Seasoned ministry planners have witnessed a miracle where God feed five thousand with just a few loaves and fishes through their events. As leaders I think we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our resources and to plan well to meet the needs of our groups. But to be mindful of God's blessings and miracle to stretch dollars farther and deepen the ministry impact of the event...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Striking a balance between what a group needs and what a group can pay for is an incredibly difficult endeavor.  These decisions are unavoidable when planning an event. Whether you realize it or not; most decisions you're making as a planner are geared towards maintaining the balance...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Seasoned event planners know exactly what I mean when I say RFP. I have seen about 1,000 different versions of these documents. Which I think is perfect. The point is to declare all the needs and wishes of the event and receive back information from each potential host with comparable bids. Without an RFP a planner might end up with apples and oranges. When you're working towards making a decision on a big ticket item like the host venue, being fully informed allows you make the best choice for your organization. So what are the essential items you need to communicate and the information you need to create a way to comparable...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Online registration is one of two things to planners: a lifesaver or a monster under the bed. Some have figured out that it is essential to their operation taking care of a ton of administrative junk that would otherwise keep them from planning the content of the event. Others are more cautious to engage with the technology for several reasons...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Building off the frugal planner qualities presented on Tuesday here are ten solutions to help planners keep their events affordable...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Frugality and being cheap are two completely different things. People who camped out in front of the mall and did the shiver workout to burn the two to three thousand calories they consumed during Thanksgiving Dinner waiting for Black Friday Deals fit into one of the two categories: Frugal or Cheap. The main difference being the goal in mind...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

I fell asleep last night with the TV on and woke up somewhere around 3am to an infomercial about some hypo-alergenic floor cleaning wonder mop. There were so many ridiculous adjectives flying around that you could tell this thing wasn't all its cracked up to be. The real kicker in these commercials are the four easy payments of $59.99, but wait, call now and we'll make a payment for you.... be the first hundred callers and we'll give you a second, just pay shipping, and you can use it as a gift. The reason they just wont tell you the wonder mop is $240 is because most people would realize that for $15 their swiffer can accomplish the same task. Plus, I've learned from my dad's mistakes giving a practical household item as a gift is never a good idea...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

As an event planner, try not to shy away from registration. Just because it can seem overwhleming does not mean it has to be complicated. Once you have implemented registration into your planning timeline it should remain a high priority. In addition to maintaining importance, you also need to keep registration simple. Reduce complexity by breaking it down into indivdual stages. This "break down" will help you and your planning team know exactly where you stand throughout your process. Knowing where you stand, in turn, will aid in evaluating any additional planning or promoting...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

There is no doubt that an event can be an expensive endeavour.  Sometimes we joke, especially when we're brainstorming, we can come up with more ways to loose money than we can to make it. And for those of us in ministry, making money isn't usually even a part of our organizational values. We certainly value being fiscally responsible and there is a reality that we all have to pay our bills, but its not about turning a profit. Let's take the reality track: how do we make sure that we can pay the bills...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Give this topic some thought. Because no matter how much you'd like to think that there are opportunities for everyone who attends your church on Sunday morning to connect it's very likely that is not the perception of every person in your church. From the marketer's prospective the end user's point of view is ten times more important than the organization's...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

"Volume" is the number of guests you can get to register. "Volume" is the number of people you can divide your fixed costs over. "Volume" will change how much it costs you to run your event. You have to plan with "volume" in mind...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Think about it... Are there results produced by an off-site ministry event your church attends that could not be re-created at home? An off-site event might be the only time of year when your women's group has a peer to peer worship service. It might be the only time of year when a member of your church can tune out the distractions and focus on God to hear His direction for the next step of their life. When faced with a budget crisis you have to pose questions like, if we cut this will it limit our church's ability to be effective...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment