Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas: 15 Earned Income Strategies

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

My Nonprofit Founder to Full-Time Academy -- with online trainings to guide you through the steps to start a nonprofit (in the USA) and more -- is now LIVE! foundertofulltime.com/

[@anthonykeith554]

I have studied you for years, I thank you so much for your Greatness.

[@athangcia]

Amber, thank you very much! We are starting a non-profit with the mission of giving quality education to teenagers of low-income communities here in Mexico, and this information is gold for us because we are trying to find out how to survive financialy. Thank you, again!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You're so welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@AlexanderWachsmann]

Personally I don't have anything to do with not profit-organisation, but I subscribed because I like you as a person.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

That's kind of you!

[@MelGazelle12]

I just wrote down 4 pages worth of notes and ideas from this one video, thanks for making such awesome and helpful content!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Ahhhh!! I'm so happy to hear it! :)

[@michael.S8041]

wow, thanks for the openers. you are really talented in getting the point across

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Hope the video was helpful!!

[@adilsheikh1401]

As always, pure value Amber. Thanks!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kaywilliams8083]

Your videos are the best 😊

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

😊 you're too kind

[@daitonswafi6220]

I really liked this Melanie,it makes me get starting on strategizing our organizational earned income

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Awesome!

[@blackhistoryonsteroids8196]

Great video thanks for being a shining light.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

I so hope it was helpful :)

[@sbudapaloni]

I learn so much from your videos, and its gets me excited to get my NPO going! Bravo

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

That's so awesome to hear!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

What are your earned income strategy ideas or challenges?! Share below.

[@danmarquez3971]

WOW! More GREAT advice still again!! Amber, thank you as you totally rock!!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You are so welcome!

[@TLZ]

Hi, I've been learning a lot from your channel this week. I have spent the last 12+ years learning all sorts of skills to further my ambitious cosplay projects. I've come to realize that I have a lot to offer in teaching people skills, but like most of those people, I lack the space to do that. So my goal now is to open a local MakerSpace. It'll offer a place and all the expensive tools one would need to learn things like woodworking, welding, 3D modeling and 3D printing, : as well as some life skills like sewing, basic vehicle maintenance, etc. And if they dont need the education, it'll give them a workshop and a community to practice whatever it is they do. Our area doesnt have anything like this and schools have been cutting the creative programs more and more for students. This would clearly be a membership format but you're giving me plenty of food for thought to help fund the effort. And your channel is super helpful with everything else that goes into it. Thank you for putting all this info out here!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Maker Spaces are awesome! I'm happy to hear the channel has been helpful! :)

[@tomgriffin4331]

Great info, Amber! Thank-you so much for this video on earned income strategies.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peppermintt3879]

Very good information. Thanks!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ericpryor9219]

Thank you so much!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You're very welcome!

[@funlarry4145]

Great info, thanx!!!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad it was helpful!

[@hellohvj]

This is so helpful - thank you!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You're so welcome!

[@Victorcatrina_]

Great video, solid information! Keep up the grind! 🙏🏻 earned my sub!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Appreciate it!

[@Victorcatrina_]

@@AmberMelanieSmith my pleasure!

[@andrew-isac]

Your videos are really so helpful & informative thank u for your work

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad you like them! :)

[@defrancosarabia1548]

Amazing video great Ideas!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Thanks!

[@melvinwalters3366]

Amber I think you're great keep up the good work

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Thank you so much for your kind words! :)

[@taylorw]

This is so comprehensive Amber thanks. What about producing events and accompany sponsorships? On your Sponsorship reel?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

I definitely have some other videos about events and sponsorships that may help you!

[@anthonykeith554]

Very Intelligent and Helpful

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bobbydangero3947]

Great info!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Thanks for watching!

[@nisebiggs6572]

Excellent!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Glad you liked it!

[@jasonelo4567]

Thank you for your videos

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

My pleasure!

[@davidtinsley3078]

Great information, thank you Amber. Can you talk about the difference between calling earned income a price versus calling it a donation? Is that beneficial, at least with the IRS, if the nonprofit doesn't require grants or donations to operate?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Good question! In general, if someone is receiving an item or service in return for a "donation" it's NOT a tax-exempt donation and can't be called one. It is a fee for service. Donors can only deduct the value above and beyond whatever they receive in return. For example, if a nonprofit sells an event sponsorship to a company, and the company gets 4 tickets to the event as part of their sponsor perks, they have to subtract the value of those 4 tickets from what is considered a tax deductible amount of donation.

[@davidtinsley3078]

@@AmberMelanieSmith thank you Amber. One follow-up question. As a registered 501c3, I think I read that we have to bring in a minimum of 34% of our receipts from donations. If the price of services offered is called a donation, instead of price, do you know if that meets the 34% donation requirement?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Generally yeah, as a 501c3 you have to bring in 33 and a third or more in public donations to count as publicly supported (a qualification of being a public charity). But again, calling something a 'donation' if it is actually a service is not allowed. If you are selling an item or service and someone is paying for it, that is a fee for service and cannot be called a donation.

[@davidtinsley3078]

@@AmberMelanieSmith that's what I figured. We have an interesting model, and I expect we'll reach a point where we only pursue grants to stay a publicly supported.

[@NeejAsmeskas]

Hi Amber, my nonprofit gets a grant to interpret for limited English community members. If other entities were to ask us to help them reach these limited English communities with translation, how can we make this fee for service not subject to unrelated business tax?

[@pranavr8734]

Thank you for this information! Can nonprofits with large amounts of users promote a company or get sponsored. Could this be a source of funding?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

It depends. You have to be careful with "promoting a company"; there are IRS rules that prohibit a nonprofit from advertising for a for-profit company without penalty. You could possibly do it, but you might expect to get hit with Unrelated Business Income taxes.

[@billionairefaith1]

Your amazing 🔥🔥🔥❤️💯😊

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Aw thanks 😊

[@tigistgeberehiwot8960]

You are amazing 🙏

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

😊

[@shanteestanio2498]

what would be the best foundations to reach out to for beginners with they nonprofit organizations?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

That depends on a lot of factors - check out my video about grants specifically. Often to get a grant you need to have proven your model works and be able to show some results. If you don't have that yet, put together a ton of research and a great plan showing your theory of change and why you believe you'll be successful (backed up by that research), then present a grant request where you are asking for a small amount of funding to start, and you might have some luck!

[@jareddavies8999]

I just started a non profit to assist head injuries and I’m planning on a clothing line to provide funds.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Cool! Just be careful to design your model around a strategy that aligns with your mission - if the IRS feels like a clothing line does not further your mission in any way, you could get hit with unrelated business income taxes / penalties.

[@SAMOKORIENGOLA]

thxs 4 that idea am ACEO 4 ACBO !

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Thanks for watching!

[@amandajones661]

Can you make a video about nonprofit businesses applying for government contracts?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You're in luck! I did a video touching on that topic here :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5bNaoSoo8l_ga8si=Es-txbVCKDeYa3tK

[@aristidekum3016]

Thank you very much ma'am. I really wish to get in contact with you I want to learn more

[@HealthandBeautyAP]

I have wanted to start a non profit for years. However, I have a for profit business and was told that I would be a target for misusing funds between a non profit and for profit organization. Can you discuss how to avoid this issue and what precautions to put in place?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Hey Candice! If the business and nonprofit are connected somehow, yes, there are risks and you should talk to a lawyer. You could start a nonprofit completely separately and it would perhaps not be an issue.

[@HealthandBeautyAP]

@@AmberMelanieSmith yes I want to start a non profit business. I am not referring to adding non profit to my business. I know people have for profit and non profit businesses but there is a concern of money laundering between the for profit and non profit business. I just don't know what that is, or even what it would look like so that's why I have not pursued this. That's what I am referring to. My main business is holistic healthcare and Esthetics. I want to open a non profit school for beauty and holistic healthcare so while they are related, they would not be the same business.

[@defendme-ai]

hi Amber, great video thanks, I want to create a nonprofit. for my cause, I will collect some information with the help of volunteers and provide that to the related parties at no cost. but at the end of the day, We will have lots of data in our hands. Is that possible to share this data with individual researchers or enterprises to create earned income?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Great question! That is something I've seen at least one other organization do -- you'll just have to be VERY careful and aware of privacy rules and laws about collection and sharing of data first, to respect the people participating.

[@kimberlydavis9699]

Hello Amber I'm in the process of starting a for profit group home and was thinking about starting a non-profit organization in order to help those unable to pay for the group home. Just wondering if you thought this would be a good idea or if there's a way to ask for and accept donations as the for profit group home.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Hey there! It sounds like you may want to consult an accountant / lawyer about possible models here, but it sounds like you may be able to do a sliding scale for payments to subsidize those who can't afford the typical rate!

[@RichardBrubaker]

Great video, and one I think that can offer a lot to ponder for NGO leaders as they are looking at the next year! For us, we looked at this a bit differently by reverse engineering the revenue streams that were out there and developing new products to align with them. So, as an organization whose mission/ expertise was with volunteering, we developed a corporate product that would support the volunteer side of CSR initiatives. At first, this was supporting single events, but over time this grew into a larger consulting and program management role. Which led to larger, more sustainable, fees (and margins). A second way we approached this was to work with foundations to do research on the issues our community's were facing, or to support their goals to promote volunteerism in certain areas (like building/ catalyzing university student programs). There were others, but the theme was roughly the same and we found that by doing that we were able to develop a much stronger revenue base that was more resilience to shock. Something that has helped us through through the the ups and downs of time. Keep up the great work! Rich

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Yes, that's essentially what my org does!

[@bcet4422]

We are a school booster club, after watching your video I will suggest that the students provide sports and art clinics/classes for the public to bring in some funds for their booster club.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

That's a cool idea!

[@stephanp3360]

Great video. Do you have any information about international nonprofit organization please? If I only charge for consultation at a free clinic as an income strategy.. could my clinic considered as a nonprofit organization?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

You can definitely use an earned income model anywhere in the world. I believe a few of the examples I shared were from various countries!

[@stephanp3360]

Thanks

[@AubreyWalsh-bx6zd]

Hi Amber, thank you very much for all your advice. Your videos have really helped me out in the last few years. Our nonprofit provides teacher development for teachers, but we are struggling to fund our teacher training programs and are looking for ways to bring in steady income. Would we be able to offer our training services or curriculum guides to schools who can afford them to help pay for our free trainings? Thank you!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Hi Aubrey, yes, offering to schools who can afford it sounds like a solid earned income strategy. Some orgs even offer a sliding scale or "pay what you can" scale, so schools can still contribute something, even something small.

[@AubreyWalsh-bx6zd]

@@AmberMelanieSmith Thank you very much!

[@damonwhitsell6911]

I have a question. I am considering starting up a non-profit animal service organization to provide free or low-cost spay and neutering to needy low-income families and their dogs, to hopefully reduce the very high number of unwanted dogs that we have dumped on our country roads here in Dayton Texas. The only sustainable earned income business I've been able to think of so far is to start a, pet supply business here in our town. Would that be considered a related business if all the profits went in to the non-profit for the free or low-cost spay and neutering services?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Hey Damon! When I read this my first thought was you have a naturally built-in earned income model right in your program - charging a low / affordable fee for the spay and neutering services! As for selling pet supplies, for this particular mission I could see that might be a gray area.

[@damonwhitsell6911]

@@AmberMelanieSmith thank you for your response Amber. My biggest goal and why I'm considering a pet supply store as an earned income for profit business is that I would like to provide free spay and neutering services to our low income needy families with pets, if possible.

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

@@damonwhitsell6911 Definitely, so one thing you might consider is a pay what you can structure or a payment structure on a sliding scale, so those who can afford to pay can subsidize the costs for those who cannot afford to pay. That way your costs are covered, but people who can't afford it are taken care of too.

[@damonwhitsell6911]

@@AmberMelanieSmith thank you amber, that's something I had not thought of. I seen examples of that in your videos like for restaurants like the one Jon bon Jovi started. I found a couple of other people that were focused on helping people start nonprofits. But between your KZbin channel here, your Facebook page your founder the full-time website and your personal website. I think all the information I need I have already found. I've definitely found out it's something that I believe I can do. And almost certain I will be starting your founder to full-time academy idea to official course soon. Thank you so very much for who you are and what you do, I can see that your ripples spread out all over the place and touch many for the better

[@marzush820]

Assume, all types of community income source including donations doesn’t work or somehow doesn’t happened for a new startup nonprofit organization, can board of directors pay for the first year expenses from their own pocket? It is to be mentioned that new organizations in Canada are not allowed to do fund raising are receiving donations if they don’t have charity number!

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Yes, there is nothing wrong with board members donating their own money to help fund the nonprofit (in fact, it's encouraged!).

[@neofelisnebulosa2951]

Great information again, Thanks Amber. Have you made a video on creating a website for a non profit? What do you recommend , like are there any free ones? if not what are the best payed for ones?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

That's a good topic, I'll add it to the list! You'll likely always have to pay something for your web domain and hosting but as for the platform, there are many free options. I personally like Wordpress.

[@kristinBodendorfer]

So our non profit is a formal clothing closet for youth in need to be able to get formal dresses and shoes and jewelry to be able to attend a special occasion dance or event. The youth that use our program have the opportunity to obtain use of the dresses and everything that they would need for their dance and or event in exchange for 2 hours of volunteer service helping any 501 C3 charity this is called our #kinddeedcurrency Program. Because of running this organization our donations vary from very much needed to absolutely not what we can use. We tend to get a lot of vintage clothing a lot of vintage jewelry a lot of bridal wear so we sell these items so that we can maintain our #kinddeedcurrency program which is what the DIVAs will use when they borrow the dresses and the accessories. We have also opened up for anyone who would like to use our services Kind of like a rent the runway. But our main priority is our DIVAs. We just finished helping with a cultural education event in Youngstown. A Quinceanra Ball

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

What a heartwarming mission!

[@kristinBodendorfer]

@@AmberMelanieSmith thank you we love doing it.

[@robertsaladino]

YMCA selling personal training ?

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

YMCA has their gym memberships.

[@DAWNCHIKU]

Hello, Amber. thank for this. I left you a message on Instagram. This is because I could not find your mail. ♥️♥️

[@AmberMelanieSmith]

Got it!