How to Pay Online Garden Speakers with Revenue from Non-Members

Are you a program manager for an organization that hosts garden talks and presentations? Do you often feel that your organization lacks the funds to properly pay speakers — or pay them at all? We’re just going to rip this bandaid off here — experienced, high-quality speakers are going to charge for their time and more importantly, for their expertise. They know things that your audience wants to learn, and this is a part of how they make their living. Now, while you might have different considerations with a live event, with online events, you have some additional freedom in getting the job done.  

Add to that:

• Open registration up to non-members. This is your first — and easiest — way of generating additional revenue to pay your speaker. Your organization of 50 folks may not want to shoulder a $1,500 speaking fee, but that’s an easy feat with 150 people!
  
• Charge your members. Yes, we know that often, a perk of being a member of anything is getting access to free programs. But keep in mind that industries and practices evolve over time, and this may be one of those things that need to be reconsidered. It may be a nominal charge, but it’s a charge. Would your members pay $10 to listen to a world-class speaker? We bet they would!
  
• Charge non-members more. While members may need to pay, non-members will pay more for registration. That is a completely reasonable strategy, and the public is used to that. They won’t even blink and better yet, you don’t even need to advertise it unless your secondary goal is to get more members (“Member Cost: $25, Non-Member Cost: $35 — Join XYZ group here!”)
  
• Put out a tip jar for the speaker. Sounds weird? It’s really not! In this day of virtual everything, it’s a thing. And you can do a variation of this: Charge non-members, but members privately have the Tip Jar option. Learn more about virtual Tip Jars here.
  
• Partner with a related organization. Go in halves with another garden club to invite non-members to the online talk, thus doubling your anticipated audience and creating additional revenue to pay the speaker. 
  
• Obtain a sponsor. This is similar to the previous tip, but in this case, you’ll get another related business to sponsor the talk. Think local garden center, seed company, houseplant shop and the like. They pay (“sponsor”) the speaker’s fee, and in exchange, you include them in your promotional materials:
  
  • “Sponsored by Mega Plants” in all of your registration materials.
    
  • Shout out on social media (“Huge thank-you to Mega Plants for sponsoring our amazing upcoming Zoom presentation featuring Paul Jackson!”).
    
  • Include a short promotional video of the sponsor at the beginning of the talk, and again at the end, and remember to thank them verbally.
    
• Sell ads. Okay, now you’re thinking, “That’s just weird,” but really, if a sponsor is a good idea, how about several mini sponsors? If your presentation is a longer one or you’re organizing something akin to a conference or all-day workshop, you can have short video ads that play during break time. That’s one big part of the revenue equation for CTV (Like Hulu.)

We’re all kinda tired of Zoom, but what Zoom, or video talks/webinars do is open up options for a bigger tent, with more seats under it. When you’re not limited to speakers that can travel to your location, and you’re not limited to registrants that can travel to your location, the door is open for all kinds of neat programs and creative monetization ideas!