Statistics relating to number of invites/number of attendees

I attended a function last year where the spaces were limited to 150 but potentially could have had thousands wanting tickets.
The organisers, in the invite, simply stated 'Less than 150 places left, tickets are selling fast. Book yours today.'
None of the tickets were sold before the invites, just a successful ploy to make people think there weren't many tickets left.

Sold out within less than a week.
The previous year the event had to be cancelled as not enough tickets sold.

This is a difficult one to give an exact answer to as it very much depends on the type of event, the profile of your supporters and their geographical spread.

When faced with this question from our clients, we would advise using the limited number of spaces to your advantage.

Have you considered sending mailings out in batches of, for example, 100 at a time? Include a specific message that "spaces are limited - rsvp asap!" and test the response rate you get from the first mailing. We work on an average expectation that the majority of positive responses will be received within the first 10 days. After this initial period, if you still need "bums on seats", send a second wave of invitations - basing the number you need to send on the positive results ratio you received from the first.

All of this depends, of course, on having enough time between now and the event to take this course of action.

I hope this advice has helped and best of luck with your event!

Best wishes

Tony Davey
AK Consultancies Limited
[url]www.akc.co.uk[/url]