Grants Are Just the Beginning
Of the top 8 funding sources, grants is number 7. So, why do so many nonprofits focus on getting grants? Because they don't know what they don't know! Learn how to get your nonprofit to sustainable by moving Beyond Grants to learning how to diversify your funding streams for long-term impact and sustainability.
Episode 141 | Grants Are Just the Beginning
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
Living Advantage Pt. 1
👉🏿https://www.livingadvantageinc.org
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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT 🚀
Beyond Grants: The Nonprofit Guide to Creative Fundraising Ideas https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Grants-Nonprofit-Fundraising-Fundraisers/dp/1733367888
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Learn more about my success with helping nonprofits Visit My Website👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿 https://www.amberwynn.net
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Got Questions? "Ask Amber" on any of my social media platforms or email me at amber@amberwynn.net
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of the top eight nonprofit revenue streams. Where do you think Grants land? It's not number one. It's not Number two. Grants land at number seven. So why is it that people spend so much energy trying to get grants when it's not even the top source of revenue? It's because they don't know what they don't know. In this episode, learn what the top revenue source is and how you can get it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding impact and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident, Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey, fam! It's your girl, Amber Wynn. And today we are talking about Beyond Grants. That's right, beyond grants because for some reason, everybody thinks that a nonprofit is fully fundable with grants. That couldn’t be farthest from the truth. No nonprofit can survive solely off of grants. As a matter of fact, every nonprofit should have at least 10 streams of revenue. So today we're going to talk about beyond grants and diversifying your funding streams. So if 69% of donations to nonprofits come from individuals, which that's the number one source of revenue to most nonprofits, why are you focusing so hard on getting a grant? It's because you don't know what you don't know. People have said to me, oh, I've been told I should get a grant for dah, dah, dah, dah dah da, or I should start a nonprofit to get grants for dah, dah, dah dah da. Listen to me.
(01:56):
There's so much misinformation out there about how to fully fund a nonprofit. The first thing I'm going to encourage anyone thinking about starting a nonprofit is to learn about what a nonprofit is and what it ain't. Because 9 times out of 10, when you start a nonprofit with misinformation, you're going to go down the wrong road, and we don't want that, right? Because you end up spending your wheels for two, three years just trying to figure out why it is. You can't fund your nonprofit, and it's because a nonprofit is a business, and businesses require money, right? If you have not started your nonprofit, I'm going to tell you this. A nonprofit cannot be fully sustained with grants. It cannot because it's a business and because grants take time, they're not guaranteed your new nonprofit coming into the nonprofit world. So you're competing against people who have a track record, who have relationships.
(02:57):
So it's important that you diversify your funding streams. Amber, what is diversifying your funding streams? It means that besides grants, and remember, grants is number seven on that list. You need to generate revenue in other ways. The number one stream of revenue is individual donors, because people connect the causes, people connect the causes. Grants are monies that are giving out from foundations and corporations. They have to give out 5% of their revenue, so they give it out 5%. If you add up the private foundations and the corporate foundations, and it totals up to about 14%, that's why it's number eight. So I want you to focus your energy on those revenue streams that really are going to generate money so that you can get to a place of sustainability with your organization. When we talk about going beyond the grants, this is what it looks like.
(04:04):
First of all, you need to know how much it costs to run your organization. A lot of times when people start their organization, they will deliver services based off the money that they have, right? Oh, we got a $5,000 grant. So you do $5,000 worth of work that's going to keep you in a perpetual state of nonprofit poverty. Yes, there's such a thing, right? It's called the nonprofit Poverty cycle, and basically you're running on fumes. I need you to have a full tank of gas, y'all. The way that happens is to know how much it costs to run your organization. So build out an accurate budget, get a piece of paper, notebook, paper, and just list all of the things that you will need to run your organization at an optimal level. Salaries, materials, and supplies. The location where you want to rent to deliver your programs, everything.
(05:00):
That budget is not going to come up to $25,000. That budget shouldn't even come up to 70,000. If you are running a business, your business should function somewhere around $250,000. Listen, I'm going to dive a little bit deeper when we come back, but no nonprofit can survive off of grants alone. When we come back, we're going to dive a little bit deeper. Have you been duped by a grant writer promising you the moon and the stars, but after collecting your $2,000, you never win a grant? No. A grant writer can't guarantee you'll get funded. But if you don't know how to vet them, you could walk right into a scam. Check out my guide: The questions to ask a grant writer before you hire them”, to help you determine if a grant writer is a bonafide professional or out to steal your hard earned money with no intentions of yielding results.
(05:53):
This guide explains what to look for in a grant writer if they're novice or seasoned, if they're a fit for the type of proposal you need written, what questions they should ask you. Leverage my 25 years of grant writing experience securing over $10 million in grants for clients to help you find a qualified grant writer and reduce your chances of getting scammed. Order your copy today. Welcome back to On Air with Amber Wynn. Today we are talking about beyond Grants because no nonprofit can survive solely off of grants. As a matter of fact, grants should only make up about 30, 35% of your budget. What does that mean? That means that the monies that are coming in should include a variety of funding sources. You've got corporate sponsorships, you've got fee for service, you've got merch. If you're selling it, you've got contracts, you've got grants, you've got subcontracts.
(06:51):
You can partner with another nonprofit and then they pay you. There are so many different ways for you to generate revenue, but if you are spending the majority of your time trying to get grants, if you're paying grant writers trying to get grants, I'm telling you that you need to shift your energy into something that's going to give you more of a return on your investment. Now, it's important to understand that when you're first starting out, or if you've been at it for a while but you haven't documented your impact, it's going to be a challenge for you to even get a grant. People start their nonprofits and say, oh, I'm going to. Our aim is to, when a funder reads that, they know that you're not doing, this is what you plan to do. A funder wants to work with someone who has a track record.
(07:40):
So you even applying for a grant and not having a track record is going to be somewhat of a barrier. I have created for you, my very own book. It's called Beyond Grants, a nonprofit Guide to Creative Fundraising Ideas. I'm going to drop the link in the bio, but it has over 200 pages of fundraising ideas, no shade to the popcorn people. But I swear if I get one more request from somebody asking me to buy popcorn in three days, I got popcorn coming out my ears. There are so many other non-traditional ways for you to generate revenue and for you to bring in money. So I want you to check out my book because it gives you these different ideas. If you need to generate revenue to pay for an idea that's going to bring you more revenue, then that's what you need to do.
(08:33):
So for example, let's just say you've already done the work. You've got your impact, right? Oh, you've got five years of credible impact that you've done in the community. Now you're ready to get some money, but you need a grant writer, but you don't have any money. You can use this book to identify some fundraising ideas so that you can raise the money, pay the grant writer. The grant writer's going to get you the grant. And then same thing, you need to get your organization audited so that you can apply for a higher amount of grants. Go through the book, find some fundraising ideas. Raise that money for that specific reason, because if you get audited, then that means now you qualify for a larger amount of money. When we think about funding your nonprofit, don't just think, I got to get grants. Think what is it that my organization is best positioned for so that I can get more money?
(09:35):
You need to recruit board members who will pay board dues and who are connected to other people and other resources. So the bottom line is to think beyond grants. Grants is not the answer for everything. Grants in your organization should only comprise about 30 to 35% of your budget. I can't say this enough because people come into this space thinking, I'm just going to get grants, and that's not going to happen. Not only is it not going to happen because it's not that easy and not that simple, but it doesn't give you the return on the investment that you really, really need. So when we come back, we have Ask Amber where you get to ask me your question, but for now, just think about that beyond Grants. When we come back, are you looking to leverage your 5 0 1 C3 tax exempt status to get products and services donated for an event silent auction, or to support your program but aren't quite sure what to say?
(10:39):
Get the Donation Request Letters Toolkit. It provides you with the templates you can customize to fit any request, eliminate the guesswork of what to say, how to say it, and what to offer potential donors as benefits for their donation. You had no idea you should offer donors something in exchange for their donation. Did you? Offering benefits triples your response rate? Plus the toolkit comes with the donor acknowledgement form template. It's the form you give them after they donate. This toolkit has everything you need for a successful donation request. Order your copy today. Welcome back to On Air with Amber Wynn. This is the part of the episode where you get to ask me your questions. You can hit me up on any of my social media, ask your question. Today's question comes from Jazzy and Chula Vista.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Hi Amber. My name is Jazzy. I'm calling from Chula Vista, California. I'm getting a lot of questions from my staff about the cuts to federal grants. 30% of our budget is covered by government grants and that covers about 70% of salaries. I don't know what to tell them because the truth is we don't know. I'm hopeful things won't turn out bad, but no one really knows how it will turn out. What would you say is the best thing to tell them at this point? Thanks.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Hey, jazzy, thank you for your question. And honestly, that's the question a lot of nonprofit leaders have at this time. It's just uncertain, right? What I would say is to tell the truth. Honestly, you have no control over what this administration is going to do, whether they're going to freeze this money. It's looking that way, but you do have control over how you engage with your staff, and a good leader is always going to be transparent. I have nonprofit leaders say to me, well, if I tell them there's a high likelihood that you won't get paid, they're going to quit. Yeah, they're going to quit because they have families to take care of. And so you need to honor the commitment that your staff has given to you over the years and let them know the truth. What's the truth? The truth is, 70% of our salaries is tied to this fed money, and here's what we have planned in the event that they cut it, and you talk about the different scenarios, you tell them, listen, that's a lot of money.
(13:05):
So the only thing we can do is either furlough, reduce staff salaries, reduce staff time. We may have to go down to part-time. We may have to let go some staff. You want to let your people know now so that you honor the commitment that they've had to your organization and you allow them to make moves that they need to make. I've had people say, well, then who's going to deliver my program? I don't know. But if you have people working for a nonprofit, we already know those people are not being paid the rate that they should be. The very least you can do is just be honest. The bottom line is you don't know, and you need to let them know you don't know. But in the event that it does happen, here's what we plan to do. So Jazzy and all of my amazing nonprofit leaders out there, I know these are challenging times, but the very best thing that you can do is step into your role as a leader and just tell the truth.
(14:09):
Alright? Again, if you have any questions for me, feel free to hit me up on any of my socials. I'm here to support you. These are some uncertain times, but we're going to get through them together. Now, we're going to switch it to my favorite time of the episode when I get to put the spotlight on some amazing people. That would be you, my nonprofit leaders. In this four-part series, we will be talking with Pamela Clay, who's the executive Director of Living Advantage. It's an organization that support youth who are in and transitioning out of the foster care system. They have some amazing programs. In this four-part series, she's going to talk to you about the work that they're doing in the community, some of the challenges that she's experienced, some of the wins that she's had, and what she's doing to shore up youth when they transition out of the foster care. So let's jump into part one of Living Advantage.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
My mom, she was retiring from the Los Angeles Unified School District, and my best friend was graduating from, excuse me. She had already graduated from San Diego State, and she was a juvenile justice major, and so she was working in the camps for juvenile camps in San Diego. So it was very interesting. You wouldn't think an LA Unified special ed teacher. And how does a LA Unified special ed teacher and a camp probation officer, how do they go together? My mom wanted to continue her work. She found that a special ed teacher was supposed to be ensuring that a student understood education, but generally what happened, it wasn't that they didn't understand or they were unable to learn the curriculum. It was usually an issue at home. It was always more of a case management, a personal issue that was going on, emotional, a mental issue.
(16:31):
And so as we move forward, we wanted to start a group home. My best friend, Eugenia Wilson, still our program director, she wanted to prevent the kids from going to camp. And then as my mom is working with the kids in the school, they usually end up being defiant and getting into trouble right as they got older. So that's where Living Advantage Group Home came from. Living Advantage Foster Care Home, we found that we wanted to also focus on the kids that didn't have a support system, right? So as of today, living Advantage is the mom and dads for foster youth.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed part one of my interview with Pamela Clay. She's such a vibrant individual. Her energy is just infectious. If you want to see the full episode, feel free to go over to my YouTube channel and you can watch the full episode, or you can rock with me for the next three episodes as we hear her story. Today, we've been about Beyond grants, and I am encouraging everyone to diversify their funding streams for long-term sustainability. I'm going to drop the link to my recently published book Beyond Grants, a nonprofit Guide for Creative fundraising, and I've got more resources. So feel free to visit my website, www.amberwynn.net. But be sure to share this episode. Subscribe like all the things y'all know what to do, and most importantly, be sure to take care of yourself like you take care of your community. We'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwinn.next/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
