Paypal vs Integrated Donation form

6 Genius Ways To Cut Overhead Costs for Your Non-profit

1. Get Free Stuff

There are all sorts of free stuff available to non-profits. You just have to know where to look. Need computers, desks, chairs? Here are just a few places to look: Good 360, NAEIR, ReBoot, DeliverGood, Throwplace.com, National Cristina Foundation (NCF).

Need some pro-bono consulting, management, marketing, human resources or IT help? Check out Tap Root Foundation.

If you can’t find what you need here, ask! In fact, you should always have a list on your website of things you need. Soliciting in-kind donations is common for non-profits, and you never know just what you’ll get. For example, a business owner may donate paper and office supplies to an organization she supports and an accountant may provide free accounting services.

2. Never Pay Full Price

Well, if you can’t get it free, at least you can get a discount! Many organizations offer special discount rates for non-profits. TechSoup, for instance, gives software to non-profit organizations at significantly reduced rates. You should always be checking to see if there are special rates. In some cases, they just aren’t published anywhere.

In many countries non-profits qualify for special discounted mail rates for bulk mailings. Setting up discounted mail service is often as simple as filling out a form and paying a small registration fee. Non-profits that send out lots of fundraising mail or other types of direct mail can save significant sums through discounted postage costs.

3. Make Use of Volunteers

A great way to cut overhead costs is just to make use of volunteers. They are willing to donate their time, and there is no reason why you shouldn’t be taking them up on that generous offer! There are lots of great websites to find volunteers: Idealist.org and Volunteer Match just to name two. Once you find good help, do what you can to hold onto them. Constant retraining is costly. Make sure that you are considerate of your volunteers. For example, don’t have them come into the office if you only have 60 minutes of work for them, and don’t give them things to do that can be done more efficiently by a computer.

4. Reuse and Recycle

It’s simple. The same environmental standards that you use at home should be used for your organization. Any item that can be reused should be reused. Any items that cannot be reused should be recycled, whenever possible. This will not only cut your purchasing costs, but it could reduce your trash collection bill as well.

5. Partner Up

Need to buy a big ticket item like office and event space, automobiles, copiers and office equipment and even support staff? Consider partnering with other non-profits to share costs. You can really save a significant amount of money this way. Just be sure that you have written agreements in place with your counterpart organizations to ensure that the terms and responsibilities of the sharing arrangement are understood by all parties.

6. Be Frugal

Finally, always be cautious about spending and don’t spend money on things just because you have it. Sometimes this means you have to be creative. Think about how you can consolidate to save. For example, some non-profits spend money on all kinds of different software for email marketing, for fundraising and for volunteer or membership management. Meanwhile, they could be saving a lot of money if they instead looked for one solution to do it all – like Sumac!

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Premium Case Management Package

Take your program to the next level by integrating your fundraising.
Includes:

All Basic features:

  • Client profile & case intake definition
  • Complete case lifecycle tracking
  • Resource management
  • Service tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support

All Standard features:

  • Specialized Case Management setup (configured for health & social services, transition & emergency shelters, hospice & palliative care)
  • Client registration & intake webforms

Plus:

  • Donor management
  • Donation webforms
  • Pledges & monthly donations
  • Automatic receipting
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Event management

Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 13 concurrent users

Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Premium Memberships Package

Take your program further by integrating fundraising.
Includes:

All Basic features:

  • Manage member lifecycles
  • Member & membership tracking
  • Custom membership level definition
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support

All Standard features:

  • Membership registration webforms

Plus:

  • Donations & fundraising
  • Donation webforms
  • Pledges & monthly donations
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Event management
  • Automatic receipting
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Standard Memberships Package

Membership purchases flow from your web forms, through payment processing, and into your database, so there's less effort and less errors.
Includes:

All Basic features:

  • Manage member lifecycles
  • Member & membership tracking
  • Custom membership level definition
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support

Plus:

  • Membership registration webforms
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Premium Donations Package

Manage complex donations for planned giving and larger gifts.
What's Included

All Basic features:

  • Donor & donation tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Pledges & monthly donations
  • Event management
  • Receipting
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support

All Standard features:

  • Donation webforms

Plus:

  • Grant Management
  • Major Gift Proposals
  • Prospecting
  • Volunteer Management with online signup

Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity (cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users

Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Standard Donations Package

Donations flow from your website forms, straight through payment processing, and to your database, so there's less effort and less errors.
What's Included
All Basic features:
  • Donor & donation tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Pledges & monthly donations
  • Event management
  • Receipting
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support
Plus:
  • Donation webforms
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Basic Memberships Package

Manage your members and membership campaigns, engage members, and increase revenue.
Includes:
  • Manage member lifecycles
  • Member & membership tracking
  • Custom membership level definition
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity (cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Basic Donations Package

Manage your donations and fundraising campaigns, engage donors, and increase revenue.
What's Included
  • Donor & donation tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Fundraising campaigns
  • Pledges & monthly donations
  • Event management
  • Receipting
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Standard Case Management Package

Pre-configured client management modules fit your exact program and make your administration even easier.
Includes:

All Basic features:

  • Client profile & case intake definition
  • Complete case lifecycle tracking
  • Resource management
  • Service tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support

Plus:

  • Specialized Case Management setup (configured for health & social services, transition & emergency shelters, hospice & palliative care)
  • Client registration & intake webforms

Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 8 concurrent users

Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

Basic Case Management Package

Manage intake forms and client data securely so data transitions seamlessly from when a case opens to its close.
Includes:
  • Client profile & case intake definition
  • Complete case lifecycle tracking
  • Resource management
  • Service tracking
  • Email marketing
  • Reporting
  • Communication tracking
  • Workflow management
  • Quickbooks integration
  • Cloud-based access
  • Phone & email support
Includes: Up to 750 contacts; Up to 5GB of storage capacity
(cloud-based); Up to 3 concurrent users
Need more contacts, storage, or users? Just ask us!

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