Event Planning - Working With Volunteer Based Organizations

Volunteer groups of all sizes need help in planning their events too. These organizations are known to have a work force of people who are willing to do whatever is needed to make their event a success. As a group, they may have the manpower to pull it off, but will it be an event that leaves a WOW factor in the minds of those who attend?

Event planners who entertain the thought of being involved with a volunteer group should address some questions prior to agreeing to work with them.

1. What are they trying to accomplish from their event?

Fund raising, bring attention to the organization, celebrating a milestone, recognizing the community or people in it; or, recognizing their own volunteers. Sit down with the group to establish their wants and needs and goals.

2. Who will you answer to within their group?

If it's one person, great! If it is a committee or the membership as a whole, you may want to think twice about getting involved. If the membership has to be convened to make a decision, your ideas will be stymied until everyone agrees to go forward.

3. What is their budget?

This will determine how grandiose your donated ideas can get.

4. Does the budget allow for purchases to be made without general approval from the membership or volunteers?

Some organizations allow for purchases up to a certain value to be made without approval from the general membership. However, this value may be too low and will hinder planning when payments have to be made to suppliers. Investigate this area completely and be prepared to come up with a viable plan that can be agreed upon by the general membership prior to starting any planning.

5. Will there be enough volunteers available within the organization to get all the jobs done?

Many groups boast about their large membership; however, it is only the same few people who volunteer to do all the work. These few volunteers may not be enough to do everything and a work force will have to be recruited.

6. Are they expecting you to plan everything or only provide guidelines or suggestions of improvement for what has already been planned?

A few suggestions to improve what they already have planned should not take a lot of time or effort. It needs to be made clear that this is all you are doing and additional involvement would have to be reviewed further to determine if there would be a charge for your time.

7. How do they feel about having someone outside their organization running the show?

Even though the majority of the membership has ruled in favour of your involvement, it does not mean you have the blessing of the whole group. This being the case in most committee ran groups, be prepared for negative feed back from a few people on an ongoing basis.

It is essential for event planners to have personal and corporate directives in place regarding their involvement with any type of volunteer organization or event. The legalities that may arise due to accountability issues makes it necessary to strictly adhere to these internal guidelines regarding the donation of time from within your own company. Due diligence on all aspects of the event are crucial as the end result of the event, regardless of the amount of time you give, is a direct reflection on you and your company.