Event feasibility assessment before you commit
The idea is popular in the committee, and before anyone books anything you want to know if it can actually be done.
The short answer
A feasibility assessment tests five things in plain language: audience, money, people, time and place. For each, record what you know, what you are assuming and what would make it fail. The output is a recommendation to go, go with conditions, change shape, or stop.
It is not a full plan. It is a short check, usually a few pages, that takes the facts from your interviews, assumptions register and budget position and shows where the idea is thin.
The five tests
| Test | Questions to ask | A weak answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Who must attend for the purpose to be met, and what is the evidence they would? | Hope based on last year's turnout with no new evidence. |
| Money | What is the approved or likely budget, what does it include, and how is a shortfall covered? | A figure with no statement of tax, service charges or contingency. |
| People | Who will do the work, for how many hours, and what else are they doing? | A volunteer committee that already runs two events. |
| Time | Working back from the target date, are decisions and supplier lead times realistic? | Key bookings needed before the council meets. |
| Place | Does a suitable venue exist in the region at the date, and has anyone asked? | Assuming availability without a written enquiry. |
A decision sequence
- Write the purpose and the success criteria at the top so every test is judged against them.
- For each test, record known facts, assumptions and the question that would turn an assumption into a fact.
- Mark each test Strong, Workable with conditions, or Weak. Judge by reading your notes, not by adding up scores.
- Write the conditions that would make a Workable test safe, with owners and dates.
- Put the result to the decision-makers as one of four options: go, go with conditions, reshape, or stop. The go or no-go decision page covers that meeting.
Specialist questions
Some feasibility questions belong to others: legal and licensing terms, safety and capacity of a space, accessibility, accreditation of learning hours, tax treatment. List them as questions for the competent party, with the person who will ask, and do not mark them as answered.
Mark any test that depends on an unanswered specialist question as Conditional.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional two-day conference tested
Fictional organisation and figures, illustrative only.
A fictional trade association proposes a two-day conference for 300 delegates. Audience is Workable: interviews suggest members can leave for one day but not two. Money is Weak: the budget excludes tax and service charges, and no one holds contingency.
People is Weak: three volunteers have a combined ten hours a week. The recommendation is to reshape to a one-day event with a project lead appointed, and to confirm the budget basis before the council meets.
Use this yourself
Feasibility assessment grid
Copy this table. Fill each row from evidence, and write the recommendation underneath.
| Test | What we know | What we assume | What would make it fail | Rating | Condition, owner, date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | |||||
| Money | |||||
| People | |||||
| Time | |||||
| Place |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- The idea is a repeat or a modest variation.
- Someone can gather facts from finance, past records and a venue enquiry.
- The decision-makers are few and meet soon.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- The event is new, larger or in a format the committee has not run.
- The people who would do the work are not yet identified.
- An independent view would help the committee make an uncomfortable decision.
Want an independent read on feasibility?
A planning diagnostic gives a bounded review of the idea against audience, money, people, time and place, then a prioritised action list. If the answer is go, an Event Blueprint can turn the conditions into a working plan with owners and dates.
Questions organisers ask
How long should a feasibility assessment take?
A few days of part-time effort for a professional event, mostly spent waiting on answers from finance, venues and members.
Is this the same as a business case?
No. A business case argues for investment. A feasibility assessment tests whether the event can be done and what must be true for it to work.
Can the answer be stop?
Yes. A clear stop, or a change of shape, saves more than a reluctant go. Record the reason in the decision log.
Who should write it?
The person who will run the event, with input from finance and whoever holds audience knowledge. Review it with the chair.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.