likely is it that you would recommend this event to friends? Scores of 9-10 are considered “promoters” who will act as loyal enthusiasts for your event brand. Scores of 7-8 are “passives” who are satisfied attendees but are still vulnerable to competitive offerings. Finally, scores between 0-6 are considered “detractors,” who run the risk of damaging your event brand through negative reviews.

The NPS is then calculated as follows:

% promoters – % detractors 

This score is a key indicator of how much value your event brought to attendees, which all major stakeholders will want to know.

“We look at feedback, for the most part, we look at audience feedback, we do a survey of course, like every other event, but I personally speak with probably hundreds of attendees in the run-up to, at the conference, following the conference, and some who attend every year.”

—Andrea Rosen, Adobe

4. Number of Active Community Members

This metric allows you to see which types of attendees are most active. It also helps track activity levels within the community. You can spot an active community member by the number of pages viewed, the time spent in sessions, or the number of chats sent. Data like this is useful in optimizing the event experience and finding the best ways to engage attendees within the platform.

5. Number of Messages Sent within the Event Community

The number of messages sent among attendees can help prove if your event networking tools were sufficient. Developing relationships is one of the key components of any event, and measuring this metric will demonstrate if the platform helped facilitate connections.

6. Speaker Engagement

The audience ultimately determines a speaker’s performance. If the speaker doesn’t resonate with the audience, the presentation wasn’t a success. You can gauge speaker interest by measuring the number of session views or session ratings. Additionally, make sure to provide ways in which attendees can engage with the speaker, such as live polling or survey responses after the session.

7. Session Analytics

Drill down into each session to see which were a success. Session analytics will show the overall session ratings and feedback. You will also see how many attended, average view duration, page views, and if the audience was tuning in virtually or in-person.

Analyze this data to determine which sessions were a success. You can then look for common themes in the top-performing sessions such as topics, tracks, or length of session and use your findings when deciding sessions for your next event.

8. Determine Top Performing Topics 

How do you determine what topics your attendees are interested in? You can track when anyone engages with your agenda by starring or favoriting sessions. That data can be collected and aggregated to help better understand which topics are a success.

You do this by tagging sessions and content. For example, if you have a session “How to Create A Pipeline With LinkedIn,” you could categorize this session with “social selling,” “sales,” “lead generation,” and so on. Finding popular themes allows you to double down on what topics your audience wants to hear.

9. Live Polling Response Rate

With the right event app or virtual event solution, you can have attendees vote in live polls during an event session. This response rate will indicate the attendees’ engagement levels and help event organizers understand which sessions were most successful.

10. Social Media Mentions

Social media mentions are when users directly give a “shout out” by using a handle or hashtag within their comment/tweet. During the event planning process, make sure your event handle and hashtag are simple, unique, and shareable. Keeping track of mentions will help you better understand your event’s success and attendees’ social media savviness.

11. Total Registrations

Indeed a metric that is already top of mind, the total number of registrations is one of the most immediate ways to measure event success. It is also vital to track registrations monthly to have a clearer understanding of sales performance over time. Which month had the highest registrations? Why so? The more detailed you can become with this metric, the more clarity it will provide when evaluating your event.

“We’re seeing that events are still the primary driver of marketing results. Events touch almost every single opportunity that progresses and ultimately closes. It’s a great place to be, and it’s a great way to lean in and provide business results.”

—Colleen Bisconti, Vice President, Global Conferences, and Events, IBM

12. Registration by Ticket Type

Registration by ticket type is another way you can be more granular with your registration data. By dividing registration performance into ticket type, this will give you a better sense of which ticket types and price points were most appealing to attendees. If you’re using a hybrid in-person and virtual event strategy, this will also help you understand the percentage of attendees joining in different formats. Such data will help organize your next event, allowing you to be more targeted in your ticket offerings.

13. Gross Revenue

Many would argue this is the main KPI for event success. It is an important metric to measure against your initial revenue goals, and the difference between the two will indicate how realistic you were about the benchmarks set. Gross revenue is also an important barometer for the demand of the event within the industry.

14. Cost to Revenue Ratio

Gross revenue is not an insightful metric unless you compare it with the total cost of the event. This ratio helps to understand how much profit (or loss) your event has generated and how you could continue to improve this ratio for future events. This a KPI that stakeholders such as sponsors and investors would want to see.

15. Revenue by Promo Code

Understanding where your revenue stream is coming from and what campaigns effectively can help you measure your event success. Promotional codes give you data surrounding who your attendees are. Analytics such as how many times people used specific codes tells a unique story. You can see which promo code sold the most tickets, and, the campaign, platform, or business that brought the attendee to the event with their promo can also help you determine which marketing efforts were successful.

For example, if a promo code were distributed on LinkedIn and brought in the most registrations, you would determine that the social platform was a great place to reach your event audience.

16. Sponsorship Satisfaction

Virtual events often have a lower ticket price, and therefore rely more on sponsorship. In fact, 80% of virtual event registrations are free. This is a significant change from years past. Ensuring sponsor satisfaction is a key metric for measuring event success. It’s also a way to gauge the likelihood of future sponsorships. You can measure satisfaction through surveys, NPS scores, or post-event debrief meetings. Truly listen to your sponsors, ask them what worked well for them, and what areas they would like to see improvements in. Record this data for planning future events.

17. Number of Returning Attendees

Chances are that your team organizes recurring events, whether that be monthly, annually, or even bi-annually. An interesting stat to record is the number of repeat attendees who come to subsequent events. Returning attendees will show whether your event content is resonating with the targeted audience and will give you an idea of the value that you are creating for them. A high number of returning attendees is an indicator that you’ve found the right formula.

18. Number of Qualified Sales Leads

If your event is meant to generate prospects for your sales team, measuring the number of qualified leads is a leading indicator of event success. The definition of a qualified lead will be specific to your company, so make sure you have detailed criteria before measuring this KPI. A qualified lead may be from a certain industry, be in a managerial position within his/her company, company size, or demonstrate a clear need for your company’s service/product.

19. Pipeline Generated

This metric complements the number of qualified sales leads – especially in the B2B world of events. If revenue is a goal for your event, linking new lead generation/ open sales opportunities and their estimated dollar value is an important metric to identify and measure. Your sales team will be able to raise this number to you as long as the proper attribution is tied to a contact or opportunity.

20. Accounts Influenced (ABM)

In an account-based event marketing strategy, identifying the target accounts influenced by events (and other marketing activities) is an important metric to track for event success. ABM is typically a strategy used by B2B organizations familiar with longer sales cycles and multiple touch points. Understanding how an event influences a target account is key in quantifying your ABM strategies value.

21. Customers Acquired

After collecting qualified leads from the event, the logical next step would be to measure the number of customers acquired. Here you have to make sure the event marketing attribution is clean and that these customers were indeed acquired due to the event. There are multiple channels through which a lead can become a customer so you must identify the lead source as the event itself. Having the right event data integrations set-up will go a long way to helping you out.

“Everything we do has goals and metrics tied to it to ensure that we are creating opportunities to close business for the company. The hyper-focus is growing revenue for the sales team within all of the activations we have.”

—Lindsay Niemiec McKenna, VP of Revenue Marketing, Yext

22. Cost per Customer Acquisition

This metric is most relevant for companies that sell a specific product and are organizing events to acquire more customers. Though the number of acquired customers is a key metric, arguably, a more critical KPI is the cost per customer acquisition. Being aware of the amount of time and budget required to close an event-sourced deal is an essential indicator of your event’s impact on the bottom line.

Wrapping Up: Your Event Success KPIs

Defining and measuring event success is a specific and personalized process. Which KPIs are important to you will depend on what goals you have set for your event. However, having these 22 KPIs in your toolkit will help you better understand which metrics are most relevant to your desired event outcome and how you can start measuring those numbers.

Ramy Ayoub

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It is impossible to run a successful hotel without hiring the right hotel staff. After all, success in the industry is hugely reliant on customer service and there are a huge number of additional tasks and duties that need to be carried out. For instance, most hotels need marketers, receptionists, HR staff, accountants, cleaners, IT support workers, chefs, waiters, concierge staff and much more. Here, you will find tips on how to hire the best hotel staff for your needs.

Reasons to Hire Hotel Staff

There are many reasons why you may need to think about hiring new hotel staff, with the most obvious problem being a need to replace departing staff. If you lose a crucial employee, or if you start to find that your staff turnover rate grows, you are going to need to fill those hotel vacancies and that means finding people with the necessary qualities.

However, beyond this, you may notice certain staff are overworked, which is a good indication that you may need to add to your team, or you might also identify specific skills gaps within your business. When this is the case, hiring new staff who possess those skills may be a better solution than paying to up-skill existing employees.

Other indicators that you should look to hire new hotel staff include situations where employees have been unable to take time off for a long time, potentially including yourself. Alternatively, you may find that the level of customer service you are providing is falling short of customer expectations and/or previous standards set by your hotel.

Advantages of Expanding Your Team

Expanding the number of hotel staff on your books can offer a number of key benefits, including helping to free up the time of existing employees and helping to alleviate workloads. Although many hotels attempt to cut costs by keeping their teams small, this can often end up more expensive, with staff being paid overtime to get things done.

If you do have skills gaps in your hotel, hiring new staff can help you to deliver a superior experience for customers and may also help with day-to-day business operations. Finally, the addition of new employees can introduce some fresh ideas, with each of your new hires bringing with them outside perspectives and experiences.

7 Tips to Hire Hotel Staff

Hiring processes can be complicated and when it comes to finding the best possible candidates, there are many things to consider. To help, here you will find seven tips for recruiting hotel staff.

1. Be Clear on What You Need From Hotel Staff

The first step when looking to expand your team of hotel staff is to be as clear as you possibly can about what you need and why you need it. This means going through your hotel, from one department to the next, evaluating performance, identifying areas for improvement and pinpointing the departments that may need new staff.

Have conversations with departmental managers about what they need and what they would like. Keep track of the hotel staff that leave and make sure you have a plan in place to replace them before their loss is felt too strongly.

Regardless of whether you need a hotel manager, receptionist, cleaner or chef, you need to know precisely what position(s) you are hiring for and what that new hire will actually do in the hotel. It is also imperative that you hire at the right times – when you can afford to do so, when there is a need, but before performance drops too much.

2. Base Your Hiring Process on the Job Description

Next, for each of the positions you are looking to hire new hotel staff for, you need to create a job description. In addition to serving as a description of what the new recruit will actually do on a day-to-day basis, this job description should serve as the cornerstone for your entire hiring process and the eventual decisions you make.

Think about the minimum requirements for the position, not only in terms of formal education, but also previous work experience and soft skills. Is it a position where you can afford to invest time in training someone from scratch, or do you need them to have worked in a similar job before, so they can hit the ground running?

Furthermore, you need to be clear on what you are looking for, without making the job description too difficult for people to meet, or you may have problem finding applicants. While hiring for a hotel management position is likely to require previous experience, you could probably teach someone to wait tables in the hotel restaurant.

3. Think About Ways to Attract the Best Hotel Staff

While you may have identified a need for new hotel staff, actually attracting the best possible candidates to your hotel is another matter. The hotel industry is extremely competitive and it is perfectly possible that other nearby hotels will be looking to fill similar positions to the ones you are looking to fill.

With this in mind, you need to give some consideration to the various ways you can make your hotel attractive to those who are looking to move into the industry, as well as those who already work for another hotel. On a simple level, this means thinking about what you are going to pay them and what job benefits you can offer.

Beyond this, however, people are often interested in hotel careers, rather than applying for a single job. Consider what you can tell potential candidates about their future career prospects with your hotel. Is there opportunity for progression? Do you reward loyal staff? Could they potentially access training to advance their career in the future?

4. Hire From a Range of Different Channels

When you have a hotel job role that needs to be filled, you may simply think to advertise it on relevant job boards, especially those with a focus on the hotel industry, and this is certainly a perfectly viable strategy. However, you should think beyond this too, because the best candidates may not necessarily look at those boards.

For this reason, it is important that your hiring strategy extends to a variety of different channels and platforms. There are a wide range of different options, from turning to a professional recruiter, who may have extensive experience in sourcing the best candidates for hotel jobs, through to making use of social media.

LinkedIn, for instance, is an excellent social networking site for developing a professional network and by advertising jobs on the platform, you may be able to reach out to candidates who are not actively exploring job boards, but who may want a new job. Similarly, you could post jobs on your own hotel website and social media accounts.

5. Use the Interview Process to Narrow Candidates Down

Once you have your list of applicants, you can start to filter out the ones who do not meet your criteria and identify the ones who you think might have the best chance of fitting in. Then, you can use the interview process to narrow this list of potential candidates down even further, so that your final decision is easier.

It is important that you use your interviews to ask questions that help you to understand not only the skills and experience that candidates have, but also their personal characteristics and attributes too. You may also want to consider whether face-to-face interviews are needed, or whether phone or video interviews would work.

Give careful thought to who will actually carry out the interviews. Departmental leaders, who have experience in the role, could take the lead, but you might want to do it yourself, or you might want to build an interview team. When deciding on how many people to interview, factor in the costs and how quickly you need someone in place.

6. Hire Hotel Staff With the Qualities to Succeed

Once you have carried out all of the interviews, you need to make a final decision on which candidate(s) will join your pool of hotel staff. By this point, you have a lot of information about the applicants, but you can still gain more. For instance, checking references can help you to build an even clearer picture.

Going further, you may also want to carry out a basic check of social media profiles. In particular, LinkedIn can be useful for checking whether job histories match up with the information you have been given. Depending on the nature of their role within your hotel, you may also need to carry out a criminal background check.

Ultimately, your decision on who to hire should focus on choosing those with the right qualities to succeed. This means a combination of the right skills, the right level of experience and the right personal attributes. Even someone with all of the right qualifications may not be the best pick if they would not fit your company culture.

7. Invest Sufficiently in Training for Your New Hires

Finally, it is important to remember that the hiring process does not end at the point that you make your decision about who to hire. New hotel staff need to be trained to do their job. Moreover, they need to be made to feel like part of the team, given their work uniform, and made aware of company policies.

You are going to need to invest sufficiently in training, even if they have prior experience in a similar role. Hotels are all different and they are going to need to learn how things are done in your hotel.

It is also crucial to understand that training for new hotel staff is not something that can be provided once and then forgotten about. For the vast majority of job roles within a hotel, there is going to be an on-going need for training, especially as your wider hotel strategies change, technology improves and processes evolve.

Video: How to Recruit a Good Job Candidate

Below you find a video with tips how to recruit and hire the best candidates for your company.

Overview of Channels to Recruit Hotel Staff

When you are looking to recruit new hotel staff, there are a number of different channels to explore, from online hotel job boards and your own hotel website, to social media platforms and professional recruitment agencies. Understanding each of these channels can help greatly when it comes to finding the right candidates for your vacancies.

Search Hotel Staff via Hotel Job Boards

When it comes to finding hotel staff to fill vacancies, job boards represent one of the best available options. After all, the people using these platforms are all actively seeking work and some job boards specialize in connecting hotels with people who are keen to work in the hotel industry, or those who already work in the industry.

Overview of Hotel Staff and All Different Positions Within the Hotel Industry

A significant part of the recruitment process is focused not so much on identifying the right candidates, but on identifying the right positions to fill. As hotels grow or evolve, the number of people you employ may also increase. For this reason, it is important to have a rounded understanding of all of the different job roles.

Hiring staff with the required skills and qualities can be the difference between success and failure within the hotel industry. By following the tips provided, you can ensure you hire the right hotel staff for the right positions.

Ramy Ayoub

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Is your event budget setting you up for success? In this guide we’ll look at tips, best practices and examples for creating a reliable event marketing budget in 2021 and beyond.

Whether you’re planning an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event, the many moving parts of an event strategy are bound together by the event budget. Given that an event’s financial foundation is directly related to the event outcome, creating a thorough and realistic event budget is a key ingredient for event success. The quick pivot to virtual made budgeting for your event even more complex. With the sudden shift, planners have found themselves in uncharted territory. Planners are now dealing with the uncertainties of the pandemic. Often these uncertainties impact budgets.

The need for planners to be able to prove the value of their event has become more important than ever. 66% of organizers anticipate budget cuts for their virtual, in-person, and/or hybrid events going into 2021. Data shows that approval of leadership (and consequently the overall budget for events) is contingent on being able to prove event ROI. With restricted budgets comes a growing need to properly allocate and intelligently spend each dollar.

In this guide you’ll learn the steps you need to take to create an event budget. Along the way, you’ll encounter common pitfalls, best practices, advice from event experts, and budgeting templates. To help you keep track of every stage of the event organizing process, we’ve put together this event budgeting guide:

How to Approach an Event Budgeting Strategy

Before diving into the components of the event budget and taking a deep-dive into vendor research, certain best practices should be kept in mind. If you internalize a mindset that is composed of the following tips, your event budgeting process will be much smoother and streamlined.

1. Establish Your Goals

The main purpose of an event budget should not be solely to keep tabs on spending. Rather, the purpose should be guiding the organizer to properly allocate funds to the most valuable event elements.

By stating how much you will spend on each component, the budget becomes a reflection of what parts of the event are most important to you.

2. Use Historical Data

Data from past events can be great indicators of what has worked, and what didn’t. It can allow planners to make tough decisions when it comes to your event budget. However, using historical data can be a challenge with virtual and hybrid events.

In 2020 many planners have found themselves in uncharted territory planning their first virtual events. According to the Evolutions of Events Report, 76.5% of planners have never hosted a hybrid event before.

Despite the unknown, both virtual and hybrid events offer unprecedented access to analytics and data. From the number of registrants attending each session and how long they viewed them, to how many attendees clicked on each sponsor page, planners have never had access to so much insight before. Some of these analytics even come instantly allowing planners to respond to the data and findings on the spot.

In the case that you’ve executed an event marketing strategy before, make sure to utilize all previous data and templates that you have access to. Doing so will save time and help inform decisions you will have to make during the budget planning process.

It may be easy to get caught up in the upcoming event and become obsessed with finding the perfect deal for each event element, but there is a risk of losing time and wasting energy. Don’t make this harder. Rely on previous research and data when you can to make things simpler for everyone involved.

3. Pay Attention to Detail

When it comes to an event budget, there is no such thing as being too detailed. Every piece of information relevant to a particular budget item should be included in the “description” section within the budget plan. This will help you make decisions further down the line and will also be helpful to future event planners who refer to your budget.

For example, if you are looking to purchase event swag to mail out to attendees, be detailed with each item. If the event swag is a branded t-shirt, specify how many of each size are being ordered and cost per shirt. Have a description section for any additional notes such as arrival date or design specifications. It would also be helpful to include a screenshot of the t-shirt so you—and your internal stakeholders—can visualize the end product. Make sure to also include the cost of shipping and packaging in your event budget. Whether virtual or physical swag the more details, the better.

4. Over-communicate with Stakeholders

When it comes to financial planning, all relevant stakeholders should always be on the same page. Internally, this means communicating key budget information with the team members who are in charge of financial oversight of the event. For example, if there’s been a budget cut on venue expenses and the person in charge of venue sourcing is unaware, you may end up securing a space you can’t afford sending you over budget.

Similarly when dealing with external communication, you’ll want to be overly communicative and crystal clear with all relevant event vendors. Let’s say that during the early stages of the buying process, you and the venue owner discussed a certain price but after a few more discussions, your contract includes a price hike of 15% from your initial quote.

Assuming there were no ill intentions on the vendor’s part, there were definitely details that were overlooked or not properly communicated. To avoid surprises like these, be transparent and upfront every step of the way and strive to over-communicate.

5. Stay Aware of the Latest Event Trends

Effective budgeting doesn’t only consist of finding the best deals. It also means intentionally and strategically spending money. Understand your audience and what will resonate with them. One of the best ways to properly allocate your spending budget is to be aware of event industry trends and understand which are the best investments for your event overall.

This is especially true in the ever-changing world of virtual and hybrid events.

With events evolving faster than ever it’s important to stay on top of event tech trends. Similarly, being versed in top-of-mind event trends will let you know which trends might resonate with your audience and where to increase or decrease spending. Never follow a trend just to be trendy, it’s important to always remember the purpose behind your event when choosing which trends to implement.

6. Consider Sponsors

Sponsors can be a valuable resource for event budgeting. Event sponsors often provide the funding needed to have a successful event in exchange for the opportunity to get in front of your attendees, typically for the purpose of brand awareness.

According to the 2020 Event Marketing Report, 33% of marketing professionals are spending 21% or more of their total events budget on sponsoring events. This is good news for event planners, but just like with other stakeholders you must be able to demonstrate the value of sponsoring your event by proving ROI. This can be a challenge for virtual events, 37% of event planners find it’s more difficult to provide valuable opportunities for sponsors at virtual events.

Overcome this challenge and keep sponsors happy by providing valuable insights and data to your sponsors. With virtual event success software’s it’s easier than ever to show sponsors the data they want to see such as how many attendees stopped by their virtual booth, the number of attendees who booked demonstrations with them, and even video engagement. Don’t stop at data however, just like an in-person event it’s important to listen to sponsor feedback and take it into account when planning the next event.

Event Budget Expenses

There are plenty of ways to break down the elements of an event budget. How you dissect your budget depends on your personal preference and the strategy driving the event budget. For most cases, you’ll find the following breakdown to be similar across budget plans. Here’s a basic breakdown of the most important expenses for any event budget. Whether your event is in-person, virtual, or hybrid these are common expenses incurred planning an event.

1. Staffing Costs 

One expense that can sneak up on you on the day of the (in-person) event is the cost of onsite event staffing. The team that will help you with registration, directing attendees to their relevant rooms, and greeting them upon arrival will prove to be a vital part of your event experience. Thus, you will want to keep them happy and energized for the duration of the event.

Meal costs, travel plans, and accommodations should be things to consider for your event staff. If it is communicated beforehand that these costs will be covered, you will want to include them on your budget sheet as they can easily add up to a significant sum.

It’s important to note that even with a virtual event you will also incur staffing costs. There are many elements behind the scenes at virtual events which require a talented team to execute. This team will help you with your events execution from event strategy, to live-streaming, and your events website design your virtual event staff is a critical element of your events success.

“If you have the right agency, you’ll get a lot more out of seven people within an agency for the same costs than an added one or two additional headcount could end up costing.”

—Janna Erickson, Drift

2. Speakers 

The speakers will also be a very important and significant part of the event budget. This is an area that will require a high willingness to spend because a main way to attract attendees is a strong speaking panel. In many ways your speakers will be the “face” of the event as you will use their personal brands to elevate your own event brand and relay your messaging.

Choose speakers who align with your event vision and enrich your event content. If your conference focuses on the future of mobile, it would make more sense to book a senior engineer from Apple as opposed to a social media thought leader. Though the latter may have a coveted influencer status and draw attendees, choosing an Apple engineer would align more closely to the event content and offer concrete value to attendees.

Don’t overlook your professional network when brainstorming speaker engagements. Leveraging you and your team’s network for thought leadership candidates can surprisingly generate an impressive roster of event speakers. Tapping into your network has the added benefit of providing a warmer introduction to a potential speaker than cold outreach. It may also help to alleviate higher costs if speakers are willing to join your event for free.

“Usually when high profile professionals travel, they usually have a little more time for meetings than when you reach out to them out of the blue. That’s how I built a lot of relationships and set up meetings. You want to strategically understand and get to know them before proposing to collaborate with them on a project.”

—Vasil Azarov, Growth Marketing Conference

3. Signage and Event Branding

Creating a memorable event experience requires you to bring your event brand to life. Discuss and strategize what this might look like and make sure to set aside sufficient funds to purchase enough visual elements that will make for an amazing experience.

At INBOUND’s 2020 virtual experience, the INBOUND team virtually created their world and brought in familiar elements like the iconic #INBOUND sign and virtual signage to all their sessions. Having a strong vision in mind when planning the event budget will help you better understand what is needed and how much should be dedicated to creating the event brand.

Source: INBOUND

4. Unique Attendee Experiences 

With interactive technology becoming more advanced each year, having specific areas dedicated to enhanced attendee experiences will make your event more memorable.

The rise of artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented reality makes it easy for attendees to engage in onsite activities that expand their imagination. VR can also be a way to immerse your virtual audience and make them feel as though they are in-person. Look into technologies that align with your event content and add unique experiences for attendees.

As events pivoted to virtual new challenges surfaced, creating engaging attendee experiences has proven more difficult. The event audience is now at home, and you are competing against Netflix, work, and family for attention. More than ever planners have to be focused on creating engaging experiences that can cut through the noise.

Source: (Almost) HYBRID

Leon Winkler, Director of International Events at Ubisoft faced this challenge early into the pivot to virtual head on. The Ubisoft team had been planning an experiential event for the books for E3, the world’s premier event for computer and video games and related products. With the recent launch of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Leon and his team were planning to create an immersive experience for the books with demo pods within a viking ship packed with vikings roaming about. The experience was designed for attendees to experience the game in a truly memorable way.

With the rise of COVID-19, E3 was cancelled shortly before the event. Leon and his team needed to innovate.

“We heard in March that E3 was cancelled and we had to pivot towards a digital experience, there was of course a sense of panic. But at the same time, we looked at it as an opportunity. It was an opportunity for us to really invest in the virtual experience. Try to create content different than we normally do for a live event, create content that resonates with this broad audience, and content that allows people to create their own journey into our universe…”

Leon Winkler, Director of International Events at Ubisoft

In partnership with Parsec, Ubisoft created a virtual environment that allowed them to stream games to anyone without the person needing to download a game. All attendees needed was a controller. This innovation created an immersive and engaging virtual experience for players. It allowed attendees to interact with the game and tap into a childlike joy, allowing them to interact, engage and touch. This created a truly unique attendee experience.

Technology powered examples like these are what will take the attendee experience to the next level. Research new gadgets and devices that would align with your specific event content and have the potential to be the “wow” factor at the event.

5. Emergency Fund

This is definitely a fund you will want to set aside early on in the planning process. Event organizing is an unpredictable journey and there will surely be situations in which you will need to tap into your emergency fund.

6. Swag 

Whether your event is in-person, virtual or hybrid attendees love swag. In fact, attendees not only love to receive swag but it is an expected part of the event experience. Make sure to set aside a portion of your event budget for this.

If you plan to mail out a swag box you will need to also plan for shipping expenses. Not sure what to budget? If you are looking to send out a swag box companies like swagup will send out a box complete with custom t-shirts, water bottle, notebook, and a few other items in a custom mailer starting at about $53.00/ attendee.

If a swag box is not in your budget, or the cost of shipping and packaging becomes too high consider sending a voucher from Uber Eats or check out these digital gift ideas your attendees will love.

Virtual Event Expenses 

More than 60% of event professionals pivoted an event to virtual this year due to COVID-19. The transition was quick and budgets were uncertain at first. Now that virtual events are here to stay it’s important to properly budget for them. As with all events, proving your virtual event ROI is critical. Having a well-integrated event technology stack can make proving ROI simpler and less painful.

Here we’ll review several virtual event technology expenses to consider when building out your virtual event.

1. Event Success Platform

An event success platform that fits your event goals will likely be the best investment you can make with your event budget. Your event success platform equates to your virtual venue. The amount of organization, streamlining, and insights that you will gain from your event technology will help inform decisions for not just one event, but for all future events and programming as well. This is also where your attendees will experience your event, having a great user interface and design will improve attendees experience.

From event registration to contact management, choosing the right event management software will be a foundational piece to your event planning and attendee experience. Be sure to allocate sufficient funds and decision-making time for the particular part of your budget. It could make all the difference.

2. Integrations

While some software solutions will be able to integrate with others right out of the box, others may require additional integration solutions. These solutions could be something like an open API (where a tech team connects two solutions together), Webhooks (a similar process), or an integration platform as a service (like Zapier or Mulesoft).

3. Virtual Event Production 

In order to have a great virtual event experience you need virtual event production. Depending on the type of event virtual event production can range from a simple live-stream directly from speakers homes to a full studio recording experience. Video editing, graphics, and animations can be another surprise expense when it comes to virtual event production. Regardless, you’ll want to understand the needs of your event, what is included from your production team, and budget accordingly for studios, virtual presenter kits, and beyond.

Hybrid Event Expenses

With the possibility of vaccine distribution right around the corner hybrid events are likely to start popping up in 2021. 97% of organizers believe we will see more hybrid events in 2021, however only 24% have ever invested in hybrid experiences.

Planners are in uncharted water, and even if they have planned a hybrid experience in the past, it’s safe to say that the “hybrid” events of the future will be quite different. Both virtual and in-person attendees will be looking for an engaging experience. This means the simple camera stream from the back of the room will no longer cut it. There is a lot to take into consideration when planning your event budget for a hybrid event. The costs will go up, and your event budget should reflect that.

During our event, (Almost) Hybrid, Mark Wilson, Executive Creative Director at Cramer shed light on what we can expect in terms of budget “plan to spend up to twice as much, you have to plan for the virtual and venue audience.” While this may come as a shock to some, in reality you are planning 2 shows and no matter what your hybrid event ideas are your event budget will need to increase for that. Here are some of the most common expenses we are seeing for hybrid events.

1. Hybrid Event Production 

AV and virtual event production become much more expensive when planning a hybrid event. You have to make sure that your event set up works for your in-person and virtual audience alike. Now that attendees have been to virtual events they will expect the experience to be immersive. Staging now needs to be designed with broadcasting in mind, making sure your scenic and camera angles work for a virtual audience will become key. Audiences will expect to experience the in-person elements live with little lag time and a great streaming experience.

2. Virtual and Physical Spaces

With hybrid audiences there will be a need for both a physical venue and virtual environment. Not only do you need both environments, but they need to be able to merge together allowing attendees to connect. 68% of event marketers reported that a hybrid solution that can manage both virtual and in-person events will play a key role in their 2021 event strategies. A hybrid solution allows the worlds to merge and the planning experience to be much more seamless.

3. Hybrid Technologies 

We’ve touched on this before but there is a very real need to connect the virtual audience to the event. We strongly believe a hybrid event solution will play a key role in a successful hybrid event. In fact, Bizzabo just raised $138 million dollars in funding for the future of hybrid events. We are creating better capabilities for meetings and networking, engagement and interaction tools, and an overall great user experience.

4. Hosts and Moderators

A great host will aid serving hybrid audiences. They can bridge the worlds, making sure the in-person and virtual spaces are integrating and having a good experience. Hosts and moderators are the thread that ties the environments together. They can read the crowd, help create engagement, and draw out conversations should technical issues arise.

“Don’t go back to the habits of before times… now you really have to design with intention and integrate the two audiences and connect them” 

Dana Pack – Executive Producer/Strategist – MCW Events

Onsite Expenses

An event is about the live experience so investing in a memorable and rewarding experience is a must. When we are able to gather in-person again, there will be new expenses and considerations to take into account when planning your event. The following items will be the main elements of your onsite spending.

1. Venue 

For larger events, the venue will be one of the largest expenses in your budget. Because this will be such a large spend, you will want to carry out all budgeting best practices for this process. You will also want to account for the current social distancing guidelines, this might mean requiring a larger space than you previously had to ensure your event is adhering to local guidelines.

First, make sure that the venue aligns with your overarching event goals. If the objective is to facilitate as much networking and creative collaboration as possible, book a venue that provides ample space and a natural flowing walkway for attendees to easily converse with one another.

When it comes to the venue outreach process, use the information you have on file. If there are venues you’ve worked with or considered working with in the past, use those contacts as a starting point.

Once the negotiations are underway, this is when you will want to gather as many details as possible. Make sure to over communicate your specific needs, your goals for the event, and the amount of support you’ll want from the venue which may be onsite staff and catering. Because this will be a larger expenditure, be sure to have multiple venues in the running.

Having options to choose from will give you a better idea of what you ultimately want as well as provide leverage when negotiating with each vendor. Choosing a venue is an important decision so make sure to allocate enough time and funds to the process.

2. COVID Compliance and Safety Precautions

In-person events are going to look different when they return. As we mentioned in our Common Sense Guide to Coronavirus and Events, the industry has changed events forever. Plan to set aside a portion of your event budget for event safety. This covers everything from your usual security teams to the new world of COVID-19 precautions. To keep guests safe you may have to allocate budgets towards additional hand-washing stations, hand sanitizer, and plexiglass sneeze guards. If you plan to have health checks at the entrance take into account the additional supplies like contactless thermometers and team members needed to staff the health check. Planners will also need to order more signage than before encouraging attendees to promote social distancing and other protective measures.

Promotional Expenses

Another significant chunk of the budget should be dedicated to your overall marketing strategy for the event. Of course there are countless channels and methods that you could put your money towards, but we’ve listed a few popular event promotional strategies that event organizers take below.

1. Paid Search 

If you anticipate that many potential attendees will be using online search to find events similar to yours, consider dedicating some of your promotional budget towards SEO and paid search. The most popular platform used for a paid search strategy is Google AdWords.

To give a brief breakdown of its functionality, Google AdWords allows advertisers to bid on certain keywords that they wish to rank for. For example, if you are organizing a low scale startup event in San Francisco, below are a few keywords you may want to bid for.

Based on information such as monthly search volume and overall demand for that keyword, you’ll want to decide on a competitive price in relation to others who are also bidding for that keyword. Also keep in mind that Google AdWords only charges when someone clicks on your link. Take these factors into consideration as you strategize how much of your budget you should allocate to paid search.

2. Public Relations 

Investing in more traditional forms of event promotion could see valuable returns and additional press pickups. In today’s digital age, public relations largely consists of having your event information published on relevant outlets. This is where investing in PR can come in handy. A PR team or agency will have both the knowledge and the network to ensure your event information and all articles surrounding your event are placed on the relevant outlets and publications to maximize event exposure.

Instead of using an agency, you can also do the PR yourself by joining a PR network or using specific platforms that are designed to support your PR strategy. Below is a list of PR networks you can explore. Note that each comes with different price tiers and analytics functions:

• Business Wire
• Marketwired
• PR Web
• PR Newswire
• SB Wire
• 1888PressReleases

3. Paid Social Media 

Another popular form of digital advertising is putting money behind social media campaigns. Paid social media could prove to be a great use of your event budget. All major social media platforms have an ad offering and thus the main task would be balancing your paid social investments in each platform to ensure a wide yet targeted reach.

As illustrated in the Guide to Facebook Event Promotion, the platform has one of the more robust advertising platforms out there—giving advertisers the ability to achieve massive reach with minimal effort. Ads can be served based on specific demographic information including age and geographical location. They can also be served to those who have visited your event website, which is a form of retargeting.

Ads can also be served on a “connections” basis which means the ads will be seen by those whose friends have already registered for your event. This is just a brief summary of what Facebook ads are capable of. For more tips on this form of event promotion and overall best practices, you can take a look at what the social media experts had to say on the topic.

4. Direct Mail 

Another great channel to invest in for your event marketing are direct mail campaigns. Direct mail can enrich your demand generation and event strategy and potentially offer better conversions and responses in comparison to email campaigns. It was reported in Sendoso’s State of Spending Report that direct mail’s motivation response is 20% higher than digital media.

However, depending on the size and complexity of your direct mail campaigns, pricing can be more expensive than your digital channels. A successful direct mail campaign requires alignment between marketing and sales, clear goals, and a clear call to action for your target audience.

When it comes to your promotional strategy, there are certainly other costs around marketing personnel and various event tools. Adding additional allowance to your promotional budget will help you absorb additional costs should they come up during your path to launch an event.

Event Budgeting Template

It’s time to put together the key elements of an event budget, below you can find a simple event budgeting template that provides an overview of the main expenses.

Of course you can add more columns as you see fit. The above template can be organized into a spreadsheet either through Google Sheets or Excel. Wherever you choose to store your budget plan, make sure that this data is made available to only those who need this information as you’ll want to keep finances as confidential as possible.

Balancing Event Budget and Event ROI

Now that we’ve discussed the basics of event budgeting and the standard costs that go into the budget plan, it’s important to explain the relationship between event budget and event ROI. The main reason for an event budget is not only to keep tabs on your spending but also to understand the bigger picture. Organizing a comprehensive event budget is a crucial step in properly calculating your return on investment.

By definition, everything that is spent within your event budget is an investment. You are hoping that these expenditures will lead to favorable business outcomes such as greater pipeline value, increased sales opportunities, or, more simply, a profit from event ticket sales. Similar to how we discussed the importance of articulating your event goals, establishing event ROI is a related process. Outlining the event ROI is simply the act of making your goals more measurable.

Key Takeaways for Mastering Your Event Budget

A detailed, organized, and comprehensive event budget will help you allocate your funds intelligently as well as provide the necessary data to calculate accurate event ROI.

• Set specific event goals. Your goals will dictate the scope of your event and its budget. Will you be hosting an intimate dinner for VIPs or a large-scale user conference? Each has unique needs.
• Do your research. Look at historical data, consult with your peers and colleagues, speak to different vendors. This will help you accurately gauge your event budget and will make you a more informed buyer.
• Map it all out. Your event budget will need to cover venue procurement, promotional campaigns, food, staff, tables, chairs, event technology, lighting, swag…the list goes on. Make a detailed map of your needs to help you keep it all in check.
• Hedge your bets. Catastrophes will happen. Costs will suddenly appear. Have a back-up plan and a back-up reserve of funds planned for just these situations.

As you put together your own event budget no matter the format, we hope this guide will help you get a bit closer to your definition of event success in 2021 and beyond.

Ramy Ayoub

The post Event Budgeting: The 2021 Guide for Event Marketers appeared first on Ramy Ayoub.

Looking for how to plan an event, or advice on event planning?

You’ve come to the right place.

We’ve seen a lot of organizations’ events over the years, and there are ten steps we’ve identified as key to a successful event.

While we can’t identify all of the details you’ll need to think about, since much of it will depend on the type of event you are holding, we can suggest some best practices that are important to follow for any event.

We’ve also put together an easy-to-use checklist so nothing falls through the cracks. To identify the timeline, start by working backwards from your event date.

And if you’re planning a virtual event rather than a traditional in-person one, we have a downloadable Virtual Event Checklist too!

We hope the following provides a starting point for your event planning – and without further ado, here are the ten steps.

1. Develop Your Event Goal and Objectives

The very first step in planning your event is to establish a tangible goal and objectives.

First, start by asking yourself: Why are you organizing this event, and what do you hope to achieve?

If you know your organization’s key goals before planning, you can ensure that every part of your event is optimized for success.

Are you trying to raise awareness for a cause, or collect a predetermined amount of donations for your next project? Are you hoping to attract 50 guests, or 500?

Setting a goal with quantifiable metrics of success will make it easier for your team to ensure that you reach them.

2.  Organize Your Team

Any event takes a concerted team effort to handle all the details. Consider identifying one key Event Manager or Event Chair as well as individual Chairpersons for subcommittees, such as:

• venue management;
• speakers;
• entertainment;
• publicity;
• sponsors;
• and volunteer management.

Assigning individual roles to team members creates a system of accountability, as well as preventing tasks from falling to the wayside. Plus, it’ll allow you to delegate – but don’t forget to account for committee meetings in your event plan timing!

3. Establish Your Budget

Establishing your event’s budget is one of the most important parts of planning an event. I’ve seen many great ideas fall by the wayside because the team who originally came up with it forgot to take their budget into consideration before beginning to plan.

  Some of the critical expenses you need to include in your budget are:

• Venue: This cost should encompass the rental as well as any insurance you need to purchase.
• Food and Drink: This field is pretty self-explanatory. However, remember that the amount you can afford here might also dictate the number of tickets you’re able to sell.
• Entertainment: This field can be customized however you need it to be — whether it’s allocated for speakers, a DJ, or even a talking pig, make sure you have wiggle room for travel and accommodation costs as well as any compensation.
• Décor: Will you be going with a DIY mason-jar theme, or one that’s a little fancier? Establishing the costs upfront will help you determine which one you can afford.
• Staff: This category might often be forgotten, but it’s key to account for the transportation and lodging costs of your staff, especially if you’re headed out of town. Even budgeting staff time (what would they be spending time on if they weren’t working on this event?) can help you decide whether that extra meeting is worth it.
• Marketing: Whether you decide to promote your event through Facebook or go old-school by putting flyers up all over town,
• Software: If you’re not already paying for any kind of event management software, consider incorporating it into your event planning.
• A/V: From projectors to wi-fi to speakers, this category encompasses a wide variety of costs.
• Miscellaneous: Even the best-planned event will have some additional costs come up. Accounting for them in your budget will ensure you’re not caught unawares.

Even if some of these items aren’t fixed costs yet – for example, if you haven’t yet picked a venue – it’s important to keep the maximum that you can afford to spend in mind before making those decisions.

4. Set the Date

The date might already be pre-set for a recurring event, but if this is a new event, be sure to consider the following before firming up your date:

• Give yourself enough time! Ideally, you should have 4-6 months to plan, if not more (depending on the nature of your event)
• Be aware of statutory and religious holidays
• Avoid school holiday time periods (winter, spring and summer holidays)
• Check dates with key participants – speakers, presenters, VIP guests, etc.

Once you’ve set the date (and have already outlined your budget), you can start booking any external staff (such as caterers) you need right away.

Planning an event right now? Download our Event Planning Checklist here.

5. Create an Event Master Plan

Once you have a good idea of all the costs and the timeline associated with your event, it’s time to start the real plan! Creating your event master plan will allow you to ensure every aspect remains on track, as well as making it easier to coordinate with volunteers and event committee members.

Your event master plan should encompass all aspects of the event, including:

• Venue, logistics, & catering management (contracts, permits, insurance, etc.)
• Speakers and presenters (identifying, confirming, logistics & management)
• Activities and entertainment
• Publicity and promotion (online & off-line, such as web page & online promotion; events calendars; printed programs; media relations; signage; social media, etc.)
• Registration (online sign-up, payment and tracking; on-site sign-in, etc.)
• Sponsor and partner management
• Volunteer management and responsibilities

While planning your event, consider also creating a detailed timeline, so that everything moves smoothly. Include when any permits or insurance policies need to be submitted, when registration ends, and a detailed timeline of the day-of. Although it might be tempting to say, “It’s all in my head! I”ll be fine!” and not be concerned about writing it all down, beware: this kind of mentality will make it much more difficult for you to assign accountability. It’ll also make it more difficult to remember what you did for the next event – so do your future self a favor and keep everything written down.

Finally, if you or your organization has run previous events of a similar type, reviewing any documentation that exists at this stage can help you ensure you’re not missing anything.

6. Book Your Venue

Once you have the date nailed down, it’s key to book your venue as soon as possible. Your event has to have a date and location nailed down before you can begin advertising, so this task needs to be completed as early in the planning period as possible.

(Note that some flexibility around the date might also help you out at this stage and open up a wider variety of venues.)

Some things to consider when picking a venue for your event are:

• Accessibility. Does the venue have accessible entrances and elevators? Are there all-gender washrooms? Will you have space for interpreters? This and many other factors go into choosing a space that all participants will feel comfortable in.
• Size. An event for 50 people will need a very different space than one for 500. Additionally, consider whether or not you’ll need separate rooms for breakout sessions or the like.
• Parking. Is there a parking lot, or is it easy to access via public transit?
• Insurance. Will you need to purchase separate insurance? What are their liability rules?
• AV. If your event needs speakers and microphones, make sure it’s easy to set them up in the space that’s available. The same goes for wifi access (and cellphone connection!), or any other technological needs your event has.
• Costs. How much of a deposit is the venue asking for? Will there be additional costs? How much will you get back if you (heaven forbid) need to cancel?

7. Brand Your Event

If you want your event to stand out, you need to choose a timely and compelling theme that sets you apart from your competition. This means that you need to come up with a dynamic overall theme and you need to take great care with the actual name since it can be a key attention-getter, especially in online media.

• Brainstorm names: When you are brainstorming the event name, think about:
  • How is your event different from other events in your sector?
  • What are you hoping to convey through this event?
  • What are the main components of your event?
• Create a tagline: Once you’ve come up with a name, also try to craft a tagline – a short, memorable branding slogan that describes the event.
• Design a logo: The final step will be having a logo created to represent your event. A logo can be an effective branding tool – offering immediate recognition of your event in all your publicity and promo items (such as t-shirts, water bottles, bags, and more).

Once you have your name, tagline, and logo, use it in all your marketing collateral so that people who are unfamiliar with your organization will start recognizing your brand – and remember that the event is happening!

8. Identify and Establish Partnerships & Sponsors

Are there organizations that you could partner with or call on for sponsorships to defray the costs and increase potential participation?  Plus, when you involve other people or groups in your event, they have a stake in helping spread the word and making the event a success — the more the merrier, right?

You might want to consider:

• Seeking corporate sponsors to fund a portion of the event. This can range from national organizations that might want to sponsor a dinner, offer a door prize or a key silent auction item, to local businesses that might be able to provide goods or services, such as flowers for the tables, gift bag items, etc.
• Partnering with community organizations who might be able to offer a venue and/or assistance with organizing or staffing an event.

If you’re looking for businesses to sponsor your event, keep in mind that they’ll be more likely to do so if they can see the clear benefit to them. If you’ve had sponsors in the past who are willing to speak up on your behalf, so much the better – but if not, be prepared to craft a compelling case for support when you initially reach out.

Read More: How to Write a Sponsorship Letter

9. Create a Publicity Plan

Even with the most amazing speaker or entertainment line-up, you need publicity to get people in the door. Event promotion starts with the initial notice or page on your website, note in your newsletter or email to save the date, and then builds to include online and off-line publicity, media relations and on-going outreach to encourage registration.

Some components you might want to include in your plan are:

• Web page announcement
• Social media
• Email blasts
• Press and media connections
•  Printed materials

Finally, no promotional plan is complete without the post-event thank-you’s, sponsor acknowledgements and articles about the event’s key messages or fundraising success.

10. Determine Day-Of Processes

Once you’ve prepared everything going on around the event, keeping track of the order of the event itself and planning out your program is the next step.

To ensure you’re prepared for anything, prepare an agenda that will walk you through the whole day from setup to cleanup. Including every detail, no matter how small, will help you feel like you have it all under control!

Here’s a quick example of what something like this might look like:

5:00: Drop off silent auction items at the venue (Diana)

6:15: AV setup (Terry, Diana)

7:00: Have quick volunteer coordination meeting (Terry + volunteers)

7:30: Attendees begin arriving

8:00: Hors d’oeuvres served

8:30: Speaker 1 takes the stage

8:45: Break

9:00: Speaker 2 takes the stage

10:00: Awards presented (Diana)

10:30: Mingling, silent auction bidding finishes

11:00: Start clearing tables

11:30: Bar closes

12:00 Event ends; all guests must leave

Identifying just who needs to do what can also ensure that there’s clear accountability leading up to the event.

And as a bonus, you can also use a simplified version of this in any branding materials as your public-facing agenda.

This Software Makes Running (and Filling) Events a Snap!

If you’re sick of processing event registrations and payments by hand, there’s a software that can completely automate the process for you online. It’s called Membership Management Software and here’s what it can do:

• Allow easy creation of online event registration forms
• Put a calendar of events on your website
• Automatically update your website with upcoming events
• Deposit event payments directly into your account
• Send automatic invoices and event reminders
• Dump event attendee data directly into your contact database
• and more

Not only does Membership Management Software take care of all event logistics, it also makes running any sort of membership organization easier, because it automates a number of other administrative tasks such as managing your contacts, website, finances, and email communication.

If you’d like to see if this kind of software is right for your organization, try Wild Apricot, the #1 Membership Management Software on the market.  The best part is that Wild Apricot is free to try for 30 days. Click here to start your free trial now.

Bonus: Post-Event Review

Congratulations: you survived your event!

But wait a second. It’s not quite over.

Before collapsing on the sofa for a well-deserved nap, assess your event to see what went well, and what you can do better next time.

How will you determine if your event is a success? Do you measure success by the number of registrants or attendees, or is it dependent on you breaking even or raising a target amount in donations?

When you set your initial event goals and objectives, you should also consider how you will evaluate the event to determine your success. If you’re using a membership management software package, such as Wild Apricot’s, you can easily track registration numbers and fees.

But if your event involves tracking, for example, a silent auction, then you’ll need to put some processes in place to identify goods offered in kind and funds raised at the event, such as a post-event survey.

By the same token, if the objective of your event is to raise awareness, you’ll have to benchmark and gather data on online social media activity and mentions, as well as offline publicity – based again on your initial goals.

Once you’ve gotten back your attendee survey and talked to your staff, a few questions to ask yourself are:

• How did we perform against forecast? This can be your attendee number forecast, your budget, or any other prediction you made about the event. If you ended up on target, great! But if not, review what you could do better for next time.
• What was attendee feedback like? Some one-off comments can be written off, but if there are some points that come up several times whether positive or negative, they’re worth taking into consideration.
• How did our team perform? You can use your event as a great feedback generator for everyone else who helped you with it – as well as earmarking volunteers for particular tasks in the future.
• How did our marketing do? Which activities provided the most ROI? Whether it was creating an event on Facebook or talking to the local press, determining which one performed best will help you decide which route to take next time.

Any other event planning tips we missed? Let us know! 

Ramy Ayoub

The post The Ultimate Event Planning Guide: How to Plan an Event appeared first on Ramy Ayoub.

The sudden shift to virtual events has created many challenges for planners – especially when it comes to managing remote speakers.  In fact, the virtual event environment has made the whole process of speaker presentation and management more difficult, both in terms of providing value to attendees and meeting speaker expectations. But, just how difficult is speaker engagement when it comes to virtual events? And what can you do, to work effectively with your speakers?

Here we highlight six ways to help you. Let’s take a look.

1) Co-Create Speaker Content  

Whilst speakers will develop their content for your virtual event, you need to see it as well. It could be that speakers are unaware of the subtle differences between delivering content at an in-person event to delivering content to your virtual attendees. The design of sessions is super important if you really going to engage your audience.

For example, attention spans are a lot shorter online, we experience screen fatigue – and of course, a speaker cannot ask delegates to do the ‘turn to your neighbor and discuss’ exercises.

Some speakers will be presenting for the first time and will welcome your help. Your co-creation could be as simple as requesting they reduce the number of slides. Go through their presentation if they have one and see how you can help make the content more interactive and more engaging.

Expectations of virtual delegates have been increasing rapidly since Covid-19 hit and it’s important that your speakers deliver content that makes a difference.

On-Demand Webinar: Virtual Events – 10 Ways to Keep Your Attendees Engaged!

2) Explain the Tech          

Speakers should be asking you about the tech you will use. If they don’t, it may be a sign that they may not understand what happens at a virtual event. That in itself is a red flag and will indicate just how much virtual ‘hand holding’ you will need to do.

Let them know if they will be able to see your attendees. Some companies want speakers to see attendees, other companies don’t. In some instances, this may be decided for you by compliance protocols, in that, only certain tech platforms can be used.

All event tech platforms are different. Some are more advanced than others, some have better data security than others and some are more user friendly than others. It’s important that the speaker understands the platform. Does it allow for them to easily upload their content? Does it have the functionality for polling and questions already built in?

Related read: Choosing a virtual event platform – how to get it right!

You may be using an event tech stack that you have stitched together. That is fine as long as you know what it does and if there are any gaps. You cannot explain to a speaker what they can do with the tech, without a clear understanding of what the tech you are using will do.  Some virtual event tech providers like Events force offer added support through partnerships with A/V companies that provide all the tech support that remote speakers need – from briefings and preparing presentations to testing and rehearsals, managing transmissions, studio hire, speaker green rooms and so on.

3) Emphasize the Importance of Time

Whilst at an in-person event, speakers may be able to stretch the timing. But that is not the case in the virtual world. Remember your virtual audience will be tuning in to see what they need as specified in your programme and they will expect you to be on time.

Letting time run away is a big mistake. You need to be in control of time, not be governed by it. After all you are making a production. Think of a TV show and you will understand why timing is critical. The News at 6.00pm comes on at 6.00pm and finishes on time every time. You need to deliver the same exacting attention to detail.

If speakers want to include questions and polling as part of their session let them know how much time is available for this. You need to allow time for the question to be read, for attendees to respond and then for the results to come in. Often polls are done really quickly which is a shame. Allowing sufficient time for polling will give you a greater return. At the #GMIDgoesvirtual event in April 2020 more than 7,000 delegates voted in a poll and the session still kept to time.

Just be clear with your speaker that the session ends according to the programme and not a second later.

4) Fully Brief your Speakers   

Some speakers are getting used to the complexities of speaking in the virtual space. So the more that you can provide useful event speaker information to them, the better.

Essential to this is for you to re-iterate what you have agreed with them already. Make sure you cover all the basics as you would for an in-person event but also be super clear on audience participation activities that are or are not possible.

Let them know what discussion with attendees actually means. Will they speak and be heard or will they speak by way of submitting an online question or comment?

You may wish to provide some screen shots of the platform the speaker will be using to give them a quicker ease of familiarity. Let them know what to do in case they get cut off because their connection drops. Who do they call and what number do they dial? Remember, the event will be live so you need to seamlessly get them back on track without too much fuss.

It is up to you how much of a briefing you provide. But with virtual events, the golden rule is that you need to provide as much detail as you can. Put your speakers at ease because there is more complexity involved than at an in-person event.

5) Insist on Rehearsals          

When working with remote speakers, make it clear that you will be carrying out a rehearsal(s) before you go live. And make it clear that a rehearsal is not negotiable – speakers need to be there. Virtual events demand more attention to detail and hence rehearsals play a vital role in the success of your event.

Your speakers, host, tech team and everyone else playing a role has to know what to do and when to do it. They also need to know what to do when things go wrong.  And they will.

Go through the running order from top to bottom. Don’t make the fatal mistake of just talking through what will be happening. It’s not enough. You need to rehearse everything.  Then you can work out where the challenges are. You can discover what is working well and what isn’t. This enables you to adjust to improve for the live production.

How do your speakers look on camera, where they are positioned and what background are they using, are just a few of the things that you need to check out. You can adjust sound, lighting and scripting at the rehearsal stage. But once you go live, you are live and you cannot start again.

Run the rehearsal fully, check all the slides, play the videos and take it seriously. You will get better results and greater engagement from your audience.

6) Maximize the Opportunity

Working with speakers is a two-way street. They want to share their knowledge, insights and experience. And you want all of that, because it is great content for your attendees. But rather than just have the speaker deliver their session and leave, there are other ways in which you could maximize the opportunity. After all, a lot of effort has gone into getting everything in place and working correctly so don’t let them go, just yet.

For example, their session has ended but you could do a Q&A with them immediately and use that later in your programme or as on-demand content a few months after the event.

Whilst you have the speaker, make the most of them.  It will benefit both of you. And it means you can keep providing relevant and valuable content throughout the year to your community.

Conclusion – You Are the Programme Producer   

Working effectively with your speakers means that your attendee engagement levels are likely to increase. This in turn should mean a stronger ROI and that would be a good result.

Getting the programme absolutely right takes skill and experience. You will be acutely aware that too much content is likely to lead to your delegates to look for escape routes of session changes, lunch and comfort breaks. However, too little content and you run the risk of them deciding there is not enough for them to take the time to participate.

It’s a fine balance that you need to deliver and that is where good design skills will help. This is why it’s critical that the speakers deliver precisely what you need. Directing your speakers may feel uncomfortable at first but it is necessary. After all, you are not stage managing an event, but creating a virtual production. Therefore, you need to take control as a producer and not as a planner.  A number of speakers will be happy for you to direct them. If you both communicate clearly you will be well on the path to producing a very successful virtual event.

Ramy Ayoub

The post 6 Ways to Work with Remote Speakers for Virtual Event Success appeared first on Ramy Ayoub.

Music events are some of the most exciting events to be a part of. It is easy to assume that it is all “rock and roll” and happens organically, but knowing how to plan a music event is key. A lot of organization and planning is actually what drives the creativity and fun.

We’ve put together a few key steps to help you plan a music event. We’ve also included specific tips and resources you can use.

These steps aren’t particularly glamorous. But ask any music promoter: They’ll tell you that anything that saves time and speeds up the process is welcome.

1. Set your budget

There is a reason that budgeting is the first tip on this list. The money you have to spend will dictate most of the decisions you make. If you don’t set a budget, you will almost certainly overspend.

You don’t have to spend a fortune. Plenty of legendary gigs have been put on in the back room of pubs with bands that most of the audience haven’t heard of.

The important thing is to work out how much money you can afford to spend. This way, you won’t be out-of-pocket. A successful event will even end up making a profit (or at least breaking even).

The budget for every gig will vary slightly. Think about how many people you hope to get to the event. What’s a realistic price for tickets? Your budget should never exceed what you plan to make on the door. Else you’ll end up losing money.

2. Find the right venue

The venue is a huge part of the gig. It adds to the ambience. Some people religiously visit the same event venues and are fans of the space as much as the band.

Google is definitely helpful for finding venues, but there are other methods.

Websites like Venuefinder are helpful: They have already gathered important details such as disabled access and contact information. There are a lot of non-music venues there, too. Ensure the venue is suitable for concerts or you’ll will be wasting time getting in touch.

Another good method is to ‘reverse engineer’ gig listings. Have a look at similar gigs in the area. Check the venue listed. From here, you can find the relevant contacts at the venue. Bands in Town is a website where thousands of events can be searched and explored by area.

Sure, a venue needs to have all of the necessary facilities. But it also must have that little bit of atmosphere you may not require for — say — a conference. Consider not just the capacity, facilities, and location of the venue, but the reputation they have for music.

3. Sign up bands and artists

This step is interchangeable with finding a venue. You’re probably planning a music event because you already have bands and artists in mind. If not, be prepared for the difficult (but rewarding) task of finding and booking your musicians.

The scale of your music event is a big consideration here. Bands who are just starting out will probably be happy to play in pubs and clubs. The small gigs at the start of a career are a rite of passage for musicians.

Don’t spend a fortune on booking performers who are expensive if you’re starting on a small scale.

On the other hand, think about the band or bands bringing fans. At least one of the bands on your lineup should be a draw and bring along a lot of their own fans. Hiring three unknown bands for a venue with a 1,000-person capacity is a recipe for disaster.

Finding bands requires some legwork. This is especially true if you do not have any in mind.

A search on Google will yield results such as function and wedding bands. These are costly and will play cover versions of songs. It’s probably not what you have in mind for your music event.

The best method is to go to where musicians hang out, both online and offline.

Offline

Check gig listings for which bands are ‘doing the circuit’ locally. Local practice rooms and venues are a good place to find the names and genres of some bands in person. Ask around your friends, especially those who consider themselves music aficionados.

Online

Twitter, Soundcloud, and Facebook are all helpful places to search. Reverb Nation has a function which allows you to search by location. This is a lifesaver if you’re looking for local bands. Message performers to ask how to book them and check their availability.

Bands in Town is great for finding venues, but it has loads of gig listings, too. This can give you a list of bands to explore for your own event.

The unsigned guide is a music directory that’s a very detailed and useful resource for anyone working in the music industry. They have a list of over 70 booking agents and contact details for all of them. It isn’t free to access, but if you’re serious about finding rising talent, it is worth the £4.99 monthly fee.

Be sure to book bands who are in similar genres so as not to put off your punters. It is time consuming, but finding performers is fun, too.

4. Plan equipment and tech

There is every chance that you won’t have to deal with equipment and sound engineers when booking a gig, but it is best to check.

While many venues will have their own PA system and the staff to run it, make sure you ask. See if you need to hire or purchase anything additional.

You should always ask the performers for a list of any specific equipment they need (that they don’t plan to bring themselves). Establish who is setting up the equipment and who is running the mixing desk on the night. Communication is key here.

Heat on the Street have created a checklist for events to help you keep track of all production costs and considerations.

5. Consider event logistics

Logistics is quite a broad topic. If you’re the creative type, just the word itself will probably make your skin crawl.

Certain things will always have to be discussed and considered well in advance of the gig. The following list shows some of the logistical aspects you’ll need to think about to make sure everything runs smoothly. Make sure you:

• Book the venue on a date suitable for all parties including performers.
• Set up marketing channels such as event pages, invitations, and posters.
• Set a timeline for the day of the gig, including when the performers and any staff need to arrive.
• Plan security and door staff to handle on-the-day ticket sales, hand out event badges, and so on. (Ask the venue if you are expected to provide staff.)
• Follow health and safety protocol. The venue will be able to help with this, but you should alert performers, staff, and attendees. This article has some excellent tips on health and safety for events.
• Sort out your pricing and ticketing. Ticketing is made much easier by using a platform such as Billetto. You can create multiple ticket categories and set the maximum capacity so you don’t have to worry about overselling.
• Check if there are any curfew or license concerns. Set a firm time you have to finish. Create a running order. Performers may be tempted to overrun, so warn them that this isn’t possible. Tell them the PA system could be cut off.

Get the basics nailed and thrive

As you gain experience of planning a music event, you’ll see that there is a lot to consider. The above tips are a great starting point to make sure you have the basics covered.

As you approach the event, you’ll need to consider everything from marketing to riders. Stay tuned for more detailed posts on promoting and organizing music events here on the blog.

The post How to Plan a Music Event: 5 Steps to a Successful Gig appeared first on Ramy Ayoub.