And The Event Must Go On!

Hello there!

Another late night blog. What a week, another beautiful day over here, hard not to smile at this weather and all. :)

This week I was thinking of blogging about event planning for an organization, non profit, for D.O.G.S.-generally speaking. Event planning takes just that-much PLANNING. When you think of planning an event it can be overwhelming. Budgets, venue, decor, food, drinks, games, prizes, entertainment, guest list, and the list goes on and on. However, making a list is the first step to minimizing the daunting task of an important event. If your organization and your thoughts are like ours, every event is SO important to us. We want it to be perfect, but perfection is impossible.

Some of the challenges we face are the resources, budget, and manpower it takes to hold an event. When it is our event that we put on that challenge becomes heighten, whereas if we participate in an event, it minimizes a bit, however the challenges is still present. Having a dedicated board, volunteers, good resources and a good budget is extremely important in both scenarios. All can be tough to gain and will take time to build.

To start event planning we like to use some type of direction planning such as a checklist like this:

What is the purpose of the event?
Making a list and checking it twice...3x....4x....you get the idea ;)
Setting a budget, a realistic one
Designate committees, chairs, and tasks
Setting realistic deadlines
Utilizing what we have from stock
Tapping into our volunteer connections
Let creativity flow

Of course so much more goes into event planning, but these main tasks are what gets the wheels turning, the ball rolling if you will.

It's easy to get anxious, frustrated, worried, about the unknown in event planning, but look to your team, your list, and organizational skills to make it all happen. Organizing it is half the fun. Remember it should be fun, after all this is what we love to do: assist animals in need, therefore pretty much everything to me is fun and exciting. Remember the passion, goal, and motivation of why you are doing an event and it will come easy.

Here are some pics from our last two events.