event budgetingEvent Budgeting 101

Whether you have an established brand or a small business you hope to get off the ground, event budgeting is crucial if you want your business to grow. An events budget is an estimate of the cost of an event. Sometimes budgeting for an event can seem daunting because of limited funds, the vision for the event and the factors needed to make it a reality. While this may be intimidating, do not fret. We’ve created this blog to provide a guide to event budgeting.

Why is budgeting for an event important?

When planning an event, costs need to be considered. After all, if you are hosting an event to promote your business, you need to know how much you must spend on the things you need to promote it.

Planning an event budget

As the famous saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. Those words ring true when planning the budget for an event. There are various things to keep in mind when budgeting for an event.

These include:

  • Setting goals.

Costs can vary depending on the type of event.  For example, if the purpose of your event is to create brand awareness, then more funds should be allocated to guest speakers who can attract attendees. But if the purpose is to generate more revenue, then costs should be focused on marketing to attract more attendees to sell tickets. Setting clear goals for your event will help show which factors of the event need to be prioritised, and therefore, require more funds.

  • Communication with stakeholders.

Stakeholders refer to the executives or board members of a company (internal stakeholders), as well as vendors and clients for whom the event will be hosted (external stakeholders). Stakeholders provide support and are often the ones to give the go-ahead for certain decisions concerning the event. Communicating honestly and frequently about the event planning and budget, will help the budget planning progress more easily and help build strong and lasting relationships between your business and its stakeholders in the process.

  • Tracking your expenses.

Fiscal responsibility is the name of the game. Throughout the budget planning process, you need to keep track of your expenditure. When the all the costs of the event have been considered, they need to be compared to the available budget, where adjustments can be made accordingly. Knowing your funding parameters will help you manage your finances better, so that you do not overspend, while still delivering a successful event.

  • Sponsorship

Considering sponsorship as an extra stream of revenue to supplement your budget will help to minimise costs. The kind of sponsorship you gain can also determine whether you receive promotional marketing, so be sure to consider attracting the right sponsorship for your brand and event.

General expenditure for events

There are common features that are often incorporated into events. These things must also be considered when planning your event budget.

These include:

  • Entertainment
  • Marketing and promotion for the event
  • Food
  • Venue
  • Security
  • Technology and tools
  • Transportation
  • Labour

We hope that this blog brought you some clarity on the confusing process of creating a budget for your event. While intimidating, setting up and sticking to a budget would greatly benefit the organisation and execution of your event. A budget ensures that you can financially provide for your event without overspending