1.  
2. Develop a budget for the event and determine how to pay for it.

Decide how to pay for the event

Do you need seed money from the ASC?

If so, CLICK HERE to download a motion form with step-by-step information on how to request seed money for your group's event.

Will you sell tickets?

If your group decides to sell tickets, each Activity Kit has a worksheet called "3. Ticket Accounting," which provides each group with a way of tracking and accurately accounting for ticket sales.  The totals of which automatically appear in the following worksheets in the Activity Kit.

Will you do a combination of seed money and tickets?

A common method of funding any activity is to request seed money well ahead of an event as to secure a facility.  From this point, additional funds can be raised through ticket sales.

Why is it not acceptable to use seventh tradition funds to finance an NA activity?

All the groups that make up the Greater Grand Rapids Area of Narcotics Anonymous are part of a decision making body.  As funds move from the group level to the area level, decisions are made on how to spend those funds in a manner that serves N.A.'s primary purpose: to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.

N.A. Activities serve our primary purpose, too.  And with this in mind, any seed money used to put on an N.A. event, as well as any money made from an N.A. event must go back to the area where decisions can be made by the area as a whole to further our primary purpose.  Other things that we spend money on are Hospitals and Institutions, Public Information, donations to the Michigan Region, and N.A. World Services. 

When we decide as an area, we recognize and trust our unity to make the right decision on how to spend that money.  Given that N.A. activities also provide us with the opportunity to raise additional funds for the area above and beyond the 7th Tradition money donated by groups, it is even more imperative that any decisions regarding how money generated from an activity is done by the Area Service Committee. 

Event Budget

Once your group has decided on what event to present, chosen trusted servants, and filled out your initial checklist of things necessary to put on the event, it’s time to develop a budget.  

VERY IMPORTANT!  Be sure to have a treasurer for the event.  The treasurer is responsible for managing and dispensing money for the event, accounting for each penny spent, and assists the chair of the event in writing the post activities report.   

We suggest that your group develop a budget using the GGRASCNA Budget Submission form, which is included with each Activity Kit (worksheet #2).  When used in its electronic form, this form easily helps you to develop your budget and quickly calculate the projected costs of the event.  Even in paper form, the sheet provides your group with an easy-to-follow format.   

Determining the cost of your group’s event items is a two step process: estimate how many people are likely to attend and price out your event items based on that number.   

First of all, your group can determine how many people you expect to come to the event by selling tickets prior to the event, reviewing attendance records of previous events similar to the one your group seeks to sponsor, and/or ask the advice of people who have put on events similar to the one your group seeks to sponsor.  Pre-event ticket sales, for instance, not only gives you a ballpark figure of your attendance, it also helps pay for the cost of putting on the event—sometimes this method covers the costs of the event in its entirety.  What’s worked in the past in respect to ticket sales is to take the number of tickets sold for an event and add 20%.  In other words, if your group sold 100 pre-event tickets, 20% of 100 is 20, and thus, your group would base their budget on 120 people.  Although its not a perfect science, it has worked well for those who’ve used this method in the past.   

As for pricing out items to produce your group’s budget, you can go directly to places such as Sam’s Club, Costco, GFS, Meijer, Walmart, which all have good deals—especially on bulk items—to cost out items.  Estimated and actual costs of food, paper goods, utensils, and other materials are found at these stores and at their respective Web sites.  However you choose to go about this, it’s handy to have a paper copy of the GGRASCNA Budget Submission Form available to write down the costs of each item, which makes it easier to develop a budget to submit to the area service committee for approval.   This form is found in each Activity Kit as a worksheet called "2. Budget Form."  This will allow you to develop a budget consistent with our guidelines.  

 Determine how many people you expect to come to the event.

·        You can do this by selling tickets. 

·       You can do this by looking at the attendance records a previous events that are similar to the one you like to put on.

·       You can ask the advice of people who have put on events similar to the one you’re seeking to put on.  Please review the activity templates from the previous section. 

What’s worked in the past in respect to ticket sales in projecting attendance figures is to take the number of tickets sold for an event and add 20%.  In other words, if your group sold 100 pre-event tickets, 20% of 100 is 20, and thus, your group would base their budget on 120 people.  Although its not a perfect science, it has worked well for those who’ve used this method in the past.