In this instructional video, Vanessa, founder of a nonprofit that has operated since 1987, addresses members of her Nonprofit Founders Club and outlines three non‑traditional fundraising approaches that can diversify a nonprofit’s revenue and build long‑term sustainability. She explains fee‑for‑service models—including sliding‑scale fees for clients who can pay—, paid trainings and workshops that leverage the organization’s expertise (e.g., trauma‑focused training for various sectors), and the sale of goods or services such as culturally relevant calendars and greeting cards. Vanessa stresses the importance of assessing a nonprofit’s strengths and assets, understanding client preferences, and investing in marketing to support these revenue streams. She frames these tactics as ways to move beyond reliance on grants and donations, create a legacy, and ensure financial resilience. The video concludes with an action step for viewers to inventory their own expertise and assets, and an invitation to join her Nonprofit Founders Club for deeper guidance.
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Hello everyone, how you doing? You know, I just wanted to pop on and this is something that has been so near and dear to my heart is fundraising. As all of you know that I love nonprofits. And so one of the things I talk to a lot of nonprofits and it's like, hmm, I'm starting nonprofit, but I need to do some fundraising. But what I'm gonna talk today about is innovative fundraising ideas, not the traditional fundraisers. You know, the traditional fundraisers we have, which is grant writing and sponsorship and getting donors. I wanna talk about something that's really, really important and fundamental. And that's non-traditional funding. It's like, non-traditional funding? Yes, we have to have non-traditional funding because we need to diversify our funding. And so first I want to talk about this, like, fee-for-service. And it's like, what's fee-for-service? So when we started nonprofit, we're like, okay, we're going to go and we're going to give all these services for free. But think about what are some valuable services you have to offer and offer it for a fee. It's like, how do I offer it for a fee? So say, for instance, our program is drug and alcohol. And someone needs drug and alcohol counseling, our services are good and our services are something that we provide for everyone. Anyone across the board can use drug and alcohol counseling. So you may have people that come in and they can't afford it, but then you have people that your services are so valuable that they can afford it. You could charge them a fee, like a sliding scale fee. So you wanna incorporate that into your program because what you wanna do is you wanna start building a legacy. And building a legacy is not built on the back of getting grants and relying on grants, relying on individual donors. You're building a business, so you want to make sure— how do I leave this legacy? And so one of the things you could do is initiate a fee-for-service. Another thing is you can offer free— I mean, offer paid trainings and workshops because you have something so valuable that you can train on. And if you don't train, you may have a staff person, a volunteer, or you may be able to consult or hire someone to provide this training. But it could be a training specialized in exactly what you do. Like, say for instance, trauma. Do you have trauma programs? And you know, people really need trauma, and not just people that are your clients, but there's trauma in all kinds of workforces, trauma in families, trauma in businesses. You could specialize in that and you could charge a fee for that. That also brings more revenue into your organization. And then you could sell goods and services. Man, I remember when I started my nonprofit, all the goods and services I sold— I would sell African American calendars and greeting cards because we did— we target African Americans, right? And so we target— we provided products that they can use or someone would use who wanted to support our organization. So you could sell products and goods to help build your organization. So when you start about thinking about nonprofit, think about diversity, diversifying your organization, diversifying your funding. You know, you hear in regular business, oh, I gotta diversify my portfolio. Diversify your funding portfolio because that is what's gonna help you build your organization to leave a legacy. You have a lot to offer and it could be a win-win situation. And to go back a little bit for the fee-for-service charging our clients fees. It's important. Do you ever go and you have to pay a copay for something? And then do you ever think about people— if you, if you pay, you pay attention. And then people have to have some skin in the game. And I say this because I've talked to some people that's like, oh no, I couldn't charge the clients. They're not necessarily— you can't, you don't have to charge your clients. But again, look at the fee for service and look at a sliding scale for those who want to pay. Because if you put it open, your nonprofit, you believe you have value. And your program should be so valuable and so dynamic that people that do not need to— they can't afford your services, that they're like, oh, I want to pay for these, these services are good, I want my child, or I want my spouse, or I want to go and participate in this because what this organization is offering is dynamic. So think about that. And also that helps in the long run when you're going after those grants and you're going after funding because funders want to Funders wanna see, well, how are you gonna sustain yourself after this grant is through? How are you gonna sustain yourself? Am I just pouring my money into an empty bucket where my money's just going through and it's not gonna be sustainable? Okay. So I just wanted to pop in and talk about a little bit about that. So what I want you to do is I'm always gonna give you something to do. You know, you're in my Nonprofit Founders Club. We're about action. We're like getting it done. Let's build these nonprofits. Let's make a difference in this world. So the action step I want you to do is I want you to really think about your strengths and your assets. Because if you, especially if you're a solo nonprofitpreneur, you're just starting, you guys, what are your strengths and your assets that you bring to the table? Because you may have to do it all. So think about what your expertise is, what your resources are, are products that you can monetize, and they don't have to necessarily be your products. I can tell you some stories of some things that we did and we monetized. We had a lot of things going on in our organization, and we have been around for 37 years now, almost 38, and we have built a legacy. And I want to show others how to do the same, and that's what I do in our Nonprofit Founders Club. So if you got any value, any information about what I just talked about, or you wanna know more, check us out at the Nonprofit Founders Club, or go ahead and DM me if you're on Facebook. And I'm sure you all know how to get in contact with everybody cuz we're all into this social media stuff. Okay? So it's crucial. I want you to consider as you're going through this is also as you're doing your fee for service, consider the preferences and the needs of the clients you're talking about serving and the people you're talking about serving. Finally, if they need it, but not if they need it, but they also if they want it because you can build it, but if they don't want it, they're not gonna come. So make sure that you really assess their needs. Okay? So don't forget, you have to invest in your marketing promotion also. So you wanna do that, but there's so much. But in the Nonprofit Founders Club, we gonna walk you through step by step. I know sometimes you're building your nonprofit, you're like, there's so much to do in there. Here's Vanessa now talking about diversify the funding and do this and do that. I can't do what I need— I could do. That's all right, you don't have to be by yourself. We got you. That's what we do, the nonprofit founders, because we walk you step by step by step and we support you along the way because we know how challenging it is to start and build a nonprofit. For those of you who don't know, I started my nonprofit in 1987 and I was solo. But that's a bad mama jam today, and I want to show you how to do the same. So anyway, I gotta go. I know you gotta go. Don't want to hold up too much your time if you want to Diversify your funding and build a legacy. I just gave you 3 tips. Look forward to my videos. I'll be sharing some more information on how to build and sustain your nonprofit organization, and have a good weekend.
