3 easy steps to make collecting money a breeze!
One of the biggest pain points we hear from you when planning a hens party (or any group event for that matter) is coordinating payment from the group. We get it, chasing your friends for money can be a bit awkward, especially if you’re planning a party on behalf of the bride and may not know everyone attending the party! We’ve got you covered though and have put together some great tips that will make your job as the money collector a breeze with these 3 easy steps.
- Setting Expectations
This is very important, while in some cases it will be the bride who is covering the party, it’s becoming more and more common to ask the attendees to help cover the cost, especially when doing a group activity (such as a super fun scavenger hunt organised by us here at Hens Treasure Hunt). If you are planning on asking the guests to chip in it is important to make this clear from the beginning and outline how much is expected from them. This way, if they are not in a financial position to contribute, they can discuss this with the bride directly. The expectations are clear, and you have received the RSVP’s, which are essentially a list of everyone who has agreed to assist with payment. Now it’s time for the scary part, asking for the money.
- Requesting Payment
Now this may depend on numbers, but there are two ways we have found work best. if you have a smaller group who all know each other, a group chat always works well. Created by the organiser a group chat is a great central location to share information, all the organiser needs to do is make a list of who is in the group, send a message with the information and their bank details, checking each member off the list once their payment is received. Alternatively, if you have a larger group or know that some people may not be comfortable talking in a group chat, it might work better to send out a group email, this way you can follow the same steps as the group chat by making a list and sending out one message to everyone, it just allows the guests to reply and converse with you in a more private setting. We find using money sharing apps such as Beem It or having Pay ID enabled through your banking app makes this process much simpler, and we all know the easier something is the more likely people are to actually get it done!
- Following Up
When posting the message or composing your email, we recommend including the amount that needs to be transferred, all the bank details (Pay ID and/or Beem It info) as well as a cut-off date for when you need to receive payment by. This way, when that deadline day comes you can send a gentle reminder to transfer the money without needing to call anyone out. If after a gentle reminder or two in the group chat or email there are still people who need to make payment, you may need to follow up with them directly in a private message or email. Always come from a place of care as it’s important those you are following up with do not feel judged or attacked, money can be a sensitive subject for some however they did agree to contribute, and it is important that they communicate if they are no longer able to honour this commitment. On the off chance you have one or more people who are unresponsive and have not sent through their payments, you may need to escalate this to the bride to follow up. We understand she’s busy, but ultimately these are her guests, and they may feel more comfortable speaking with her about why they have not finalised their payment.
So, there you have it, 3 easy steps that will help streamline the money collecting process and will hopefully make the lives of our hens party (or any event) organisers just a little bit easier. Following these steps, you should be left with a list of attendees all with a big tick next to their names. Once the money is collected, the event can be paid for and you can all relax, toast to your excellent planning skills, and enjoy what we’re sure will be a cracker of a party, whatever it is you have planned!
