Nonprofit Expenses Rise; Time to Get Creative

Led by a rise in the federally mandated minimum wage and growing fundraising costs, expenses for nonprofits increased by considerably more than the rate of inflation in 2007, reported the NonProfit Times earlier this week. Bad news, to be sure, but also an opportunity for nonprofits to reach out to existing donors in new ways and to new donors for the first time. Goodwill Industries, for example, which was slammed hard by the minimum-wage hike, has found some success asking for monetary gifts instead of clothing. An official told the Times, “We’re asking a different audience to provide us with financial support. It’s a new set of expenses for a lot of Goodwills. Communities really like what we do. They want to support us, we just never asked.”

People — your existing donors, your prospects, your staff, your spouse — aren’t mind readers. As with so many things in life, they won’t know what your nonprofit needs unless and until you ask them. | 501(c)