Four Key Factors that Should be Considered for a Nonprofit’s Earned Income Strategy

Remember when an annual appeal, an occasional capital campaign and perhaps an endowment were all that were expected of any given nonprofit? Understandably that mindset was ushered out some time ago when nonprofits were unavoidably expected to expand their funding beyond just the status quo, something many nonprofits still struggle to grow beyond. Donors began to expect a more educated and innovative approach to funding. Then 2020 and all the turmoil associated with it arrived and the ante was upped again exponentially. Now more than ever nonprofits need to develop stronger, more trackable funding strategies to adapt to the shift that is happening within the giving space. One of the more common requests in recent months for our consulting firm, NMBL Strategies, has been to develop earned income strategies for clients and to totally reevaluate the strategies around working with sponsors and donors.

NMBL Strategies knows there are often a variety of earned income opportunities that a nonprofit needs to explore as they develop their strategy. Before developing these opportunities, nonprofits should identify the needs of the organization, resources and opportunities and most importantly ensure there is mission alignment. These factors all play a critical role, not just in the selection of earned income…