Most nonprofit organizations are looking for additional sources of income to help them fulfill their mission. Membership-based nonprofits such as trade associations, professional groups, chambers of commerce, and social clubs often overlook money-generating opportunities. Many features are available to them within their non profit membership software platform, often at no extra cost.
10 Ways to Bring in More Money for Your Nonprofit
- Avoid template language on your renewal notice. Remind members of the value you provide.
- Set up multiple reminders to renew and follow up with a personal touch.
- Add a donation option to every event ticket you sell.
- Sell event sponsorships, even for small events.
- Add the option of donating at the time of joining and renewing memberships.
- Charge non members for directory listings.
- Sell listings in a job bank, classified ad listings, and/or announcement board.
- Leverage members only content.
- Sell the ability to add listings to a community calendar you host on your site.
- Offer an affiliate membership to increase your number of members.
1. Avoid template language on your renewal notice
Many organizations miss the opportunity to sell themselves when their constituents are renewing their membership or donation. Setting up nonprofit membership software takes time and collaboration to get right. In the push to launch, it’s tempting to just use the template language for renewal reminders. But it’s worth taking time to customize these important member communications.
Review your renewal notices. Are they simply a reminder that it’s time to renew, or are they selling the value of membership? Let members know what you’ve done for them; include links to special beneifts and offerings that they may not be taking advantage of. At a time when a donation or dues payment is on the line, it’s the best time to prove your value to them.
Types of information you can include in your renewal notices:
- Most nonprofits have an annual report with statistics that communicate the past year’s achievements. After publishing your annual report, set a reminder to update your renewal notices with a few impressive statistics.
- A testimonial quote from a happy member, volunteer, or donor.
- A reminder of your mission with a list of activities you are doing in the coming year to work toward the mission. This works well for newer organizations and volunteer-run nonprofits that may not create an annual report.
- A save-the-date mention of your biggest or most sought-after event of the year.
- Answer a question on members’ minds like, “What’s in it for me?”
When you offer automatic recurring payments, consider sending a reminder message in advance of the annual charge. No one likes a surprise credit card charge. It’s easy to forget that you signed up for something a year ago. Write this message to also sell membership.
TIP: If the renewal process asks your members to log in, add login tips and contact information.
See a sample renewal letter for more tips and ideas.
2. Set up multiple reminders to renew and follow up with a personal touch
One surprising thing I’ve seen across many nonprofits is that some only ask their members or donors to renew with one renewal notice. With people being more distracted than ever, it’s important to send them a couple of past due reminders.
Space your reminders
Two weeks is a good timeframe, especially if you are also accepting offline payments such as checks. This timeframe will give a check payer time to write and mail their check. Staff will also have time to enter the check into the nonprofit management software.
Follow up personally
Your membership system should provide you with a list of past due members. You can run a report to see who is the most past due and follow up with them individually. A call, email, or text message, especially to members you know personally, can go a long way to keep them engaged.
Write a personal message, and ask them to let you know if there’s anything that is holding them back from renewing their membership. Consider any negative feedback you receive as a potential learning opportunity. Set an automatic reminder to run this report and undertake this task monthly. It can help you keep your finger on the pulse of what your members or donors are thinking.
Share the outreach workload
If personal follow up sounds like too much to take on, consider narrowing your scope to your highest paying members. You can also enlist the help of your board to undertake this outreach.
If the numbers of members aren’t too high, you can pass around a list of past due members at each board meeting. Board members can write their name next to members they plan to contact. Take a photo of the list and send it to the board members afterward. The goal isn’t necessarily for the board to cover the whole list, but to at least reach out to the members they know.
3. Add a donation option to every event ticket you sell
Events are a fantastic way to engage members. The act of attending an event can provide a memorable experience that generates goodwill toward your organization. When members are buying tickets to your gala, luncheon, or conference, they already have their credit card in hand (or stored on their phone). So why not ask them to chip in a little more?
It doesn’t need to be a hard sell. You can pose a question like, “Would you chip in $10 to cover the cost of ____?” or “Add $30 to cover the cost for a student to attend.” This second idea provides additional income, while also engaging a future member in your organization.
Speaking of donations, donors love envisioning how their support directly impacts a person in need or the organization. Spelling this out for them can provide the extra nudge they need to contribute. For example, “A $100 donation covers the cost of providing _____ to 5 students.”
4. Sell event sponsorships, even for small events
Sure, you sell sponsorships to your gala and conference. But you can also offer sponsorships for your smaller events. Here are a couple of low-effort ways to approach this:
- If you have a monthly or quarterly gathering such as a luncheon, sell sponsorship alongside your event tickets. You can offer the sponsor a very brief opportunity to introduce themselves to the entire group in attendance. Be sure to let them know their time limit so that they do not take time away from the primary speaker or networking time.
- Create an annual sponsorship program at various price points. Some sponsorships can include mentions in programs, guides, signage, and event slides. Other sponsorships can offer additional perks such as verbal mentions at events. If the sponsor is in attendance, recognize them by asking them to stand.
5. Add the option of donating at the time of joining and renewing memberships
Ask members to donate when they already have their credit card information ready for dues renewal. One neighborhood association saw donations rise substantially when they did this.
Collecting donations for specific initiatives is compelling. For example, a neighborhood association could specify that donations will go toward such things as:
- Neighborhood celebrations such as the 4th of July parade
- Beautification efforts in the local park
- Pool repairs
- A scholarship fund for local high school students
6. Charge non members for directory listings
Many professional groups, chambers of commerce, and trade associations have online membership directories through their membership software. Often with these types of nonprofits, directory listings are free for members.
However, you can sell directory listings as a separate type of membership that doesn’t provide full membership status. If you are not sure about this idea, you can host a separate directory page just for nonmembers. Another option is to only offer free directory listings for some of your higher cost membership levels. This encourages lower-level members to upgrade their membership.
7. Sell listings in a job bank, classified ad listings, and/or announcement board
While some groups offer their job bank, classified ads, and announcements as a member benefit, you can make money from each of these features. All of these features are available in MembershipWorks.
Listing revenue opportunities:
- Make it so only members can see the job listings/classifieds/announcement board. That way, people may want to join your organization to get access to the listings.
- Charge a fee for people who want to post a job, ad, or announcement. One of the more profitable ideas that will keep members coming back to visit is an RFP board.
- Offer a free discounted rate for members who want to post a listing. This will encourage people to become members and take advantage of the lower price.
- Try to get people to upgrade their membership by offering free or discounted postings for higher levels of membership. This way, you can make more money from people who want extra perks.
If you are trying to earn money with a job bank, classifieds, or announcement board, be sure that you are marketing your listings. Reach out to your members and non member contacts. Ideas for promoting your listings:
- Free listings to start. Initially some job banks, classified ad sites, and announcement boards start with free listings to get employers interested. If employers see that they are getting more qualified candidates from your job board, they’ll be more likely to pay later.
- Publish testimonials about your job bank, classifieds, or notice board. For your job board, ask a couple of employers and members to write a positive sentence or two about this feature. Add these testimonials to your job posting form page and job listings page.
- Highlight a few listings in your communications to members. Pick some of the best jobs or announcements and mention them in your newsletter, blog, or social media. You can include a testimonial or two as well while you’re at it.
- Put a link to your job bank or other listing boards in the footer/signature of your emails. This can be done organization-wide or within your email marketing system.
- Create graphics about the listings to post on your nonprofit’s social media channels. If you’ve gotten a testimonial from a member, this would be a great place to use it.
8. Leverage members only content
Some nonprofits are great at doing research and publishing the results. Consider if your organization has content that could be worth the price of membership to access. Use your nonprofit membership platform to restrict access to members only.
9. Sell the ability to add listings to a community calendar you host on your site
It’s common for chambers of commerce to host a community events calendar. But have you thought of selling the ability to add events to this calendar? Here are some ways to approach this:
- Create an add on item for your members to purchase when they buy, renew, or upgrade their membership.
- Establish a special “calendar only” membership level for those who don’t necessarily want a full membership. You could also consider offering a directory listing with this membership.
- Simply make it a free member benefit. Promote this feature in marketing the membership with the idea that it may attract more paying members.
If you are establishing the community calendar as a new offering for your town, initially offer free listings. A full calendar is more attractive to those looking to promote their own events. It could be something worth paying for when it looks robust.
10. Offer an affiliate membership
Sponsors, especially in the context of associations, and trade groups, are interested in ways that they can get in front of your members. Some organizations offer the opportunity for these sponsors to join as affiliate members. Not sure of the right price point to charge for these memberships? Talk informally with a few of your sponsors.
Potential benefits for affiliate members:
- Listing in affiliate member directory or within the online membership directory itself
- Ongoing mention in your newsletter, blog, social media, and/or website
- The opportunity to speak in front of members briefly about what they are offering at smaller events you host
- The ability to list a member-only deal on your website
- Signage or logo listing on a slide at the event
- Listing new affiliate members in a blog post or social media post
- Offering the opportunity to write a guest blog post (within parameters you set in advance)
The benefits of having affiliate members go beyond the extra dues revenue they can bring in:
- Easy target marketing – When you are selling sponsorships for your upcoming events, you can approach your affiliate members first.
- Expand member perks – Affiliates can offer special perks such as member-only discounts or trial offers for their services. Members appreciate exclusive member deals; it adds more value to their membership. Affiliates can also provide promotional items like T-shirts for your conference welcome bag.
- Offer enhanced events – Would you like to have an opening reception for your conference, but don’t have the budget to pay for it? Consider asking an affiliate member if they’d like to sponsor it. In exchange, you can allow them to set up signage, distribute handouts, and/or allow them a few minutes to speak to the attendees.
Considering adding this membership? Check out our membership level name ideas.
If your nonprofit membership management software doesn’t offer these revenue-generating features, reach out. Feel free to give us a call or set up a demo to explore how MembershipWorks can help your organization.
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