i

Types of event
planning

1. General event planners

2. Wedding planners
.
3. venue managers
4. Donor coordinators
5. Catering services Manager
6. Event social media coordinator
7. Volunteer coordinators
8. Communications managers

Budget
 The top ten most important steps in planning any event
are: ''

Strategy 1. Set your event goals and objectives.

2. Select your event’s date.

Event strategy is one of the 3. Develop an event mast er plan.

4. Create an event budget.
most important parts of your
5. Brand your event and begin publicity. -
meetings and events programs 6. Arrange sponsorships and speakers for your event.
7. Launch ticket sales.
8. Coordinate with event suppliers (catering, equipment,
The First Steps in Your Event Checklist: 4-6 Months etc).
Ahead of Event 9. Manage event day set up and execution.
10. Evaluate the success of your event
The further in advance you can start planning, the better — but
I’ve noticed that most organizations we work with start
planning their big events like galas and fundraisers about 6 6 months before
Decided budget

months in advance. Create guest list.

3 months before
Fina lize budget
Here’s what you need to do to get started: Se nd invites
Pick venues.

2 months before
Etc

Establish your event goals and objectives. Did you want to raise money or awareness? How many attendees are you
hoping to get? Establishing it up front will makeit easier to gauge the success of your event. (For tips on getting more event
attendees, click here.)
• Select the date. And make sure it doesn’t conflict with any other events taking place in your area, or any major
holidays.
• Identify v enue and negotiate details. What kind of insurance does the venue require? Can you serve alcohol?
Determine the requirements before committing.

And remember: your event can

range from a small workshop to
a gala fundraising event.
Whatever your event may be,
this checklist is the perfect
place to start your event
planning.
Develop an e vent master plan. Ironing out every detail will help ensure you don’t miss a thing.
• Get costestimates. Some costs you might need to consider are:
◦ Room rental
◦ Food and beverages
◦ Equipment
◦ Speaker fees
◦ Travel for staff
◦ Insurance Create an event budget. Based on the costs above, you’ll be able to determine how much
your event will cost — and if you’ll need to reduce any of them!
• Recruit an event committee. This includes selecting an event manager or chair, and
establishing sub-committee chairs.
• Brand your event.
◦ Start building out an event website or pages on your website that describe the event.
◦ Develop an event logo

Create and launch publicity plan. This includes ensuring staff and/or volunteers are
identified to manage specific tasks – e.g., media relations, VIP coordination, printed
material design & printing coordination, signage, online /social media, etc.
• Identify and confirm speakers/presenters/entertainers. Who will you need on
hand during the event?
• Identify and contact sponsors/partners. Getting event sponsorship can be a
huge boost. Start looking within your network first. Contact your existing supporters
and contacts. Then use tools to find potential sponsors.

• Determine if you need event registration software to make the

process easier. There are a variety of different software tools that can
help streamline the event process.
• Determine if you need other event management software. It’s
worth looking into an all-in one solution, like WildApricot, that can keep
everything organized in one place. This kind of software can tackle
everything including event marketing, relationship management, project
management, and more.
3-4 Months Ahead of Event: Starting to Ramp Up
Now that you have some of the foundational parts of your event figured out, it’s time to start executing!

If your event is coming up in a few months, you’ll need to start communicating with all the stakeholders outside your
organization and continue coordinating with them.

Here’s everything you need covered at this point:

• Build out I required documents for your team.

◦ General to-do lists
◦ Event goals, objectives, and KPIs • Financial/Administration:
◦ Determine registration fees
◦ Budget docs
◦ Set up and enable online registration
◦ Design req uirements
◦ Finalize sponsor levels and amounts
• Speaker/presenter/entertainer liaison:
◦ Finalize presentation/speech topics ◦ Identify items to be underwritten and

◦ Get bio information, photo accounting tracking details

• Venue and logistics planning:
◦ Travel & accommodation arrangements
◦ Have contracts signed if appropriate
◦ Ask speakers to start promoting and sharing it with their network

Determine and arrange all details re menu, A/V equipment, registration set-up, parking, signage, etc. If virtual, check
registration pages, do tech check-ins with speakers, test virtual experiences, etc.

1-2 Months
Prior To
Event: Keep
on Going
 Clients needs

1 Make personal connection 3 Communicate often and

with transparency

2 Listen to the client

4 Client first

Contract

1. Get it in Writing
2. Keep it simple
3. Deal with the right person
4. Identify each party correctly
5. Spell out all the details
6. Specify payment obligations
7. Agree on circumstances that terminate contract
1. Keep it confidential
 Negotiation

Be Flexible

Hotels often need to fill in dates between events - and if you're able and work with them to fill those
gaps, they will be able to offer you more discounts. Contract negotiation is all about having
something the venue wants (an event to fill those dates) and seeing what they are willing to give to
get it (discounts, favorable terms, ect.). By building relationships with the sales manager you'll be
able to leverage your event to help fit within the budget, because as we know, the asks from our
internal stakeholders become more, but our budgets never seem to increase!

ASK FOR EVERYTHING

Live by the mantra "if you don't ask, the answer is always no". No matter how ridiculous you think the
ask is, throw it out there. The concessions that hotels or venues offer in the contract cost them nothing
in comparison to the revenue that your event is bringing them. Don't wait for the venue to tell you what
they will give you (most of those are freebles they give anyone no matter how big the piece of business
is) - tell them what you want. I've gotten free hotel stays during the duration of the event, complimentary
presidential suites for staff, and entire reception bars comped all because I asked, and ended up saving
my company thousands of dollars in T&E and Food and Beverage because of it.