Sketchy Ideas

Sketchy Ideas Episode 41: Make Your Nonprofit Profitable

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1:40 Intro

  • Intro/Opening remarks
  • The topic is: Make Your Nonprofit Profitable

    • 2:56 Sponsors

    • SPEARity (SPEARity.com)
    • Cream City Marketing (creamcitymarketing.com)

      • 4:32 Why nonprofits?

      • B and M have both worked with nonprofits in the past
      • Many nonprofits aren’t able to reach all of their goals
        • They think there are constraints bc of the “nonprofit” status
        • There is a difference between nonprofit as a business model and nonprofit as a tax status

          • 9:50 The debate about nonprofits and their business model

          • Typically have 3 customers/stakeholders:
            • Your board
            • Leadership staff/volunteers
            • Funders
            • Nonprofits never say “I don’t need more funding”
            • At the end of the day, your organization is a business
              • You have a mission to fulfill
              • Serve a community
              • People willing to give time, energy, funding, resources in exchange for results
              • Stakeholders/partners are aligned to the mission of the nonprofit
              • Can be heard about Nonprofits (not correct btw)
                • **Shouldn’t**
                • Make money (They need money to hit goals and create change)
                • Focus on revenue
                • Track results
                • Evaluate ROI
                • Many nonprofits collapse because they don’t make money a priority
                • “Money is the well of life -B
                • Nonprofit is a tax structure, NOT a business model
                  • It does not affect the business model, mindset, or mission
                  • Great marketing, not tied to results, will only pull on heartstrings
                  • Your marketing needs to produce sales
                    • Casting your line but not catching any fish
                    • “Marketing alone does not produce revenue, therefore does not produce resources that you can use to invest to produce value for the people you are serving” -M
                    • If I have no fish in the boat, I can’t feed one man, let alone a whole army
                    • If I can’t feed a man for a day, let alone a lifetime, if all I can do is show him how to cast his line

                      • 24:22 Tracking your data

                      • “why bad presentations happen to good causes” -mentioned by Michael
                      • When good causes like nonprofit go to pitch their cause and miss the mark and don't get their funding
                      • One key thing that is holding them back is their great story showing no numbers or results
                      • “Great story, where’s the numbers?” -M
                      • People want to see where the money they donate is going
                      • If you can show the good you did this year with their money, they are more likely to give more for the next year
                      • Show the value of their contribution

                        • 26:58 Simple breakdown of a nonprofit

                        • Somebody gives money
                        • Organization takes money
                        • Organization executes on mission they marketed
                        • Right now is harder than ever to find donors - think like a business
                          • Look at where your nonprofit is and make a judgement call on priorities
                          • Just like a business owner does
                          • Look at your list of priorities
                            • Under the mission (at the top) should be generating who the customers are to understand funding and data in the long run

                              • Full Show Notes Here

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