The Ultimate Event Planning Guide: These 9 Milestones Will Keep Your Event on the Road to Success

​When you’re planning an event, are you the kind who likes to roll up your sleeves, set wheels in motion, and plunge headlong into details (logistics)? Or are you more of a visionary, a big-picture thinker who likes to paint with broad strokes (strategic)?

Whether you prefer event planning logistics or strategies, or dabbling in a bit of both, these nine milestones and list of pro tips that go along with them are not to be overlooked. We’ve categorized the to do’s as logistic and strategic items, so you can delegate them out to your team members according to their strengths. Note that the milestones may vary for the type of event you’re hosting, but the general rule of thumb is, the earlier you can do them, the better.

12 months out

Logistic:

• Book the venue. Reserve dates for the entire year if you host regular, periodic meetings. Or put next year’s annual event on the calendar.
  
• Book vendors.
  

Strategic:

• Set up an event committee. Even if it’s just one other person to help oversee planning, it will help keep time-sensitive tasks top of mind. 
  

6 months

Logistic:

• Begin building your contact list if you haven’t already. Collect emails and other important info.
• Confirm venue, vendors and entertainment.

Strategic:

• Develop a publicity strategy, including marketing and advertising, social media, and public relations. Be sure to create a good reason to attend your event and lead with it.
• Make new friends, followers and connections on social media.
  
• Hold a planning session and begin making creative decisions about the event.
  

Some organizations create separate event pages dedicated to planning for their upcoming fundraisers.
 
For Delta Gamma Phoenix Alumnae Chapter, this lets administers get a head start for their “Tables that Bloom” annual fundraiser that benefits the Delta Gamma Foundation and its philanthropic endeavors. 

​Tony Marmo, president of the Ulster County Italian-American Foundation, dedicated to advancing and preserving Italian heritage in the Kingston, NY, area, hosts 130-plate dinners each month to raise money for scholarships, cancer treatments, and charities. Each dinner raises as much as $5,000.
 “You have to create buzz,” Marmo said. “You need an interesting topic or speaker – something to draw a crowd.”

One way to do this is by effectively naming your event. A title – just a phrase, or even one word – can be extremely vital to achieving success, neuroscience research suggests. How many other areas are affected by your creative decisions – publicity, menu, staging, décor, speakers, entertainment, music, audio, volunteers? 

Six months out from your event date might seem like a long time, but remember, you can’t move forward in other areas until after you’ve made many of your creative decisions.

4 months

​Logistic:

• Finalize speakers or special guests.
• Send save-the-date email.

Strategic:

• Have another planning session.
• Build your web page. Create a memorable URL.
• Devise a social media campaign. Write copy and create content for your Facebook account, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other pages.
• Design marketing materials, such as a poster and program.
• Write and design an email campaign.

1) Save-the-date message.
2) Invitation (include a calendar attachment and set a reminder/alert).  
3) Reminder message.
On your calendar invitation, don’t forget to set an event reminder. Include directions and link to a map if that’s not already on your dedicated event site.
 
On memberplanet, you have a ton of email features at your fingertips, from templates, to targeted distribution lists, to tracking reports. Use them to optimize every email send.
 
In publicity, reminders are essential. Digital Marketing Ramblings reports the average office worker receives 121 emails every day. Because emails are so disposable and we’re all easily distracted due to multitasking, everyone needs multiple reminders. 

Marmo agreed: “One email sent one time just isn’t going to do it. You’ve got to promote the event and sometimes do it in more than one way.”

3 months

Logistic:

• Recruit volunteers and other participants.
• Touch base with your venue and vendors.
• Send email invitation. Include a calendar invitation and remember to set an event alert.

Creating an event site and enabling RSVPs allows you to track whom you’ve emailed, their response, as well as funds processed.
Strategic:

• Update your website with the latest information.
• Make it easy to register and pay online. Establish and test an online payment processor.
  

Payment processing is just one of many features included in memberplanet’s robust set of tools you can use to engage with your members. For group leaders like Marmo, having everything in one place helps simplify his logistical tasks.

2 months

Logistic:

• Re-send email invitation to those who haven’t RSVP’d yet.​
  

​You can use Smart Lists to schedule (set and forget it!) an email reminder to go out to everyone who hasn’t RSVP’d yet. 

Strategic:

• Ramp up social media engagement.
  

1 month

Logistic:

• Re-send email invitation to those who haven’t RSVP’d yet. Include a calendar invitation and remember to set an event alert. Include directions and link to a map.
• Finalize your agenda.
• Print and place posters and fliers.

Strategic:

• Continue your social media campaign.
• Publicity: Engage with other media outlets such as radio, news, public television, and cross-interest websites. Issue a press release if needed.
  

2 weeks

Logistic:

• Send out reminder email about RSVP deadline to those who haven’t RSVP’d yet.
• Finalize headcount, menu, and seating.
• Finalize speeches and speaker presentations.
• Print and deliver materials like programs, handouts, and lanyards.

Strategic:

• Intensify your publicity and social media campaigns.
  

1 week

Logistic:

• Dry run or technical walk through.
• Confirm volunteer scheduling.
  

Strategic:

• Consult with your planning committee regarding any outstanding to-list items.

During the days leading up to your event, and especially the day before, you can use Smart Lists to schedule (set and forget it!) email reminders to go out to everyone who’s RSVP’d that they will be attending. 

Follow-up

Logistic:

• Send thank-you emails. Include pictures from the event to show its impact.

Strategic:

• Conduct post-event evaluation or send surveys for improvements next time.
  

The logistics of strategy

We’ve just taken a look at strategy and logistics tasks in planning your event. By understanding which types of planners you and your team members are, you can up your game in any of the areas that need work.
 
Log in and get started with your next event.

Manage Your Event

Updated and Refreshed since original publication on 12/1/2017

​About Greg Beilstein

As the Director of Onboarding and Engagement, Greg loves helping groups get started on the platform. A memberplanet system pro, he works with admin leaders to better engage their members. In his free time he likes to play video games and brew the perfect cup of coffee. ​