13.3. Creating an Event Budget

There are plenty of items to consider when creating and monitoring an event budget, so it can sometimes seem overwhelming. The following few tips can help keep you focused and on track.

1. Prepare your preliminary budget with estimates (best guess):
   1. Get your estimates in writing if possible – many venues offer detailed pricing breakdowns of all services they offer including catering, audio visual services and room costs.
   2. Get confirmation of what is included – for example, when booking a room is the cost of tables and chairs included, is there a podium and sound system, is a projector and laptop included, is water and glassware provided for tables, does WiFi come with the room booking?
   3. Review bills and check that everything is included – don’t pay any deposits or bills until you confirm all inclusions are noted
   4. Include set up, tear down and freight costs
2. Revise as necessary
   1. Save revisions to your budget as you go along
   2. Consider keeping different versions of your budget as you adjust it so you can go back to a previous version if necessary (remember those tips in the section about naming conventions?)
   3. Your final budget will include your estimates, actual costs, and the variance – is the difference between your estimate and actual costs
3. Determine what is actually doable
   1. Not all great ideas can be fit into every budget
   2. Be realistic about what you can accommodate with the money you have to spend
   3. Create a priority list if needed
4. Customize an Excel template – Creating a well thought out budget can be a lot of work – start with a pre-made template and customize it to fit your requirements
5. Consider your options
   1. There are plenty of ways to save money – be creative to get the most out of your budget.
   2. Approach sponsors if you need more cash – be careful as you may risk crossing business ethical lines, so consider asking for in-kind donations to help defray the costs of your event