If you lead a nonprofit today, chances are funding is keeping you up at night.

Government funding is uncertain. Foundations are receiving more requests. Individual donors have more organizations competing for their attention. Costs continue to rise, and the nonprofits are facing greater need in the communities they serve.  For many organizations, the natural response is to try to raise more money.  They set out to find another grant, grow individual giving, add corporate sponsors, launch a campaign or hold another event.  And yes, those may all be part of the answer.  But what if we also stepped back and asked a different question?  What if there are revenue opportunities already sitting inside your organization that you've never thought about as revenue?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  In my work with nonprofits, I'm increasingly seeing organizations reconsider how their mission gets funded. They aren't walking away from philanthropy or changing their missions.  They are just looking differently at the value they've spent years creating.  And I think more nonprofit leaders and boards should be having this conversation.

What Do You Already Have?

When we talk about diversifying nonprofit revenue, we tend to start outside the organization: Who else could fund us? What foundations have we not approached? What donors do we not know yet? What government opportunities are available?

Those are important questions. But what happens if we turn the lens inward? Over the years, your organization has accumulated expertise, relationships, practical knowledge, curriculum, training programs, data, facilities, technology, networks and credibility around something you do exceptionally well.

What if some of those things aren't just program assets? What if they're financial assets, too?  That's where this gets interesting.

Maybe You Don’t Need to Do Anything New

One of the things I find most intriguing about earned revenue is that it doesn't necessarily require starting a new program or business.  Sometimes it simply requires thinking differently about who pays for work you're already doing.  I've worked with nonprofits that provide valuable services to families and historically offered those services at no cost to everyone.  Their thinking is beginning to shift.  They still want every family who needs the service to have access to it. That hasn't changed.  But they've started asking a different question:  Does every family need us to pay for it?  Perhaps a family with very limited financial resources continues to receive the service at no cost. Another family may be able to contribute $100. Still another may be able to pay half the cost. Finally, a family with greater financial capacity may be able to pay the full cost. The service hasn't changed.  The mission hasn't changed.  Access hasn't changed.  What's different is the assumption that the nonprofit has to subsidize every participant in exactly the same way.  I think that's an important distinction.  Instead of thinking about some families as paying clients and others as receiving free services, think about every family receiving the same valuable service. The only difference is how that service gets funded. For one family, philanthropy may pay 100%. Another family may share the cost with philanthropy. Yet another may cover the full cost, freeing charitable dollars to help a family who otherwise couldn't access the service. That's a very different way of thinking about revenue. And it's just one example.

Could Someone Else Pay?

There is another variation on this idea that I think is worth exploring.  Maybe the people at the heart of your mission should never pay for the service you provide.  That's okay.  Who else values the outcome?  Imagine an organization with deep expertise in serving people with disabilities. The individuals and families it serves may continue receiving services at little or no cost. But could businesses pay that same organization for accessibility training?

Could schools pay for professional development?

Could another nonprofit pay for technical assistance?

And what if a government agency contracted with the organization for its expertise?

The organization hasn't abandoned its mission to pursue revenue.  It has simply recognized that its knowledge has value to audiences with the ability to pay.

You can apply the same thinking in countless ways:

• A youth-serving nonprofit might have expertise employers value.

• An environmental nonprofit might have knowledge businesses need.

• A community organization might have deep expertise in engaging populations that healthcare systems or local governments struggle to reach.

• An arts organization might have curriculum schools want.

• A nonprofit known for developing strong leaders might offer training or coaching.

The question, then, isn’t simply, “Who do we serve?” It might also be, “Who else values what we know?”

Sometimes the Asset Isn’t Expertise

Look around your organization. What else do you have?

• A building with meeting rooms that sit empty several days a week

• A commercial kitchen

• Specialized equipment

• Research or data

• A curriculum you’ve developed

• A network people want access to

• A community people value enough to join

Membership is an obvious example. For years, associations have built revenue models around the idea that people or organizations will pay to belong to a community that provides valuable connections, resources, education, information and expertise. Could that idea work in a different form for your organization? What if you create a peer network, a learning community, a subscription resource or a leadership cohort?

I’m not suggesting all these ideas fit or resonate with you. I’m suggesting we become more curious about what we already have.

Nonprofits Are Already Doing This

None of these ideas are theoretical. Many nonprofits are already experimenting with different approaches to earned revenue.

• Some provide professional consulting and technical assistance based on expertise they’ve developed through their mission work.

• Some offer training and education for a fee.

• Some use membership models to provide resources, connections and expertise.

• Others use sliding fees or contracts to help pay for services they have historically supported primarily through philanthropy.

• Some have built entire revenue models around providing valuable professional services while advancing a nonprofit mission.

There isn’t one model, and that’s what makes this conversation so interesting. The opportunity isn’t to copy what another nonprofit is doing. It’s to look at your own organization and consider what could this look like for you.

“But We’re a Nonprofit”

This is usually where someone gets a little uncomfortable. Should nonprofits really be thinking this way? I think we need to get past the idea that “nonprofit” means everything an organization does has to be free.

Nonprofits charge fees every day. They sell tickets, charge tuition, collect membership dues, operate thrift stores, rent facilities, sell training, provide consulting, license intellectual property and contract with government agencies and businesses to provide services.

And yes, there are important tax, legal, accounting and mission considerations when organizations begin generating revenue in new ways. Those questions matter, but they don’t need to be the first questions. Your accountant and attorney can help you understand how to structure an idea once you have one worth pursuing. Don’t let the technical questions stop the creative conversation before it starts.

The bigger question for leaders and boards is whether this could help advance the mission and build a stronger organization.

Not Every Good Idea Is Good Business

Of course, just because someone could pay for something doesn't mean you've found your next revenue stream.

• There has to be demand.

• The numbers must work.

• You need the capacity to deliver it.

• It needs to make sense for your mission.

One of the biggest traps nonprofits can fall into is creating a lot of activity that generates revenue but very little actual financial benefit. If a $50,000 program costs $48,000 to deliver and pulls your best people away from other priorities, you may have created more work, not more sustainability.

So, explore before you invest. Consider and brainstorm some ideas, run the numbers, the pilot and learn.  Once you know more, you can decide whether it’s worth growing.

A Different Conversation for Your Next Board Meeting

If you’re feeling the pressure of today’s funding environment, I’m not suggesting that you walk into your next board meeting with a proposal to launch a new business. I’m suggesting you walk in with some questions.  Lead a discussion by asking your board and leadership team:

• What do we do exceptionally well?

• What have we learned that others want to know?

• What do people regularly ask us for help with?

• What have we built that someone else might value?

• Are there people receiving our services who could reasonably contribute toward their cost?

• Are there other people or organizations who would pay for what we know how to do?

• What assets do we have that aren’t being fully utilized?

Don’t try to answer everything in one meeting. The goal is simply to get people’s minds turning. Put the possibilities on a whiteboard, circle two or three that make you curious and then go learn.

We May Need to Think Differently

In an increasingly uncertain funding environment, relying on the same handful of revenue sources year after year creates vulnerability. Diversification creates options and options create resilience.

Perhaps the opportunity in front of nonprofit leaders isn’t simply to become better fundraisers. Maybe it’s to become more creative about how we fund the mission in the first place.

After years of serving your community, your organization has accumulated far more than programs and expenses. You’ve developed expertise, built relationships, created solutions, earned trust and learned what works.

Those things have value. So, before you write one more grant proposal or add another fundraising event, take a little time to look inside your own organization. You may discover that your next revenue stream doesn’t require doing something new at all. It may simply require seeing the value you’ve already created differently.

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