There are several options for funding your organization including loans, business lines of credit, sales, and of course grants. Grants, sponsorships, and crowdfunding are all examples of another option called supplemental funding. All sources of funding can help your bottom line, are often competitive, and not necessarily easy to get. Supplemental and other funding sources all take preparation, investment, and are part of a comprehensive strategy. Organizations who are able to capitalize on every option have the best outcomes.
Business Funding Sources
Grants and associated resources fall under the “other sources” category. As you can see, that is one of the smaller categories of funding. If your personal finances are in disarray, you should spend some time getting that together before venturing into full-time entrepreneurship or nonprofit operations.
Rules For Funding
As you see from the figure above, you should not expect that other funding sources will completely fund your program. If grants and similar sources cover at least 10% of your budget, you have done a good job raising funding.
Your organizational overall budget should reflect the following: your organization has personally invested through your board of directors or other reinvestment; you have diverse sources of funding which may include business credit, loan, etc; and finally, if you are a nonprofit organization, you should be able to demonstrate that you have support from the community through donations, volunteering, or a combination.
Funding can come from any number of sources, those listed are just a few main sources. The key to a good, balanced budget is to not overly depend on outside sources. Supplemental funding is not be depended on to cover your organizational budget. It should help your business add programs/products, expand into other communities, and/or increase sales or outreach. Want to learn more? Contact us to discuss your funding sources today!
Happy Fundraising!
