Publication Date

10-9-2023

Document Type

Student Project

First Advisor

Schuller, Mark

Degree Name

B.A. (Bachelor of Arts)

Department

Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies

Abstract

A nonprofit can have plenty of different revenue sources. Including donations, grants, investments, assets, program fees, and fundraising. Donations can come from an individual or a business. Grants are broken up into three distinct categories on government, state, or local levels. Investments are funds that can be allocated toward stocks or other money building entities which can assist in the growth of passive revenue for the nonprofit. Assets come in different forms, including monetary or physical assets which are in the nonprofits name. Program fees are a price charged to clients to help facilitate the running of the program.

The focal point of this paper will be fundraisers. For this paper's purpose, I consider a fundraiser to be any event that generates funds for a nonprofit through sponsorships, donations, etc. Program fees and fundraising help a nonprofit become more independent. These two sources of revenue are usually unrestricted, which helps pay for miscellaneous needs that may not be covered by restricted funds from other sources. "Fundraising budgets have become larger, and philanthropic revenues have become more critical to their survival and growth of nonprofit organizations and institutions." (Worth, Fundraising 331) This also allows more flexibility for the nonprofit to meet their mission and have less obstacles to do so. An example of unrestricted funds being beneficial is for an organization to start a new program that is needed for the community or for emergency expenses. Fundraisers also give a nonprofit the ability to have a diversified income, which is another important aspect of that independence. It is valuable to evaluate the effectiveness of fundraising to ensure a nonprofit's self-sufficiency. Fundraising is an important part of that. Evaluating financial data, strategic planning strategies, how long each event has been running, how impact is measured by the nonprofit, and resources used to run the fundraiser can help determine if a nonprofit is accomplishing their goals with the fundraisers.

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Download

Share

COinS