How to organise events
Organising your event
| Locations and venues
| Getting permission
| Event safety
| Event security
| Resources
| Waste management
| Traffic management
| Funding and your budget
| Licences
| Insurance and damage
| Pay your invoice
Funding and your budget
One
of the first and most important questions that has to be asked when
planning for an event is "Where is the money coming from?"
Apart from earned income, such as box office, admittance fees or
workshop fees there are various income sources that can help finance
your event.
Grants
Timing
and preparation are major considerations when applying for funding.
Generally, planning should start at least 6-12 months in advance as
applications will also have to be submitted many months ahead of
your event and it often takes several months from that date before
the results are notified.
Wherever
you apply, the principles are the same:
- get the
application in before the deadline
- check the
criteria and address it in your application
- make sure you
include a detailed budget
- if you get a
grant, it can take some weeks for the cheque to arrive.
Possible funding sources:
- Check out Auckland City
Libraries Fundview database. You can look through all national funding sources
that are available, their criteria for funding, what sort of
projects they fund, what conditions apply, when funding rounds are
and more. It is free to view and
information can be printed off for a small charge. Fundview is also available for viewing
at the Funding Information Service.
-
The Department of Internal Affairs also administers a small fund called the Community Initiative
Fund for community events.
There are five closing dates a year for funding applications.
Allow at least four months before your event to apply.
- Auckland
City has several funding schemes, click
here for more information.
- Auckland City sponsors events and conferences that are of significant
economic and social benefit to Auckland City. Our
criteria
for assessing sponsorship applications includes international recognition,
how the event fits with our strategic aims and return on investment for
Auckland City. Contact
us for more information.
-
Local councils have varying policies and levels of support for
events and cultural activities. If you're from outside the Auckland
City area, contact your local council.
-
Societies that have licences to run gaming machines must donate a
minimum of 33 per cent of their turnover to authorised purposes, that is, to
non-profit organisations. The society's address will be on the
Site Approval Certificate displayed near the gaming machine -
contact them to enquire about funding.
Things
to consider:
- be prepared to
receive less money than you apply for
- know when to
say no. You may be offered funding that is so minimal compared
to your anticipated need that it would compromise your project
to an unacceptable level - establish a baseline at which your
organisation can still produce the event and don't go below it
- temper your
funding application to the potential grant you may receive.
Smaller community grants do not need so much information. You
could spend 40 hours or more compiling a thorough funding
application. Make sure the size of the grant you could receive
will justify this expenditure.
Have a "plan
B" - what will you do if you don't get funded?
Sponsorship
Sponsorship
differs from grants in that the sponsoring organisations usually
require publicity, profile and other benefits via your event. For
example, Coca-Cola sponsors the "Coca-Cola Christmas in the
Park" concert and Vodafone sponsors the Warriors. These
organisations provide financial support to these events so that in
return they can promote their message, product or service to their
target markets.
Avenues
of sponsorship
Look locally for sponsorship - local businesses, clubs and
organisations may offer support for your event.
For example, a local
business may provide a tent to be used for information or changing,
in return for hanging their banner and handing out some pamphlets.
Local businesses and your local newspaper may wish to support the
event by sharing the cost of a full page advertisement in the local
paper - the event advertisement can occupy a portion of the page and
local businesses can take out advertisements on the remainder of the
spaces.
You need to remember that sponsorship is essentially a
business arrangement, not a handout. It is about making a mutually
beneficial deal. Document all negotiations and agreements to ensure
that both parties' needs are met and to ensure that you have
something in writing in case things don't go as both parties
planned.
Looking
for large amounts of sponsorship money can take time and skill. If
possible draw on the experience of someone who has negotiated
sponsorship deals of this size before. Leave at least 8-12 months or
more, if feasible, to begin searching for sponsorship and be aware
that most companies apportion their sponsorship funds at the
beginning of their financial year.
Donations
and in-kind support
Donations and in-kind support can be very valuable to your event
budget. When donations of goods are provided they are usually used
to generate extra income. eg. prizes in a raffle, or for
competitions. The donor may specify what they wish their donation to
be used for.
However,
some donations may be for things that you would otherwise have had
to pay for, enabling funding to be redirected.
In-kind support includes such things as goods and services and
assistance which can directly aid the event programme. For example,
a local office may allow you to use their photocopier and telephone
or a local printer may print some promotional material for you at a
discounted rate. A local children's activity centre may agree to
run a sand sculpture competition and children's games on the day
of the event. Another group who are having an activity close to your
event, and which complements your event theme, may agree to do
reciprocal publicity of your event in exchange for you publicising
theirs with your promotional material.
Look
at what you need in terms of equipment, props and staging. The
possibilities and variety of support your event can gain through
donations and in-kind support are endless.
How
to attract donations and in-kind support
When looking for people or groups to donate goods, money or in-kind
support, approach your local community. Professional businesses,
local traders, shopping centres, organisations and service clubs can
all be approached. This should be done months prior to your event as
it can take some time for people to respond to your requests. A good
place to start locating these groups is your local community
directory, newsletter or newspaper.
Once you have decided who you are going to approach, you must
plan how to gain their support. Writing a letter and then following
it up with a phone call or a personal visit is a good process. Your
approach in the letter is very important. Make sure you tell them
the following information:
- details of the
event
- what you are
trying to achieve
- who you
anticipate attracting to the event
- why you need
their support
- how they may
benefit.
Recognising donations and in-kind support
Most
people will want their donations or in-kind support recognised,
mainly through publicity for their business or organisation. The
event must acknowledge their support in some way, and how you do
this will depend on the level of support that they have provided.
There
are many ways in which you can recognise people's support. Here
are a few examples:
- Mention
people/organisations/businesses that have helped you through
your advertising, eg, on the back of the promotional flyer or
poster, or in the local newspapers.
- Have a luncheon
or morning tea and invite all those people that have provided
support and perhaps present them with a small token of
appreciation such as a certificate of support.
- Have a special 'VIP' area (such as a marquee) set aside for
sponsors/supporters
- Provide them
with a complimentary gift eg, tickets to events.
- Present all
event sponsors with publicity material, such as programmes.
These could be displayed in their shop describing their support
for the event.
- Let them
display promotional material for their business or organisation
at the event.
- Send them a
letter thanking them for support and involvement and indicate
how you utilised their support and the benefits it provided.
Also indicate your interest in having their support again in the
future.
- Where publicity
and advertising are used as methods for recognising support the
amount and location of advertising time and space must be agreed
upon by both parties.
- Acknowledge
major sponsors in any speeches.
Gaming/raffles
Only a society can be licensed to conduct a gaming activity. If
you wish to operate a lottery or raffle with prizes totalling $500
or more this is considered a gaming activity so you will require a
licence to operate the raffle, and must be registered as a society
to do so. There is a fee involved with getting a licence.
If
the prizes total less than $500 your society does not require a
licence but must comply with the conditions set out in the Gaming
and Lotteries Act 1997.
We recommend that you view the
Rules for Running a Gambling Activityon the Department of Internal Affairs
website before you begin planning your raffle.
If you
have any queries about your raffle, you can contact the Gaming
Licence Officer at the
Department of
Internal Affairs.
Budgets and costing
Planning
event finances well can make it a lot easier to run the event
effectively so drafting and operating the event budget is vital.
Drafting a budget
In
the first stages of planning an event you may be submitting an
application for a grant.
It is essential that you have an idea of how much money you will
need to run the event and what the money will be spent on. Remember
- you can only spend what money you have.
Suggestions:
- when drawing up
a draft budget be as realistic as possible with your costings
- don't forget
to include all areas of the event programme
- don't make
wild estimations of costs - research each individual area or
item and get realistic quotes.
Tips
for drafting a budget:
- you will need
to have an idea of your estimated income and expenditure before
the event. This will give you a start to planning the event
activities and help you to stay within your budget.
When
you have worked out your proposed expenditure, it should be equal to
(or less than) your income. Your expenditure can't exceed your
income.
By
costing each activity or aspect of the event separately it may help
you in obtaining sponsorship or a grant. Businesses and organisations may be interested in
sponsoring a
particular part of the event that may be compatible with their
operations.
Check
if there is a cost for permits and extraneous services that may be
incurred, eg. fees for staging an event in a community park, the
cost of advertising a road closure, the cost of a letterdrop to
local residents, paying First Aid staff etc. Often these items are
overlooked.
All
artists, musicians, performers and support staff eg, technicians,
cleaners etc, should be paid for their services. Check with APRA,
the Musicians' Union, or Actors' Equity regarding current rates
of pay. Don't expect artists to give their services cheaply or for
free. This is their means of earning a living.
When
costing out the hire of equipment or other goods or services look in
the Yellow Pages. It's advisable to ring at least three firms and
obtain quotes to give you an idea of going rates. If a firm
doesn't have what you want or can't help you, explain exactly
what you're after and ask them if they can refer you to a more
appropriate place.
If possible, leave
a little extra in the budget for extra costs. It is difficult to
anticipate all the unexpected situations that will happen on the
day. The nearest you can get to this is to anticipate that some
situation will occur that will cost you money. Also you may need to
pay for some repairs for damage incurred during the event.
The role of the committee in overseeing and approving the budget
It
is the role of the committee to secure funds for the event and to
ensure that the event comes within budget. The committee is
generally accountable to other organisations, eg, funding bodies,
and has contractual or legal responsibility to ensure funds are
appropriately spent.
The treasurer or financial manager informs the committee of the
event's financial situation. The committee then decides the
appropriate course of action based on this information.
The treasurer/financial manager oversees all financial aspects of the
event. For this reason, this role should be filled by someone who
knows about accounting and/or finances. The tasks of the
treasurer/financial manager include:
- estimating
costs and drawing up a draft budget
- presenting
up-to-date financial reports to the committee so that it can
ensure that the event remains within budget
- establishing a
receipting and expenditure system
-
establishing
prices for:
-
tickets for performances
-
workshop fees
-
charges
-
stalls
- controlling
ticketing
- establishing a
system for revenue collection on the day
- finding out
current award rates for payment of salaries and on-costs (eg,
preparation of a financial report for funding bodies)
- arranging an
audit if required.
Operating the budget
It
is vital that once you have budgeted for the various programme areas
that you stick to your budget. It is no good deciding a week before
the event to add extra activities, shows, exhibitions or employ
additional people if you don't have money set aside for this
purpose. Even if it's a brilliant idea, don't try to fool
yourself that you'll come up with the money later. Better to save
the idea for next time and budget it into your overall event
programme.
If
there isn't sufficient funding for everything you planned where
will you make cuts? Will it be over the whole programme or
particular aspects of it?
Make
sure money donated or promised is received and receipted. All monies
received and spent should be accounted for. There should be an event
accounts book and everything should be recorded in this by the
treasurer/financial manager.
Ideally
funds should be readily available as required. It is wise to plan
your grant applications with this in mind. A
certain amount of cash in hand will be required for minor or
on-the-spot expenses. In addition, a large amount of money may be
required on the day to pay performers' fees. Remember to safeguard
money collected on the day of the event.
Finalise
all event accounts promptly. These should be paid as soon as
possible after the event.
Finally - use your money wisely. Some things must be paid for - performers' fees. Others can be found for free or at a reduced
rate. All financial arrangements with artists, performers and hire
companies should be confirmed in writing well in advance of the
event. This will avoid confusion and disagreement later.
Example of incoming/outgoing event funds
| Income |
Expenditure
|
- grants - local government, community board, Auckland
City Council grants or sponsorship, NZ Lotteries grants,
trusts, other
- sponsorship
- donations - business and individual
- merchandising - t-shirts, other clothes, programmes,
posters, badges, stickers, postcards, water bottles, toys,
candles/glow sticks etc
- fees - stalls, amusements, subscriptions, workshops,
exhibitions, vendors
- ticket sales - raffles, performances, box office,
admissions, liquor sales
- in-kind support - office space,
translating/interpreting services, materials and
equipment, services, staff, use of
phone/fax/email/internet, free advertising, product,
refreshments
|
- salaries/wages - event organiser/co-ordinator,
artists, performers, technicians, labourers, office staff,
other staff
- insurance
- legal fee
- administration - utility bills (phone - including
mobiles, electricity, gas, water etc), office rental and
equipment, postage /fax/email/internet charges,
stationery, photo-copying, binding/laminating etc
- translation and interpreters
-
publicity and advertising - design, layout, printing,
brochures, posters, programme, flyers, media releases, media
packs, newspaper/radio/television ads, translation,
distribution, evaluation forms
- decorations - materials, banners, signwriting,
installation
- venue hire
- cleaning
- marquees/staging
- security
- RTs or cellphones
- equipment hire - tables, chairs, sound and lighting,
stages, costume hire, port-a-loos, rubbish bins, transport
- child care
- permits
- documentation - photos, videos
- travel
- freight
- accommodation
- hospitality
- couriers
- first aid service
- auditing and accounting services
|
Updated May 2008
