How much should we budget for our offsite?
What would it look like if we spent a little more on [our hotel block, our meeting space, on food, on activities, on swag]?
Is the budget our CFO gave us doable given the type of experience we want to plan for our employees?
These are the type of questions we hear all the time at Offsite.
After planning hundreds of team retreats globally for top employers like Reforge, Buffer, and 15Five, we can offer detailed examples of what different budgets might get you for your upcoming corporate retreat or company offsite.
First, we’ll discuss what factors into an offsite budget.
Then, we’ll show you examples based on different levels of investment you might make in your upcoming company retreats.
If you’re planning an offsite and want our help reviewing your budget, please email me at jared@offsite.com. You can also download our free offsite budgeting template.
Without further adieu, let’s talk shop!
Important Considerations When Budgeting For Company Retreats:
When planning an offsite, various factors can significantly impact the budget.
For a full budget breakdown, I’d recommend you read “How To Budget For An Offsite, Company Retreat, or Conference”
Here are some of the key considerations that will impact your budget.
Duration of the Offsite:
Number of Nights: Longer events will increase costs for accommodation, meals, and possibly activities. A 3 night, 4 day offsite will likely cost more than a 2 night, 3 day offsite, for example.
Location of Attendees:
Travel Costs: Consider whether attendees are traveling from nearby or far away. Costs will vary based on distance and mode of transportation (flights, trains, car rentals).
Local Transportation and Travel Stipends: Costs for local transport such as shuttles or taxis can add up. You should also decide if you’ll be covering transportation costs for attendees from their homes to the airport (and back), as well as the cost of meals during travel to and from an offsite.
Accommodation:
Single vs Double Occupancy: Single rooms will cost more per person than double occupancy.
Quality and Location of Accommodation: High-end hotels or resorts will be more expensive than standard options or less convenient locations. More remote venues will require additional transportation to and from activities as well as airports.
Venue and Meeting Space Needs:
Rental Costs: Costs will vary based on the type of venue (conference center, hotel meeting rooms, etc.) and its size and amenities. Typically, if you need breakout rooms and additional meeting spaces, you’ll pay for each subsequent space.
On-Site Facilities: Consider if you need additional equipment or services, such as AV equipment, whiteboards, projectors, etc. Some venues may also require you to spend on internet and connectivity.
Meals and Catering:
Meal Plans: Costs can vary based on whether you’re offering basic meals, full-service catering, or gourmet dining.
Food and Beverage Minimums: Depending on your venue, you may be required to meet a F&B minimum. Sometimes these minimums come with other valuable discounts or concessions, but the ramifications of these minimums must be balanced in your budget.
Special Dietary Needs: Accommodating special dietary requirements may increase costs.
Activities and Entertainment:
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Speakers and Facilitators While I personally advocate for investing in outside speakers or facilitators when possible, doing so will increase your per-person costs.
Miscellaneous Costs:
Insurance: Event insurance can cover unforeseen issues or cancellations.
Contingency Fund: Setting aside a budget for unexpected expenses is always a good practice.
By accounting for these factors, you can better estimate and manage your offsite budget to ensure a successful and smoothly run event.
Under $2000 Per Person
Here’s an example of a recent client planning a 125 person offsite for about $1700/person, inclusive of fees they’re paying to Offsite (we charge a flat fee, per person, per offsite).
While we typically recommend budgeting more for offsites, this client was able to plan an offsite for less than $2000 per person because:
They went to an all-inclusive property with meals included in their nightly rate
They used Offsite to save roughly 20% on their room block and over $40,000 in total
They only planned a 1 night, 2 day offsite, meaning they had less room nights to cover
They stayed within a drive’s distance to the vast majority of attendees (going to the Poconos from New York, which is about a two hour shuttle which we helped them organize through our partners at Elife).
While the accommodations in this example aren’t the most premium in our curated marketplace, the all-inclusive property they picked is very popular among our clients.
Another example in this budget range was a Sales Kickoff we planned for 15Five.
You can read the full case study here, but we ultimately saved 15Five over $70,000 and 250+ planning hours by:
receiving proposals from dozens of hotels and meeting spaces across 4 different cities in order to negotiate a 45% discount on retail rates at a boutique hotel in New Orleans, LA (more than covering the costs of using Offsite, two times over).
sourcing a meeting space at a nearby conference center (which included breakfast, lunch, coffee, and AV), saving 15Five approximately $10k on comparable
meeting space and meal options.
saving 15Five Executive Assistants and other team members at least 250 hours, which if yo estimate $50 per hour for a salaried team member who would have otherwise had to do this work internally, we calculate an additional $12,500+ in savings.
15Five Sales Kickoff
By planning ahead (6+ months out) and being mindful about travel and lodging costs, most companies can plan a great 2 night, 3 day offsite for $2000 per person or less.
Get in touch with me at jared@offsite.com or make a free account at offsite.com if you’d like us to explore planning your next team retreat.
$2000 to $3000 Per Person
The following example with StellarFi is a great example of what our “average” client spends on an offsite.
With flights, their budget would likely be $2200-$2500 per person, depending on how many people lived locally versus had to travel for this offsite.
Click here for the full case study, which includes a sample agenda.
StellarFi is a public benefit corporation on a mission to make good credit universally accessible.
During their Q1 2023 offsite, the StellarFi team celebrated a recent Series A fundraise and nurtured their culture of adventure by setting sail on a pirate ship in Lake Austin, visiting a stunt ranch to blow up cars and throw axes, enjoyed meals together, volunteered, and more.
Offsite saved StellarFi approximately 40 hours of planning time, vetting over 20 different activity vendors and 10 different restaurants to find the best options for a birthday celebration dinner for a key employee.
Their budget mixes some lower-cost activities like volunteering with bigger “splurges” like parties and an unforgettable Stunt Ranch.
We also saved them a considerable amount on their hotel, allowing them to stay at a stunning boutique hotel for a reasonable rate.
Afterwards, their CEO stated that this was “The most epic company offsite in the history of all company offsites and maybe even all companies.”
Not bad for an average budget offsite!
$3000 to $4000 Per Person
Most All-Hands Meetings, Sales Kickoffs, and week-long offsites fall into this budget range.
If you only get one big offsite per year (such as an All-Hands Meeting) and plan to meet for 3 or 4 nights (4 or 5 days), then you should expect to spend somewhere in this budget range.
You can also get into this budget territory by splurging on nicer activities or accommodations.
Additionally, if you have a lot of employees traveling internationally, flight costs may get you into this budget range. Travel visas might be required which incur fees, plus you might allow attendees to get an extra hotel room night at the beginning or end of your offsite if they need to adjust their stay to catch certain flights.
If you want to further invest in your team, I would highly recommend bringing in outside speakers and facilitators.
While this may add hundreds of dollars, per-person, to your costs once the fees for an outside speaker or facilitator are divided by the total number of attendees at your offsite, you’ll benefit from:
Expertise and inspiration - the right facilitator will be an expert in their field (be it leadership, empathy training, team-building, personal development, etc) and provide your attendees with valuable insights that can be applied to their day-to-day work, as well as your organization’s unique challenges.
Fresh perspectives - sometimes, your teams can get stuck in a routine or a particular way of thinking. Outside speakers and facilitators can challenge conventional wisdom, stimulate creativity, and encourage innovative thinking.
Skill enhancement - keynote speakers and facilitators often offer workshops and interactive sessions that can help your team members develop new skills or refine existing ones.
…I cover other benefits of outside speakers and facilitators in this post including increased engagement, objective mediation, and increased team cohesion. Plus, I recommend a few of the talented speakers and facilitators in our marketplace. If you want to hire any outside speakers or facilitators for your next offsite, email me at jared@offsite.com and let me know.
All-Hands Meeting for Flex
While you may invest in the following for your offsite, these expenses could also be considered part of other budgets like marketing or recruiting:
Swag - most of our clients gift their employees swag, but T-shirts, backpacks, and other items with your logos can lead to new business when worn at trade shows, in the airport, etc. Click here for 20% off your next swag order.
Professional Photography and Videography - helps you promote your company on your website, on social media, and elsewhere with “employer branding” materials that can help you attract top talent to work at your organization.
Happy Hours and Parties - if you plan your offsite in a city where many of your clients or partners are located, you can invite them to join your parties and use some of your offsite spend as marketing/business development.
Above all, investing in offsites will lead to increased employee engagement, retention, and alignment.
Every dollar you spend on building deeper bonds among your staff will return ten-fold when there is greater trust in your organization, problems are solved faster and more elegantly, and top talent stays at your company (happily, and with full engagement) for years to come.
Get in touch with me at jared@offsite.com or make a free account at offsite.com if you’d like us to explore planning your next team retreat.
$5000+ Per Person
Most of our clients do NOT spend this much money on offsites.
That being said, we occasionally work with CEO peer groups from organizations like YPO, or larger companies planning board meetings and executive team retreats, or professional services companies (law firms, advertising agencies, investment banks, etc) who plan customer-facing events where budget isn’t an issue.
For these offsites, we have a variety of 5 star properties in the Offsite marketplace where we can still save you 20-40% on your room block, meeting space, and more, but you’ll be bringing your group to luxury properties that will undoubtedly leave a great impression on your company.
Some examples:
The Boca Raton, popular among law firms and financial services companies looking to escape the northeast in the winter or offer clients a memorable golf outing.
Fairmont properties around the world including Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, and The Plaza in New York (yes, THAT Plaza!).
castles in Europe, all-inclusives in Mexico and The Bahamas, ski lodges, and more
properties with Wander, Miraval, 1 Hotel, Waldorf, Andaz, and other luxury brands you’ve come to know and love (they’re all part of the Offsite marketplace).
Occasionally, sales incentive trips like President’s Clubs may fall into this budget category as well, after accounting for plus-one’s on the trip and celebrating the top earners at your company for a job well done.
Here is a recent example of an offsite we planned for YPO where they pulled out all the stops.
YPO Las Vegas Couples Retreat in Mexico
Regardless of your budget, Offsite can make team retreat planning seamless and stress-free for you and your organization.
With decades of collective in-house experience in hospitality and offsite-planning, Offsite offers a curated marketplace of over 1000 premier offsite venues globally where you can save up to 40% on room blocks, meeting space, and other expenses.
Additionally, we offer “done for you”, end-to-end retreat planning services, trusted by hundreds of top startups to help increase employee engagement, retention, and alignment. We create customized experiences to meet the specific needs of your team, including on-site support, a wide range of activities designed to inspire and motivate your attendees, and insights on how to run an effective offsite.
Signing up is quick, free, and doesn't require a credit card. In a matter of minutes, you can submit requests to various curated and vetted offsite venues.
When you make an account, tell us you’re interested in end-to-end offsite planning and we’ll reach out ASAP to book a discovery call.
Let us know if these suggestions and resources are helpful for your next Sales Kickoff, All-Hands Meeting, or other offsites you might be planning.
Thanks for reading!
Jared
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About Offsite: Offsite is trusted by hundreds of top startups, Inc 5000s, publicly-traded companies, nonprofits, and other organizations (including Webflow, Buffer, Linear, Hampton, YPO, 15Five, LinkSquares, and mParticle) for end-to-end team retreat planning and offsite venue selection through our Airbnb-style marketplace.
