EVENT PLANNING CHECKLIST
Your event format, location, audience makeup and size, number of speakers, and other factors will
affect your time line and the number of committees and partners that you will need.
GETTING STARTED

Appoint an event manager and a planning team.
Put together a team of interested AAUW members and coalition partners to help decide
details and share the workload. The event manager will be the key motivator and
strategist for the event. Depending upon the complexity of the event, consider
appointing committees for programming, coalition outreach, community and media
promotion, registration, and refreshments.

Recruit coalition partners.
Invite diverse groups in your community to co-sponsor the event. Be sure to include
organizations that share similar concerns including the following, depending upon the
topic of your event: women’s organizations, local university or college women’s studies
classes, teachers’ organizations or unions, political organizations, or student
organizations.

Decide on a format and agenda.
Determine whether your event will be a briefing, panel discussion, workshop, debate, or
some other format. Be sure that your format will achieve your goals and accommodate
the number of people that you would like to attend.

Decide on an audience.
Determine who and estimate how many people will attend the event. For budgetary
and staffing reasons, you may wish to limit the enrollment. Everything about the event,
including the issues, co-sponsoring organizations, speakers, location, date, and time,
should be designed with the audience in mind. The expected number of attendees also
determines the budget, staffing, location, handouts, equipment, supplies, and the like.

Develop a budget.
While events can be held for little expense, you may incur costs for the location,
speakers’ fees, printed handouts, refreshments, advertising, and postage for visibility
and follow-up letters. In-kind contributions and donations from co-sponsors and other
organizations are good ways to stretch your resources. Decide if you will need to charge
a fee for this event. If you do, consider how much your target audience can afford and
charge accordingly.

Establish a time line.
To run a successful event, you must have a plan. Create a time line that leads up to the
event and shows each task that must be accomplished, the deadline for accomplishing
it, and the person responsible.

Select a date.
Select a date and time that are convenient for your target audience. Avoid religious or
government holidays or dates when other community events, including those at local
colleges and universities, are scheduled. This date may change depending upon your
location and the availability of speakers.

Choose a location.
Choose an accessible site that will attract your target audience, such as a school or
community center. Be sure the location is wheelchair-accessible.

Brainstorm about ways to save money.
Ask speakers if they will donate their time. Create relationships with local copy shops
and discuss the possibility of getting free printing in return for advertising the shop’s
name on the back of your brochures or flyers. Ask a local college or community center
to let you hold the event at no charge. Be innovative!
NEXT STEPS

Appoint committees and committee chairs.
At a minimum, you should appoint committees for programming, coalition outreach,
community and media promotion, and registration. If you are serving refreshments,
appoint a committee to be responsible for that part of the event. Prepare checklists of
committee responsibilities to make sure everyone understands her or his duties and to
avoid task overlap.

Select and invite speakers, panelists, moderators, and other participants.
Whenever possible, choose nonpartisan, credible individuals who will bring media
attention to the event. Speakers should represent a variety of ages, ethnic backgrounds,
and physical abilities. Participants could include a coalition partner, legislators, or an
expert on women’s issues. Invite participants well in advance of the event and be
specific about what you want them to do. Ask if they will appear at no charge, but if you
want them badly enough, be prepared to offer to pay travel, hotel, and dining expenses
or a stipend. Be sure to confirm and reconfirm with them before the event.

Identify co-sponsors and contributors and ask for their help.
Contact local groups through e-mail or flyers or attend their meetings. Invite them to cosponsor the event, help plan it, and send participants. Local businesses may be willing to
contribute goods or services to the event. Be sure to confirm and reconfirm with them
before the event.

Inform the public.
Decide how you will inform your prospective audience about the event. Consider
newspaper ads, fliers, radio and television announcements, Twitter, Facebook, online
advertising, or community bulletin boards. Designate one person to be the public
contact and include her or his phone number and e-mail address on all public
information materials.

Inform the media.
Compile a list of media contacts that includes local and regional newspaper and
magazine editors and departments that cover women’s and education issues. Designate
a spokesperson to be available to the media and include her or his name, phone
number, and e-mail address on all outreach and mailings. Create press releases and
send them to local newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and radio and television
stations. About five days before the event, e-mail or fax a media advisory to all of your
media contacts.

Determine the registration process.
Figure out how people will register to attend this event. If you are charging a fee, decide
what payment methods you will accept.

Compile your handouts.
Decide what handouts you will distribute at the event and be sure that you have more
than enough copies for each member of your expected audience. If you run out of
handouts, have a method in place for people to request copies by mail or e-mail. Be
sure you have a procedure in place for distributing handouts at the event.

Prepare media packets.
Media packets should include the agenda, speaker bios and statements, press releases,
background on AAUW and co-sponsors, and any other materials about the event. Be
sure that you have more than enough copies for each media representative at the
event.
AT THE EVENT

Check the location.
The day before the event, have someone check the location to be sure everything is set up
correctly, including all rooms and equipment. If that is not possible, be sure to arrive as
early as possible to check the setup.

Assign someone to meet, brief, and escort each speaker.
Have water available for them during the event.

Have a sign-in sheet to capture information about attendees who show up at the last
minute.

Be sure someone is available at all times to answer logistical questions and welcome
latecomers.
Someone should be tasked with answering questions such as where is the restroom, where
is the elevator, where is the exit, how can I become a member of AAUW, and the like.

Acknowledge speakers, sponsors, and contributors.
In the welcome or wrap up, acknowledge and thank the speakers, sponsors, and
contributors.

Prepare a few questions in case the group is slow to warm up after a presentation.
This gives members of the audience time to think of their own questions.
AFTER THE EVENT

Thank speakers, sponsors, coalition partners, and others who contributed.
Thank all event participants, sponsors, and contributors in writing immediately following
the event.

Follow up with the media.
Call all media contacts to see if they have any questions or need additional information
or quotes. If they do, be sure to reply and send materials immediately. Send a media kit
and follow-up press release to those who did not attend.

Follow up on action strategies.
Work with the event committee and coalition partners to follow up on any action
strategies that result from the event. Follow-up should occur as soon as possible after
the end of the event.

Follow up with potential AAUW members.
Use the registration list as a mailing list for future meetings and to contact potential
AAUW members. Follow-up should occur as soon as possible after the end of the event.