Nonprofits rely on a variety of revenue sources, from major gifts and planned giving contributions to online donations and public crowdfunding campaigns. However, there are a variety of income streams nonprofits can leverage that aren’t direct monetary donations.
While there’s no question that donations are integral to many nonprofits’ fundraising strategies, increasing your giving opportunities provides flexibility for you and your donors. Tapping into these new revenue sources helps nonprofits diversify their income, while also giving donors new ways to support their favorite causes. This can be especially helpful for donors who want to increase their support, but might not have the extra funds to do so.
To help your nonprofit get started offering more donation opportunities, this article will explore five ways to raise funds besides direct monetary donations:
As you weigh your options, assess your current plan to determine which fundraising strategies fit best with your nonprofit. There’s nothing stopping a nonprofit from implementing all five giving methods, and while some supporters may prefer to stick to just one in addition to direct donations, others will take advantage of multiple ways to give.
1. In-Kind Donations
Does your nonprofit need supplies? Or do your constituents need specific items like blankets and winter coats? If so, your nonprofit can benefit from accepting in-kind donations. Essentially, in-kind donations encompass any donation that is non-monetary based, such as items, goods, or even experiences.
Nonprofits can set up in-kind donation programs to receive gifts from both businesses and individual supporters. Businesses have the capacity to provide large-scale in-kind donations, such as a whole office of slightly outdated but still perfectly usable computers when the business decides it's time to upgrade its technology.
Individuals are capable of donating a variety of small items that can add up when enough supporters participate. For example, a food bank might request non-perishable items or a local library might ask community members to donate their new and slightly used books.
While in-kind donations give your nonprofit less control over the gifts you’ll receive, there are also times when your organization might prefer in-kind donations over monetary support.
For example, if your nonprofit hosts a silent auction, your procurement team will need to secure numerous valuable, in-kind donations. Think along the lines of gift baskets and experiences, like spa days, tours, or trips. Also, consider the need for venue space, tables, and other setup essentials. Laying the groundwork for your program ahead of time and building relationships with potential in-kind donors can be especially helpful for situations like this.
2. Events and Experiences
Considering that you’re asking donors to part with their hard-earned money with no benefits for them in return, getting supporters excited to donate can be a challenge. This often makes donating a hard sell and can be an obstacle when asking long-term donors to increase their support.
Many nonprofits solve this problem by offering events and experiences to help generate revenue. This is a great way to bring your community together and boost supporter engagement. Plus, people can justify making a contribution if they’ll get some sort of value out of it. Some of the most important elements that will help drive value (and therefore revenue) through your events include:
The type of events. There are a wide range of nonprofit fundraising event types to explore, so consider what activities would best appeal to different members of your audience. For example, you might host both a formal gala and a community potluck to provide value for two different groups of supporters.
Product sales. Product fundraisers give your guests something to take home from your event. Set up merchandise booths and sell products that fit with your event. For example, at a walk-a-thon, you might sell water bottles, hats, and t-shirts, but save the mugs and anything breakable for a less active event.
Virtual attendance options. Not all of your supporters will be able to attend in-person events, and some of them may just prefer virtual attendance options. Make sure these supporters have events they can attend as well with hybrid and virtual events. For example, you might live stream your auction and have all guests bid online, or offer virtual lessons or webinars led by instructor experts.
The event opportunities your nonprofit offers will obviously depend on your cause, resources, and audience. For example, while schools often find success with family-friendly activities like walk-a-thons and potlucks, a nonprofit with an older working audience can likely get more of their supporters involved with a virtual networking event.
3. Branded Merchandise
Nonprofit merch is a great opportunity to give your supporters something tangible in return for their donation and market your organization at the same time. Design your merchandise with your nonprofit’s logo and colors, as well as any unique images, phrases, or other elements that represent your organization and its mission. If you want to try something different, use your existing brand material as a jumping off point to get creative and explore different font and color combinations.
Plus, if your design is particularly eye-catching, your t-shirts will naturally draw attention when supporters wear them out in public, and others will view individuals wearing your t-shirts as the ultimate form of endorsement!
Of course, first you’ll need to decide what merchandise you’re going to sell. There are a variety of popular, go-to items to create for your nonprofit’s merchandise line, such as:
T-shirts and hoodies
Mugs
Hats
Water bottles
Tote bags
These items can be a good starting point, and nonprofits can go further and get creative with items that represent their specific cause. For example, an animal shelter might offer branded leashes or pet clothes.
Best of all, your nonprofit can sell branded merchandise all year round. Set up a dedicated store on your website where visitors can submit their orders. This is also a wonderful opportunity to encourage purchases with discounts and limited items. For example, a nonprofit could offer a special line of apparel with holiday-themed designs that are available only during the holiday season.
4. Passive Fundraisers
If your nonprofit is truly interested in a fundraiser where supporters don’t need to spend any more than they would in their normal day-to-day activities, consider launching a passive fundraiser. Passive fundraisers and fundraising campaigns that generate income when your supporters take actions they likely would have anyway, such as making routine purchases or going out to dinner.
Here are just a few examples of passive fundraisers your nonprofit can host:
Shopping fundraisers. Shopping fundraisers earn nonprofits revenue when their supporters make purchases at participating retailers. For each qualifying purchase, a percentage of the sales total will be donated to your nonprofit. For example, AmazonSmile’s online shopping fundraiser has a fixed donation rate of 0.5% for all purchases.
Grocery store fundraisers. Many grocery store chains have programs that allow shoppers to support local nonprofits, schools, and other participating charitable organizations. Research your local grocery store chains to see what the qualifications for signing up are. Then, encourage your supporters to sign up for the program to help your nonprofit when they make their weekly grocery run.
Restaurant partnerships. While shopping and grocery store fundraisers often run all year-long, restaurant partnerships usually take place on just one night. Partner with a local restaurant to set up a sponsorship night where a portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to your nonprofit.
These fundraisers involve partnering with a specific business that has a philanthropy program your nonprofit can join, or signing up for a program that facilitates these business relationships for your nonprofit. As all the revenue from passive fundraisers comes from these business partners, it’s likely in your nonprofit’s best interest to join an already established program. Alternatively, you might have a third party negotiate the contribution rates if your team doesn’t have time to thoroughly research businesses, present offers to them, and continue maintaining the relationships.
5. Volunteer Grants
Volunteers are essential for helping your nonprofit complete its initiatives, raise funds, and generally advance your mission. Plus, your volunteers can earn revenue for your organization just by coming into work for a few hours each week if they qualify for a volunteer grant.
Crowd101’s guide to corporate volunteer grants explains that these grants are donations companies make when their employees volunteer for a certain amount of time at a charitable organization like your nonprofit. This is a great way for them to financially impact your organization without paying out of pocket.
As these donations come from your volunteers’ employers, they are essentially free money your nonprofit can claim just by having volunteers fill out a few necessary forms. Different companies will have different requirements such as the number of hours a volunteer needs to work to qualify for a grant and when the grant application form needs to be submitted by.
Help your volunteers research if they are eligible for a volunteer grant and provide them with any information they need to complete their application for a grant. Then, after they submit their form, be sure to thank them for going the extra mile to help contribute to your nonprofit.
Giving your supporters several ways to help out your nonprofit can diversify your revenue sources, lead to increased support, and give donors unique opportunities to engage with your organization. Explore your options and choose new non-monetary fundraisers that will be popular with your unique set of supporters. Good luck!
About the Author:
This is a guest post contributed by Kevin Penney, CMO and Co-Founder of Bonfire. Kevin Penney has been working in digital media for over 10 years. He is the CMO and Co-Founder of Bonfire, an online platform that is reinventing the way people create, sell, and purchase custom apparel. He enjoys strategizing, working closely with his team, and hockey, exactly in that order.