When one thinks of an non profit, you don’t often think of there actually being a profit. It needs to be realized that a nonprofit is actually a business and not just volunteer work. You need actual revenue in order to keep your non profit viable and sustainability. Furthermore, your staff should also be compensated for their time that they put into keeping your non profit running. Of course you should always be cognizant of the profit and exactly how much profit you make and show. Legally, there are restrictions on what a non profit can make in revenue. But this doesn’t mean that your nonprofit can’t be a profitable. There are a number of ways a non profit can make money in order to be a profitable organization. These suggestions will not only help bring in profit, it will also help with promotion and marketing.

One of the main ways that you can bring money into your nonprofit is to apply for a grant. In this instance, the main grants that are available are foundation, government, and corporate grants. When writing a grant, be sure to outline all expenses, operational, and administrative costs. These costs can include staff salary, any benefits, and as well as additional costs for basic upkeep (supplies, travel expenses, etc.). Be sure to be as specific as possible and outline each possible scenario.

Another suggestion is to hold a some sort of a fundraiser. There are a number of ideas and avenues you can go with this route. Furthermore, any donations made through this channel can be a tax write off for the person donating. A good way to go about this is to highlight that that the proceeds of the fundraiser is going to a specific purpose. You can create a marketing campaign surrounding this in order to get the consumer emotionally invested. By getting your guests to be emotionally invested, people will become more compelled to donate and they will feel like they are an actual part of the process.

You can also generate revenue by passive resources. you can obtain profit through rents, royalties, investments and/or interest payments. However, being that your organization will most likely be a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization, you have to be 100% transparent with exactly where the money is coming from and what purpose the money is for. Be sure to check any legal restrictions to make sure that you are up to code and that you can accurately generate revenue.

As stated earlier, just because you are nonprofit, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be profitable. Running a nonprofit as a business will only ensure that you remain relevant and sustainable.

Raising money can be a tough challenge for anyone involved. Many times an organization will prompt for someone to raise a certain amount of money in a set amount of time. That’s not always the easiest task. If you don’t do fundraising for a living, starting from scratch can be a frustrating experience. Where do you start? What’s the best avenue to actually raise money? And more importantly, how do I get people to give me money toward my cause? These are all questions that people may have. Due to my experience in the Philanthropy sector, I have gained a vast experience in the industry of fundraising.

Below are the top fundraising plans that have helped me:

Hold a Rummage Sale

A rummage sale can be an easy way of not only raising money, but also purging your life of items you don’t necessarily use or want anymore. You can get the members on your team to donate items to the rummage sale so that you are able to have a nice variety of items. Additionally in an effort for extra promotion advertising, you can also get other people to donate items for the sale. One thing that will be key to the success of the rummage sale will be to actively advertise and promote the sale. This can be done a number of ways. If it’s something a little more local, one of the best ways to go about this would be regular snail mail and flyers. Make sure the flyers are visually entertaining and don’t contain too much wording. In addition to that method, make sure to utilize social media. Most social media properties are free and one can easily take advantage of that medium and reach a vast audience.

Sell Meals and Baked Goods

The way to anyone’s heart is through their stomach. Selling food is a good way to get people to give money to your cause. Everyone loves a good meal and people don’t feel like they’re necessarily wasting money on something they may never use. However, all the cooking that takes place for the event can be not only exhausting and tiring but actually not to mention ridiculously expensive. The best way to combat this is to split the responsibilities up between members of your group. This will split up the costs as well as all the responsibilities. Another tip is to buy food that is able to be bought in bulk. Examples are hot dogs, burgers, wings, etc. You can feed a large mass of people as well as cut down costs.

Crowd-funding

In this new digital age, we have the opportunity to reach a large range of people in different regions and parts of the world than we are in. There are a myriad of websites that offer services to put your cause out to the public. When going the crowdfunding route, be sure to have a clear concise plan for your target market to read. Don’t have the plan written in jargon specific to your field because it automatically turns people who may not understand off to your cause. Before to write the plan in your words and convey your personality so people feel personally attached to the project.

Submit For a Grant

This option is the most successful but definitely the hardest option on this list. Grants are highly competitive and are tough to get. When using this option, be sure to search for the grant that applies to you and your cause. There are usually applications to fill out, be sure to be thorough and concise in this process to reduce any room for error. In addition, when it comes to writing the proposal, be sure to enlist the help of a professional writer or have your proposal edited by a couple of eyes. You want to make sure it’s easy to read and to the point all the while telling your story.

These are some of the ways that have helped me in the past raise money for my fundraiser. What are some of the ways that you have raised money?