While there are many events that require the help of a certified event planner, there are many that a regular person can plan themselves. Planning events take skill and resources to make them memorable, which is the goal for planners. In addition to early planning and being organized, planners for all types of events want to find ways to reduce spending. Continue reading if you are planning a college event and need tips to reduce spending.
Events for college students can vary from new student mixers to concerts to the yearly homecoming and all the festivities that homecoming entails. These events are as important to student life and add to the common goal of college students.
Like other events, college events need to be carefully planned for success. Some tips to plan great events and save money are:
1. Use Social Media
Social media is a great tool to use to advertise or market a campus event. Social media is easy to use and it is easy to broadcast events so the information goes beyond just a few students. Although some students are on one platform and not others, using social media to spread the news of your event is free and the information posted on one platform can be used on all other platforms within seconds.
Some tips to help your information valuable on social media include:
Hosting giveaways
Giving away tickets
Drop teasers about special guest
Create a hashtag for the event
2. Get Help From Volunteers
There need not be one student planning an event. Whatever the cause, there are several other students who are working on the same cause. If you put a call out for volunteers for an event, others will undoubtedly join the cause. Instead of having them do what they want, as the leader you can set clear jobs for volunteers that will help make you event a success. Volunteers can take a lot of stress from leadership for the event and you will find that some volunteers have special skills that will save money.
3. Budget for Incidentals
Although your mission is to save money, you will have to budget for incidentals because there will be some. Some of those incidental expenses will come from:
Catering – there isn’t much of a way to save when you want to feed people well.
Marketing cost – although social media is a huge tool, you will likely need posters, attendee rosters, and other material for the event.
Guest travel expenses – expenses like food and lodging that come with hiring guests for your event.
4. Use Marketing Software
The use of software not only saves on spending for campus events, it also makes the events more organized and easily managed. Students are more comfortable with technology so management tools are vital. event management software for universities is not only capable of managing and promoting campus events, it also tracks ticket sales and can update inventory. This type of software is effective for saving money on spending for events.
5. Use Campus Venues
One of the best things about college campuses is that there are many locations for hosting events. In addition to saving money on renting a venue, campus venues are usually free for campus events and are within walking distance for students.
Using campus venues may take research for the planners to find out who is in charge of certain areas and who can sign off on using certain areas. Before requesting use of certain areas, it is important to have an idea of how many students you plan to have at your event. You also want to determine if students will be sitting or standing and if the speakers need equipment to perform. Having these things in mind before getting campus venues is a way to save money and also help students get approvals for events.
Conclusion
As you have read, planning a college event is complicated, but can be done with patience and proper preparation. However, like other events, saving on spending is typically one of the goals. There are a host of tips and methods that students can use to save money and a few listed above to get you started. While there are more, the five listed above are a great start.
