Corporate Event Planning Checklist
Table of Contents
6 to 12 months before
Goal
Determine the purpose of your event. The purpose is very important, as it determines the kind of activities you can organize for your event.
Theme
If using a theme, make sure that it coincides with the values of your organization. Avoid cliches that will not attract guests or media coverage.
Space
If you need to hold the event outside of your business space, start looking early. A strong purpose statement will help you determine the kind of space you will need.
Management
Appoint an official general manager for the event. Whether it is yourself or someone else, a clear chain of command has to be set.
Committees
After appointing the general manager, start building committees for the different aspects of the event. Breaking down the planning for big events is usually a good idea.
Quotes
Get estimates from your usual or potential providers. The budget committee will need these to build their financial projections.
Event Entertainment
If your event has an artistic component, request quotes from well-known artists or have auditions early in the planning.
Sponsorships
If you will solicit sponsorships, work on the sponsorship resume right away. Potential sponsors will want to know the different sponsorship levels quite early, and it will also help with budgeting.
Budget
While waiting for quotes and sponsors, build a preliminary budget. It can be modified throughout the planning stages.
Permits and licenses
Check if you need any kind of permit or license around your event, especially if you plan on serving alcohol.
Cover charge
If you will charge an admission price, determine the amount with the budget committee.
Date
Finalize the date within the first three months of planning. This will help with coordinating artists, suppliers and other elements of your event without the risk of conflicts.
Stationery
Meet with a graphic designer (in-house or consultant) and start drafting the different printed documents you will require for your event.
Early printing
Hire a printer for invitations, reminders and sponsorship requests.
Public relations
Meet with your relationist and build a preliminary timeline for publicity and media relations.
Photography
If you need any pre-event and publicity photos taken, hire a photographer and take these as soon as you can.
3 to 6 months before
Committees
Organize regular committee meetings and have them provide weekly reports to the general manager.
Sponsorships
Start mailing sponsorship and donation request to potential sponsors and donors.
Logos
Request company logos from confirmed sponsors to go on the next printed documents.
Design
Have your graphic designer confirm the templates for all future printed documents.
Printing
After finalizing the designs with your graphic designer, send your next printing orders to the printer.
Ticketing
If your event will use tickets, have them printed at this time also, and make them available for distribution.
Guest list
Build a final guest list, and mail invitations and other documentation to them.
Entertainment
After confirming with your entertainers, sign a contract with them.
Posters
Send out people throughout your city to look for potential locations for posters. Have them report on space availability.
Media
Meet with your relationist and make appointments for interviews and other media coverage.
Food
After choosing a caterer and signing a contract with them, choose the menu with them. Provide choices for different dietary requirements.
Licenses
At this time, you should request the different permits and licenses you will need.
Insurance
Do not forget to get liability insurance for your event; sometimes organization insurance does not cover these kinds of events.
1 month before
Tickets
Check the ticket sales. Follow up with invited guests who have not yet responded.
Publicity
Reserve your publicity with radio and television stations as well as with printed media.
Staffing
If you require extra staff for the event, start advertising the positions now or go to an employment agency for help.
Space
Draw room diagrams and plan the seating, or whatever combination of space and tables you have.
Catering
By this time, you should have a good idea of how many guests will come; you should provide this number to your caterer so he can plan accordingly. Request a final quote from your caterer and sign a contract.
Timeline
If your event involves a sequence of presentations or entertainment, write down the timeline. Give the scripts to the participants, request comments and work through potential problems.
Security
Hire a security agency to estimate your security needs.
1 week before
Committees
Meet with your committees one last time. Solve last-minute problems.
Guests
Confirm final guestlist and attendance numbers.
Staff
Organize preliminary staff meeting to explain tasks and confirm availability. Hire new staff right away if necessary.
Timeline
Send final timeline to the participants.
Catering
Confirm your final order with your caterer.
Publicity
Meet with journalists or media stations to finalize media coverage details.
Rehearsal
Plan rehearsals as needed throughout the week.
Payments
Have accounting write any cheques that need to be handed out on the day of the event.
The day before
Clothes
Choose your attire for the event, and have a change of clothes ready, just in case.
Providers
Confirm delivery times with all your providers, and verify any previously delivered items.
The day of the event
Arrival
Get to the event space early and supervise deliveries.
Inventory
Make an inventory of all supplies and make sure you have everything you need.
Staff
Put your staff in position and confirm their tasks.
Light and sound
Check with your technicians for any potential problems with the technical setup.
Rehearsal
Hold a final rehearsal a few hours before the event, and check the sound and lighting at the same time.
Enjoy the event and remember to relax
You've planned well and everything will work perfectly.
Post-event
Payments
Remember to pay any outstanding invoices.
Final reports
Request final reports from the committees, as well as a final budget.
Download or Print this Corporate Event Planning Checklist
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Presented by:
Kimberly French
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Details
Does your business or charitable organization need an event planned? This checklist was built to help the manager of a publicity event, a fundraiser or any other kind of organizational event to plan it successfully. This is a big responsibility for a single person, and this checklist is easily customizable if your divide the planning between committees. This checklist will help you with all the steps necessary for the creation of a successful event, and we do hope that you will print it and share it with the other persons involved in its planning.
Tips
Start thinking about your event 6 months in advance; some might even take a year to prepare. We strongly suggest that you start as early as possible; poor planning and last-minute decisions will most likely lead to a hasty, ill-conceived event that will not bring a positive image to your organization. The planning has a very strong grassroots element: you should spend a bit of time reflecting on the goals of the event and its relationship to the goals of your organization. Brainstorming sessions are good for this step.
Your organization might have had previous experience with planning events; if this is the case, then you are at an advantage. You should revisit the previous event and check the organization, the suppliers and the post-event reports to build on good planning and avoid previous mistakes. If your organization already has a good business relationship with providers, it is strongly suggested that you go to them again because you are likely to get good quotes for a major event. If you are not so fortunate, thoroughly research the providers beforehand.
There are many websites that provide business reviews to help you with this step. Don't forget to compare quotes between a few suppliers; sometimes a new supplier who wants to build a client base will give you better prices than well-established ones. Think about hiring a public relations professional will be especially useful if your event requires media coverage, unless your organization already has one on its staff.
Who it's for
This Corporate Event Planning Checklist is for teams that want consistent execution, less rework, and clear ownership.
- Standardize quality - run the same Corporate Event Planning steps every time, regardless of who executes
- Save time - reuse a proven Corporate Event Planning workflow instead of rebuilding processes from scratch
- Improve accountability - assign owners and see what's done vs. what's pending
- Onboard faster - use the Corporate Event Planning checklist as the SOP and training guide
- Coordinate across roles - handoffs are clear and everyone works from the same source of truth
How to use it
How to use this Corporate Event Planning Checklist:
- Start by saving it - save as a Template if you'll reuse it, or as a Checklist if it's a one-off project.
- Customize it once for your workflow - remove what doesn't apply and add your team-specific steps.
- Assign ownership and execute - set owners/due dates where needed and track completion as work happens.
- Reuse without rebuilding - when Corporate Event Planning comes up again, start from your saved version and run it with clear ownership.