Event Planner CRM

Overview

Event Planner CRM is Nigall’s workspace for professional event planners and agencies. 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 on the Planner Pro plan (planner_pro) 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

Role Use case
Event planner / agency Manage clients, pipeline, contacts, and partnerships
Freelance planner Track leads → confirmed projects and planner fees
Client stakeholder Read-only view of event progress (registrations, budget summary, vendors, schedule)
Platform admin Support planner accounts and troubleshoot access

Benefits

  • Central client directory with budget range and preferences
  • Project pipeline from lead through completed/cancelled
  • 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
Action Path
Planner CRM dashboard /planner/
Edit planner profile /planner/profile/
Clients /planner/clients/
Projects (pipeline) /planner/projects/
Partnerships /planner/partnerships/
Venue contacts /planner/contacts/venues/
Vendor contacts /planner/contacts/vendors/
Partner contacts /planner/contacts/partners/
Tools Hub entry /events/tools/ → Event Planner CRM
Manage client viewers /planner/events/<pk>/<event_tag>/client-viewers/
Create event (from project) Project detail → Create Event → /events/create/
Client read-only event view /events/<pk>/<event_tag>/ (when added as client viewer)

Tip: Set your account User type to Event Planner on Edit Profile, then subscribe to Planner Pro from Billing & Subscriptions.

Prerequisites

Requirement Details
Subscription Planner Pro (planner_pro) — includes Operations Suite tools + Event Planner CRM
User type event_planner recommended (or create an EventPlannerProfile)
Authentication Signed-in user
Client viewer accounts Client must already have a Nigall account (matched by email)

Platform admins and superusers bypass plan gating.

Step-by-step instructions

Beginner — Set up your planner workspace

  1. Subscribe to Planner Pro at /pricing/ → Platform Tools → Planner Pro, or /pricing/subscription/?plan=planner_pro.
  2. Open Tools Hub → Event Planner CRM (/planner/).
  3. Click Edit Profile and complete:
    - Agency / business name
    - Specialties (event type tags)
    - Years of experience
    - Service coverage area
    - Certifications and bio
    - Portfolio — add past events (title, date, location, description, URL)
  4. Click Add Client and enter company name, primary contact, email, phone, industry, and budget range.

[SCREENSHOT: Planner CRM dashboard with stats and pipeline]

Intermediate — Run a project from lead to live event

  1. Clients → select client → New Project (or New Project from dashboard).
  2. Set Project name, Status (Lead → Proposal → Confirmed → Planning → Live → Completed), Budget, Planner fee, and Deadline.
  3. Optionally link a Partnership if a referral partner applies.
  4. Click Create Event on the project detail page.
  5. Complete the standard event creation wizard. The new event is automatically linked to the project and status moves to Planning if it was a lead.
  6. Open Manage Client Viewers on the linked event and add your client’s email (they must have a Nigall account).

[SCREENSHOT: Project detail with Create Event and Manage Client Viewers]

Advanced — Build your contact lists and partnerships

Venue / vendor / partner contacts (/planner/contacts/...):

Field Use
Name, company, role Contact identity
Phone, email, category Reach and classification
Rating (1–5) Quality score
Preferred Flag top vendors
Past events Link to events you hosted on Nigall
Rate history JSON log of quoted rates over time

Partnership agreements (/planner/partnerships/):

  • Partner name, type (venue, vendor, agency, other)
  • Commission and discount rates
  • Start/end dates, terms, signed agreement file
  • Events referred and Revenue generated update automatically from linked projects with paid planner fees

Field descriptions

Event planner profile

Field Description
agency_name Business or agency display name
specialties Multi-select event types (from platform category catalog)
years_experience Integer
portfolio JSON list of {title, date, location, description, url}
certifications Free text, one per line
service_coverage_area Regions or cities served
bio Public-facing planner summary

Planner client

Field Description
company_name Client organization (unique per planner)
primary_contact Main contact name
email, phone Contact details
industry Sector label
budget_range_min / max Expected spend range
preferences JSON for style, venue type, etc.
notes Internal notes

Planner project

Field Description
status lead, proposal, confirmed, planning, live, completed, cancelled
budget Client event budget
planner_fee Your fee for the project
planner_fee_status pending, invoiced, paid, overdue
event Optional FK — linked Nigall event after creation
partnership Optional referral partner
deadline Target date

Client viewers (on Event)

Field Description
client_viewers M2M to User — read-only access on event detail

Business rules

Rule Behavior
Plan gating Planner CRM requires Planner Pro unless staff
Project → event link Session key planner_project_id set when clicking Create Event; cleared after link
Client viewer access Read-only: event page, registration/RSVP counts, budget summary, vendor list, program schedule
Client viewer writes Blocked from edit, delete, check-in, RSVP POST, social sharing generate, guest list
Host remains planner Events created from projects use your account as Event.host
Partnership metrics revenue_generated sums planner_fee on referred projects with fee status paid

User permissions

Action Planner (host) Client viewer Other users
Planner CRM dashboard ✅ (Planner Pro) ❌ ❌
Edit project / client ✅ (owner) ❌ ❌
Create event from project ✅ ❌ ❌
Edit linked event ✅ (as host) ❌ ❌
View event detail ✅ ✅ (read-only panel) Per event visibility
Manage client viewers ✅ (host) ❌ ❌
RSVP / register as client viewer ❌ (write blocked) ❌ Per event rules

See also Roles & Permissions.

Workflow

flowchart TD A[Add Client] --> B[Create Project - Lead] B --> C{Proposal accepted?} C -->|Yes| D[Status: Confirmed / Planning] D --> E[Create Event on Nigall] E --> F[Event linked to Project] F --> G[Add Client Viewers by email] G --> H[Client sees read-only dashboard] F --> I[Host runs full event ops] D --> J[Track planner fee status]

Examples

Agency planning a corporate gala

  1. Add client “Acme Corp” with $50k–$80k budget range.
  2. Create project “Acme Annual Gala 2026” at status Proposal.
  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.

Planner with venue partner

  1. Create partnership with “Grand Hall” at 10% commission.
  2. On new project, select that partnership.
  3. When planner fee is marked paid, partnership Revenue generated updates.

Best practices

  • Complete your planner profile and portfolio before pitching clients—it builds trust on Nigall.
  • One project per client event; use status transitions to reflect sales stage.
  • Add client viewers only after the event exists and modules are configured.
  • Keep rate history on contacts for faster re-quotes.
  • Use Planner Pro for multi-client workflows; Operations Suite alone does not include CRM.

Common mistakes

Mistake Fix
CRM card locked in Tools Hub Upgrade to Planner Pro
Client viewer email not found Client must register on Nigall first
Project not linked after event create Start from project Create Event, not generic Create Event from My Events
Client can’t edit event By design—client viewers are read-only
relation planner_crm_* does not exist Run python manage.py migrate on the server

FAQs

Does Planner Pro replace Operations Suite?
Planner Pro includes Operations Suite tools plus Event Planner CRM.

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 Planner Pro. Platform staff also see Planner Workspace in the dashboard nav (same access as the CRM, without a subscription). Setting user type to Event Planner is optional but unlocks profile-oriented defaults.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause Fix
ProgrammingError: relation does not exist Migrations not applied python manage.py migrate
Redirect from /planner/ to Tools Hub No Planner Pro Subscribe at /pricing/#platform-tools
Client viewer sees RSVP form Not added as viewer, or viewing as different user Confirm email on Manage Client Viewers
Edit URL returns redirect for client Read-only enforcement Expected—use host account to edit

Administrator notes

  • App: planner_crm — models registered in Django admin
  • Migrations: planner_crm.0001_initial, events.0040_event_client_viewers
  • 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

Item Location
URLs planner_crm/urls.py — prefix /planner/
Models planner_crm/models.py
Client viewer context planner_crm.services.client_viewer_read_context
Event field Event.client_viewers M2M

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

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