Guest Post by Gail Bower, 20 Ways Your Nonprofit Can Spend Extra Revenue

Woman looking at computer screen smilingYou’re wrapping up 2019, and your eye is zooming ahead to 2020. Perhaps you already have some big goals in mind.

For just a moment, I want you to imagine your life exactly one year from today.

But the difference?

Next year at this time, you’re deciding all the ways you’ll invest your surplus revenue.

Here are 20 ideas to get you started.

  • Pay your staff what they are really worth.
  • Upgrade your computers and technology to enhance productivity.
  • Get out of debt.
  • Augment programs paid with government contracts that barely cover costs.
  • Invest in professional development.
  • Hire a new staff member or two.
  • Create a new program.
  • Have energy and creativity to innovate a service that generates predictable earned revenue.
  • Expand to a new market.
  • Invest in a marketing strategy.
  • Invest in an organizational strategy.
  • Invest in resources needed to launch a new strategy or marketing strategy.
  • Attend industry conferences.
  • Build thought leadership.
  • Create or expand your reserves to 6 to 12 months’ worth.
  • Upgrade your office.
  • Hire a graphic designer.
  • Invest in video production and visual assets.
  • Update your organization’s branding.
  • Invest more deeply in programs so that your constituents benefit even more.
  • Bonus: Leave a legacy for my organization.

The point is, having a vision for your success and translating outcomes into what they’ll mean tangibly for your organization can be huge motivators.

This list includes many of the key drivers that inspire my best clients to expand their organization’s competencies and revenue results.

What inspires you? Where will you put a stake in the ground, make a commitment to your organization, and turn things around or expand your results?

What is it costing you—in effectiveness, impact, success, productivity, stress—to stay stuck without fulfilling your goals?

Did you find this article valuable? Save the date—December 5, 2019—and join Karen Eber Davis and Gail Bower for Breaking Through the Million Dollar Glass Ceilingan online, interactive webinar. We’ll show you how to crash through the impediments that are stopping you from achieving your desired revenue goals.

Having a vision becomes a driver for change. How many of these ideas are on your list?

Author
Karen Eber Davis

Karen Eber Davis Consulting guides executive directors and CEOs to generate the resources, boards, and support they need to make remarkable progress on their missions. As the award-winning thought-leader, advisor, and founding principal of Karen Eber Davis Consulting, Karen helps nonprofit leaders get answers, generate revenue, and grow their mission. Davis is known for her innovation and practicality based on her work with or visits to over 1,000 nonprofit organizations and her experience leading board and team events. She is the author of 7 Nonprofit Income Streams and Let's Raise Nonprofit Millions Together.