Blog & guides

Guides for festival committees.

Practical playbooks and templates from committees who’ve run transparent festivals on Omkosh.

Featured · Guide

How to run a transparent Ganesh Chaturthi collection

A step-by-step playbook for committees to collect, record and report festival funds without the chaos.

18 Jun 2026 · 6 min read
Comparison
Yearly vs per-festival contributions: which fits your society?
The pros and cons of each collection model, and how to decide what works for your residents.
2 Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Template
Free festival budget & expense template for societies
Download a ready-made budget sheet, or skip the spreadsheet entirely with Omkosh.
21 May 2026 · 4 min read
Playbook
Closing the pending tail: getting the last 20% of units to pay
The long tail of non-payers is where committees lose the most money. Here’s how to close it kindly.
9 May 2026 · 5 min read
Guide
Donation receipt format for Ganpati mandals: what to include
What a valid festival donation receipt must show, how to number them without gaps, and why a duplicate register saves you at audit time.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min read
Playbook
Navratri and Garba: collecting across nine nights without losing track
Nine nights, several income streams and a lot of cash. A practical way to keep Navratri collections, passes and sponsorships straight.
15 Apr 2026 · 6 min read
Guide
Durga Puja committees: budgeting the pandal without surprises
Chanda collection, pandal and idol costs, priest and bhog, vendor advances — how to plan a Durga Puja budget that survives contact with reality.
2 Apr 2026 · 7 min read
Guide
Diwali in housing societies: one collection, many events
Rangoli, lighting, fireworks, sweets and a cultural night — how to fund a multi-event Diwali without collecting five separate times.
20 Mar 2026 · 5 min read
Checklist
7 cash-handling mistakes festival committees make
The specific habits that turn a well-run festival into an ugly AGM — and the small changes that prevent each one.
8 Mar 2026 · 6 min read
Guide
Vendor advances: the biggest leak in a festival budget
Booking amounts, part payments and final bills — how to track what you owe, what you paid, and what is still outstanding.
24 Feb 2026 · 5 min read
Playbook
Walking into your AGM with audit-ready festival accounts
What members and auditors actually ask for, and how to have all of it ready without a fortnight of reconstruction.
10 Feb 2026 · 6 min read
Guide
Festival sponsorships: pricing, crediting and receipts
How to structure sponsorship items, what to promise, and how to credit sponsors so they come back next year.
27 Jan 2026 · 5 min read
Guide
Recording donations from visitors, shops and well-wishers
Not every rupee comes from a member. How to capture outside donations properly so they show up in your accounts and not in a pocket.
13 Jan 2026 · 5 min read
Guide
Who should have access to festival money? A roles guide
Ten volunteers should be able to collect. Ten volunteers should not be able to edit the accounts. How to divide access sensibly.
30 Dec 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Dahi Handi: managing pathak payments, prizes and permissions
Prize money, govinda pathak bookings, insurance and permits — the money side of running a Dahi Handi safely.
16 Dec 2025 · 5 min read
Template
The expense categories every festival committee should track
A ready-made category list for Indian festival accounts — and why consistent categories are what make year-on-year comparison possible.
2 Dec 2025 · 4 min read
Comparison
Register, spreadsheet or app: how should your society collect?
An honest comparison of the three ways committees run festival collections — including where each one actually breaks.
18 Nov 2025 · 6 min read
Guide
Holi in housing societies: budgeting colours, water and safety
Rain dance, organic colours, water rationing and a DJ — how to fund a society Holi that nobody regrets the next morning.
4 Nov 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Eco-friendly Ganpati: what it actually costs and how to fund it
Shadu clay idols, natural colours and artificial immersion tanks — the real cost difference, and how to explain it to your members.
21 Oct 2025 · 6 min read
Checklist
Visarjan day: the costs committees always forget
The last day of Ganpati is where budgets break. The transport, the dhol, the escort and the tips nobody planned for.
7 Oct 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Onam committees: funding the pookalam, sadya and the day itself
Ten days, a flower budget that compounds daily and a sadya for hundreds — how Onam committees keep the accounts straight.
23 Sep 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Pongal in apartments: four days, one budget
Bhogi, Thai Pongal, Mattu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal — how apartment associations fund a four-day celebration cleanly.
9 Sep 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Chhath Puja: budgeting ghat arrangements and community support
Ghat cleaning, lighting, changing rooms and safety — the costs of supporting Chhath vratis properly, and how to share them.
26 Aug 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Baisakhi: small festivals, same discipline
Regional new year celebrations are modest in budget and huge in goodwill. Why the small ones still deserve real records.
12 Aug 2025 · 4 min read
Guide
First-time festival treasurer? Start here
You said yes at the meeting and now you are responsible for several lakh rupees. A calm, practical starting point.
29 Jul 2025 · 7 min read
Template
How to write a festival collection notice residents respond to
The circular that gets paid, and the one that gets ignored — with a template you can copy for your next drive.
15 Jul 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
How to decide your festival minimum contribution
Work backwards from the budget, not forwards from last year’s number — and what to do about flats that cannot pay it.
1 Jul 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Building a member register your collection drive can actually use
Unit numbering, wings, owners versus tenants, shops — get the register right and the drive runs itself.
17 Jun 2025 · 5 min read
Playbook
Organising volunteers for a collection drive
Who covers which wing, who holds the cash, and how to make sure the same flat is not asked three times.
3 Jun 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Using a UPI QR for society collections: what works and what doesn’t
A QR at the mandap removes the cash problem and creates a matching problem. How to run UPI collections without losing track.
20 May 2025 · 5 min read
Playbook
The five-minute end-of-day cash close
The single habit that separates committees who reconcile in minutes from those who reconcile in March.
6 May 2025 · 4 min read
Checklist
The permissions and paperwork checklist for a public festival
What to arrange, who to ask, and when — so the paperwork is not what stops your celebration.
22 Apr 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Planning mahaprasad: quantities, cost per plate and waste
The most over-ordered line in every festival budget. How to get the headcount, the quantity and the cost honest.
8 Apr 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
You ended with a surplus. Now what?
Leftover festival funds are a governance question, not an accounting one. How committees handle it without a fight.
25 Mar 2025 · 5 min read
Playbook
How to publish festival accounts residents will actually read
A total nobody reads is not transparency. What to include, what to lead with, and when to send it.
11 Mar 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Handing over a festival committee without losing everything
Every year the records restart from zero because they lived in one person’s phone. How to hand over properly.
25 Feb 2025 · 5 min read
Guide
Why last year’s festival is your best planning tool
Multi-year records turn budgeting from guesswork into arithmetic — and turn vendor negotiations decisively in your favour.
11 Feb 2025 · 4 min read

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