Creating an event budget isn’t always fun, but by watching where you spend, you can improve your event’s return on investment and manage your total cost. Blowing your budget on swanky cocktails or headlining entertainment might seem like a good idea at the time, but if there’s no budget left for promotions, there won’t be many attendees to sip those drinks or enjoy the entertainment. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a math genius to keep your event planning on track – check out our go-to budgeting tools for any event.

Phase 1: Clarify your event budget strategy

Before you dive into the deep end, step back and critically assess your expenses using key data to help guide your budgeting process.

1. Reference historical data

Unless this is your first event, you can use your budget data from previous events. Identify line items that were over- or under-spent and compare between events or financial years. This will help you pinpoint possible savings. This way, you’ve got a preliminary budget to update as you move forward (and to take to the boss for approval if necessary). 

2. Consider trends

If you have a tight budget, you’re not alone. In a survey of event creators in 2019, four out of 10 said their budget is insufficient, and only 36% said their budget would increase in the coming year… and that wasn’t factoring in COVID. So, where does the money go? For the event creators surveyed, more than half (53%) said marketing and promotion was a top expense, along with food and drinks. If you have similar stats, check out the section below on event marketing for some ideas on how you can trim your marketing spend.

3. Set your goals

Once you’ve identified areas to improve your spending, set specific goals. Whether you want to increase the amount of money you receive from sponsors or make your money go further, setting goals will keep you focused. Set targets early on, including ticket sales and sponsorship revenue, to help keep your income on track for your spending.

4. Get buy-in from all stakeholders

The sooner you get the green light from your stakeholders to start planning and agree on the goals for event managers, the better. A rough action plan and budget can help you get an estimated figure, which you can revise as you go along.

Phase 2: Map out specific expenses in your event budget

Now that you know your areas of focus, it’s time to list all of the line items to track in your budgeting template. These will include particulars like rental costs and lighting equipment.

5. Map out all your expenses so you can make informed decisions

Defining the focus areas of your event can help you prioritise your spending and invest in what really matters. Once you have your overarching categories defined, you can start to drill down and fill in the costs.

Use budgeting best practices and be as specific as you can with line items on a budget. Don’t be tempted to lump things like ‘food and alcohol’ together, as you may be sourcing them from different vendors. If you’re comfortable with them, use formulas (like the ones in this event budget template) to see profit or loss in real-time.

6. Incorporate your experiential costs

Not sure what costs to list for your event experience? If you list out the different line items (like the examples below) for each major cost, you can keep track of the details.

  • Venue
  • Staffing
  • AV equipment
  • Decor
  • Programming (speakers or performers)
  • Signage and event branding
  • Attendee experiences
  • Travel
  • COVID-safe practices

Your line items may differ, depending on whether your event is held in-person or virtually. For fully virtual events, you will save on costs like the venue, decor, and signage, but you may need to budget more for live-streaming equipment or mailing swag directly to attendees.

7. Include your technology costs

Investing in the right technology can make a huge difference to your event budget. You need to choose a ticketing partner who can help you provide a fuss-free registration process and a mobile event app that people actually use. For a virtual, live-streamed event, you’ll need a strong internet connection, proper video equipment, and potentially even  a sound engineer. If you’re not sure where to start, read up on the best equipment for live streaming.

8. Estimate promotional costs

There are many ways to lower your promotion costs. Start by reviewing your current promotional strategy and marketing spend by channel. Then invest your budget in the channels that yield the highest return on investment. If your team is small, maximise your marketing budget by investing in the right marketing tools and technology for your event:

  • Social media: Reach a larger audience with organic marketing on your best social channel.
  • SEO: Use a ticketing partner with industry-leading domain authority, so your events have a better shot at ranking on Google.
  • Streamline your checkout process: Small tweaks can drastically increase your sales.

Phase 3: Master event budgeting best practices

Even if you’re already somebody who enjoys tracking every receipt, the following strategies can help you keep everything in check and get more mileage from your budget.

9. Consider event ROI

Ultimately, your budget is a fundamental part of calculating your return on investment. Your budget shows your event’s total cost, which is a benchmark to meet your goals and grow your profit margin.

10. Leave an emergency fund

You never know what’s going to happen in the days leading up to an event. You might need to add to your AV order, or a speaker’s fees may be higher than expected, so work some leeway into your budget to give you a buffer against unexpected costs. This is your contingency fund, which helps minimise stress and ensures everything runs more smoothly.

11. Avoid common mistakes

A common event budget mistake is prioritising the overall plan vs the budget. Spending at least 10 minutes on your financial planning and budgeting every day will keep you in front of new developments. Using an event expenses app can help your team enter the most recent data into your budget.

Another mistake to avoid is not exploring all sources of revenue. One-third of event professionals surveyed in 2020 generated the majority of their revenue from sources other than ticket sales. This included sponsors, swag, and merchandise.

Don’t just offer your sponsors the generic bronze/silver/gold package. Collaborate to deliver exactly what your sponsor wants and provide a valuable partnership. You can use this workbook to value your sponsorship packages compared to market rates.

12. Get creative

Budget still not budging? Think creatively about marketing your event and delivering a great experience for attendees, using the budget you do have. You can’t eliminate marketing costs entirely, but you can make savvy decisions on where to offset them. Promoting your event using influencers and free technology tools, or outsourcing tasks to interns or volunteers if you’re an NFP, will stretch your budget further.

Phase 4: Craft your event budget template

If you’re starting from scratch, an empty spreadsheet can seem a bit daunting. Luckily, it’s easy to create your own event budget template with just a little work on your financial planning and budgeting techniques. Just ask yourself five questions:

1. What are you budgeting for? Specify the needs of your event and break out your major spending categories.

2. What are your exact costs? Step through the lifecycle of your event and list the line items you’ll need under each category.

3. What’s your projected event revenue? Estimate how much you will make from tickets, sponsors, vendors, and anything else.

4. Are there unknowns to work into your event budget template? If you end up not needing it, then you’ll have a headstart in your bank towards your next event.

5. Could you make your budgeting easier with technology? Apps and other technology tools make the job easier and more accurate by automation.

It’s time to shine

When your budget is good to go, start selling tickets and promoting your event via Eventbrite’s intuitive platform. Our easy-to-use interface and accessibility of your listing via our calendar will help ticket-buyers find or discover your event – giving you more bang for your buck!