Nonprofit revenue is always a challenge. Even when you have a good year, you want to keep it growing and build on that success. And there’s a constant growing competition for what is often the same dollars. So how do you stand out and make sure to grow your nonprofit revenue? Let’s look at five different areas that can be critical and some of the ideas that people are using to improve their nonprofit revenue.
1. Events
Yes, maybe one of the most common and most important types of nonprofit revenue, is fundraising from events. But what are people doing to grow revenue from these sources today? And while some of these ideas may be familiar, the execution can make a huge difference.
Auctions
This has been a fundraising favorite, but as nonprofit technology changes, so do the rules around what you can do with your auction. Between online auctions like eBay, and the desire of some of the public to want more than just an experience in a fundraising event, auctions strike a great balance. Nonprofit auctions are no longer the realm of tables with notepads on them though. Now nonprofits are using programs that can display all the items available, take bids from a computer or smartphone, and keep track of the top bidders. You don’t even have to physically be at the auction. Some even use text messages to make and track bidding.
And at a time when many charities serve populations with health problems and the pandemic remains uncertain, going virtual can greatly expand your audience. And it doesn’t have to be only virtual, but it can be a physical auction with virtual access. And bids can be tracked live on tablets at the event with your audience.
But it’s not just about YOUR audience, an online auction can expand your reach to the entire internet. If you have specialty items, you can use social media to reach out directly to niche communities to share your online auction items. For example, you could even have a signed guitar from a famous musician who isn’t very popular anymore.
But somewhere online he has a fanbase that’s excited about that item, when a local or regional audience may not be very motivated to bid. And Goodwill Industries (https://shopgoodwill.com/home) is a great example of a nonprofit that’s already getting into the online auction area with products from its stores. Another great example is some Habitat for Humanity locations offer “Repurpose for a Reason” auction events, like this event from the Habitat for Humanity Greater Green Bay.
And when these auctions are live, they are available online for anyone to access, and bid on, and the systems keep track of who is winning and alert those who need to know. All automated. They just have to upload the images.
Auctions with an online element offer exposure to a massive audience at a fairly low cost, assuming you have a community of willing donors. And it’s a great way to connect with your community in a way that they’re often already doing online.
Peer-to-Peer/Crowdfunding
With the popularity of websites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, we see an amazing opportunity in the very grassroots of raising nonprofit revenue. This allows any individual to create a website and ask others for funding directly, person to person, aka peer-to-peer.
And wisely charities have followed suit, using similar technology to allow their volunteers and constituents the ability to create their own fundraisers that they can use to directly reach out to their community, and any larger online community that they think could donate.
These are great because people can make that individual connection, even on the internet. The person can create the fundraiser and, while it may not be perfect, often that hands-on human touch adds an extra sense of authenticity and connection.
Perhaps a more realistic example is a campaign by Little Light House in Tulsa, OK, which is a school for children with special needs, that hosts an annual Mini Laps event. They hold a pretty typical fundraiser where the students take laps around the track. But what’s less typical is the online structure of the fundraiser, which allows individual fundraisers to participate and they each have their own goal and fundraising page. For example, you can scroll down the page and find each of the top fundraising participants and view their own fundraising pages, along with their progress. And each fundraiser can use their own page as a personal fundraising platform to gather donations from around the community or world.
And the results speak for themselves, as they have already raised over $571,000 dollars.
And these fundraisers can be to promote an actual event, like a physical car wash or walking event, or it can even be for an online event, like a streaming marathon. And online events can raise a surprising amount of funding, like this French charity gaming stream that raised over $11 million dollars. And while that is an extreme example, it shows just how much potential this type of fundraising has.
2. Partnerships
Working with corporations and other organizations is nothing new for nonprofits, as community connections have always been a great way for companies to give back to the community. But these partnerships can take on more roles and forms than ever.
Giving
This is the classic way that partnerships work with nonprofits, a corporation creates an internal fundraiser for a cause and raises money among its clients. And it still works. 
Corporate giving is still a massive amount, with over $471 billion in 2020, according to the Giving USA annual report. But over the years, some of the ways that corporations provide funds have changed.
A corporate match has become more and more popular with many organizations. This is where a corporation matches, or doubles, the donation of their employee. And while not every employer has a matching gift program, many larger employers have a similar program.
And there are actually organizations out there that chart and keep track of which corporations do matching, how much they match, and how the matches are attained. For example, Double the Donation is one such company. Double the Donation works with charities to evaluate their donations, to make sure that the donors do not have a corporate match available. At many companies, the employee has to fill out a form to obtain the match, which while simple, often gets looked over if the employee is unaware of the program. And Double the Donation makes sure that the employee is aware and has proper documentation.
Another way corporations give can be through donating time and promoting that their employees join an event and form corporate teams. When employees join an event, they each can become a new fundraiser for the charity in question. And it also serves as a way to increase workplace morale and give back to the community. For example, a local factory may form a walking team for a local charity walk event. And each of those team members will raise funds among their community, and participate in the walk.
These participants are now part of your giving ecosystem, and they have participated in a fundraising event. And they also gained familiarity with your nonprofit goals and benefits. They are a perfect group to retain as future volunteers, event attendees, and donors.
Sponsorships
It’s not just direct giving or teams, but sponsorships are becoming a larger and larger part of corporate partnerships with nonprofits. On both a national and local scale, businesses can “sponsor” an event or set of events, which can include anything from direct funding to support with goods or services.
A business can even offer advertising support, material support, preparation support, staff, and more for a large event or campaign. A service can even include collecting donations.
You have probably seen the prompt at various stores when putting in your payment information: “press here to donate $1 to x charity” or perhaps the attendant will ask you.
And a few cents or dollars here or there can really add up. It is a huge possible revenue for nonprofits. Cause Marketing Forum analyzed 63 “checkout campaigns” and found that they combined raised over $358 million in 2012. And 71 percent of Americans have participated in these kinds of fundraisers, according to a 2015 study by Good Scout Group. Now, this type of fundraising is one of the more complex ideas, as you have to have a massive amount of buy-in from a corporate partner. They have to update their sales systems and donate the manpower to account for the money that is being donated. But if you have the opportunity, it can pay massive dividends.
Many of these ideas also fall under the idea of “cause marketing” or these companies tying themselves and their actions to a “good cause”. And it can be anything from donations at the register to having teams compete in charity events. It is also great press for these corporations, and it can be important to find other ways to increase the leverage, possibly like social media campaigns that are tied together and branding. But you should also be careful and not associate your nonprofit with any corporation that could reflect poorly on your organization. Always weigh the potential positives against the negatives.
3. Diversified Sources
Like any investment, diversification is always preferred. And if you have a lot of your income from one source, finding other sources can help you whether any changes in the greater economy or funding circles. While you probably already know the basic sources, like normal donations and government grants, let’s take a look at some interesting new areas.
Giving Levels
Of course, one source is basic donations. But there may be a few tricks to help get the most out of them. While it may sound simple and easy, setting up giving levels can have a pretty large impact on your fundraising, from your basic asks to even your more complex campaigns or sponsorships.
And by giving levels, we mean to put tiers of giving on your donation pages and material. So when a prospective donor clicks on your “donate” button on your website, he sees different choices to give, like “$20”, “$50”, “$100” and even a recurring donation choice, where your donor can give $20 a month for a year.
But of course, the donation tiers should match your expected donation amounts. You can even select tiers for different groups, in emails and landing pages uniquely geared toward different donor-giving levels. If you have a group of donors who usually give $100, you can start off at a higher tier for donations. And tiers do matter. A study indicated that donation levels can increase the average contributions by 12 percent, according to Elevated Effect.
This can also help you diversify the type of donations that you receive, for example, the monthly scheduled donations. More monthly scheduled donations can be a more consistent source of revenue. Instead of around the main giving periods, you can have donations coming in all year long.
Crypto/NFTs
One big area that’s been growing is cryptocurrency and NTFs (Non-fungible tokens). These new technologies mean that you can gain access to new groups of donors and diversity even your economic holdings. But it does come with risk.
If you’re not familiar, cryptocurrency is a complex online system that uses cryptography (or extremely complex encoding, called blockchain) to create virtual currency. To put it more simply, it’s like a dollar bill that exists on the internet that is almost impossible to counterfeit. Online currencies are often not regulated and can be difficult to manage. They often exist in somewhat of a gray legal area where there is no official government supporting or regulating their value. And some nations have taken steps against crypto, while other nations have moved to support it.
While NFTs use the same technology, the key difference is NFTs are not “fungible” which means these items are not directly exchangeable for other currencies, like other crypto or cash. There is no normal exchange rate for them. These non-fungible tokens can be thought of as more like one-of-a-kind investments, like a piece of art, real estate, or sports trading cards. while they typically have assessed value to similar items that have sold, the actual value would be decided when you actually do sell it and set by what the buyer is willing to pay.
Both of these new technologies can be risky and the markets can fluctuate greatly, but at the same time, it is a new market that has a lot of potential and excitement around it.
And nonprofits can get involved quickly by simply setting up a system that can accept payments. A system like “The Giving Block” allows nonprofits to fundraise and accept cryptocurrencies in an automated system and provides resources to learn more about it.
You can even learn more details about nonprofits and these new technologies in a recent Giveffect technology blog.
Nonprofit Shop
Gift shops for nonprofit destinations, like zoos and museums, have been a classic source of revenue. And Goodwill stores have been open for years, starting in the 1960s. But other nonprofits also have retail locations that offer items unique to their missions.
One nonprofit that’s gotten involved a little later is Habitat for Humanity with ReStores, which started in the 1990s. These stores have spread to many Habitat for Humanity locations, and sell things like furniture, appliances, and building supplies.
And these stores can produce a lot of revenue. For example, a location in Atlanta opened in 2001 and only netted $1,200, but by 2012 it was bringing in over $400,000, according to a business publication. And the restores are even moving online and selling their products online.
But as the ReStore example illustrates, you can possibly use a store, even if it’s just online, to open up a new source of revenue based on what products and value you offer. And it could even be just a smaller brand merchandise online store. But every bit can help, and the cost of an online store can be relatively small. Thinking outside of the box is always a great way to try to diversify your revenue. Look around at what other nonprofits are doing and try to find a way to make that work for your nonprofit, even if it may not seem like a perfect fit at first.
4. Memberships and dues
We see it everywhere. Your grocery store has a “member rewards program”. The gas station has a member discount program. And many nonprofits have followed suit. But it may be a great idea for your nonprofit.
Memberships
Membership has its benefits. Or at least it should. And that’s one of the key things to keep in mind if you have members, they need to have actual advantages to being members.
And you can do this in several ways, but a great place to start is by consulting with a team of your top volunteers, donors, clients, and event attendees. You may already have a focus group of these individuals, but starting a conversation around what they want and need is a great way to find new benefits of membership.
And when you find out what your focus group says they want or need, you can test the waters more by sending out surveys to see if others agree.
And these benefits could be as simple as more insider information about planning for events, so they feel included in the process. Or it could be access to web pages or forums that offer community advice or insider information on key topics. Or more tangible benefits like discounts on event tickets or merchandise.
And if the memberships are valuable enough, you could even charge dues for participation. Even a small fee over a large group of members can be a steady source of sizable income. You can even have membership levels, some free and others with dues, to create a funnel for future paying members. And higher levels with more benefits for added costs.
You can even host special members-only events or education sessions. Or consulting sessions that give one-on-one advice for issues that are important to your community.
5. Building a Community
There is an underlying idea that’s behind a lot of these strategies to take nonprofit revenue to the next level, and that’s including the community and providing unique merchandise, opportunities, and support that the community needs. Staying in tune with your constituents can provide new opportunities that could innovate the way you think about your finances.
Volunteer Support
Obviously, volunteer support is critical, but often the best way to support them is to train them and get out of their way. They are volunteering to help a cause that they’re dedicated to and passionate about. But they aren’t excited to spend time doing paperwork or scheduling.
A great way to help them is to automate the volunteer support system. Let them be in control of their own schedules, with proper oversight, of course. But a system that they can access and set their own schedule on allows them to see what times are open, and what times work is needed and lets them be responsible for assigning and securing the time.
A great example is York Habitat for Humanity’s volunteer management page. Volunteers can see the full schedule, click on events, and see how many openings each event has. And they can register and manage their appointments all in one place.
And many volunteers love the idea that they are in control of their own schedules, yet they also take the responsibility seriously.
Donor Support
Supporting your donors can be equally if not more important, but it can be a little more difficult as they may not be quite as motivated as your volunteers. But keeping lines of communication open is critical for working with donors and increasing nonprofit revenue.
They often want to know what their donations are going to and love to see the results and impacts of their giving. To do that effectively, you have to find the ways your donors prefer to be reached, and ideally create information campaigns for each group, based on their preferences.
Donors that respond best to email can be an easier group, as an email can be fairly simple to create. But you can always work on the quality of the email and add more images to get a better open rate and click rate.
Some donors will respond better to direct mail. And while that can be an added expense, keeping those donors in the loop and engaged can mean more donations long term.
And other donors respond to other sources, like text messaging or social media. Text messaging can be a great way to engage younger donors, and you can easily send them links to blogs that discuss your nonprofit’s impact. Social media is a little different, let’s discuss it as a breakout.
Social Media
Social media is a great place where you can support all your constituents. You can share volunteer stories and let them know about new opportunities. You can share new donor opportunities and share funding wins. You can share the impact of what the donations do for your community.
And it’s all fairly instant. A simple cell phone can take a two-minute video of a new Habitat for Humanity home being built, or a new food drive starting at your local food bank. And a few clicks and you can share it with the world.
And it’s a great place where you can connect with others in your community who have both needs and a desire to help. You can reach out directly and discuss how you can help and what help you may need.
And while it may sound simple, it’s not always easy, as there are always events, volunteers, and donors to interact with on a variety of campaigns and levels. Setting certain groups you want to prioritize can give you a more focused and effective social media presence.
Nonprofit revenue will continue to be a critical issue for nonprofits as we recover from the pandemic and as elements of the business and nonprofit world change. But by keeping up with new technology and learning from your community what they want and need, you can find all new ways to make sure you always have key nonprofit revenue streams coming in and new ones in development.