The Challenge
Tolo Events plans and produces a wide range of events, from corporate events and brand activations to nonprofit galas. For its nonprofit clients, the team used an event checklist, a proposal template, and Google Sheets to work out services, hours, and pricing. Preparing a proposal meant copying the agreed details between those documents and checking that they matched.
Tolo had already built much of the spreadsheet logic, including formulas that made timelines quicker to prepare. Even with those improvements, the team estimated about an hour of work for a proposal and about two more hours for a timeline. During busy periods, a client could wait several days after the meeting for a proposal.
The Operating Question
How could the team enter the event details once, check the price, and generate the documents it needed without copying the same information into each one?
Connect The Tools Tolo Already Used
Tolo already had the proposal template, checklists, spreadsheets, and most of the pricing formulas. We worked through those files with the team, clarified which services and descriptions belonged in each document, and connected them so the checklist could fill in the pricing worksheet and generate the client documents.
We also worked through the details that changed from event to event. The number of auction items affected the price. Custom services needed to be flagged so the person delivering the event could see what had changed. Timeline dates needed to adjust to how long the team had before the event, rather than requiring a separate template for every planning window.
Check The Price, Then Generate The Documents
The process starts with Tolo’s event checklist. The selected services and event details fill a pricing worksheet, where the team can check hours, staffing, fees, and any custom work. Once that worksheet is approved, the process automatically produces the proposal, service agreement, timeline, and meeting document with event details and scope of work.
Client Call
Discuss the event and scope.
Event Checklist
Capture the agreed event details.
Pricing
Review and approve costs.
Planning
Match tasks to the event date.
Documents
Create proposal and
timeline documents.Review And Send
Tolo reviews and sends them to the client.
The team can change the price or add custom services before anything is sent. The generated documents stay editable in Google Docs and Sheets, so Tolo can make final changes for the client. Updates to the source templates carry through to future proposals.
What Changed
The team reported being able to send a proposal 15 minutes after the client meeting, compared with waits of two to three weeks during busy periods. That meant the client could review the price and scope the same day, while the conversation was still fresh.
Preparing a proposal and timeline had taken about three hours: an hour for the proposal and two more for the timeline. The automation generates both together in roughly two minutes. The team can review and edit the generated documents rather than build them from scratch.
The meeting document included the same event details and agreed services. That gave the team a ready starting point for client meetings, without copying the scope into another document.
More Time For The Event
Sending the proposal sooner gives clients a clear next step and reduces the follow-up needed while they wait. For Tolo, less time preparing and checking documents leaves more time for clients, creative work, and event delivery.
Clients get a smoother experience, and the team has more time to listen, build relationships, and give each event the personal attention that makes Tolo’s work special.
