How to Plan a Conference Budget

Plan your conference budget correctly to avoid coming up short.

Hosting a conference can be an exciting undertaking. However, if you fail to budget properly for your event, your excitement can quickly turn into stress and aggravation. A lot of time and attention needs to go into preparing a budget for your conference. By investing time upfront to plan your conference budget, you won't have to wonder before, during, or after the conference whether or not you have enough money to pay the conference bills.

Instructions

1. Create a list of expense categories based on the needs for your conference. This list will vary by conference, but should include items such as facility rental fees, guest speaker fees/honorariums, entertainment, catering, marketing, paper and printing costs, security, and insurance.

2. Write down the maximum amount that you are able to spend for each category. When writing down the amount, also notate which categories have expenses that are "fixed" or "variable."

   Fixed expenses will have a "set price." Variable expenses are expenses that can vary or fluctuate based on attendance. An example of fixed expenses are insurance, speaker fees, and facility rental fees. An example of variable expenses are registration materials, food and beverage, and audio-visual equipment.

3. Calculate the amount of guaranteed income you are expecting to receive for your conference. For example, vendor fees and monetary amounts that have been donated by partners or sponsors.

4. Determine the amount of individuals the conference facility can accommodate. You can get this information from the facility managers or the event coordinators at the facility.

5. Set a registration fee for your conference. When setting the registration fee, be sure that the fee covers expenses such as paper and printing costs for the attendee's welcome packet, badges, meals and refreshments.

6. Divide your total expenses by the cost of registration to determine how many attendants are needed in order for a profit to be made.

   For example, if your expenses are $22,000 and you have a registration fee of $35.00 per person. 22,000 ÷ 35.00 = 628.57. This means that you need 629 attendees in order to recover all of your expenses. After 629 attendees have registered, all attendees beyond 629 equate to a profit.

Tips & Warnings

• Be realistic and honest about expected attendance. Fluffing the numbers can have a negative impact on your budget.

References

• The Complete Idiot's Guide To Meeting & Event Planting
• How to Create an Event Planning Budget
• Meeting Planner Survival Guide