Event Planning for Associations: How to Stay On Budget & On Time

Event planning is hard. There are a ton of details to keep track of: guest lists, catering, invitations, entertainment, time management, and budgets all put a strain on an event organizer. If you’re planning an event as an association, multiply those details tenfold. More hands on deck does not necessarily make it easier to plan an event. And for associations, events tend to be pretty high-stakes. A nonprofit can expect to raise anywhere from 5% - 55% of its annual operating budget from a fundraising event.

If your association is planning a fundraiser, gala, conference or training event, it’s paramount that you stay on budget and on time to get the best ROI for your effort. Here are six tips to help your association stay on the right track when it comes to event planning.

Set budget and timeline expectations from day one.

Event planning is not unlike disaster preparation in the sense that when you start, you should plan for the worst. The work your association does at the outset can save a lot of headaches and stress later in the process when budgets begin to dwindle and time is running out.

One of the most important things you can do to help your association plan for an event is to set budget and timeline expectations, and get everyone on board from day one. Start the process by asking these questions:

1. How much time do we have to plan the event?
2. What is the goal of the event?
3. How will we accomplish this goal?
4. What is the upper limit of how much we are willing to spend on the event?
5. Where is the money coming from to pay for the event?

An association should think about the event’s goal in measurable terms: dollars raised, or number of people trained, for example. This can provide a reasonable expectation of ROI when taken with the amount the association is willing to spend on the event — and help control spending when you start to reach the last funds in your budget. A reliable time tracker can also work wonders when it comes to accurate budget forecasting.

Event planning should include a contingency plan.

Sometimes, even the best-laid plans fall through. A vendor could cancel last-minute, or speaker fees are higher than anticipated. Event planning experts recommend that an association build an additional 5% - 25% contingency figure into your budget, depending on the type of event you’re hosting.

It’s a little harder to build a contingency plan for a constricted timeline, since it’s impossible to create more hours in the day (though that would be nice!). One way to mitigate any timeline delays is by recruiting a team of volunteers to help out in case of emergency. Offer references, free tickets to the event, or even a Starbucks gift card to anyone willing to jump in last minute and help meet your event deadlines.

Get creative to stretch your budget.

Using free volunteers to put together your association’s event is just one way to make your money go far. Look for other ways to partner with a venue, local businesses, and talent within the community to help you save money. How can you feature and support other businesses through your event? Get a local restaurant to cater at a reduced cost if it means event attendees might stop by their restaurant. Find a local expert rather than flying in a speaker, or, if your event involves some form of entertainment, feature a local band or singer. Get creative with your venue: outdoor spaces are often less expensive than renting a hall — though, beware! Some popular outdoor venues get pricey during wedding season. Look for places that are less likely to have hosted before.

Leave time for the unexpected.

Just as you built a contingency plan for your budget, so should you try to build one for your timeline. Those last-minute, “urgent” requests are usually the biggest source of stress when planning your association’s event. In one survey, 44% of event organizers reported “last-minute requests” as their biggest barrier to productivity. Protect your schedule as much as possible for blocking off time for the things you need to focus on without distraction. Hacking your schedule helps your association as much as it helps your own personal sanity.

Measure time in minutes, not hours.

It may sound overboard to manage your timeline down to the minute, but a survey of high performers showed that mastering minutes can greatly improve your productivity. There are 1,440 minutes in every day, meaning there’s value in the space between those hour-long meetings where you can knock off a few tasks at a time. Some event planners keep a folder of “5-minute tasks” where they can tackle the small things — emailing, following up with vendors, signing approvals — between the things that take a lot of focus. When you start to break down your schedule, you’ll start to build a flow to your event planning process that lets you easily stay on time and on budget.