Behind the money of a non profit event

This is my third year putting on a sizable event like BSDC, and the same anxiety swells up just like the years before. Will we get enough sponsors? Will we sell enough tickets? Are venue, food, and everything else sorted? Will we pick the right speakers for our conference?

BSDC costs around $20k to put on.

The reality is that a conference like this is nothing short of a miracle every time it occurs. A majority of the worry for me is around providing the best conference and making sure I don’t bankrupt our non profit by doing so. It’s like building an airplane that’s trying to land.

None of the money we collect ever ends up in the organizers, or non profits coffers for good. We’re designed to give it back to the community by way of events.

Ticket sales

Now more than ever and for events not just our own, ticket sales experience a hockey stick like effect. The closer to the event, the more tickets we usually sell in an exponential uptick. This means we don’t know exactly how many folks will attend any given year, but yet we have to make sure catering and swag orders are put in at least a month and a half before the event.

Last year, we nailed the formula by some sort of sheer luck. The year before, I had to donate a bunch of shirts. Shirts are pricey!

In fact, most of the budget of BSDC is supported by the prior year’s proceeds and in flight ticket sales. This means the entire planning process we’re stuck in a budget limbo hoping we pull through on numbers and sponsors.

Sponsors

The most key piece to this whole thing starts well in advance (even before 2026 rolled around). Every year sponsors are only potential sponsors unless engaged and “closed”. It’s like a sales process but instead of giving them a product, we hope they will find value in recognition.

Every sponsor is a hero. They help uplift the budget for better quality programming and experiences, and they do so in advance of the event. Securing one is hard. We’ve been ghosted by countless prospects trying to do so. We have some seriously dependable sponsors at this point who sign up early. I’m truly grateful.

Speaker reimbursements

After the event is said and done, we make good on speaker reimbursements. For those who needed us to foot travel and lodging, we start writing checks. This is potentially one of the more costly things we do, but it’s important that if a speaker needs accommodations, we pay for those. Speakers are the lifeblood of the whole event. They make or break the experience.

Well before that though, are the other costs. Marketing materials, website, badges are relatively small costs. Some larger costs come with the venue (almost $7k last year), food ($3200), t shirts ($3k).

And every year, somehow, it works.

People show up. Hallways fill with conversations. Someone lands a job. Someone gives their first talk. Someone meets collaborators they will work with for years. Ideas that started as side projects turn into real companies. The Montana tech community gets a little stronger.

That is the part you cannot spreadsheet.

BSDC is not really about a stage, or shirts, or even talks. It is about creating a place where builders in Montana and beyond realize they are not doing this alone. For a couple days each year, we get to compress years of connection into a single room.

So when you buy a ticket, sponsor the event, or just tell a friend to come, you are not just helping us run a conference. You are helping keep something rare alive, a community run event built by and for developers here. Hell, that’s why I helped start it back up.

And honestly, that is what makes all the anxiety worth it.

We will keep building the airplane and, with a little luck, we will land it together again.