Managing to create a thriving event on a practically non-existent budget is what we are accustomed to doing at Her Campus-MSU. Organizing events on an extremely limited budget teaches practical skills that are applicable to the limited budget that existing in my personal lives, too. Ballin’ on a budget ain’t easy, but here’s how to make an event on a small budget run smoothly.
Decide what the main goal of your event is.
From an extracurricular standpoint, it is crucial to decide what results you are aiming for with any event. You can’t get the biggest bang for your buck if you don’t have a goal in mind for your event. If there is no goal, then your results might not be as impressive as they would be if motivated by a specific goal. Is there a general goal, such as aiming to spread your organization’s name across campus? Is it a specific goal like gaining 50 new Twitter followers on the organization’s account? Either way, identify the goal, and establish the specific details pertaining to it.
List all the supplies you are going to need.
This may seem obvious, but every last detail needs to be thought of. Forgetting one simple asset to your event such as plates or cups for paint brushes for crafts adds an obstacle that will get in the way of your event. If food and drink are involved, don’t forget the little details, like plastic silverware or plates. With getting these supplies, the Dollar Tree is your friend. There’s no need to over spend money on simple supplies that could be bought cheaper at a dollar-store. Set a maximum amount before you shop and if necessary, go to multiple stores to compare prices.
Aim for a particular population.
In order to accomplish your goal, you need to aim for a particular demographic or group of people that can be the catalyst for your objective. If you want to bring a fresher mix of backgrounds and cultures, make your desire to branch out clear and respectful. If it is the fall semester and you want to attract incoming freshman to your organization, create an outwardly inclusive event to freshman, with flyers/social media invitations explicitly stating the desire to include freshman specifically. Create inclusivity while simultaneously aiming for a particular genre of people. Higher numbers of people at events will always be a good thing, but it is more safe to shoot for a certain grouping of people. This way, you can be more confident of the attendance of a certain number of people.
Create one key incentive for potential attendees.
If people aren’t incentivized, it is incredibly unlikely they will attend an event. College students specifically are over-worked and overstressed. Your event is probably competing with someone’s two other Facebook event invites, an exam for next week, and hours worth of homework they have on their plate. Plus, if you’re on a big campus, just getting to an extracurricular event can be time consuming and irritating. So in all, you have to have something decently intriguing to get a college student up, away from all of the homework they’re drowning in, and from the other side of campus to come to your event. Food is an easy, quick motivator. Just the five beautiful syllables of “Free Insomnia” can make a mouth water. Food is a foolproof mechanism in pulling in high numbers of attendance. However, it’s not the only method. Create a networking opportunity or a learning experience where potential attendees find connections or knowledge as a key motivator for attending. Either way, there should be one intriguing factor to pull in attendees.
Establish a mutually beneficial relationship with an organization or person.
Research a potential business, organization or person that share similar values to your organization. Reach out to them and propose a potentially beneficial exchange of “favors”. Consider what assets you have to offer. Usually, money is what is lacking in student organizations. How could your organization help promote the other person or organization? What could you do to benefit them? Consider this, and offer away what you can with a potential exchange in mind for your own organization. Make your offer ambitious and aim high; the worst thing that could happen would be one person denying you. So what if they do? Aim higher and reach out to someone else.