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Develop a
Budget
You should
always start
your event
planning with
some financial
planning.
Consider that
before you ever
sell an event
ticket, a game
entry, or an
auctioned item,
you will have to
retain the
services of a
venue, caterer,
and auctioneer.
You’ll also have
supplies to
purchases for
mailings,
decorations,
fliers, tickets,
and other
things. Starting
with your first
cash donation,
or the sale of
your first event
ticket, you’ll
have income to
account for.
How much will
your expenses
set you back?
How much can you
expect your
event to bring
in? How much
will you be able
to give to your
cause once the
event is done?
Unless you do a
budget for your
event, you’ll
only be able to
guess at these
things. A bad
guess could
leave you in for
real problems.
To begin, list
the categories
of all the
expense and
income sources
that you think
you might have.
The list below
will give you a
place to start:
Expenses
Income
Venue
Cash Donations
Catering
Ticket Sales
Food
Silent Auction
Sales
Gratuity
Live Auction
Sales
Auctioneer
Services
Item Sales
Mailings
Special Appeal
Pledges
Procurement Letters Raffle &
Game Sales
Invitations
Corporate
Donation
Matching
Thank-you Letters
Sponsorships
Catalog
Publishing
Raffle & Game
Sales
Event Printing
Item Displays
Bid Sheets
Computer Rental
Item
Underwriting
Credit Card Fees
Ticket Printing
Decorations
For
each item, make
a best guess at
a corresponding
amount for your
group. While
your first cut
might not be
extremely
accurate, it
will at least
give you enough
information to
know if you’re
on the right
track.
As you progress
in your
planning, add
new items as
needed, and
update the
numbers in your
budget. Little
by little, you
will come to
have a very
detailed
financial view
of your event.
Not only will
this be helpful
when reporting
the results of
your fundraiser,
it will also be
an invaluable
planning tool
for future
events.
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