Time is Money! And Sometimes, Time Saves Money!

When organizing a charity event, every euro counts. Our spaghetti charity evening was meant to raise funds for Kom op tegen Kanker (vzw), and we wanted to maximize the amount going directly to the cause. One of the key challenges? Managing attendees, handling emails, and processing payments efficiently.

The simplest option? Eventbrite. It’s a well-known platform that makes event management easy. But there’s a catch—convenience comes at a price. The service fees would have taken a substantial cut from our donations. Money that could have made a direct impact.

The Alternative: Build It Myself

Rather than paying Eventbrite's fees, I decided to invest my time instead of our funds. I built a Flutter web app with a Serverpod backend to replicate the core functionalities of an event management platform—but at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s how I did it:

✅ Payments via Stripe: Direct integration for seamless transactions, ensuring minimal service fees compared to Eventbrite.

✅ Custom Webshop & CMS: Everything built in Flutter, allowing us to manage registrations, track attendees, and send emails with full control.

✅ Self-hosted Solution: Running everything in Docker on my Synology NAS—which I already use for internal tools—resulting in €0 hosting costs.

Exploring Other Payment Alternatives

After sharing the savings we made, someone suggested looking into EPC QR Codes, a standard for SEPA credit transfers that allows customers to scan a QR code and make direct bank transfers without additional fees. Intrigued, we decided to implement a payment app using this method the night before the event.

While EPC QR Codes seemed like a great cost-effective alternative, we quickly discovered a challenge—most attendees instinctively tried scanning the code using their Payconiq app, which does not support SEPA transactions. This highlighted an important lesson: even when you find an optimized solution, others may be accustomed to different workflows that you hadn’t anticipated.

Another alternative we considered was Payconiq, but it comes with a daily transaction limit, making it less suitable for large-scale event payments. However, for smaller on-site purchases, such as drinks, a simple app to generate Payconiq QR codes on demand could still be useful.

The Results: More Money for Charity

By taking the time to build a custom solution, we saved €176.66 in service fees alone. That’s almost €200 extra going directly to the charity rather than into the pockets of a third-party service.

The Takeaway

We often think of "time is money" in terms of efficiency—but sometimes, investing time saves money in ways that truly matter. Many businesses and individuals automatically choose the "lazy" option, paying for convenience without considering the long-term impact.

For us, the effort paid off—not just financially, but in having full control over our event. It also reinforced the idea that with the right tools, tech can be a powerful force for good.

Would you invest time to save money for a good cause? Let’s discuss! 🚀

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