BudgetΒΆ

It is important to think about the budget very early on and have a budget outline ready in the Feasibility Stage for the perusal of the (main) stakeholder(s). Such an outline should contain estimated income and cost lines, as can be seen in an example budget. In the early stages, you should focus on the budget lines that are absolutely necessary and essential for the event to be delivered, for example:

  • estimates for the venue hire and catering
  • keynote speaker fees, travel and accommodation estimates (if applicable)
  • prizes estimate (e.g. for best paper, best poster, best hack day idea)
  • hiring poster boards (if you are hosting a poster session)
  • lanyards and badges
  • printing programmes (unless you are going paperless)
  • expected income from registrations
  • expected income from sponsors (which may be an unknown at this stage, unless you already have some sponsors confirmed)

Because at this stage you can only estimate, you should prepare the best case, middle case and worst case cost projections. Try and get actual quotes for as many of the above items as possible, as it will make it easier to plan the budget and will give you more accurate figures. For example, at this stage, you may already have a few quotes from different venues but may be less able to estimate the fees and travel costs for your keynote speakers as you do not know where they will be coming from. In this case, you may decide to put an upper limit on those costs which would also count as your worst case cost projection and will also limit you in your keynote search (e.g. you may decide that you can only afford speakers from a particular geographic area).

You should also estimate a number of optional costs, which you can decide to incur should you attract enough sponsorship, for example:

  • conference dinner
  • drinks with conference dinner
  • conference dinner entertainment
  • registration fee waiver for the members of the organising committee
  • T-shirts for the members of the organising team and local volunteers (to make them stand out from the rest of the audience)
  • conference pack
  • better food options
  • childcare

As you move further into the Event Project Stage, you will refine and update your budget periodically with the actual costs (e.g. when you sign the contract with the venue or book travel for your speakers) or income (e.g. as registrations start coming in) and make decisions on optional/additional costs.