Working with vendors for a successful event

The holiday season is fast approaching and, since many nonprofits plan important events for this time of year, TechSoup.org and its event-management software partner Acteva want to share tips and resources to make your event a big success.

The relationship your nonprofit has with vendors can make or break the occasion. This can be especially difficult as we approach the holiday season, when everyone's schedules are hectic. By planning ahead, you'll be able to provide your vendors with the right information at the right time, and help your caterers, contractors, and on-site staff exceed guest expectations.

Here are some tips on how to take the stress out of managing your vendors:

1. Automate Event Counts and Reporting -- Set up a system that makes it easy for you to provide event counts and vendor reports even when you're short staffed. To help you save time, make sure you can access your registration information including faxed, phoned, and online counts at the push of a button.
2. Create a Schedule for Tasks and Milestones -- Lay out your vendors' responsibilities and due dates before things get busy. Your vendor will appreciate not getting those "What's the status?" calls out of the blue.
3. Gather Meal Preferences from Your Attendees Before the Event -- Collect meal choices from your attendees during the registration process by offering a brief online questionnaire. By using a Web-based event planning system, you can easily generate a custom report for your caterer ahead of time to help them prepare, especially if you have guests with special dietary needs.
4. Ensure Your Vacation Contact -- Chances are your vendors will know their vacation schedules before the holidays kick in. Ask your main contacts whom to call when they're out of the office.
5. Don't Leave Your Guests Out in the Cold -- By keeping a close eye on the number of people who are registering, you'll know what size room to reserve or if you should ask the banquet hall for more tables. Collecting registrations online can give you and your fellow organizers up-to-the-minute counts on how many people to expect.

To help you work with your vendors for a successful event, TechSoup offers a donated package of Acteva services to eligible nonprofits. Using Acteva's Web-based event planning system, you can create questionnaires when people register and generate custom reports to provide your vendors with meal preference lists, attendee counts, "will call" lists, name tags, and more.

Eligible nonprofits are invited to place a request at TechSoup for a donated package of Acteva services for a $50 admin fee; the retail value is $500. You can also watch a Flash video at Acteva's Web site to learn more about how this donation can help you or review the eligibility details.