WildApricot

 Diversifying Your Nonprofit Revenue Streams

Even when you do everything right — asking existing donors for more support, raising membership fees, and depleting your current events budget, sometimes it’s still not enough. As your nonprofit organization grows, the bar for what’s needed also goes up. So, how do you increase revenue when you feel you’ve exhausted all your options? By diversifying your revenue streams.

> sign up here < Diversifying your revenue streams is crucial for the growth of your nonprofit and is a sign of a healthy, sustainable organization. By doing so, you create security and stability, helping your nonprofit stay flexible, adaptable, and resilient in times of risk and uncertainty. Something we’ve had to learn this past year or so. The other great benefit of diversifying your revenue streams is that doing so helps expand your network — more donors, members, corporations, and government bodies, the stronger your community becomes. But enough about the benefits, let’s dive in with 12 of the most common ways you can raise money for your nonprofit. 1. Member Dues & Fees: As the most reliable source of regular revenue, make sure to take full advantage by keeping track of your member dues, making it easy for members to pay, and sending membership renewal reminders. 2. Events: Whether in-person or virtual, events are one of the best ways to raise funds, while also being a great opportunity to bring your community together, give an update on your work to existing supporters, and introduce new faces to your organization. On top of tickets, you can also raise money with a silent auction if your event is on the larger side or consider getting sponsors for your event. 3. Selling Merchandise: Though it should never be your main source of revenue, selling goods and services to generate revenue is not just for for-profit businesses. Members of your community would love to support you by purchasing a t-shirt or subscribing to a regular publication. Plus, when people wear your branded merchandise, it helps spread the word about your organization. 4. Individual Donations: To make the most of individual donations, keep the following in mind:

Make it easy to donate in-person, over the phone, by mail, and online.

Encourage donors to give monthly and optimize your donation forms to give them that option.

Send out special appeals at least once or twice a year (with one appeal around the holiday season).

Give donors the option to make tribute donations (i.e. in honor of a person or an occasion).

5. Major Gifts: The process for securing major gifts is very different from getting small individual donations — it requires a lengthy period of building a relationship with the prospective donor before there’s even any mention of making a gift. If you’re thinking of implementing a major gifts program, you’ll need at least one staff member who can dedicate all their time to just that. 6. Corporate Giving: Corporate giving is similar to major gifts, but the donation comes from a for-profit business or corporation. When looking for corporate donors, it’s important to look for companies that share the same values as your organization. When their leadership and customers truly care about your cause, these companies give larger gifts and tend to renew their support year after year. 7. Sponsorships: Sponsorships are different from corporate giving in that the company receives something in return for their contribution. Usually, this is brand awareness and exposure to your nonprofit’s audience in the interest of attracting new customers. Sponsoring a nonprofit event is also a chance for the company to demonstrate its corporate social responsibility and increase its public goodwill. 8. Cause Marketing: Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit business for mutual benefit. A great example is when a product-based business promises to donate a percentage of every sale to a nonprofit. Much like sponsorships, it’s a win-win because the company receives a good public standing and increased sales, while the nonprofit receives financial support. 9. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Peer-to-peer fundraising is most recognized as a nonprofit run, walk, or cycling event. The idea is for each participant to raise funds from their friends and family before donating the total to a nonprofit. 10. Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding is not just for startups! It’s an effective way to spread awareness about your organization and garner support from a large number of new donors. Nonprofits can use platforms like Kickstarter and GoFundMe or organize their own crowdfunding campaigns using social media. 11. Grants: Grants offer financial support from the government, foundations, or corporations. However, they usually involve strict eligibility requirements, application rules, and a limited amount of funds, so nonprofits tend to compete for funding. 12. Loans and Program-Related Investments: Loans and program-related investments are issued by foundations and some financial institutions. Unlike grants, they do need to be paid back, along with interest (though it’s usually much lower than what a for-profit business would be charged). No matter which revenue stream you try, don’t forget that one of the most reliable revenue streams for nonprofit organizations is through a membership program. With that said, if you aren’t in the position to diversify as much as you would like, you can really optimize your membership program by focusing your efforts on engaging and retaining members. To fully maximize this revenue stream, a membership management software like WildApricot can really help. Created notably for small associations and nonprofits, WildApricot is an affordable web-based software that can automatically send member dues reminders, process payments, issue receipts, and take care of other administrative tasks, freeing up your time for other revenue streams. They can also help with event management, individual donations, as well as an online store. Head over to WildApricot today, to learn more about the above revenue streams with more tips on diversifying, and then check out all their features to see how they can help!