February 22, 2024
Budgeting for Easter and Special Event Promotion
Easter Promotion
Currently, the countdown to Easter is on, which got us thinking about event promotion. Or maybe you are a non-profit, these ideas could be used for your next big event or fundraiser.
The best and easiest promotion – word of mouth. Make it easy for your current constituents to share the event with their friends. You know the drill: send an email they could easily pass on; a postcard in the mail; or run a social campaign (hashtags, videos, sharable content, etc.). All of those ideas are great ways to promote your event. And you are probably already doing some if not all of those.
A very close second is storytelling. Storytelling is the most valuable way to connect with people. Whenever you have a big event coming up, retelling a congregants story in a meaningful way can have a great impact on your turnout.
No matter what route you chose to go, many of your marketing strategies will incur some kind of cost. Plus there are the extras for the event which can add up quickly depending on the type of event.
Budgeting for Events
Since we are an accounting firm, not a marketing firm. Let’s stick to what we know…budgets!
Budgeting for your event is a sure way to keep costs under control and better help you know where your money is going. Now, as we’ve said on our budgeting podcast series, if your project does go over budget, do NOT assign it a new category to save your budget. Your budget will not work effectively if you don’t have the actual numbers to work with. Be honest and that will help you evaluate better for the next big event.
If you are new to budgeting for an event, or planning a big event, Qwick has a starting place for event budgeting. Including a breakdown for each category, how much as a percentage you may want to give to each category.
Some of the big items could include:
- Event space
- Catering
- Entertainment
- Marketing (pre & post)
- Decor
- Cleaning
Some of these items might already be in your overall budget and not specific to this event (like event space and cleaning). So in those cases, you could assign more percentage (dollars) to your other categories like marketing or entertainment.
The Follow Up
Putting aside the main purpose of getting people inside your doors for an Easter service for a moment … how do you want them to remember their experience? And what is the end goal?
One way to keep the memory alive is to create a souvenir to remind people of the experience they had. And want to repeat it. Could you offer a branded items or some other kind of swag? A photo booth is also a pretty popular (and effective) idea. It doesn’t hurt if people put that information online for you either. Make it accessible and fun, and your marketing strategy is done.
For Easter services or a big fundraiser, the main goal is to start the funnel of getting people back through your doors or to donate again. Perhaps having a way for you to contact them again (email), or you providing a way for them to contact you (social media/newsletter), or a way to entice them back (flyer for next event) would be easy ways to keep the conversation going.
One of my favorite quotes from our Church Marketing series is, “To be clear, we are not meaning to use our marketing as manipulation, but as a lifeline to find people where they are. Ultimately you may be taking money from your marketing budget line to access them, but the goal is for their benefit – for them to meet with Jesus. This is a way to love people, to meet them where they are. Marketing isn’t a dirty word. It’s everything from greeting people on a Sunday morning, to fliers in the mail, to inviting them to a VBS.”
Next Steps
And don’t forget to look over your venue as a new person would. Specifically thinking about cleanliness, signage, and next steps. Like we mentioned before, giving people their next steps whether that is a way to connect again, another event to attend, or another opportunity to donate, make it obvious for those that are willing.
Your next steps are to check out 15 Ideas to Promote Your Next Event – Hubspot. Not all of these will work for Easter, but some could be utilized now; and some would work best for other events (#2 & #7 you are probably already doing!). Plus, they provide a timeline for big events we found helpful. And if you are wanting a fun 3 month timeline calendar to track your goals, Printabulls has you covered.
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