Tools for Ease in Event Planning
Spring is that time of year – events galore! It is a lovely
time of year to engage people with the work you do. Whether you are hosting a small meeting, or a
large festival for hundreds, events are challenging and time-consuming. They can
be fun too, especially when you have the right tools and supports.
Below are some free tools, online and otherwise, that save time, generate ideas,
and keep you organized as you plan and execute your events.
As
a reminder, KS Solutions provides consulting services for events. We will come up
with the concept for your event to assure you engage the intended audience to
reach your goals and we can also manage event planning and event execution for
you. We hope you find these resources
helpful, and if more support is needed please reach out to us!
If you know of other event tools you’d like to share, please post on the KS
Solutions Facebook page to share with others.
Event Planning Tools:
- Asana – Asana is an online project management tool. It tracks your team’s task lists with due dates and internal messages. It saves on all of that back and forth emailing. It can be used on your computer and/or mobile device. I like to pull up my tasks by due date so I can prioritize what I should be working on each day. For up to 10 people linked to one organization, Asana is free.
- Evernote or OneNote – Either one of these (or any of the other note-taking apps) can be very helpful. I use OneNote (a Microsoft product) for personal and business. It is a place I can type quick notes or lists and save them in various “notebooks” and name each “page”. What I like is that I have the app on my phone and it syncs with OneNote on my laptop so my information stays up to date. I use it for shopping lists, to record room measurements, to create To Do lists, keep lists of event venues with links, etc. While I am out an about, I often type things into OneNote to refer back to later.
- Excel – I love Excel for event planning. Not all people do though and luckily there are plenty of other options. The link is to a few Excel templates that are for (or can be for) event planning that you may find helpful. I use task tracker and then use tabs in the same document for other important details like menus, lists of signs, RSVPs, etc. so the information I need is all in one document. I like the simplicity of that.\
- Pinterest - As you likely know, Pinterest has ideas abound! I find it a good place to browse when I need ideas for themes, food, activities, decorations, etc. for my event that are affordable. Sometimes I take an idea from Pinterest and other times it gets my creative flow going here I come up with my own idea. The link is to the search I did “nonprofit events”.
- Baltimore Tool Bank – Unlike the others, this is not an online resource but a local nonprofit that is here to help you. Are you a member? If not, you may want to become one! Membership is free. Once a member, for a very low fee you can borrow many tool and event supplies from these guys. To give you an idea, to rent a trash can for a week is $.60 (yes, 60 cents!). They are awesome. For events, they have things like generators, hand trucks, chairs, tablecloths, ice chests, trash cans and much more. See what they have here: BTB inventory.
A few good articles for some basic event planning information:
- Event basics to consider from Network for Good, Planning and Executing a Successful Nonprofit Fundraising Event.
- A general event timeline by Wild Apricot, Event Checklist.
- Create an eco-friendly event. Even if you cannot do all of these things, you may get some ideas from Going Green: Making Your Events Eco-Friendly.
Best wishes to you as you plan your event!
