What can nonprofits do with extra money?

Nonprofits, as their name suggests, don’t make a profit. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have extra money come their way. But what do they do with this money?

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Pay Debts

Some of the debts that a business has incurred over years can be paid off with extra money they have. There are many reasons they may have come into debt in the first place, such as:

• Taking out long-term loans. This is usually a loan taken out for a minimum of one year. Perhaps it’s for buying real estate, building refurbishments or extensions, or increasing services.

• Making use of lines per credit. This means the business uses funds as and when needed. It could be to fund short-term budgets that they fall short on or expenses that they weren’t expecting.

• Mortgage debts are sometimes the case for businesses that own a property (or more). It could incur a low interest rate over a time period.

Clearing debt isn’t always easy. But with the right plan in place, additional money that comes to a nonprofit organization could be for the reason of paying off debts.

Create Incentives for Employees

Incentives can be given to employees for reaching certain milestones, making so many sales, or achieving Key Performance Indicators, for example. Here are some of the incentives that nonprofits can give using money to fund them:

• Rewards programs. They can come in the form of monetary rewards that are given based on performance. In fact, this is a great incentive because 35% of employees state that they’re looking for greater recognition.

• Point-based recognition programs. These programs allow employees to gain and redeem gift cards and products or spend on items they like in set retailers. This costs money to the nonprofit. A good way to implement a points-based recognition program is to provide a list of catalogs or stores that they can choose from. This places the value factor higher on the rewards for employees, as opposed to giving them a T-shirt or cup for their brilliance. One of the main benefits that comes with this is that it’s very motivating, just like you’d expect with a cash rewards program.

• Health and wellness programs. This is when a business promotes wellness programs as a way to enable employees to improve their health and feel less stressed. It’s especially important when employees feel stressed or taking less time off. However, these programs cost money to run, so the nonprofit will need to ensure it has adequate funds to run such a scheme.

• Tuition reimbursement programs. With these programs, you’ll find nonprofits paying for employees’ tuition fees, either in part or full. It has been found that 79% of employees find tuition assistance essentially for them signing up for the business. Fresh learning should take place in the nonprofit, from the CEO right down to the employee. Nonprofits can offer this so that they can ensure that their employees stay well-educated in whatever field they’re working in.

• Bonuses. Bonuses are when employees are given cash for their excellent work and reaching certain targets. They can be very powerful indeed. 65% of employees in the U.S. said they enjoyed receiving bonuses for their efforts. However, it must be made clear to the employees what goals they must reach to attain these bonuses. They should neither be too hard nor too easy to achieve—balance is key here.

• Fun gifts. Nonprofits can give gifts to employees. These come in the form of personal, sentimental, or unique gifts. This demonstrates care on the part of the employees. They can be given on special days such as work anniversaries, certain holidays, global wellness week, or customer service week. Contests and quizzes can be run where the winner gets the prize.

• Employee benefits program. Compensation can be given to employees, such as insurance provisions like medical, life, or dental insurance. In addition, stocks, health and wellness reimbursements, and cellphone plans are other options.

• Travel incentives. A nonprofit can use its additional cash for travel incentives with the goal of improving the performance of the employees. Trips that are paid for by the nonprofit are given that are dependent upon meeting certain goals or milestones.

Place More Cash Toward Their Mission

Nonprofits can leverage several ways to put more money toward their mission. Here are some of them:

• Develop a north star. A north star encapsulates the mission’s purpose, and placing cash into it enables them to move forward in the direction that they want to. When goals and objectives are set, the north star helps nonprofits to draw closer to them.
• Create a mission statement. By creating a mission statement, the nonprofit’s values can be easily recalled. Fundraisers collaborate with leaders of operations to craft a mission statement with a message that clearly displays the goals of the nonprofit.
• Integrate fundraising into strategic planning. Fundraising is an integral part of strategic planning. It should also encompass many levels of the nonprofit organization, including the board level. It allows the nonprofit to align fundraising with the organizational components that are of the most importance to them and result in placing value toward their mission.
• Track outcomes. There’s a clear focus between bridging values, known as the compass, and the strategic plan, or clock. Fundraising involves investing with strategy into the people and place of the nonprofit. Tracking outcomes enables the nonprofit to evaluate progression within the organization.

Conclusion

Nonprofits can make use of additional money in plenty of ways. Here, we’ve shown you how. They can use it to pay off debts, make incentives for employees, and place more money toward their mission. So, if you run a nonprofit, now you know how to make use of extra money so that your organization can be debt-free, your employees can remain happy in their work and motivated to succeed, and you can ultimately strive toward outcomes. All in all, this allows your nonprofit to grow, thrive, and prosper.