Events cost money. It’s an inescapable truth.

How many phenomenal event ideas have you had to put aside because you didn’t have enough money in your budget?

We want to help you make your creative event ideas a reality! The Funding Roundup Newsletter is a free monthly resource packed with funding news, creative fundraising ideas, helpful resources, and budget-friendly event tips. Expect a new issue on the 15th of every month.

Here’s to making your dream event a reality! —Katharyn & Karuna

Do you know about the Public Humanities Project Grant available through the National Endowment for the Humanities? This grant allows educational institutions, community leadership/governments, and non-profits to apply for a grant with a potential award amount of up to $1,000,000 for “projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person, hybrid, or virtual programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history.”

There is still time to apply for a grant during the current grant cycle! Applications close on January 8, 2025.

For those planning author events in New York or California, Poets & Writers is open to applications for events planned through March 2025. Apply now through November 30, 2024, for a mini-grant of up to $3000.

Each month we will share one creative funding idea per core audience type. If you have suggestions for what to share, let us know!

Schools: Host a community event to help build support for another event!
There are quite a few special funding sources for schools, but sometimes it is hard to find the time to apply for a grant. Yet, there are certain programs that may or may not receive title funding (all-school reads and author visits, for example). It is a little extra effort, but sometimes planning an event to raise funds for another event can be worthwhile in these situations. They simultaneously build community and raise funds. For example, if a parent or community group is willing to help you raise funds and sponsor a talent show, the marketing for the event could mention that the proceeds will fund the reading program. The seed fund from ticket sales can then be set aside for an author visit. Before getting started, it is important to make sure you receive school leadership approval and take a look at any rules governing how you can collect and use the funds in your area.

Colleges/Universities: Break down those silos!
In addition to grant funding and donations, do not discount the value of interdisciplinary collaboration to build campus-wide excitement and a more robust event schedule. For example, hosting a non-fiction graphic novelist may appeal to departments across Art, English, and History as well as the campus library team. Uniting four programming budgets can open doors that might otherwise be unavailable to one department or office.

Non-Profits: Ask about a donation discount!
Some speakers are willing to donate part of their speaking fee in return for a donation or matching donation in their name. If you want to invite an aligned speaker, see if they might be willing to adjust their pricing for you in exchange for recognition of their support of your non-profit.

Public Institutions: Get your audience involved early!
Build excitement with your audience and ask for early engagement through things like donation polls. For example, say you want to bring a bestselling author to your community. Have a local non-profit partner like a Friends of the Library group run a donation poll to choose the genre. Then, come up with a short list of possibilities and run another donation poll to choose the top author pick. You might even be able to raffle off paired donation packages from local businesses to sweeten the deal and encourage participation in the donation drive. These kinds of initiatives help you both build funding and empower your audience in the event process.

Corporations: Seek top executive sponsorship!

Who do your executives admire? It can be hard as an Employee Resource Group (ERG) or smaller department to plan meaningful events on a shoestring budget. If you are trying to bring in an outside speaker, talk to one of your top executives and see if they have the flexibility to sponsor a program. The tip about breaking down silos that we shared for colleges and universities applies to ERGs too! Sometimes working together allows you to achieve big goals for both ERGs.

Budgeting for a large event with an outside speaker can be a challenge! There are so many details to track. We understand, from personal experience, how complicated it can be for event hosts! That’s why we created the Fund My Event Roadmap. The Fund My Event Roadmap walks you through how to budget for a larger event with an outside speaker. It calculates where you are and how much money you might need to raise to fully fund your budget. It helps you keep track of money spent and event contacts. There are links to top grant resources and an example sponsor letter. We created this free resource because we want to empower you to pursue your dream events! Access it for free HERE.

Want to work with a national-level author? Help them do what they do best!

We help coordinate a lot of author events and one consistent theme is that authors are always interested in creative ways to sell and promote their book. If you want to work with an author and speaker and you know their speaking fee is out of your range, see if you can find a creative way to buy a significant amount of copies of their book in connection to your event.

Also, keep track of new books coming out! Authors are usually more willing to agree to creative event ideas that may not have as large of a budget around publication day. If you have a great idea, sometimes you can even ask to read a copy of the book in advance to make sure you know how to promote it to your audience. And who knows? Perhaps your event idea will even appeal to their publicist and the publisher might be able to help you cover some of the costs to bring the author to you! The benefits of engaging with an author near publication are many, but you do need to be savvy and plan ahead. Speaking agents who work with authors are often willing to tell you which books they are excited about coming out soon. We are certainly willing to do so! Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your questions and ideas.