Creating a detailed and realistic budget is key to producing a successful Fringe event – you significantly increase your chances of making a profit or breaking even if you are aware of all the money coming in and out.
By planning your budget early on you will avoid nasty surprises along the way, and have a much better idea of what your bottom line may be.
Budgeting is an ongoing process – remember to continuously update your budget as costs come in. If you go over budget on one item, you might need to scale back on another. Or if an item has come in under budget, you might be able to spend a little more on Facebook ads, for example.
One person should be responsible for monitoring all expenses and updating budgets, but everyone involved in the event should have knowledge of the budget constraints.
For more detailed help with all this money business, watch our Quick Chats videos.
Venue Hire: It is essential to have a clearly defined agreement in place with your venue and to understand all the terms of that agreement so that no unexpected expenses bite you later. Download our Venue Hire Agreement Template here:
Melbourne Fringe Venue Hire Agreement Template
Public Liability Insurance: It can be wise to consider Public Liability Insurance for your show. If you are looking, Melbourne Fringe runs an umbrella policy. It’s not a mandatory requirement that your show have PLI, unless indicated in your venue contract. Some venues cover their artists, some don’t – so it’s worth asking your venue first. Remember if you’re presenting your work in the Fringe Hub you must have PLI. If you create art outside of the Festival period, you may prefer to look at policies that cover you all year round (for example Duck for Cover, AON Performers Insurance etc).
Contingency: Although you may have researched realistic costs and conservatively estimated your income, things can still go wrong. A standard budget contingency figure is 10% of your total expenditure.
Marketing and advertising: Remember to decide on who your target audience is, what kind of people are most likely to buy tickets to your event – this will inform how and where you spend money on marketing and advertising. Tailor your marketing spend to things these potential ticket-buyers are most likely to notice.
Income: We recommend caution in projecting income. It is much better to be conservative and be pleasantly surprised when you exceed your expectations. It is often too late to cut back on costs once you realise your income targets are not going to be met. Don’t forget to factor in Melbourne Fringe’s inside charges.
Accessibility: Accessibility provisions ensure people with disability or who are Deaf can enjoy your show. Accessibility includes Auslan, Relaxed Performance, Audio Description, Tactile Tours, Captioning. For more detail on how to provide accessibility at your shows, download our Producers Guide to Access or view it here.
The exact costs in your budget will depend on a range of factors such as the type of event and your venue – use the budget template below as a starting point. You can add or remove income and expenses relevant to you and your event. Some expenses are common to all Fringe events, others will be specific to your event only; some will be fixed, others have some flexibility.
If you are planning on entering into a profit-share model for your creative team, check out this amazing guide from MEAA for useful tips and agreement templates.
Download our editable budget template below: