7 Budget Friendly Event Planning Tips

“Budgeting isn’t about limiting yourself—it’s about making the things that excite you possible.”

Events are a great way to find new clients, promote your services, raise awareness about your brand, find new jobs and whatnot! But the other side of events that we do not see is how organizers struggle with event planning when on a budget.

As an event marketer, you must have organized multiple events in your tenure. However, with back-to-back events, you have to think about saving costs so that they don’t break your bank. So let’s explore budget-friendly tips for organizing an event in 2022!

Think About Your Attendees Every Step of the Way

You must recognize the demographics of your target audience to have a clear view of the kind of expectations they might have. For example, if you target C-suite audiences, you will have to aim for sophisticated décor, catering, venue and drinks. On the other hand, if you target associates or students, you can go with minimalistic designs and less showbiz.

Based on your audience, you can allocate budgets for marketing and collaborate with partners who will help reduce costs.

Brush up Your Negotiation Skills

While planning an event, you must list preferred vendors and venues. Then, gather your marketing team and sit down to discuss ideal costs and the kind of expectations you want to be met.

Now, you can start calling vendors and stack up different quotations that can be utilized as a bargaining chip. Then, if you have decided to go with a vendor who is unwilling to lower their price, you can pitch in to add inclusions in exchange for the association.

Some best phrases to use while negotiating discounts are:

Phrase 1: “X” amount is my budget. How can you help us out?

Phrase 2: How far are you willing to come down in price to meet me?

Phrase 3: Is that the best you can do?

Phrase 4: I can give you the “x” amount if you say yes now!

Be Tactical With Your Event Dates

Are you still thinking about organizing events on weekends? Well, you will be surprised to know how many people show up for gatherings on a Tuesday! According to Medium, Tuesday and Thursday evenings are ideal for organizing corporate events and conferences. It is because people can turn up right after work without going out of their way any further.

Also, venue costs are more affordable for mid-week dates and you invest the money saved for other engagement activities for attendees.

Conclusion

As an event planner, you should know when to be extravagant and also the right time to be frugal. Then, based on your budget, you can start preparing a flowchart of all the items and activities for your event. It will help if you create a separate column to explain how your ideas will help the company save money.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you create a budget for an event?

You can follow the steps given below to prepare a basic budget for your event:

• Create separate columns for sections like planning, promotion, marketing, employee expenses, venue, accommodation and more
• Calculate overall expenses for all sections
• Input the estimated income that you will generate from your event activities
• Based on your estimated profits, you can spare a budget for each section
• Always be ready with a contingency reserve fund for emergencies

What are the six basic components of a budget?

The six basic components of a budget that you can follow for cost-effective event planning are:

1. Estimated revenue amount
2. Fixed cost
3. Variable costs
4. One-time expenses
5. Cash flows
6. Profits

How do you manage a budget for an event?

You can refer to the steps given below to create a strategy for managing your event budget.

• Define the goal of your event
• Know your target audience
• Communicate your expectations with your team
• Create an event budget template to track all expenses
• Think about multiple vendors and venues to fix the best option after negotiations
• Leverage your speakers, sponsors and co-workers for event engagement, promotion and entertainment