Lab of Fun #4: I Hate Numbers! (Managing a small budget for your event & potential funding ideas)

This workshop is Part 4 of our 9-part Laboratory of Fun Summer School series for community event makers. You can attend just this session, pick and choose a few, or register for the entire two-month series.

Want to join the full summer school? Click here to choose multiple sessions and 'add to cart' so you only need to register once.

I Hate Numbers! (Managing a small event budget and ideas for funding your event)

If the word "budget" makes you want to lie down in a dark room, this one's for you.

In the first half, we'll look at realistic ways to try and get a bit of money together for your event...  local sponsorship, small grants, crowdfunding, and a good dose of creative resourcefulness. In the second half, we'll talk about what to do once you've got some funds: keeping track of income and outgoings without losing your mind (or your receipts). It's simpler than you think, and we promise not to make it boring! 


What we'll cover:

- Where to look for funding: small grants, local sponsorship, crowdfunding, and some creative options you might not have thought of
- Keeping track of the money: a simple, no-nonsense approach to budgeting for your event
- Receipts, records and reporting back (making it painless)
- Led by Orla, our Executive Producer, who manages the Fun Palaces accounts and event budgets for other community projects
- Time for any questions you might have

Access:

Zoom closed captions are available for every session. Some other sessions also have a BSL interpreter live in the session, which are labelled on the event page. If you're a BSL user and the session you'd like to join isn't covered, or if you have any other access requirements, email hello@funpalaces.co.uk and we'll do what we can to arrange it.

Joining a session:

You never have to speak, be on camera, or share anything you don't want to. Cameras on or off, microphone on or off - it's entirely your call throughout. Taking part by listening and reading along is taking part and it's always enough. We won't put anyone on the spot and when we invite people to contribute, it's always an invitation, never an expectation. We don't record any of the sessions. This is a space to think out loud, ask questions and change your mind - which people find easier when not being recorded.

Who is this for?

Anyone who needs money for their event and doesn’t know where to start or anyone who’s got some funding and wants to keep it organised without a spreadsheet meltdown.

About the Laboratory of Fun

The Laboratory of Fun is a free workshop series from Fun Palaces, open to anyone who wants to bring their community together. Whether you're putting on your first event or building on years of experience, each session is designed to be practical, honest, jargon-free and full of our top tips gathered from Fun Palace Makers across the UK and beyond over the last 12 years. You don't need permission, qualifications, experience, a big budget. You just need to care about your community and the people around you.

Take one session or take them all!

Why 'Laboratory of Fun'? The name is a nod to Joan Littlewood, the radical theatre director who dreamed up the original Fun Palace in the 1960s. She called it a 'laboratory of fun' and a 'university of the streets'... a space where anyone could experiment, learn and create. The building was never built, but the idea never went away. These workshops are our version of that same spirit: a place to experiment, mess about with ideas and figure things out together.

About Fun Palaces

Fun Palaces is a national movement that supports local people to create their own free community events: sharing skills, passions and interests, and celebrating the genius that already exists in every community. As we continue to be concerned by division sown amongst our communities, there has never been a stronger case to bring people together, to find joy and fun and to celebrate the unique skills and talents we each possess. Fun Palaces are about taking some time out for an hour, a day, a weekend to dream something better, collectively, for the places we live in. And to put that dreaming into action.

You can find out more about Fun Palaces at funpalaces.co.uk