The purpose of this article is to give you some tips on how to organize a workshop.

Be aware of the fact that the good planning and organization is half of the work that needs to be done. Once you decide on organizing a workshop, please think about:

– What are the Goals of the workshop? (to provide support, to educate individuals on healthy lifestyle, to promote organization’s activities, etc.)
– What will be the subject? (for example: Healthy Lifestyle – it’s never been so easy!);
– Who will be the target group? (elderly, living in a specific area; individuals with health issues);
– When will be the workshop executed? (if you plan on organizing the workshop during the week, some of the participants will not be able to attend due to their job engagements);
– Where will the workshop take place? (in a local library, church, etc.);
– Who will be the speakers? (make sure that you also have somebody to coordinate the activities);

The second part of the organization process is to budget expenses: make a draft of all the expenses that you expect. This may include: space rental, coffee pauses, handouts, audio and vision techniques, brochures, special equipment, compensation for the speakers, etc.

After the planning of the workshop, you’ll have to get the ball rolling:

1) Write your invitation letter, or how the participants get informed about the workshop? – from the charity’s website, Facebook Page, word of mouth, brochures, etc.;
2) Ask the participants to sign up for their attendance, so you would know how many to expect at the day of the workshop;
3) Decide on what to include in the handouts provided to the participants during the workshop;
4) You will also have to prepare a Program (a scenario of the activities or a plan of action) for the workshop;
5) Milestones: predict some difficulties and possible ways to avoid them (give yourself enough time to organize the workshop).

Last, think about a “follow-up” after the workshop that you can provide to the participants to keep them interested in the subject and to remind them of your organization and its mission.