Heritage Consulting Inc. What we will cover in 20 minutes. Diversifying your revenue sources. The Profitable Nonprofit

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1 The Profitable Nonprofit Oakland County Heritage Conference September 10, DONNA ANN HARRIS HERITAGE CONSULTING INC. What we will cover in 20 minutes Diversifying revenue sources Where the money comes from today Revenue sources YOU control Annual gifts/membership Fundraising events Sponsorship solicitation Gathering volunteers to help 2 Diversifying your revenue sources Benefits: Not all your eggs are one or two baskets Forces you to tap new volunteers with new skills Allows for some flexibility and some risk taking Your effort = potential payoffs 3

2 How much do Americans give to charity? 4 Source: Giving USA Foundation 2009 Where do charitable dollars go? 5 Source: Giving USA Foundation 2009 Quickest ways to raise money Project months till $ arrives Dues today Individual donations today Corporate donations 1-6 Special events 1-6 Selling services 1-6 Foundation proposals 3-12 Corp sponsorships 3-12 From Joan Flannigan Grass Roots Fundraising Book 6

3 Quickest ways to raise money Corporate philanthropy 3-12 Major donors 3-6 Selling products 3-6 Auction 3-12 Government grants 1-3 years New business set up 2-5 years Direct mail only 3-5 years Bequests/planned gifts 3-20 years 7 From Joan Flannigan Grass Roots Fundraising Book Annual gifts: definitions Annual unrestricted gifts by interested folks to support the organization in generalcharity Multi-year pledges vs. annual dues Definitions: Members; donors; sponsors Whom to ask to become a member? EVERYONE! 8 Simplified annual gifts campaign Identify how much you need to raise Identify target sources: other groups, mailing lists, Develop materials for pitch Advance letters/other cultivation Personal contact/direct mail/event tables 9 Follow-up, answer questions Collection Thank you for gift Recognition of gift Solicit for other projects at least 3x year Start renewing 3 months before end of membership year

4 Make More Money From Members Take all credit cards Increase/diversify your membership levels Employee matching gifts Take memberships on line Ask members to give more money on renewal Ask sponsors to become members Ask people to pledge 10 Benefits of pledges Small gifts monthly Excellent method to retain donors who have fallen on hard times Slightly larger gifts Very committed members Allows members to give more, more often Credit cards/checking account direct debits 11 Ideally an event identified with your organization only Grows over time But they get stale Don t make them weather dependent Gross vs. net is the event worth your time? Once a year vs. several during the year Fundraising events 12

5 Fundraising events Typical or non-typical Gala Auctions Sales Progressive Dinners Modest or high ticket price 13 Think of them as having component parts you can add to: Awards dinner Add silent auction Add live auction Add sponsorship book Add raffle at event Add preview cocktail party Fundraising events 14 Sponsorship solicitation Assess how your sponsorship program is doing Increase amount for a few categories each year Develop a year-long calendar of solicitation opportunities Ask sponsors to become members too 15

6 Why do sponsorship annual plan Prevents nickel and dime solicitations Targets sponsorship dollars Allows sponsors to spread their marketing dollars over several events Makes you look more professional 16 Becoming a sustainable nonprofit Assess how much of your budget these three sources generate now Small organizations: Under 150K Membership 25-33% Sponsorship 10-15% Fundraising event 10-15% These sources could bring in 45% of budget! 17 Getting volunteers to help Staff cannot manage all of these revenue sources Volunteer committees can be useful, but only if they own the activity and are accountable for results Consider co-chairs for large projects Rotate committee leadership to prevent burn out 18

7 Volunteers to help Recruit leaders first Have leaders recruit for their own committee Break down all tasks into bite sized tasks Create job descriptions of bite sized tasks Solicit volunteers for specific tasks Use , social media, personal relationships to recruit volunteers 19 What we did whew! Convinced you to diversifying revenue sources They money comes from individual giving! Focus on revenue sources YOU control Annual gifts/membership Fundraising events Sponsorship solicitation Why effort =payoff 20 Gathering volunteers to help Contact me! Donna Ann Harris 422 South Camac Street Philadelphia, PA

8 7 easy ways to boost membership revenue 1. Take all credit cards/bank drafts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, automatic deductions from checking Work with your local bank on fees/set up charges Buy, don t rent a terminal for credit card processing if you can afford it Process all charges that day Consider Paypal if the high fees bother you or if you cannot get a deal with your banker Use credit cards for all kinds of payments to your organization 2. Increase/diversity your membership levels Inflation is the reason costs increase Increase only one or two categories yearly, or add a new category instead of a price increase Give members an option to NOT get premium if you give them (more money for you) Sale! Renew at old rate..give renewals an incentive to give before a price increase 3. Employee matching gifts What your membership form should say: my employer (insert name of employer) has a matching gift program (fill in name of employer, we ll do the rest!) Follow up with the employer ASAP, this is FREE money that costs nothing to get! Call corporate contributions department, keep calling, get forms, and fill them out, send back with letter of determination from IRS as 501C3 organization. Thank the employee (your member) twice: Once for their gift; once when you get the check from their employer Acknowledge the company and the employee in the list of members/donors 4. Take membership gifts on line Many packages available, talk to your web master Make sure you have the highest encryption available, display all logos Will require that you take credit cards and bank drafts Tech savvy people will join this way 5. Ask members to give more money Ask the member to give one level higher in writing Ask them at least twice a year to increase their gift: at renewal time and again at end of year gift time 6. Ask sponsors to become members When you increase your sponsorship levels annually (you do that, right?) Include membership at donor level ($250) as part of the sponsorship package, page 1

9 Give sponsor additional recognition for gift: on web site, in annual report etc. 7. Ask people to pledge People who pledge give more money: take credit cards, automatic payments Send requests to pledge in the renewal letter Make it easy, monthly, quarterly, other dates that are easy for the member MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY PROCESS THE GIFT credit card/checking account Source: Harris, Donna Ann. Make More Money from Members: 7 Easy Ways to Raise Revenue, Main Street News, August 2008, page 2

10 Bibliography From the NTHP/NMSC Book store Quest for Funds Revisited: A Fund-Raising Starter Kit. Other books (get these at your independent bookseller) Klein, Kim, Fundraising for the Long Haul, San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000 Robinson, Ellis M. M. and Kim Klein, The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit, San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003 Favorite Main Street News articles Main Street: Surviving the Third Year and Beyond, Main Street News, No. 53, February 1990 How Main Street Programs Evolve and Change, Main Street News, No. 120, March 1996 Raising Money for Revitalization, Main Street News, No. 141, March 1998 Developing a Successful Membership Program, Main Street News, No. 200, Sept Raising Funds from the Public Sector, Main Street News, May 1999 Favorite articles and resources on the web Internal Revenue Service, Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements available from scroll down list to 1771, click to download. Budgeting for Membership Retention and Recruitment, found at A Primer on Online Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations, found at Friend Raising and Your Board, EngagingFriends_Art.htm Organizational Sustainability: Where Friend Raising Meets Fundraising, found at Are you Grant Ready? A checklist, Tools for a Small Development Shop, Information about bequests and planned gifts How to start (or Beef up) Your Planned Giving Program, with (Almost) no Budget Part 1 found at Why Bequest Should Be a Key Focus of Your Planned Giving Program, found at Google the term sample bequest language and hundreds of universities, hospitals and large nonprofit organizations come up. Work with your attorney to fashion bequest language that meets the needs of the donor and your organization

11 Bibliography Volunteers and Partner Development Main Street News articles Adkins, Lauren. Managing Volunteers for a Stronger Main Street Program Main Street News, No. 119, February, Boatright, Ursula. The Importance of Volunteers Main Street News, No. 54, March 1990 Books Bell, Judith Winter and Stephen Brownell Harris. Organizing Volunteers for Preservation Projects. Preservation Trust of Vermont, Order from Ellis, Susan. The Volunteer Recruitment (and Membership) book Second Edition. Philadelphia: Energize Order from Establishing a Volunteer Program: A Case Study #170 American Association for State and Local History, order from Hall, Esther. Investing in Volunteers: A Guide to Volunteer Management. Washington: National Trust for Historic Preservation order from Robert D. Huben and Associates. Jossey-Bates Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, (San Francisco: Jossey Bates Publishers 1994). Lee, Jessie Frances with Julia Catagnus. What We Learned (the Hard Way) about Supervising Volunteers: An Action Guide for Making Your Job Easier. Philadelphia: Energize Order from energize.org Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Touchstone Books, Training Docents How to Talk to Visitors #125, American Association for State and Local History, Order from Thurmond, Donna P., and James Cassell. Family Volunteering: Putting the Pieces Together. The Points of Light Foundation, Vineyard, Sue, and Steve McCurley. 101 More Ideas for Volunteer Programs. Downers Grove, IL, 2003.

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