Who will pay for the event?
Very few special events will come at no cost, though in some cases, the nonprofit will have already secured the necessary funds through a grant or careful preplanning. Otherwise, your organization will need to solicit money, often without a clear idea of what the final cost will be. Most corporations make the decision to contribute months or even a year in advance. This forces the planning committee to start soliciting money before details have been hammered out.
Make a realistically optimistic budget: How much would a slightly-better-than-good place cost to rent, or slightly fancier food than necessary? If you aim too high, your possible contributors may be inclined not to help out. (Would you give $2,000 to pay for 100 people's lunches?) However, if you realistically "pad" the budget, then you will be able to manage if you get less money than you asked for, which often happens. For example, if you figure you need $100 to rent the Community Center, $300 for the guest speaker, and $200 for drinks, snacks, and decorations, but you only get $500, you are in trouble. However, if you figure you need $300 to rent the Convention Center, $500 for the guest speaker, and $400 for the food and decorations (for a total of $1,200) but you only get $1,000, you can get a less expensive location or speaker without a problem. Of course, your budget should be more complex like this and, depending on your project may cost less or substantially more Regardless of the actual numbers, planning ahead and planning optimistically pay.
How to solicit money.
When approaching contributors, don't be afraid to ask for more than you think you could get - you might end up surprised. It will also save a lot of time to ask one of two businesses for $1,000 or $2,000 than to try to find 10 or 20 businesses that will give $100. At the same time, it is important to remember that some businesses get bombarded with requests from nonprofits, and they couldn't possible fulfill them all. Usually a place will tell you why they turned your offer down ("We look at requests for the next fiscal year in October", or "It's company policy not to give money, but we do offer discounts to nonprofits"). You can use this information to your advantage the next time you plan a special event.
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