Amfar got free invitation design by holding a contest among art students.
1. Ask About Overstock
Emma Angevine, director of individual giving and special events at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, always asks printers to compare her choices of paper or cardstock with any overstock they have on hand. (Sometimes printers end up buying more paper than they need to fill another order, so they offer it at a substantial discount.) Angevine recently saved 20 percent off her paper costs when her printer had an overrun from a previous job that closely resembled her original cardstock choice. The color, texture, and weight were close enough to Angevine's selection that she was able to forgo her original choice in favor of the less expensive alternative—a switch her guests would never notice or suspect.
2. Hit the Gift Shop
Holding an event at a museum or other venue that has a gift shop on-site? Don't overlook it as a source for unique decor elements. For the recent opening of "Concrete Kingdom: Sculptures by Nek Chand," an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum featuring the work of an Indian artist, the museum's special events manager, Katie Hush, played off the exhibit's theme by using Indian items for sale in the gift shop. Hush used rugs as wall hangings and tucked pillows into seating nooks to add some vibrant colors to the room. She has also used carved wooden folk art tchotchkes in lieu of flowers or candles as centerpieces. Hush says museums are often amenable to this practice because it gets their merchandise in front of prospective buyers. "Leave the price tags on them so people know they're for sale," she says. Or—for guests who might not appreciate a tag sale at the center of the table—purchase the items to give out at the end of the night, so you save money by getting both decor and gifts for one price.
3. Get Competitive
To procure art for the invitations for Amfar's annual Amfar Rocks benefit at Tavern on the Green, Andy Boose, president of event firm AAB Productions, which produces the event, hit on an inventive, no-cost idea: turning the invitation design process into a contest. For the past three years, Amfar has gotten fresh, original art that doesn't cost a dime. Boose gets the word out through Amfar's event committee and provides a detailed spec sheet, right down to the weight of paper required. Art students at local institutions submit their best efforts, and the winner has his or her name featured on the invitation and is mentioned in event materials. Boose says appealing to artists' competitive as well as creative spirits has yielded a great response to the contest.
4. Go Ethnic
Working with New York's many ethnic restaurants can be rewarding for the wallet as well as the palate. For the recent opening of "Let There Be Light," an exhibition of ancient oil lamps at the Museum of Biblical Art, the museum's membership and marketing manager, Idyl Mohallim, had a local Turkish restaurant handle the catering. Platters of mezes and crudités with hummus added a dash of the exotic to guests' noshing. "That had a great feel," she says. "It worked really well with the theme, and it was a lot less expensive."
5. Ask for Goodies
If you need a little something extra that won't cost a vendor much to fulfill, use your request for proposals to ask for a nominal freebie. It won't cost you anything, and you're likely to find that suppliers will take the request in stride. When the Folk Art Museum's Hush puts out RFPs for catering, she throws in a request for gratis gift bag treats. "I ask for desserts like a brownie to donate to our goodie bags, and they can include their card for a little bit of publicity," she says. While some caterers do decline, Hush says that putting the request right in the RFP gives her a good indication of which caterers are willing to work within her constraints—knowledge that's far more valuable than a few dozen cookies.
Emma Angevine, director of individual giving and special events at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, always asks printers to compare her choices of paper or cardstock with any overstock they have on hand. (Sometimes printers end up buying more paper than they need to fill another order, so they offer it at a substantial discount.) Angevine recently saved 20 percent off her paper costs when her printer had an overrun from a previous job that closely resembled her original cardstock choice. The color, texture, and weight were close enough to Angevine's selection that she was able to forgo her original choice in favor of the less expensive alternative—a switch her guests would never notice or suspect.
2. Hit the Gift Shop
Holding an event at a museum or other venue that has a gift shop on-site? Don't overlook it as a source for unique decor elements. For the recent opening of "Concrete Kingdom: Sculptures by Nek Chand," an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum featuring the work of an Indian artist, the museum's special events manager, Katie Hush, played off the exhibit's theme by using Indian items for sale in the gift shop. Hush used rugs as wall hangings and tucked pillows into seating nooks to add some vibrant colors to the room. She has also used carved wooden folk art tchotchkes in lieu of flowers or candles as centerpieces. Hush says museums are often amenable to this practice because it gets their merchandise in front of prospective buyers. "Leave the price tags on them so people know they're for sale," she says. Or—for guests who might not appreciate a tag sale at the center of the table—purchase the items to give out at the end of the night, so you save money by getting both decor and gifts for one price.
3. Get Competitive
To procure art for the invitations for Amfar's annual Amfar Rocks benefit at Tavern on the Green, Andy Boose, president of event firm AAB Productions, which produces the event, hit on an inventive, no-cost idea: turning the invitation design process into a contest. For the past three years, Amfar has gotten fresh, original art that doesn't cost a dime. Boose gets the word out through Amfar's event committee and provides a detailed spec sheet, right down to the weight of paper required. Art students at local institutions submit their best efforts, and the winner has his or her name featured on the invitation and is mentioned in event materials. Boose says appealing to artists' competitive as well as creative spirits has yielded a great response to the contest.
4. Go Ethnic
Working with New York's many ethnic restaurants can be rewarding for the wallet as well as the palate. For the recent opening of "Let There Be Light," an exhibition of ancient oil lamps at the Museum of Biblical Art, the museum's membership and marketing manager, Idyl Mohallim, had a local Turkish restaurant handle the catering. Platters of mezes and crudités with hummus added a dash of the exotic to guests' noshing. "That had a great feel," she says. "It worked really well with the theme, and it was a lot less expensive."
5. Ask for Goodies
If you need a little something extra that won't cost a vendor much to fulfill, use your request for proposals to ask for a nominal freebie. It won't cost you anything, and you're likely to find that suppliers will take the request in stride. When the Folk Art Museum's Hush puts out RFPs for catering, she throws in a request for gratis gift bag treats. "I ask for desserts like a brownie to donate to our goodie bags, and they can include their card for a little bit of publicity," she says. While some caterers do decline, Hush says that putting the request right in the RFP gives her a good indication of which caterers are willing to work within her constraints—knowledge that's far more valuable than a few dozen cookies.
