Event planning template

There are so many moving pieces to keep track of when you’re planning an event. Between planning the budget, negotiating with vendors, and coordinating tasks in the run-up to the big day, there’s a lot to do before the event happens. 

To keep your event planning process running smoothly, you need to organize all your event tasks and details in one easily accessible place. Asana’s event planning template lets you view your event planning timeline at a high-level and collaborate easily, so you can plan with purpose.

What is an event planning template?

An event planning template is a duplicatable framework that helps streamline the event planning process. It provides you with a single place to manage and track event details. Asana’s event planning template is pre-built with custom sections and fields to track upcoming event tasks and details. It creates consistency, making it easy to replicate your existing event management workflows. Which means you can feel confident your team won’t miss any steps—so you can put on the best event possible. 

What are the benefits of using Asana’s event planning template?

Our free event planning template lets you manage all the details for your event in one accessible place, providing clarity in a way that static spreadsheets can’t. From tracking your budget and communicating with vendors to keeping your event on schedule, using our template ensures your event will run smoothly. 

While it’s possible to keep track of an event to do list in a printable event planning worksheet, using a digital project management tool makes it easy to track, share, and update your event plan as priorities and deadlines evolve. Plus, you can duplicate the template for each event instead of creating a new project. This reduces unnecessary upfront work and ensures your team follows the same steps when planning similar events.

Other benefits of our event planning template include:

• Budget for your event before the event starts.

• Visualize your event plan in a timeline.

• Create an actionable event planning checklist to track event tasks for smoother planning.

• Easily see which tasks depend on others and remove blockers before they cause scheduling issues.

• Share status updates and event progress right from the project.

• Use milestones to track planning progress. 

• Proactively manage vendor lists and guest relations.

• Use Asana’s integrated apps, such as Outlook, Gmail, and Slack, to turn messages into actionable tasks and track important documents.

• Manage day-of tasks and event plans in real-time—from anywhere—with the mobile app.

What event details can you manage with Asana’s event planning template?

Our event planning template is pre-populated with sections and custom fields you can use to manage important event information. You can also build out your own custom tags to keep track of event details, including:

• The event timeline

• The event budget

• Vendor contracts, contact information, other important documents

• The guest list

• Necessary logistical details, like when tasks should be completed and what teams are responsible for them   

• Your critical day-of tasks and schedule

• Any post-event evaluations, event goals, or performance reporting

Types of event planning templates

No matter what type of event you’re planning, a template can help. Here are a few templates you can use to kick off your next event:

• Event marketing plan template: Map out your event marketing efforts. Keep track of all your plans to market and promote events, from marketing campaigns and party planning to non-profit fundraising.

• Event timeline template: Give your event team visibility into every step—and potential roadblocks—leading up to the big day with a gantt-chart style template that lays out your event timeline from start to finish.

• Event budget template: Keep track of all your event expenses, from venue costs to equipment rentals and food and beverage expenses.

How to use Asana’s event planning template

Once you’ve downloaded our event planning template, using it is easy. Simply make a copy of the template and customize it to align with your upcoming event. 

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Start with our event planning template and customize it to meet the specific needs of your next event. Give the project a unique name that aligns with your event, and fill out the project description with an accurate overview of the event and the event’s purpose.

2. Organize your event tasks within the sections that correspond to the event’s timeline.Our template comes pre-populated with sections you can flesh out or amend to align with your event schedule. 

3. Add tasks and due dates within each section to map out what your team needs to do as the event approaches. Use milestones to track major progress points and assign dependencies to indicate what tasks need to be completed before others can start. 

4. Loop in internal team members and external stakeholders for visibility and accountability. Assign tasks to team members and invite external event contacts, such as vendors or contractors, to collaborate. Vendor not in Asana? No problem—use our app integrations, like Gmail and Outlook, to turn messages and emails into actionable tasks. 

5. Use our Timeline View to see your event schedule at a high level. Keep an eye on the planning progress to ensure the event schedule is on track, easily rearrange due dates as priorities shift, and spot scheduling conflicts before they arise.

6. Share progress in the template with status updates to keep your team on the same page and break down communication silos. 

7. Keep the big day running smoothly by managing your day-of schedule right in Asana and through the Asana mobile app.

Integrations and apps to use with Asana’s event planning template

Asana’s integrated features and apps help teams coordinate and communicate about the upcoming event and keep track of important documents and information, all without leaving Asana. 

Integrated features

1. Timeline View. Timeline View is a Gantt-style project view that displays all of your tasks in a horizontal bar chart. Not only can you see each task’s start and end date, but you can also see dependencies between tasks. With Timeline View, you can easily track how the pieces of your plan fit together. Plus, when you can see all of your work in one place, it’s easy to identify and address dependency conflicts before they start, so you can hit all of your goals on schedule. 

2. Milestones. Milestones represent important project checkpoints. By setting milestones throughout your project, you can let your team members and project stakeholders know how you’re pacing towards your goal. Use milestones as a chance to celebrate the little wins on the path towards the big project goal. 

3. Dependencies. Mark a task as waiting on another task with task dependencies. Know when your work is blocking someone else’s work, so you can prioritize accordingly. Teams with collaborative workflows can easily see what tasks they’re waiting on from others, and know when to get started on their portion of work. When the first task is completed, the assignee will be notified that they can get started on their dependent task. Or, if the task your work is dependent on is rescheduled, Asana will notify you—letting you know if you need to adjust your dependent due date as well. 

4. Project status updates. Say goodbye to sorting between multiple tools to find project status information or sitting through another meeting that could have been an email. Project status updates in Asana aren’t just easier to use—they’re also directly connected to the work your team does. This makes it easy for team members to access additional project information, like your project plan, communication plan, project goals, milestones, deliverables, and more. Ultimately, project status reports reduce your manual work, centralize information, and keep everyone up to date. 

Recommended apps

1. Gmail. With the Asana for Gmail integration, you can create Asana tasks directly from your Gmail inbox. Any tasks you create from Gmail will automatically include the context from your email, so you never miss a beat. Need to refer to an Asana task while composing an email? Instead of opening Asana, use the Asana for Gmail add-on to simply search for that task directly from your Gmail inbox. 

2. Slack. Turn ideas, work requests, and action items from Slack into trackable tasks and comments in Asana. Go from quick questions and action items to tasks with assignees and due dates. Easily capture work so requests and to-dos don’t get lost in Slack. 

3. Microsoft Teams. With the Microsoft Teams + Asana integration, you can search for and share the information you need without leaving Teams. Easily connect your Teams conversations to actionable items in Asana. Plus, create, assign, and view tasks during a Teams Meeting without needing to switch to your browser.

4. Outlook. As action items come in via email, like reviewing work from your agency or a request for design assets from a partner, you can now create tasks for them in Asana right from Outlook. You can then assign the new task to yourself or a teammate, set a due date, and add it to a project so it’s connected to other relevant work. 

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