Giving Compass' Take:

• Seven members of the Forbes Nonprofit Council share alternative funding sources for nonprofit organizations to branch from other revenue streams. 

• What are the challenges in finding and securing new forms of funding? 

• Read about equitable funding and how to make the process easy and accessible.

Running a nonprofit can be an extremely rewarding experience, although not always monetarily. Securing funding for a nonprofit organization comes with a lot of ups and downs. Usually, nonprofits need to branch out and secure numerous streams of revenue in order to keep doing the work they’re doing.

Luckily, there are quite a few alternate forms of funding available for nonprofits. Yet, it can be difficult to know where to look, especially for those just starting out or located in particularly saturated areas. To help, seven members of Forbes Nonprofit Council share some of the alternative funding sources they've tried.

  • Used Goods Retail Used goods stores are our most successful means of funding our mission.
  • Social Campaigns We do social media campaigns and accept social payments. These digital fundraisers include stories of those we have helped in video format to illustrate how donating helps.
  • Corporate Donations Where great philanthropy and a great marketplace intersect -- that's where a lot of corporate sponsors want to be.
  • Service Funding Fees, Government Grants Our school started with a fee for service funding. The surplus allowed us to build our distinct mission without restriction. Later, we received government contracts which gave us professional development and efficiency.
  • Self-Sustained Programs Our operational budget is 90% earned income. We host events and programs throughout the year to engage the public in our educational mission.
  • Social Enterprises Some foundations are well-suited to generate “internal income” by creating social enterprises, which both supplement traditional funding and deliver products and services to low-income people.
  • Fun Fundraising Dinners You can talk about your mission, have a roundtable on what people love about your organization and build culture and funds at the same time. You do need to market!

Read the full article about alternative forms of funding at Forbes Welcome