Event Planner CRM¶

Overview¶

Event Planner CRM is Nigall’s workspace for professional event planners—solo freelancers and agencies alike. It combines client management, a project pipeline, contact lists (venues, vendors, partners), partnership agreements, and the ability to create events on behalf of clients with optional read-only client access to live event data.

The module lives at /planner/ and appears in the Tools Hub as Event Planner CRM for users with the Planner CRM add-on on Growth or higher (planner_crm_addon) or platform staff.

Purpose¶

Give planners one system for CRM-style operations instead of juggling spreadsheets, email threads, and separate event tools—while keeping clients informed without granting edit access.

Who should use it¶

Solo vs agency¶

• CRM records belong to the planner user who owns EventPlannerProfile (not an Organization).
• Individuals and companies both work: set Business / display name to your personal name or agency name.
• Agencies add managers/members under Team. Members operate the owner’s CRM workspace; the Planner CRM add-on can be billed on the owner or on an Organization that unlocks access for members.
• Organization billing unlocks the tool; it does not move CRM ownership to the org.

Benefits¶

• Central client directory for companies, individuals, and couples
• Project pipeline from lead through completed/cancelled (client is required on every project)
• Reusable venue, vendor, and partner contacts with ratings and rate history
• Partnership agreements with commission tracking and referred-project revenue
• Create Event from a project—auto-links the new event to the pipeline
• Client viewers on events: read-only dashboard for your client’s team

Navigation path¶

Tip: Subscribe to Growth+ with the Planner CRM add-on from Billing & Subscriptions, then set User type to Event Planner on Edit Profile.

Prerequisites¶

Platform admins and superusers bypass plan gating.

Step-by-step instructions¶

Beginner — Set up your planner workspace¶

1. Subscribe at /pricing/ → Platform Tools → add Planner CRM on Growth/Operations/Complete, or /pricing/subscription/?plan=pro&crm=1.
2. Open Tools Hub → Event Planner CRM (/planner/).
3. Click Edit Profile and complete:
   - Business / display name (your name or agency name)
   - Specialties (including Weddings & Celebrations if applicable)
   - Years of experience, service coverage area, certifications, bio
   - Portfolio — add past events (title, date, location, description, URL)
4. Click Add Client and choose type:
   - Company — organization name + primary contact
   - Individual — person name (primary contact optional; filled from client name)
   - Couple — e.g. “Alex & Jordan Rivera” + a primary contact
5. Optionally invite staff under Team.

[SCREENSHOT: Planner CRM dashboard with stats and pipeline]

Intermediate — Run a project workspace from lead to live event¶

1. Clients → select client → New Project (or New Project from dashboard).
   If you have no clients yet, the New Project form shows a banner and an Add client link.
2. Set Project name, Event type (e.g. Weddings & Celebrations or Business), Event date, guests, location, Status, Budget, Planner fee, and Deadline.
3. After save, the project detail workspace seeds a checklist and document slots from the event type. Optionally link a Partnership.
4. On the project page:
   - Check off workflow tasks (or add custom ones)
   - Upload documents (proposal is required before confirmation)
   - Save a client contract file and mark it Sent → Signed (manual upload; no e-sign yet)
5. Soft warnings appear if status is Confirmed or later without a proposal or signed contract — they do not block you.
6. Click Create Event when ready. Complete the event creation wizard. For weddings/private celebrations, keep the event private and use RSVP for guest headcount. The event is automatically linked to the project.
7. Open Manage Client Viewers on the linked event and add your client’s email (they must have a Nigall account).

[SCREENSHOT: Project workspace with checklist, documents, and contract]

Advanced — Venue partners, contacts, and partnerships¶

There are two different “venue partner” tools:

How to add a venue partner (end-to-end)

1. Add a Venue Contact for day-to-day people at the venue (optional but recommended).
2. Create a Partnership Agreement with partner type Venue, commission/discount rates, and terms.
3. When a referral leads to work, create a Project, select that partnership, and mark the planner fee paid when collected — partnership Revenue generated updates automatically.

CRM contacts stay a private planner rolodex. They are not the same records as Nigall Venue, Vendor, or Sponsor Ops profiles.

Bring contacts in from events and marketplace

• On a project with a linked event, use Import stakeholders into CRM to copy the event venue, approved vendors, and active sponsors. Matches on Nigall profile, email, or name+company are updated instead of duplicated.
• On a public venue page (/venues/<slug>/) or a vendor profile/application you can see, use Add to Planner CRM (Planner CRM add-on required).
• Contact detail shows Appeared on events you planned and an Open in Nigall link when a source profile is saved. Phone, notes, and ratings stay yours — Ops data is not continuously synced back.

Volunteers and attendees are not imported (high volume and privacy). Speakers/talent import is not in this version.

Venue / vendor / partner contacts field guide:

Field descriptions¶

Event planner profile¶

Planner client¶

Budget, deadline/event date, and guest count belong on each project (a client can have multiple projects with different budgets).

Planner project¶

Activity log¶

Clients and projects support short note / call / meeting entries (PlannerActivity) so the team shares a lightweight trail without a full inbox sync.

Project workspace (checklist, documents, contract)¶

Client viewers (on Event)¶

Business rules¶

User permissions¶

See also Roles & Permissions.

Workflow¶

Examples¶

Agency planning a corporate gala

1. Add client type Company “Acme Corp”.
2. Create project “Acme Annual Gala 2026” at status Proposal with that project’s budget (e.g. $50k–$80k).
3. After sign-off, Create Event, enable Sponsors + Program modules.
4. Add finance@acme.com as client viewer so their team sees registration counts without edit access.

Venue partner (referral deal)

1. Optionally add a Venue Contact for the sales manager at “Grand Hall”.
2. Create a Partnership Agreement with type Venue at 10% commission.
3. On a new project, select that partnership (or use New project from this partner on the partnership detail page).
4. When planner fee is marked paid, partnership Revenue generated updates.

Wedding or similar private celebration

1. Add client type Couple — Client name “Alex & Jordan Rivera”, primary contact one partner.
2. Set planner specialties to Weddings & Celebrations (or Social Events).
3. Create a project (e.g. “Rivera Wedding 2026”) with that project’s budget and deadline → Create Event.
4. Keep the event private, use RSVP for guest headcount, and add the couple’s Nigall emails as client viewers.

Best practices¶

• Complete your planner profile and portfolio before pitching clients—it builds trust on Nigall.
• Always add a client before a project; use individual/couple types for private events instead of inventing fake company names.
• One project per client event; use status transitions to reflect sales stage.
• Distinguish Venue Contacts (people) from Partnership Agreements (money/terms).
• Add client viewers only after the event exists and modules are configured.
• Keep rate history on contacts for faster re-quotes.
• Use Growth+ + Planner CRM add-on for multi-client workflows; Operations Suite alone does not include CRM.

Common mistakes¶

FAQs¶

Does the Planner CRM add-on replace Operations Suite?
No. The add-on unlocks Event Planner CRM on top of your Growth / Operations / Complete plan. Ops tools still come from the base plan.

Can clients host their own events?
Yes—they can have their own organizer account separately. Client viewer access is read-only on your hosted event.

Do client viewers see host-only panels?
No. They see event details plus a Client view (read-only) panel with registrations, budget summary, vendors, and schedule.

Can I use CRM without the event_planner user type?
Yes, if you have Growth+ and the Planner CRM add-on. Platform staff also see Planner Workspace in the dashboard nav. Setting user type to Event Planner is optional but unlocks profile-oriented defaults.

Must I be a company to use Planner CRM?
No. Solo planners and agencies both work. Use Business / display name for your brand, and Team only if you have staff.

Why is Client required on New Project?
Projects are owned by a client for pipeline and fee tracking. Add a company, individual, or couple first—there is an Add client shortcut on the project form.

Troubleshooting¶

Related features¶

• Events & Registration
• Organizer Dashboard
• Billing & Subscriptions
• Roles & Permissions
• Program & Schedule
• Vendor Management

Administrator notes¶

• App: planner_crm — models registered in Django admin
• Migrations: planner_crm.0001_initial … 0005_project_workspace, events.0040_event_client_viewers
• Workspace helpers: planner_crm.project_workspace, planner_crm.workflow_templates
• Access helper: planner_crm.services.can_access_planner_crm
• Write protection: planner_crm.event_access.get_managed_event
• Tool key: planner_crm in users/subscription_plans.py

Developer / API notes¶

No public REST API for CRM entities in v1; use Django admin or in-app UI.