Module
6 : Event Management Finances & Ticketing

 The importance of executing good financial
management  Key event budgeting rules

 How to promote and sell tickets  About graduated ticket pricing

In this module you will learn:

 The importance of executing good financial management

6.1  : Introduction

One of the main reasons
a person or company will hire you as an event
planner is to make sure their budget is managed
properly.

While the ability to plan and manage an event is
another key asset, the majority of people – especially those who are planning
weddings – will expect you to manage their finances. In other words, you're like an accountant, but for
events.

6.2  : Predicting the Event's Financial
Outcome

Not all events are organised with the objective
of making money.

While those like private galas and fundraisers have
a clear financial outcome, others like large
birthday parties will run at a financial loss.

If the event you're planning falls into the former
category, you need to predict the event's revenues and offset the budget against it. While exact accuracy is
impossible, making reasonable financial predictions
is a large part of your role as an events manager.

So when should you begin predicting financial
outcomes? Right from the start.

There's no point in booking venues or any of the
other essential services you'll need until you know how much money you have to
work with.

6.3  : The Importance of Executing Good Financial Management

Companies can easily run themselves into debt by hosting events without
the right financial management.

From the venue through to finer details like
service charges, you need to find the best quality for the lowest price, while watching out for small
financial snags.

Before you begin making bookings and sourcing
supplies, you need to determine how much you're willing to spend on each. Once
you've done that, find some options that are within or under the designated budget.

6.4  : Continuously Assessing
the Event Budget

One of the first things you need to accept as an
events planner is that you're not going to have perfect predictions from the
start.

Your finances will change, but you need to make
sure that they don't deviate too far from your
clients' proposed budget.

In addition to services costing more than you
initially expect, some forms of finance might fall to one side. This is especially the case when it
comes to events that rely on donations and sponsors, as neither source are guaranteed until they're in the budget bank account.

6.5  : Key Event Budgeting Rules

If you're going to get the event budget right, there are some key rules
you need to remember:

 Always make sure your budget avoids making a loss. If it looks as though a loss is inevitable,

accept that there are changes you'll have to make to your plans and avoid financial ruin.

 Try not to be too optimistic. One of the worst
things you can do is not be realistic about the event incomes. There's no guarantee that all the tickets will
sell, nor is there a guarantee that sponsors will
follow through.

 Come
up with a contingency plan for eventualities that are beyond your control, such
as sponsors pulling out at the last minute and bad weather
causing the event to end. This is where certain forms of insurance can
come in handy – they'll prevent your client from losing out on the cost of organising an event, even when
they have to give ticket prices back to those
who have paid for them.

6.6  : What are the Typical Costs that Need to be
Covered at an Event?

While some events will require other costs to be covered, the typical
costs you need to focus on include:

 Travel and accommodation, which can include
parking facilities

6.7  : Ticketing (Management and Sales)

If you're not organising a personal event, the chances
are you'll

need
to sell tickets.

Today, many choose to sell tickets online. From
students' unions through to small local organisations, event hosts of all
natures and sizes are making the most of ticketing technology to make their events a success.

6.8  : Setting Ticket Prices

Before you begin selling tickets, you need to set the prices and
determine how much of each type you want to sell.

Depending on the type of event you're hosting, you
might want to consider graduated ticketing. Those who
pay more for a ticket will receive VIP packages, including perks like early
entry and free drinks packages.

It'd be impossible to list all the different
pricing regions for tickets here; that'd require a whole other course.
The best thing you can do is engage in a little market research,
determine how much profit
you need to make, and set the ticket prices accordingly.

A word of caution: you need to set the ticket
prices and make a rough prediction of how many you're going to sell before determining your budget. Don't take the approach of going the other way around, which involves spending
money and using the ticket prices to cover it. The end result might be
that you set prices that are much higher than people are willing to pay. To do your market
research, take a look at what similar events sell for.

6.9  : Graduated Ticket Pricing

Graduated ticket
pricing involves charging more for certain tickets, making them more exclusive,
and giving the buyers a reason for buying said exclusive tickets.

Think of graduated pricing as being
the same as catching a flight. Some airlines have economy,
economy plus, business, and first class. In economy you might have 200 seats,
economy plus may have 72, business
might have 34, and first around 14.

As with your tickets, airline seats have different perks. In terms of
ticketing, this could mean:

 Economy: Entry to the event, seating,
and a free drink.

 Business:
Priority entry to the event,
exclusive seating, free drinks throughout the evening, and a VIP bag

 First: Priority entry to the event, exclusive seating,
free drinks throughout the evening including
champagne, and a luxury VIP bag

The above isn't exhaustive. You can make your
graduated ticket pricing as luxurious as you like. You might even want to tailor it according to the event theme. When
setting the prices, consider what's reasonable,
as well as whether you're likely to eat into your profits too much.

6.10  : How to Sell Tickets

If you don't take advantage
of online ticketing
software, you're going to

waste time and money.

Online software tools like Eventbrite allow you to
set up event pages, set the number of tickets you want to sell, and track the sales as they go along.

While some will issue physical tickets for you,
others will come with email confirmations only. Such software packages
usually allow you to set discounts as well, which
acts as a great opportunity for

you to draw more sales in.

If you choose to use a software package that allows
you to customise the way the page looks, make
the most of it. Your branding will carry through into the event's theme,
which means you have a responsibility
to promote it wherever you can.

6.11  : Promoting Ticket Sales

 Setting up a ticketing
page isn't enough to push your event

forwards.

You need to find ways to promote the ticket sales
and you need to monitor them consistently. One of the biggest benefits of being able to use ticket management
software is that you can see how ticket sales
spike in line with the promotional efforts you use. If you find that one
promotional method is particularly effective, you should continue using it to
maximise your ticket sales.

Amongst
other methods, you may want to consider:

 Adverts in local papers

Finally, make sure you don't forget to use the
company's website to advertise tickets. Unless you're going to designate a domain to the ticket sales, you'll need to
put a clear link throughout the company's
website. This is something you should negotiate with the company's webmaster.

In the event that tickets don't look as though
they're going to sell well, you may want to consider discounts or extra perks. However, you might want to ensure you
find a way to make this up to the other attendees who have already
paid the full price for the tickets
you're selling.