Budget Help

Help your event fit within your budget by considering these common items

There are basic budgetary needs to consider for most events to take place and be successful:

Location rental – NAU has a variety of spaces available for use including indoor and outdoor Event Venues. Most spaces on NAU will have rental costs associated with it; if your event is outside you will need to consider including additional equipment in your budget such as portable restrooms, generators, lighting towers etc. for the event.

Staffing – Labor can be one of the most often overlooked items when planning a budget for an event. It helps to consider how many and how long students or staff will work the event into your budget.

Equipment rental or services – including chairs, tables, trash cans, audio/visual equipment, pop-up tents, etc. or any on-campus services such as grounds, electrical, custodial services, etc.

If your event requires any equipment or services that NAU cannot provide (speakers/performers, bounce houses, etc.) then our event coordinators can look into services/charges from outside vendors to provide services for the event and how it can fit into your budget.

Event Marketing – Advertising can help boost the attendance of your event and there are many free and paid options for promoting events. Free options such as using social media to post an event or using the NAU Event Calendar that also links to the NAUgo app. Depending on the size of the event, you may want to consider posters, fliers, banners and utilizing Union vendor tables as well as paid promotional ads on social media, KJACK or local radio.

Unforeseen Items – Sometimes you may require items that you did not plan or budget to have. It can be helpful to include an extra funds for unexcepted expenses.

If you have any questions about budgeting for your event that isn’t covered here please email us at campusevents@nau.edu