OCTOBER 15-17, 2024 | NEW YORK CITY

Doing More with Less: How to Budget Your Event in Today’s Economy

Do you know who’s on a budget these days? Everyone. And as a New York event planner, you’re a master at stretching dollars and pinching pennies to stay within your clients’ event planning budget constraints. But it’s always helpful to share insights with savvy ways to cut costs and tighten budgets. Here’s how today’s event planners are making it work without compromising the event experience. 

Know the Budget Down to the Last Dollar

Before you take one step toward planning an event, sit down with your client and itemize the event planning budget. With those figures in mind, you can then go back and review past similar events and put together a comprehensive spending plan. If there are unknown expenses to consider, list those and discuss them with your client. You can determine if there are any aspects of the event that are up for negotiation, like the food budget or the entertainment costs. It’s the high-level plan and constant communication to set the budget expectations with your clients that will ensure you stay within the parameters of the intended event planning budget.

Itemize the Non-Negotiable Expenses

There will be certain event costs you can’t avoid. Go ahead and firm up those plans, including booking the venue. As you lock in these non-negotiable elements, however, don’t be afraid to try and negotiate costs. Maybe you’re able to secure a discount with early booking, or it could be you have an option to leverage a rebate because you’re putting down a deposit. And now is a great time to develop relationships with some of these vendors to form strategic partnerships for future event planning opportunities. Cultivating relationships will turn into better deals and stronger partnerships that end up saving everyone money.

Ticket Sales to Reduce Expenses

Can your client’s event be a ticketed event? Company events, product launches, and industry conferences all present opportunities for ticket sales. That revenue can help reduce the event planning budget, especially if you offer tiered ticket platforms through to the day of the event. And for those annual or seasonal events, you plan that are already selling tickets, consider revisiting the ticket pricing to spot opportunities for increases. 

Create Sponsorship Opportunities 

One of the most customizable and effective ways to combat event planning budget constraints is by generating revenue in the form of sponsorships. Of course, not all events will be suitable for sponsors, but most of those that are corporate-themed, company-hosted, or public-facing can be. Evaluate each event to determine if sponsorships make sense. Then you can create investment packages, complete with value propositions and perks, to sell to brands and businesses with similar target audiences as those on the invite list. 

Create and Sell VIP Experiences

Depending on the tone, theme, and style of the event, you could talk to your clients about creating and selling VIP experiences for the event. Maybe you can offer front-row seating for the entertainment or guest speaker or provide premier parking. Other New York event planners get creative about developing VIP access passes with unique dining, networking, or door prize perks. You can command a more upscale price for the high-profile experience, which can be helpful in offsetting event planning costs.

Reconsider Travel Costs

Some of your clients might be interested in inviting attendees that require travel and hotel accommodations. Before you start planning, discuss the budget and various options to discount or reconsider these travel and hotel costs. With today’s fuel prices, it might not be cost-effective to fly in all the company’s employees, for example. To keep costs down, you could instead offer to make the event a hybrid one, with live virtual attendance options and post-event digital assets for sharing. 

Negotiating Entertainment

Depending on the event, you might not be able to cut corners on the entertainment costs. However, there could be cost-saving shortcuts for securing different musicians, guest speakers, or other entertainers. Talk with your clients about how set they are on having a live band, for example. See if you can have the music experience with a DJ service for a few hours instead. If the president of ABC company is the keynote speaker, maybe you can negotiate for another industry professional with a smaller booking fee to share a similar message. Instead of three acts, see if the event can still be great with two. The idea is to explore all the ways you can with your client to help tighten up those event planning budgets.

Providing Options for Catering and Menu Selections

Some venues will provide discounts on catering and menu selections if you book with their in-house services. In other cases, the cheaper option is the other way around, with the outside caterer offering the better deal. Discuss how important the menu and food selection is to the event and share different ways to help reduce those costs. Having a birthday party mid-afternoon can translate to snacks instead of full meals that would accompany a dinner party, for example. 

Trust Your Event Planning Gut

When you have to do more with less and find ways to keep a tight event planning budget, don’t forget to trust your gut. If, during your vendor negotiations, deals sound too good to be true, they likely are. If you’re getting a “buyer beware” vibe from an entertainer, don’t ignore it. Question everything in your planning process and trust your gut. Part of running a budget-conscious event means looking for the most frictionless way to a successful experience. So, spotting those no-show vendors, poor service delivery contacts, or last-minute cancellation speakers now will save you and your client money overall.

What are some ways you’ve been able to stretch an event dollar this year? Consider some of these suggestions as you talk with clients about their upcoming events. Be mindful of the more restrictive event planning budgets and be prepared to offer just the right mix of budget-savvy solutions to your offerings. 

For more ideas about budgeting in today’s event planning world, come to The Event Planner Expo 2022 There you can network with some of the biggest names in the event planning industry. Get your tickets and start jotting down your questions. You’ll find all your answers at the Expo!

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